Oh, What a Keyboard I Do Have
Okay, I finally have a keyboard again. After losing my original Stowaway Infrared, I needed another keyboard. Graffiti is great, TealScript even better, but if I'm writing anything more than a few paragraphs, I need something that can really keep up with my brain. I like the more relaxed pace longhand/Graffiti gives me, and use it intentionally for more contemplative, dialogue-heavy scenes, but for action, gimme a keyboard.
I thought about just buying a new keyboard like my old one, but I saw a photo online of a new keyboard coming out from PalmOne, called the PalmOne Universal Wireless Keyboard. It looks very similar to the original Infrared Stowaway, but adds a few important new features. It meant goinig without a keyboard for (gasp) a month, but it was so worth it.
For the basics, check out my original review of the first IR keyboard. Here's what's new, different and better.
Hardware
The single biggest change is that this keyboard has a real number row! I hated the four row layout of the original IR Stowaway, not so much because it lacked numbers, but because all the number row punctuation required function-key chords rather than using the shift key, like one would on a standard computer keyboard. The number row on the new keyboard is only half height (as is the spacebar row, which is how they managed to fit two rows into the space where there used to be one) but it's good enough. My parentheses keys are right were they belong, and all is right with the world.
The second thing I really like is that the stand or shelf in which the PDA sits actually slides over to the middle of the unfolded keyboard. It's a small detail, but it just feels more natural to have the screen centered on the keyboard rather than off to one side. The act of sliding the stand over also turns the keyboard on and off.
The IR arm now swings around a complete 180 degrees to accomodate just about any kind of device you'd care to put in this thing. In fact, the comes with drivers for both PalmOS and Windows Mobile. About the only problem I have with the hardware is that the ? key is outside the right shift, causing problems if I don't remember to reach a little further for question marks and slashes. Having a number row more than makes up for this. It's not perfect, but I'll take it.
Software
The driver seems to be completely new, a break from the previous hard dock and IR Stowaway drivers. In fact, I can't find any evidence that this model is actually made by Think Outside, although it looks like their work. The driver works well with my Zodiac, although not all of the special key combinations seem to work (for example, pressing the Cmd+Done keys doesn't hit the Done button in WordSmith, and while Fn+L does bring up the backlight dialog, the arrow keys don't move the sliders like the D-pad would).
The software is pretty simple, with only two configurable screens. The first turns the driver on or off and optionally enables keyclicks. The second screen turns on or off power management and has five selectable levels to choose from. These are basically just presets to determine how long the PDA looks for a keyboard after power on and how long until it automatically shuts off the IR port after inactivity.
While I have a little trouble using TealScript on screen with my Zod while listening to music (running WordSmith and PocketTunes), I'm happy to report that I have no such issues with background music slowing down keyboard input. If anything, listening to my 32 hours of musical scores (on a Lexar 1GB card) while writing is pretty amazing, especially with the Zodiac's stereo speakers. WordSmith in full screen mode (Cmd-W), music playing and my black Zod sitting in a black keyboard on my black lapdesk (since the center hinge now locks when the tray slides over, you can use this keyboard on your lap, but I don't recommend it), this is all the portable computer I need to write anytime, anywhere.
I thought about just buying a new keyboard like my old one, but I saw a photo online of a new keyboard coming out from PalmOne, called the PalmOne Universal Wireless Keyboard. It looks very similar to the original Infrared Stowaway, but adds a few important new features. It meant goinig without a keyboard for (gasp) a month, but it was so worth it.
For the basics, check out my original review of the first IR keyboard. Here's what's new, different and better.
Hardware
The single biggest change is that this keyboard has a real number row! I hated the four row layout of the original IR Stowaway, not so much because it lacked numbers, but because all the number row punctuation required function-key chords rather than using the shift key, like one would on a standard computer keyboard. The number row on the new keyboard is only half height (as is the spacebar row, which is how they managed to fit two rows into the space where there used to be one) but it's good enough. My parentheses keys are right were they belong, and all is right with the world.
The second thing I really like is that the stand or shelf in which the PDA sits actually slides over to the middle of the unfolded keyboard. It's a small detail, but it just feels more natural to have the screen centered on the keyboard rather than off to one side. The act of sliding the stand over also turns the keyboard on and off.
The IR arm now swings around a complete 180 degrees to accomodate just about any kind of device you'd care to put in this thing. In fact, the comes with drivers for both PalmOS and Windows Mobile. About the only problem I have with the hardware is that the ? key is outside the right shift, causing problems if I don't remember to reach a little further for question marks and slashes. Having a number row more than makes up for this. It's not perfect, but I'll take it.
Software
The driver seems to be completely new, a break from the previous hard dock and IR Stowaway drivers. In fact, I can't find any evidence that this model is actually made by Think Outside, although it looks like their work. The driver works well with my Zodiac, although not all of the special key combinations seem to work (for example, pressing the Cmd+Done keys doesn't hit the Done button in WordSmith, and while Fn+L does bring up the backlight dialog, the arrow keys don't move the sliders like the D-pad would).
The software is pretty simple, with only two configurable screens. The first turns the driver on or off and optionally enables keyclicks. The second screen turns on or off power management and has five selectable levels to choose from. These are basically just presets to determine how long the PDA looks for a keyboard after power on and how long until it automatically shuts off the IR port after inactivity.
While I have a little trouble using TealScript on screen with my Zod while listening to music (running WordSmith and PocketTunes), I'm happy to report that I have no such issues with background music slowing down keyboard input. If anything, listening to my 32 hours of musical scores (on a Lexar 1GB card) while writing is pretty amazing, especially with the Zodiac's stereo speakers. WordSmith in full screen mode (Cmd-W), music playing and my black Zod sitting in a black keyboard on my black lapdesk (since the center hinge now locks when the tray slides over, you can use this keyboard on your lap, but I don't recommend it), this is all the portable computer I need to write anytime, anywhere.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home