lefei
23rd March 2004, 03:12 PM
Since the initial release of the Palm, many Piloteers have been asking for a keyboard as an alternative input mechanism. At that time, the best one could do was to connect their Palms to a Newton keyboard with a specially made adapter. Then along came the GoType! keyboard. That was good timing, as Newton was discontinued by Apple a while later. Since then, The GoType! by Landware has become the most popular keyboard for the Palm. Size
With a rough dimension of about 25.3cm x 11.3cm x 3.0cm (all measurements taken by me at their respective widest point), the GoType! is small. It is light too, reportedly weighing only 311.8 g.
Build
The material used for the keyboard is not unlike my PalmIIIx, some kind of hard plastic. The keyboard cover folds down to protect the keys and folds up to reveal the connectors for docking. At the same time, the cover supports the Palm when it docks. This means that unlike other keyboard solutions, users need not carry additional hardware to use the GoType!
There are no worries about power either, since it does not need batteries to operate and it was stated that minimal battery drain will be incurred during usage.
Layout
The layout of the keyboard is pretty close to the standard English keyboard. In addition, it has 6 Function Keys (for quick launching of build in programs), Command, Shortcut and Alt keys. Typing special characters and international characters can be done through holding down these special keys. One thing to note is the position of the up arrow key. I guess to preserve the inverted T shape of the arrow keys, Landware has made a decision to shorten the right shift key and place the up arrow key in between the "/" key and the right shift key.
<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%">
</TD><TD width="50%">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Installation
The keyboard comes with an installation floppy disk. Basically, you will need to install the driver from the disk to make the Palm recognize the GoType. The keyboard driver comes in two versions: a HackMaster compatible and a normal one. I installed the HackMaster one, since I already have HackMaster on my Palm. There is no documentation stating the difference between the two drivers. From the configuration manual of the GoType! driver, there are options to map the Function Keys, set delay repeat time, key repeat rate etc.
<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%">
</TD><TD width="50%">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Usage
It was stated on the brief manual that the Palm has to be docked onto the GoType! when turned on, for it to recognize the additional hardware. I did that. The docking action is similar to docking to the Palm cradle. However, docking on GoType! is more venerable, because the keyboard cover doesn't curve inwards to hold the Palm like the cradle. For this reason, typing in a non-steady environment like buses or trains, or even planes, may cause the Palm to dislodge from the keyboard accidentally.
Anyway, after the Palm is turned on, I launched the Memopad application through one of the keyboard's function keys. Worked like a charm.
Typing on the GoType! was not as easy as I thought. It's small size means that the distance between keys is less than regular keyboards. As a result I often mistyped letters, and this slowed down the text entry speed. If you are a touch typist, take note that there will be a slight learning curve.
And as I mentioned before, the unconventional position of the up arrow key is awkward. As a result, I was pretty annoyed to find myself constantly going up by one line instead of typing a Capital letter.Luckily the problem was resolved when I downloaded v1.1 of the GoType! driver from the Landware web site. The new driver has an option to swap the right shift key and the up arrow key by software.
The keys have a mild tactile feel to them but they don't produce clicking sound when depressed. This is convenient for occasions when noise will attract unwanted attention.
Highlighting by pressing shift keys and left/right arrows work fine, but the same cannot said to be true with shift keys and up/down arrows. I find that shift and up/down will highlight more than intended lines, sometimes even whole screen. I had to resort to using the stylus in this case.
Conclusion
After having the GoType! for close to a month and used it in quite a few situations, I would say GoType! is a great tool. Its main purpose is to speed up text entry and it does well in this aspect. Get the keyboard if you're constantly entering text, taking minutes during a meeting or lecture notes during lectures or writing emails or long memos, or if you travel often and don't carry a notebook computer. You probably won't need the keyboard if you seldom scribble more than 20 words in Graffiti at a time, if you have a light notebook computer already, or if you are shy about attracting attention.
Nonetheless, be warned that Palm's limited screen size may make your eyes uncomfortable after long periods of typing. Also, the price of the keyboard is expensive at S$140. The GoType! keyboard is available at a few shops in Funan Centre You can also get a carrying case for the keyboard. Landware website is at http://www.landware.com (http://www.landware.com/). Highly recommended for people who enter lots of text on their Palms. But I won't try writing a novel with it, mainly because of Palm's limited display size and word processing capabilities (get a B5 sized notebook instead). This review was written using PalmIIIx and GoType! keyboard.
Review by Viboon Chaojirapant (viboon@viboon.net)
29 Aug 1999
With a rough dimension of about 25.3cm x 11.3cm x 3.0cm (all measurements taken by me at their respective widest point), the GoType! is small. It is light too, reportedly weighing only 311.8 g.
Build
The material used for the keyboard is not unlike my PalmIIIx, some kind of hard plastic. The keyboard cover folds down to protect the keys and folds up to reveal the connectors for docking. At the same time, the cover supports the Palm when it docks. This means that unlike other keyboard solutions, users need not carry additional hardware to use the GoType!
There are no worries about power either, since it does not need batteries to operate and it was stated that minimal battery drain will be incurred during usage.
Layout
The layout of the keyboard is pretty close to the standard English keyboard. In addition, it has 6 Function Keys (for quick launching of build in programs), Command, Shortcut and Alt keys. Typing special characters and international characters can be done through holding down these special keys. One thing to note is the position of the up arrow key. I guess to preserve the inverted T shape of the arrow keys, Landware has made a decision to shorten the right shift key and place the up arrow key in between the "/" key and the right shift key.
<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%">
</TD><TD width="50%">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Installation
The keyboard comes with an installation floppy disk. Basically, you will need to install the driver from the disk to make the Palm recognize the GoType. The keyboard driver comes in two versions: a HackMaster compatible and a normal one. I installed the HackMaster one, since I already have HackMaster on my Palm. There is no documentation stating the difference between the two drivers. From the configuration manual of the GoType! driver, there are options to map the Function Keys, set delay repeat time, key repeat rate etc.
<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%">
</TD><TD width="50%">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Usage
It was stated on the brief manual that the Palm has to be docked onto the GoType! when turned on, for it to recognize the additional hardware. I did that. The docking action is similar to docking to the Palm cradle. However, docking on GoType! is more venerable, because the keyboard cover doesn't curve inwards to hold the Palm like the cradle. For this reason, typing in a non-steady environment like buses or trains, or even planes, may cause the Palm to dislodge from the keyboard accidentally.
Anyway, after the Palm is turned on, I launched the Memopad application through one of the keyboard's function keys. Worked like a charm.
Typing on the GoType! was not as easy as I thought. It's small size means that the distance between keys is less than regular keyboards. As a result I often mistyped letters, and this slowed down the text entry speed. If you are a touch typist, take note that there will be a slight learning curve.
And as I mentioned before, the unconventional position of the up arrow key is awkward. As a result, I was pretty annoyed to find myself constantly going up by one line instead of typing a Capital letter.Luckily the problem was resolved when I downloaded v1.1 of the GoType! driver from the Landware web site. The new driver has an option to swap the right shift key and the up arrow key by software.
The keys have a mild tactile feel to them but they don't produce clicking sound when depressed. This is convenient for occasions when noise will attract unwanted attention.
Highlighting by pressing shift keys and left/right arrows work fine, but the same cannot said to be true with shift keys and up/down arrows. I find that shift and up/down will highlight more than intended lines, sometimes even whole screen. I had to resort to using the stylus in this case.
Conclusion
After having the GoType! for close to a month and used it in quite a few situations, I would say GoType! is a great tool. Its main purpose is to speed up text entry and it does well in this aspect. Get the keyboard if you're constantly entering text, taking minutes during a meeting or lecture notes during lectures or writing emails or long memos, or if you travel often and don't carry a notebook computer. You probably won't need the keyboard if you seldom scribble more than 20 words in Graffiti at a time, if you have a light notebook computer already, or if you are shy about attracting attention.
Nonetheless, be warned that Palm's limited screen size may make your eyes uncomfortable after long periods of typing. Also, the price of the keyboard is expensive at S$140. The GoType! keyboard is available at a few shops in Funan Centre You can also get a carrying case for the keyboard. Landware website is at http://www.landware.com (http://www.landware.com/). Highly recommended for people who enter lots of text on their Palms. But I won't try writing a novel with it, mainly because of Palm's limited display size and word processing capabilities (get a B5 sized notebook instead). This review was written using PalmIIIx and GoType! keyboard.
Review by Viboon Chaojirapant (viboon@viboon.net)
29 Aug 1999