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PDA Keyboards Compared
The Tech-Report is currently running a feature that compares two of the leading PDA keyboards - the Targus Stowaway and the Landware GoType. I've seen a number of these used before, but haven't gotten one yet - anyone else found one that they really like?
At the time when I needed a keyboard for my Palmpilot Personal (512kb) the only choice around was the GoType. I've been using it for about 2 years now and am quite happy with it.
The keys are large enough for comfortable typing, they could use to be larger. It does not drain batteries excessively. I've cranked out some large amounts of text in relatively short times and haven't found myself cursing the size of the keys.
My only complaint is that: the driver I am currently using with Hackmaster will occasionally require me to power down and power back up for the keyboard to work (this only happens after a 'timeout' shutdown, not a manual shutdown). This problem is probably fixed with new driver versions though.
I have a GoType for my Palm3 and I find that the Stowaway (which I've used) is much more like the standard PC keyboard than the GoType.
As mentioned in the article, the keys on the GoType are a tad small to type comfortably. In addition, the keys don't have as much 'spring', and I find I have to keep an eye on the screen to make sure my typing has gone through.
For long documents, it's still quite a bit better than grafitti (which is convenient, but frustratingly inaccurate, given the way I'm used to writing).
It's not a statement of preference, but I have to say the stowaway has made a big difference to my life.
I'm a journalist, and travel extensively. While it's nice to have a ThinkPad with me, they are heavy, take enormous amounts of adaptors, rechargers and cables to work and are expensive to replace. It's a big hassle for email and text editing enough to write a thousand words a day.
Since the summer I've been using a visor and the stowaway, with a Xircom modem in the top and pEdit inside. The whole thing fits into my pocket, takes AAA batteries and if I lose any of the bits costs less than a hundred pounds to replace.
I can touch type on the Stowaway with no problems, and I now carry one less bag on planes. If you travel a lot, that alone makes a huge difference. We're even looking at kitting all our reporters with them. Why pay £1500 for a laptop that's only needed for text?
If only PalmOS came with a word count function as standard.
The stowaway keyboard, on the other hand, ends up providing full laptop-sized keys which alone was enough to make the decision for me.
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
She's a graduate student, and wanted to be able to type up notes in class. She already had a Visor, and since she walks to school, she didn't want to lug around a laptop the size we could afford (smaller being more expensive). There's also the matter that nobody else uses a computer in class- she didn't want to be conspicuous hooking a big machine.
:-)
She's been using the Stowaway / Visor combination for a whole semester now, and it's been perfect, with two exceptions. First, it wasn't any use in her Greek class (nonalphabetical character set). Second, the cool-ass folding keyboard attracted much more attention for the first few weeks than a laptop would.
Even though the Stowaway feels sort of flimsy when unfolded, it seems quite durable when packed away (she carries it in the pocket of her backpack, which gets banged around a bit). Even with heavy use, it's holding up very well- no obvious wear.
It took me a few minutes with the thing to figure out how it got so skinny and still have decent key travel. The secret is that all of the keys are actually depressed when it's folded up. Very clever engineering indeed.
"This message is composed of 100% recycled electrons."
I currently own a Palm IIIc and the standard palm portable keyboard. The portable keyboard's keys are slightly bigger than a laptop computer, and I have yet to find anyone who does not like typing on it.
No, you don't whip out the keyboard to type in an a name or address. A good use of it is, however, to write a long e-mail at lunch, or to take notes in class (or write a long e-mail in class).
The keyboard (when folded) is just slightly larger than the palm, and each easily fit in a pocket. Quite easier than lugging a laptop into class to take notes.
-=Lothsahn=-
If you're holding out for voice you're gonna have to wait for it to be acceptable to use it in public, too. It's bad enough with cell phones these days. If I ever get stuck next to someone on my redeye who insists on using his voice-enabled Palm XII while I'm trying to sleep, I'll listen just long enough to hear him dictate his password and then bitch-slap him unconscious.
---- Just another spud server.
I recently bought the Targus Stowaway keyboard for my Handspring Visor. (That's the folding one.) I had tried the GoType, but its keys were a bit small and cramped for my taste, while the Stowaway was regular size with better key travel when unfolded. It will move if you try just putting it in your lap, and you by far get the best performance on a book, table, airline tray, etc., but it folds the "right" way so that it doesn't collapse on itself if you don't have it on something solid.
The other issue, however, is why on earth anyone would want one of these things. Even the Stowaway is too big folded up to carry comfortably in a normal pocket. A coat pocket or cargo pants pocket yes, but I refuse to plan my wardrobe around my PDA. If you have a laptop you probably carry that most places you would use a PDA keyboard, so when are these things any more than just geek toys?
Well, I don't have a laptop. I had notes I wanted to write, and Graffiti is only good for a quick note or phone number. I've heard there are some decent document editors out there that work quite well with an external keyboard, but I haven't used any. I don't use Palm email, but a keyboard would be nice there. The one thing the GoType has is an external USB port so that you could conceivably stick your PDA in the GoType and use it as a serial terminal for a rackmount server, portable datalogger, or some other such thing.
For me the Stowaway was a worthwhile purchase. I'll use it enough that I'll be glad I bought it, but it's certainly not necessary for most people yet.