Note: The Palm Portable Keyboard is a rebranded Stoway Portable Keyboard

Size
This portable keyboard expands to almost the size of a full keyboard. Most keys are the same size as my full-size desktop keyboard, but some space is saved on the spacebar, shift keys, and other keys that are extra-long on a full-size keyboard. For example, the spacebar is only 3.5 regular keys long.

When not in use, this portable can be folded in four, accordian-style. It then snaps shut. Although not completely necessary, I like to zip it into the cloth foam-padded case before stuffing it into my purse. I don't want to get nicks on the outside (back) of the keyboard from other things bumping around in my purse. Sometimes I also zip something else in the case, like a couple of index cards for the scenes I am currently working on (I plot my novel on index cards first). Folded up, the keyboard is about the size of a Palm III. It won't fit in a shirt pocket, but it could fit in a coat pocket.

Keys
The keyboard includes all standard letters and punctuation, mostly in a standard keyboard layout. Only the tilde and back quote are oddly positioned, on the bottom row. It also includes keys for: tab, caps lock, shift, control, Alt, delete, back space, and enter -- all in standard places of the keyboard. The position of the arrow keys is below the enter key.

Other keys include a command key, keys corresponding to the four buttons on the Palm, a "done" key (whenever that is a command on a given screen), and a function key. The function key works like shift key to expand the functionality of other keys, allowing for keyboard use of: turning backlight on and off, silk-screen keys, shortcut, "new", "cancel", "delete..." (as in deleting records), "show", "details", "OK", "show" and "details". Some of these functions only apply when the choice is available on a dialog box or a command is available from a given screen, but it does make it easier to keep working without taking your fingers off the keyboard.

The keyboard works best with programs, such as WordSmith, which provide you with shortcuts for menu options. For example, with WordSmith, I can use the standard (Windows standard) of Ctrl-C to copy selected text, Ctrl-X to cut selected text, and Ctrl-V to paste selected text. Other programs may not cater as much to people using keyboards, and you may resort to using your stylus for menu commands.

The only problem that I had with the keys is that they are somewhat light, and did not always register my key presses. So I ended up with a fair number of words with a letter missing... or sometimes the space missing between two words. This probably occurred in between 1% and 5% of my writing. People who pound their keyboards won't run into this problem.

Other Features
A little stand for the Palm folds out, and the Palm connects to the keyboard via the serial port (usually used for hotsyncs). For the first few days, I found it tricky sliding the Palm into the correct position, but now it is second nature to me. This means that it is important to get the correct keyboard for your Palm. As not all Palms have the same connection type, you will need the model keyboard that corresponds to your connection type.

The keyboard draws its power from the Palm. I find that when I am writing on my Palm, I need to recharge my Palm much more frequently (every 3 days when I am writing 1500 - 2000 words per day on my Palm). Not all of this power loss is due to the keyboard... when you are reading on playing turn-based games on your Palm, you not using much CPU power. But when writing, you are using the CPU with each letter that you insert or delete.

One feature of this keyboard that I didn't realize (until I saw someone else using it) was the two small holes on the back left and write of the frame are also stylus wells. If you are using your stylus for menu/dialog boxes, then you can keep it in either stylus well, instead of sliding it in and out of your Palm.

Et cetera
If you're interested in writing a novel in a month, check out my article on National Novel Writing Month at:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3549667460

Recommended:
Yes