I have had to come to terms with my two conflicting palm-user personalities. One side of my cyberself loves the simplicity of my Palm Vx. I can perform basic organizing functions like manage my schedule, look up a phone number, write a brief memo or email anytime, anyplace with a minimum of fuss. This is the so-called "Zen of the Palm." But my other, more adventuresome, side seems to rule and drives me continually to push the device's limits towards such laptop/desktop functions as writing long memos and emails, composing client reports, taking copious notes at long professional meetings and, best of all, leaving my laptop at home during my frequent travels.

	Palm Portable Keyboard

Shortly after I purchased Landware's GoType! Pro Keyboard for Palm V my creativity blossomed. I began expanding the use of my Palm and freeing myself up from the severe text input limitations of Graffiti and even Jot! www.cic.com - Graffiti's worthy text entry replacement. Prior to my purchase of the GoType, I installed SilkyBoard - www.silkyboard.com - which is an excellent screen protector keyboard which fits over the silkscreen area of a palm device and allows me to tap-type on tiny keys at a fairly fast rate. Even so, until the GoType! Pro arrived I seldom used my Palm Vx for the more ambitious, full-computer functions. But, I ran into some technical problems (which I will describe later) with my GoType! Pro and ended up also an early purchaser of the Palm Portable Keyboard. So, as an experienced user of both keyboards, I provide this comparison.

	GoType! Pro Keyboard for Palm V

The GoType! Pro for Palm V, Vx or IBM Workpad c3 is quite compact (10" x 4" x 1") and weighs less than 12 ounces. There is a protective hood that lifts back to reveal a good-sized keyboard with excellent tactile feel. The Palm Portable Keyboard for Palm V, Vx, Palm III, Palm Pilot, Personal or Professional, is 5.1" x 3.6" x .79" folded and 13.8 x 5.1" x .3" unfolded and weighs 7.9 ounces. The Palm Portable Keyboard dimensions are close to a normal desktop keyboard. The smaller GoType! Pro keys are still large enough for high speed touch typing. My error rate is slightly higher with the GoType! Pro. My typing accuracy and speed is quite good with both keyboards, however. I prefer the tactile feel of the GoType! Pro which presents the keyboard at an upright angle whereas the Palm Portable lies flat on a hard surface and therefore has a somewhat less natural feel. I have used both keyboards to take notes in all day meetings and both performed very well. At the end of the day I had less hand fatigue with the Palm Portable.

I have found that the fast text entry capabilities of either keyboard in combination with my favorite text editor, Pedit and its sister program, Pedit32 - www.math.ohio-state.edu/~nevai/palm/ make for excellent word processing. Pedit32 is a "must have" for anyone wanting to compose or edit long documents on a Palm device. It works separately from the built-in memopad database and breaks through the memopad file size limitation of about 800 words. I can compose an almost unlimited amount of text in one document with Pedit32. It has loads of neat word processing features and time-saving shortcuts.

	Palm Portable Keyboard (open)

Both keyboards come with software (prc files) that must be installed on your Palm to initialize the contact between the Palm device and the keyboard. The GoType! Pro software allows you to customize six green "hot keys" which in combination with the shift and alt keys gives you quick access to eighteen menu commands and shortcuts. The Palm Portable Keyboard software gives you the ability to customize nine keys for menu commands plus preset keys that give instant access to shortcuts, Datebook, Phone, ToDo, and Memo in addition to key combinations that give quick access to many additional menu commands.

Shortly after starting to use the GoType! Pro device I experienced crashes of my Palm while setting the device into the keyboard. These crashes required a hard reset and were quiet annoying. I wasn't sure whether I had a faulty Palm or a buggy keyboard. I never fully diagnosed the problem. I replaced my Palm Vx under warranty but experienced some additional crashes when installing the new Palm device into the keyboard. Since installing an upgraded version 1.6 of the GoType! Pro software the problem seems to have disappeared.

My introduction to the Palm Portable Keyboard was also not without problems. Initially I noticed a slight delay in using keys after a period of "sleep." The Palm Portable Keyboard automatically puts its keys to sleep after 3 seconds of non-use to preserve battery life. The "wakeup" of the keys was very slow. Then after a couple of weeks several keys on the left side of the keyboard stopped functioning. Both problems have been solved with upgraded software and a warranty replacement keyboard provided to me very quickly by Palm.

As of this writing I am having no problems at all with either keyboard. Both devices have power saving features and use very little Palm device battery charge.

Both keyboard give good support for expanded keyboard functions such as accents, special characters, etc. The Palm Portable Keyboard has a somewhat more compete menu of button shortcuts, menu commands, accent marks, special characters and punctuation marks.

The Palm Portable Keyboard is extremely portable. Folded up it is just slightly larger that a Palm III. I have taken it on many trips and it adds almost no weight or bulk to my briefcase. I can quickly unfold it for use in a meeting, attach my Palm Vx and off I go within 10 seconds or so. Even non-geeks seem to marvel at this wonderful device as I unfold it in front of crowds that gather around me in meeting rooms.

The GoType! Pro is less portable, but can be carried around relatively well in a briefcase. Landware sells leather carrying cases to transport the GoType! Pro in style. It is too big for pocket portability. The real virtue of the GoType is its connectivity. While seated at my desk I can plug in my GoType! Pro keyboard and keep my Palm Vx powered up while I use the keyboard. I can also hotsync to my laptop directly from the GoType! Pro. The hotsync cable comes with the keyboard. The power cable that comes with the Palm V cradle plugs into the side of the GoType! Pro. Landware also makes a more portable accessory power cable for about $25. When I am using the Palm Portable at my office desk, I must transfer it to the cradle to hotsync or recharge my battery.

Depending upon intended use, these keyboards are excellent (5 stars +), now that the bugs seem to have been addressed in both devices. The Palm Portable Keyboard is more suitable to travel, has a broader array of shortcuts and menu commands, attracts more attention, and provides a somewhat more user-friendly keyboard. For those who don't move around as much and want the efficiency of a keyboard that doubles as a hotsync cradle -- supplies power to the Palm device and allows for direct hotsync -- the GoType! Pro is a good choice. As a frequent traveler and as someone who constantly trudges from room to room to conduct business and take notes, I have found that I use the Palm Portable Keyboard more frequently than the GoType! Pro. But, when I am at my desk for long hours, I use the GoType! Pro.

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