The Palm Portable Keyboard is a full sized keyboard for the PalmOS devices, (Palm III, V and VII series as well as the Handspring Visor series) that allows you to enter data into any test field of any application (as far as I can tell) by typing. The Palm Portable Keyboard (aka the Stowaway keyboard) ) is manufactured by a company called Think Outside and is sold under license by Palm Inc

	The Palm Portable Keyboard is available in both Palm III and Palm V versions

Anyone who has used a PalmOS machine for any length of time knows that Graffiti is great for entering names and addresses, but gets really tiresome when you are trying to reply to an e-mail that needs more than a two-sentence answer. Several attempts have been made to fix this problem, from the software based Fitaly Keyboard, which generates a better keyboard on screen for "tap-typing," to the LandWare GoType keyboard and various adapters that allow you to connect standard keyboards to your Palm. The Fitaly supposedly works well (I have never tried it), with one reviewer stating that he could get 40 words per minute (about as fast as I can type!). All the other hardware keyboards are (IMHO) not very useful because of the simple fact that they are HUGE. I bought a Palm III so that I could wear it on my belt and use it in seconds.

Some people have made the comment that anyone who needs a keyboard for their Palm is trying to do too much, and should be using a laptop instead. I disagree. My windows laptop takes about 3 minutes to boot. With the Palm Portable Keyboard, I can be typing in an instant (open keyboard, pull out handheld rest, plug in handheld, press memo, type. Elapsed time, about 7 seconds.) Now I have another option when I want to enter more data into my P-III. If the Email only merits a few sentences, then I'll graffiti it. Otherwise, I can pull out my keyboard and be ready to type a more substantial answer in a few seconds.

	Closed, the keyboard is not much larger that a Palm III, but opens to full size

The nearly universal response of coworkers seems to be "Whoa, cool!" followed by "How much is that?" I did get one "What the heck is THAT?" but that was from a medic who had never seen a palm pilot before (and the next thing he said was "Whoa, cool!"). Let's face it people, this is a keyboard that FOLDS UP! How cool is that? The keyboard is full sized (bigger than even some laptops) and has a positive key click and nice amount of vertical travel. In fact, the keyboard is so large that I had to retrain myself to type on it, because after using my wife's Sony laptop (with a 90% sized keyboard) I kept hitting the equals sign instead of backspace. The keys are not the membrane type, but instead feel like one of the better laptops. When open, the keyboard is so thin that you don't need any wrist support.

Memopad limits on file size (4000 characters, or about 800 words) mean that a P-III and a Palm Portable Keyboard are not suited for writing essays, but great for taking notes in a meeting, or for taking more extensive notes in a patient tracking program. As I said, this is not a tool for someone hoping to write the next Great American Novel, but I did write most of this review using the keyboard they loaned me (I spent a lot of that time trying to figure out how to hang on to the thing for a while longer - maybe I can talk them into letting me study the mean time to failure under normal usage conditions - Yeah! That's the ticket!).

	Data entry on the Palm is a snap with a keyboard and the compact design makes it exceptionally portable

On the negative side, I have noticed that the keyboard driver conflicts with HotSync, so you have to remember to deactivate the driver before you Sync (this is probably not a really bug, because they both use the same port, but the driver I was given is still listed as a beta version). Also, the keyboard remains hinged in the middle, so typing on your lap does not work well (although it IS possible with a hard surface to set the thing on - such as a book or a briefcase). The keyboard I was loaned was a preproduction (in other words: prototype) model, and suffered from a failure of several keys on the left side of the keyboard. According to Think Outside, this problem has been fixed in the final product. On the whole, the positives far outweigh the negatives

• This is a keyboard that FOLDS UP!
• You can set up and start typing in the middle of any application.
• Turn on backlight from keyboard.
• Way cool folding design. (Check out www.thinkoutside.com for a Shockwave animation!)
• Fits in same size case as TI slider.

• Needs a hard surface.
• More expensive than other keyboards.
• No way to use modem at same time.
• Have to take handheld out of case to use (should not be a problem with sync-through cases).

Definitely 5 stars, plus (if possible) an honorary star for the cool factor (one more time - this is a keyboard that FOLDS UP!), but also because it really adds to the functionality of my Palm. I can now type text rather than having to tap or graffiti it in.

Keith Anderson is the reigning PalmGeek at his hospital. (He should have realized this months ago when the chief of the local family practice residency asked if he had any cool apps to beam over.) He is however limited by the fact that his Palm III still only has 2 megabytes. Anyone with memory upgrades or a Visor Deluxe that they feel like giving away should contact him at keithrn@earthlink.net.