Adding a portable keyboard to your pda can go a long way towards making the difference in taking your laptop on a trip or leaving it at home. But since much of the attraction of carrying a pda in the first place is its compactness, a keyboard for the pda should minimize any added bulk as well.
When Dell introduced the Axim it advertised a folding keyboard, as well as a slide-on thumb-board. The folding keyboard was delayed for several weeks, and the thumb-board was pulled. During the delay of the Dell foldable keyboard, third party vendors such as PocketTop, Belkin, and others offered
a folding wireless keyboard that beamed keystrokes to the Axim using its infrared port. The infrared keyboards work pretty well, but are a bit awkward requiring a mirror mounted on the pda and correct positioning between the keyboard and pda so the two can effectively "see" one another.
The Dell folding keyboard is essentially a Belkin G700 (developed in conjunction with Benq/Darfon Electronics.) Belkin makes the G700 for the Sony Clie, Palm mXXX series, HP Jornada, and the Toshiba eXXX series. All are identical except for styling and, of course, the various (and damnably) proprietary pda connectors. Unlike the others, the
G700 for the Axim is only available from Dell itself, not from Belkin. (The Dell version also lists for $20 more than the other G700's $80 price tag as well.)
The keyboard is not so much folding as it is sliding. IBM had a notebook computer with a similar action a few years ago and called it a butterfly keyboard.
To open the keyboard, simply press the button and open the cover fully. Next, grab the tabs on the left and right sides of the keyboard and pull them away from each other.
The two "wings" will slide out revealing a recessed middle section of the keyboard. Extending the left and right sections raises the middle section to the same level as the other two.
Fully extended, there is a small gap between the three sections of the keyboard, and pushing the two outer sections towards the middle locks the three together.
To close the keyboard, reverse the process. Pull the wings out to the fully extended position and then push them towards the center. The middle section will drop back into its recessed position. Close the cover and you are ready to travel.
The process is simpler in actuality than described here and is ridiculously entertaining when one is first introduced to it. The mechanism is elegant without being dainty. The keyboard feels very sturdy and can be used on one's lap almost as easily as on a hard surface.
The keyboard itself has 66 keys with a function key to enable the ten-key pad as well as hot-keys. The keyboard has seven assigned hot-keys and up to ten customizable ones.
The assigned hot-keys give instant access to the most commonly used PIM appplications such as Inbox, Contacts, Notes, Calendar, Tasks, as well as Pocket Word and Excel.
The function key also enables home, pageup, pagedown, esc, ok(for closing applications), and an off key for turning the pda off (there is no key for turning the pda on from the keyboard.)
There are two specialized keys on the bottom row to the left of the space bar. The key with the flying windows logo activates the start menu dropdown. The other key changes the display
back to the Today screen. Pressing the function button plus this key brings up Pocket Internet Explorer by default. The space bar is off center to the left by about one keyspace.
This is is a little annoying at first when pressing the spacebar with your right thumb, but one adjusts to it quickly.
The keyboard pitch, or the space from the center of one key to the center of another, is 17mm. The pitch on my Dell laptop is 18mm and my desktop keyboard has a 20mm pitch.
So, if you are not overly cramped using a laptop keyboard, the Dell folding keyboard should not be much of a change.
The key traverse, or how far the key moves when it is depressed, is 2mm, which gives it a more than sufficient response for touch typing. Key action is crisp and quiet, so quiet in fact that the software driver includes an option for the pda to produce a "click" sound through
the speaker in conjuction with a key press. Other software switches control the delay and rate for key repeats, and there is an option to disable the external keyboard in the software.
The connector holds the pda on the keyboard securely. There is no way to set the angle of the pda relative to the keyboard. The pda simply leans back against the stand at about a forty degree angle. Additionally, there
is no way to adjust the connection for landscape (although there is an adapter rumored...) The keyboard can accept the pda with either the standard or extended battery. Although with the extended battery the relative angle is a little more towards the vertical, but viewing is not noticeably different.
While the pda is connected to the keyboard, the user can access the expansions slots, IR port, headphone jack, stylus, buttons, etc. with no difficulty. Only the bottom side of the pda is obstructed. The keyboard includes a power jack so that the pda power supply can be plugged into
the keyboard to power the pda and recharge the batteries. The touch screen function of the pda works normally while the pda is connected to the keyboard.
It should be noted that there is no build-in wrist protection in any of the portable keyboards,
so there is a risk of ergonomic or repetitive stress aggravation with extended use. In my own experience, I have not had any wrist related issues even using the keyboard for a couple of hours straight.
But I did notice my neck gets a little stiff after a couple of hours of looking down at the pda screen while typing.
PROS
· Compact when closed yet comfortable size and feel when in use.
· Sturdy enough to be use on your lap.
· Quickstart and programmable hotkeys.
· Reasonable power usage.
· Cool mechanism for folding and expanding the keyboard.
CONS
· Does not support Landscape orientation.
· Cannot set the angle between the pda and keyboard.
· Not particularly inexpensive.
This keyboard is not perfect, but it is about as good a solution to the pda data input issue as I have seen. And it makes a world of difference when I am travelling.
Memos, email, PocketWord documents, you name it, this keyboard makes them a snap. Overall, I would give it a rating of Very Good and would highly recommend it to
those of you who do a lot of travelling but need to stay connected on the road. This keyboard will really make a difference.
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Click the images to view the larger versions.
Dimensions:
Closed: 3.74" x 5.83" x .55" (95mm x 148mm x 14mm)
Opened: 6.85" x 9.77" x 2.75" (174mm x 248mm x 70mm)
Weight: 7 ounces (198.5g)
Click below to see screen shots.
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