Palm Ultra-Thin Keyboard?

[clare]

In addition to the Palm Hard Case I've been pining so loudly for, I'm also very curious about the Palm Ultra-Thin Keyboard (http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1195299&cp=1170719.1179767). I'm very happy to hear that it's s'posta arrive with Palm OS 5.0 support already. But I'm curious to hear what any actual users think of it. Apparently it ships in "1-2 full business days", so perhaps some of you have it already? Is it rigid enough for (true) laptop use as claimed? Would the TT balance adequately on the device while it's used alone on the top of a lap? Is the overlaying of the number keys and the QWERTY line of keys annoying? What do people think; do people like it? Are there any user reviews out there that people can point me to?

--Clare

[bole]

I've got one two weeks ago.

First, it looks fantastic. Next, unlike the old PPK, you can use this one from your lap. I tested it with my M505 and the latest beta driver and didn't notice any problems. ThinkOutside drivers were always very fast, so is the case with the latest beta driver.

There is one dissadvantage, though. As it has only four rows of keys, the first row has tripple functions - letters (QWERTY...), characters !@#$... and numbers, so you'll need some time to get used to the new layout. Fortunately, I'm not using numbers too much so that was not a problem for me. :)

[Clie-Taurus]

How does the size of the new keyboard compare to the old one? This is one question I have because I have a belt case that fits my Tungsten T and existing folding keyboard perfectly. How much longer is it closed then the old one?

[bole]

Originally posted by Clie-Taurus
How does the size of the new keyboard compare to the old one? This is one question I have because I have a belt case that fits my Tungsten T and existing folding keyboard perfectly. How much longer is it closed then the old one?

It is 1 cm longer and 5 mm wider than the old one.
It's lighter (the old is ~240 g, and the new one ~170 g) and the thickness is a bit more than a half of the old keyboard.

[Clie-Taurus]

What about the closed size? Is it any longer/taller than the old model?

[bole]

Originally posted by Clie-Taurus
What about the closed size? Is it any longer/taller than the old model?

I was talking about the closed size. :)

[Clie-Taurus]

D'Oh! Thanks for letting me know. I returned my existing Palm Portable Keyboard so I could get the smaller and lighter model. I expect when I do get it there will be some adjustment time for touch typing. I'm still amazed that Think Outside could come up with an even smaller and useable keyboard. I wonder if they will ever come out with a USB version of either model to plug into a PC. I think it would be cool to have a keyboard like that with a flatscreen monitor. You would have very minimal deskspace being used (unless your tower was a monster).

[clare]

I just found two detailed reviews of the Palm Ultra-Thin Keyboard:
PalmInfocenter review (http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=4679)
Gadgeteer review (http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/stowaway-xt-review.html)

I'm pretty convinced that I want one now!

[sleuth255]

Ordered it from Amazon.com yesterday for 107 + free shipping. It arrived today! (Milwaukee WI). I sure wasn't expecting it so soon.

First impressions:

That missing 4th row throws me off, I keep trying to orient my hands to the row below home row. I can prevent this by not looking at the kbd.

I'm having problems with the myriad of function (blue/green) key shifted functions.

Sometimes, when I hit a key on the edge at the same side of the keyboard as a FN key that I'm holding, the keyboard can tip. That's because the edges of the keyboard don't contact the desk.

All these are learning curve issues IMO. The thing fits unnoticably in my pocket, and seems very well constructed. It's a great compliment for my TT, and was very useful for taking notes at a presentation this morning.

[GWD]

I have had mine for a couple of days and really like it. The function keys are kind of hard to get used to, but I don't mind, as the size and ability to type anywhere (as it is rigid compared to the older version) is a great tradeoff. Typing numbers is the hardest thing to do, but I don't usually need to type the actual number unless I am updating spreadsheets, and the numlock feature works just fine in those cases.

I do wish the keyboard sat completely down on the typing surface, as the tipping is an issue at times. I also noticed that the delete key does not work in Word To Go, but these are very small issues. The keyboard looks very good, and makes the old PPK look very big.

One side problem I am having with it, though, is that if the driver is enabled, my hotsync cycle takes about 7 minutes to complete. I have emailed Palm about it to see if it is a bug, and they have just offered the old "reinstall" answer. Anyone else having this issue?

[OldBlue]

clare

Here's another review, complete with pictures comparing the new and old keyboards side-by-side:

http://www.brighthand.com/article/Ultra-Thin_KB_Review

The reviewer liked the new board.

OldBlue

[Bill Westwood]

I've had problems since installing the keyboard driver as well. Hotsync sometimes fails with the message "Memory chunk underlocked", same thing happened with beta driver for foldaway keyboard. I had hoped with a fully released driver this wouldn't be a problem, but such is life!

[adamr]

Originally posted by GWD
One side problem I am having with it, though, is that if the driver is enabled, my hotsync cycle takes about 7 minutes to complete. I have emailed Palm about it to see if it is a bug, and they have just offered the old "reinstall" answer. Anyone else having this issue?

I'm having the exact same problem. I have to disable the driver before hotsync'ing.. major pain..

[sleuth255]

v5.01 of McPhling in conjunction with the kbd driver caused this problem on my TT. Disabling either of them fixed it.

McPhling v5.10 fixed this for me.

Another unrelated issue with the kbd:

Docs2Go doesn't support numbers yet which is a bit of a pain...

[JaneC]

I bought the "Compatible With m500 series" Palm Portable Keyboard and upon install it stated a fatal error. I think I may have the wrong keyboard. Is there another board for the Tungsten T? Also, I am unable to delete on my handheld the keyboard under the Apps. Am I doing something wrong? I tried doing a Hard Reset which did not help. Frustrated!

[clare]

JaneC--

The driver that is supplied with the regular Palm Portable Keyboard that you bought is NOT compatible with the Tungsten T (annoying, isn't it!). You'll have to download the special driver for the Tungsten T from Palm's Website. It's "beta" software, so theoretically you may experience problems with it. I did use it myself for two weeks, with my Tungsten T, and had no problems (unlike the problems I've heard here for the Slim Keyboard driver). You can download this Beta PPK TT driver at http://www.palm.com/support/beta/tungstent_keyboard.html Good luck!

--Clare

[JaneC]

Clare, thank you. I will try that.

[Bill Westwood]

The fold-away keyboard driver is not compatible with the Tungsten. I had the same problems as you. There is a beta driver (v1.9) which is downlaodable from Palm's website. It works okay, but the hot sync operation falls over every now & again with the driver installed, Palm say the problem will be solved on the full release.
Before you install the new driver, you will need to remove the old one. As you say, you cannot remove it the normal way. What you have to do is hot sync your Palm, then go to your backup folder (usually C:\Palm\user name(truncated)\Backup) and remove the keyboard.prc file from there. Do a hard reset. Then do another hot sync to restore your machine (backup buddy might be useful to help ensure full resoration). Hope this helps, it worked for me!

[JaneC]

Thank you. I believe I have now resolved the problem of the keyboard driver. I later downloaded some shareware from palmboulevard.com and found that none of it was compatible wth OS 5.0. It appears that the old saying, "you get what you pay for" may hold true here. I need to continue searching for things compatible with OS 5.0. Any suggestions for financial software and the best way to track something like gas mileage/auto maintenance?

[Bill Westwood]

There is an expense program bundles with the Tungsten. I use Ultrasoft's "Money" with lots of seperate accounts set up to track such things, syncs with Microsoft Money as well!