PalmOne Portable Keyboard for Palm m125, m130, i705, and m500 Series Handhelds
by PALM

List Price: $99.99
Our Price: $5.00
You Save: $94.99 (95%)
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Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details

• Innovative design weighs just 8 ounces and folds up to save space; no batteries required
• Full-size keys for true touch-typing
• Take notes, write e-mail, create spreadsheets, and more
• Compatible with Palm m125, m130, i705, and m500 series handhelds

• PalmOne m500 Handheld
• PalmOne m515 Color Handheld
• PalmOne m505 Color Handheld
• PalmOne m130 Handheld
• PalmOne Tungsten T Handheld

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of PalmOne Portable Keyboard for Palm m125, m130, i705, and m500 Series Handhelds

Customer Review: Five Great Ways to use the Palm Keyboard!
Summary: 5 Stars

1) Data Input -- Here's the obvious. The Palm keyboard is usable for inputting data into all of the major Palm applications; calendar, address book, memo, to-do list and e-mail. Typing is always faster -- and more accurate. (No surprises here.)

2) Word Processing and Printing -- This one isn't so obvious. If you add Docs to Go (from Dataviz) on to your Palm, this will enable you to modify and compose new MS Word documents directly on your PDA. If you also add either BtPrint or IRPrint (from ISComplete.com), you can then print these documents to any number of Bluetooth or infrared capable printers (such as HP's 995 for Bluetooth, or HP's 350, 990, 995, or 1315 printers for IR). Syncing with your PC becomes less necessary. And why lug around a heavy laptop to word process when the Palm and Palm keyboard are as easy to carry as two small paperback novels?

3) Address Book -- Here's a fun one. Open the address book and type in the first 3-5 letters of the name you're seeking and hit "enter." And, voila! You're there! I use the Palm keyboard when I have a lengthy list of people to call. (Scrolling with the stylus is, by comparison, very slow -- and for the birds!)

4) E-mails and Voice Mails -- Here's another less obvious one (but a biggie!). I use my Palm keyboard to write down information -- and action steps -- while reading or listening to e-mails and voice-mails, respectively. Then I delete them (or never look at them again). Why print out, file, shuffle and re-read or re-listen to e-mails and voice mails? This is so time consuming. With the Palm keyboard, I can record more info than on a note pad, and I can put my next steps directly into my to-do list so I won't forget. (To make this even easier, I always listen to voice mail using a speakerphone -- my company's at work, and my Siemens 4200 2.4 ghz at home. All of the Siemens 4200 series phones have a speakerphone built into both the base and remote units. Very handy.)

5) Taking Notes in Meetings -- This is another biggie! Why use paper and pen -- when typing into one's Palm is so much faster? The data also becomes much more usable. After the meeting, I can print out a hard copy if I'd like to file the notes or distribute them phsycially. I can also upload them to my PC (normally as a MS Word document) if I want to file or disseminate them electronically. If you're worried about the "geek factor" of taking the keyboard to meetings -- there isn't one! The Palm keyboard is an engineering marvel. I get only "oohs" and "aahs" when I unfurl it. (Taking a laptop to a meeting -- now, that's geeky!) Other's are even more impressed when I arrive -- without any paper!

In terms of computer power, the Palm is really a mini-PC -- but hardly anyone uses it as such! The slow speed of data input (with a stylus), I believe, is a major factor. With this remarkably compact keyboard, the Palm can become a major productivity-enhancing tool. See how much faster you can go! I highly recommend it!

Description of PalmOne Portable Keyboard for Palm m125, m130, i705, and m500 Series Handhelds

Installation of the Keyboard application onto the Palm handheld is easily accomplished during a typical HotSync. (To prepare the app for HotSync, simply add it to the Install Tool on Windows, or the Install Handheld Files in the Mac HotSync Manager.)

Once the app was installed we were ready for testing at a meeting. We sauntered in and unfolded the keyboard in a flourish--clicking it open from its folded position, laying it flat, sliding the keyboard parts together (it's broken into thirds for folding), and attaching our m500 in a matter of seconds. The attendees at the meeting were suitably wide-eyed and impressed with our James Bondian device. (This model of the Palm portable keyboard also accommodates Palm m125, m130, i705, and other m500 series handhelds.)

But the Palm portable keyboard is more than a flashy toy--it's a productivity juggernaut that has some of the best keyboard action we've ever experienced. The keys are not soft and mushy like other keyboards we've tested for handhelds. Instead, they're a bit on the tight side but with a lot of give. Also, the more we used the keyboard, the more we found ourselves shying away from tapping the screen to navigate or to perform actions such as switching applications or opening up the details section of a Memo or Address Book contact. With the Palm keyboard, you can do virtually all your work without taking your fingers off the keyboard.

The keyboard includes custom buttons for the built-in Palm applications (Date Book, Address, To Do List, and Memo Pad). Several keys have added functions, such as the ability to open up the Apps screen, scroll through a screen, or turn on the backlight. You can also customize your own shortcuts list of applications loaded onto your Palm handheld. This is done using the Keyboard app, and you can assign the number keys 1 through 9 (but not 0). After making our designations, pressing Cmd+1 immediately took us to our favorite diversion--YahtC--during a lull in our meeting.

All told, we have nothing but praise for the Palm portable keyboard, not just for the ease of inputting text but also for changing the way we use our Palm handheld. Since we started using the keyboard, we now often travel without any laptop, confident that any degree of writing or note taking during meetings can be handled by our Palm alone. (It should also be noted that we typed this review on our m500 while sitting comfortably at our local coffee shop.) If you are a heavy Palm user, the Palm portable keyboard is an essential and very cool tool. --Agen G.N. Schmitz

Pros:

• Highly portable
• Customizable
• Keys have a very comfortable feel

• Will need to work on flat surface