FIGURE A


The Palm m500 Series Mini Keyboard is small, light, and well built. Roll over picture for a larger image.

I've looked at the other clip-on keyboards and never bought. Of the ones I've seen, they either cover the silkscreen area with no compensatory functionality or they hang off the universal connector using flimsy clips. So when the Mini Keyboard was released, I had to have one, even though a shortage of evaluation units forced me to buy it myself.

Pros
At $59.95 it seems pricey for its small size and weight. However, it's well constructed and designed and is significantly cheaper than the functionally similar Portable Keyboard. It slides snugly over the bottom of the handheld, covering the application buttons and silkscreen area, as shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B


The Mini Keyboard fits snugly over the bottom of the Palm handheld. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The fit is so snug, in fact, that it sometimes depresses the application buttons during insertion.

The keyboard compensates for the keys and screen area it covers by supplying replacements for each of the occluded buttons. The only functionality unavailable are, obviously, Graffiti, the quick launch clock, and for the m500, the contrast setting. The additional keys include the application buttons, the scroll buttons, the silkscreen buttons, and a shortcut to the international keyboard. Unfortunately, you still need to use the stylus to enter international characters. As an additional convenience, a power button is included so that you don't have to remove your hands from the keyboard.

The keys are small but highly functional. Even with my rather large fingers, I have very low error rates entering text. The keys have very solid response allowing you to know that key presses have taken effect without watching the screen. Most punctuation symbols are available as shift characters, including the "@" symbol.

Shortcuts are also available for commonly used buttons. Key equivalents for New, Done, and OK are easily available, making many functions navigable through the keyboard. In particular, Memo Pad entries are extremely easy for note taking during meetings.

Cons
One family of applications is not well assisted by the Mini Keyboard. Network applications such as instant messaging or Web browsing cannot be used in online modes because the keyboard dominates the universal connector port. With the i705 for which it was originally released, the network connection is built into the handheld. However, for the m500 series, only the Bluetooth card currently allows network connections without the universal connector. Ideally, a connector pass-through would help, if it were feasible.