by Jeff Kirvin

There's no denying it: the thumb keyboard on the RIM Blackberry pager is a hit. A lot of people are more comfortable with a keyboard, even a small one, than with even the best handwriting recognition. Cell phones have gotten people used to lots of tiny key presses, and the idea of thumb-sized QWERTY keyboards is more realistic now than when the Pilot 1000 debuted in 1996. Thumb keyboards are all the rage, it seems, and nearly every brand of PDA has one either built-in (like the new Handspring Treo) or as an optional accessory (like the thumb keyboard option for the new Palm i705).

I have to admit that data input on the Pocket PC had become something of a problem for me. I've never been really fond of Transcriber. Maybe it's just my weird southpaw handwriting that's marginal by human standards, but Transcriber was never accurate enough for me to bother with. Likewise I don't care for the Pocket PC's QWERTY on-screen keyboard or for the Jot-like Letter Recognizer. Even the new Block Recognizer, very similar to the Palm Graffiti I know so well, isn't quite as trouble-free as Graffiti due to one of the shortcomings of the new Jornadas, namely the under-sensitive digitizer (for example, an "n" is occasionally recognized as two "i"s because I didn't press down hard enough on the upstroke).

I've taken to using Fitaly as my default on-screen input method, because it's fast and reasonably accurate. While I haven't even scratched the surface of what it can do (like using the Palm-inspired shortcut phrase expansion), I nonetheless find that I sometimes avoid entering text on my Pocket PC on the go, preferring to wait until I get to a flat surface where I can use my trusty Stowaway or (shudder) even my laptop. As a writer, I thus find that occasional bits of inspiration, little turns of phrase that could turn into nice passages, elude me when I try to recall them later. And isn't just that sort of writing whenever inspiration strikes the very reason I advocate writing on palmtops anyway?

(And yes, I know my Jornada has built-in voice recording, but I rarely use it for writing. It sounds like a great idea, but until I can afford a secretary it isn't practical for me. I hate transcribing that stuff myself. Or ooh! Better yet, locally processed voice recognition!)

So with pen-based solutions too slow/cumbersome and with the Stowaway too impractical on the go, how to enter data? A thumb keyboard seemed like it might do the trick, and in fact it does.

The hp pocket keyboard fits over the front of the device by clicking into the same holes in the upper corners normally used by the default screen cover, and it locks onto the bottom of the device with a little sliding connector that clicks into the sync and power connectors. Once installed, it's quite stable and feels like part of the device. Above the actual keyboard, it incorporates a screen cover of its own, a little spring-loaded plate just big enough for the actual screen. There's a hole in the lower left of the keyboard that serves as a pass-through for the microphone, and the small holes on the right side that allow sound from the Jornada's internal speaker. Installing the keyboard adds about 3/4 inch to the Jornada's overall length, nothing to the width, and makes it noticeably heavier, although the weight is still reasonable. I don't have a scale handy, but it doesn't feel much heavier than my iPaq with a loaded CF sleeve.

The keyboard itself feels great, with just the right amount of tactile feedback. There are thirty-seven physical keys, covering the English alphabet and basic punctuation and navigation. The key in the lower left hand corner is marked with a yellow blob, and it allows you to access the numbers and extended punctuation printed in yellow on each key. The keyboard also has a backlight button, which turns on a bluish backlight behind the keys for typing in dim light. This is great for typing while waiting for a movie to start in the theater (where much of this review was written, and a place where a Stowaway would be nearly impossible to use).

On the left side of the keyboard is the "On/Lock" switch. One of the things I was concerned about before I got the keyboard was that it would be easy to accidentally activate it and type gibberish in my pocket. This switch makes that a non-issue. It acts like a simple toggle switch, up (with a little visible red indicator, like many car doors) for locked, down for unlocked. When the keyboard is locked, it's quite impossible to accidentally turn it on by hitting any of the keys. Better, since the keyboard covers the normal on/off button, you turn on the Jornada by switching the keyboard to the "on" position, then pushing in on the lock switch, which only functions like a button when in the "on" position. Clever!

The keyboard comes with a CD that installs the driver application. Unlike the Stowaway driver, this program does not stay resident in memory when you exit out of it. It puts a little keyboard icon in the system tray (which you can only see on the Today screen) and for WISbar/Gigabar users, you'll see an icon on the title bar too since it's a running program. The driver allows you to enable/disable the keyboard, and toggle whether or now the shift and "yellow blob" keys are sticky. I find that it makes the keyboard much easier to use if you turn on the sticky options, since it allows you to hit the shift key and then the letter you want to capitalize, rather than trying to "chord" them together with just your thumbs.

I'm not a small guy. I've got big, beefy hands with big, beefy fingers. How's the accuracy on this keyboard of you aren't built like an elf? Actually, not bad. I end up hitting adjacent keys once in a while, but I think that's something that will go away with practice. Overall, the keys are separated adequately for even the stubby-thumbed to nail one and only one key with a thumb's edge. Typing is comfortable and reasonably quick. It's not as fast as my "mach 3 with my hair on fire" Stowaway, but even my laptop keyboard isn't that fast and comfortable. I'd say the hp pocket keyboard is as fast and comfortable as Fitaly, and far faster than any other pen-based input methods.

Sounds great, right? Any downsides? Funny you should ask.

For a device intended to "free" users from reaching for the stylus, the hp pocket keyboard is somewhat lacking when it comes to navigation. There are buttons for left and right cursor movement, but not up and down. (The left and right buttons double as page up and page down via the yellow blob key.) There is no pass-through for the start menu or any of the hardware buttons, although the page up and page down buttons do jump up and down the Start Menu three items at a time. I end up using my fingernails to select stuff on screen. Thank goodness for my vinyl screen protector.

There's also no pass-through for the power and sync connectors on the bottom of the device. While I initially thought this would mean I'd have to remove the keyboard every time I charged or synced my Jornada (let's all shudder thinking of the wear and tear on the hardware that would entail), it turns out that I really only have to disengage the connector at the bottom and swing it out about 10 degrees. This is enough to clear the sync cradle without completely removing the keyboard. It's not as low-maintenance as if I were able to just drop the Jornada in the cradle as-is, but it'll do.

The Jornada has perhaps the best battery life of the new Pocket PC 2002 devices, and it comes in handy here. I noticed the battery indicator in WISbar moving noticeably more than usual -- that is, moving at all -- while the keyboard was attached. It's not hard to imagine why. The keyboard has to stay powered constantly since it takes over as the on switch, so the connection to the Jornada has to stay active even if the Jornada itself is powered "off". I'm sure the drain is minimal, but it does add up. Maybe I need to buy the $99 hp extended battery that doubles the Jornada's already impressive battery life...

The last disadvantage is that the hp pocket keyboard does not work and play well with the Stowaway, although to hp's credit they do document this several times in the pocket keyboard documentation. To use the pocket keyboard, you have to disable the Stowaway driver first. And the pocket keyboard is a little too long to do the "disengage and swivel" trick that works with cradles; it covers up the Stowaway's 5&6 keys. So to use the Stowaway you have to switch to the pocket keyboard driver application and disable it, then run the Stowaway driver and enable that, then manually remove the pocket keyboard. Then you have to reverse the process when you're done.

All in all though, the hp pocket keyboard is a damn fine accessory, well worth the $50 I paid for it. If you're looking for a fast, mobile method of text entry, I highly recommend it.

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Jeff Kirvin is a mobile computing consultant and writer. In addition to his work with MobileBiz Solutions, he also runs his Web site WritingOnYourPalm.net. Jeff can be reached at jeff@runningonyourpalm.net

Buy the HP Jornada Pocket Keyboard from Amazon.com!