The Tilt 2 is also available from T-Mobile and Verizon as the Touch Pro 2.

Photos

Here are a few pictures of the Tilt 2 next to an Mrs. Fencepost’s iPhone 3GS, a Sony Ericsson w580i Walkman phone, and a Nokia N810 internet tablet.  The stacked pictures are, top to bottom, Sony Ericsson, Tilt 2, iPhone, N810.

Things I liked

The keyboard: This is one of the main reasons I didn’t get an iPhone.  Even the best onscreen keyboards fail to measure up to hardware buttons and tactile feedback.  The Tilt 2 has a fantastic keyboard.  The buttons are just the right size for my thumbs, and are nicely spaced.  Frequently used characters like “/”, “@”, and “:” are intuitively placed, and there are shortcut keys for things like email, calendar, texting, and wifi.  I thought I liked the keyboard on my N810, but this one is even better.

The touch screen and included screen protector: The touch screen is oh-so-sensitive and finger friendly, and the included screen protector is slick and scratch resistant.  ‘Nuff said.

The user interface: The Tilt 2 runs Windows Mobile 6.5, but HTC has added an interface on top of that called Touch Flo 3D.  It’s slick, intuitive, and customizable, allowing you to have your email, stocks, weather, music, and programs just a flick of your finger away.  Or not, if you prefer.

Open application development: Unlike the iPhone, for which every app must be approved by Apple before being made available in the app store, Windows Mobile allows you to install whatever the heck you want from wherever you want.  This means that I can have functionality that isn’t available to iPhone users, like a Google Voice client.

GPS: I have Google Maps for Mobile on my Tilt 2, and I think it’s fantastic.  It uses the cell network to assist the GPS, so it finds my location extraordinarily fast, and I can download driving directions and view traffic reports or satellite images.

Web Browsing: When I bought my Nokia N810, I thought I was sticking it to the man by getting mobile internet access without a data plan.  I quickly learned that open wifi networks are hard to find and often overloaded and slow.  After just two days with my Tilt 2, I’ve concluded that an all-you-can-eat data plan is a quantum leap in convenience and worth the cost if you can afford it.

The Tilt 2 comes with two web browsers installed: Internet Explorer and Opera.  Both have features like kinetic scrolling and tap-to-zoom.  Opera is noticeably faster on most sites, when it works.  Sometimes it fails to load a page and displays an error message saying that it can’t find the proxy server.  I haven’t figured out why yet, but at least I have a second browser to fall back on when it happens. (Update: This problem occurs because of Opera Mobile’s default proxy settings.  Click here for a quick and easy fix.)

Fit and finish: The Tilt 2 feels solidly built.  There is enough resistance in the slide and tilt mechanism that it doesn’t feel flimsy.  Everything fits together the way it should, and there are no wobbles or squeaks.

Charging cable doubles as USB cable: To charge the phone, you just plug the USB cable into a small wall adapter.  This reduces the number of cables I have to deal with, and it means the phone can charge while plugged into my computer.

Things I hated

Opera’s tendency to not work: As mentioned above, the Opera browser sometimes fails to work and displays an error message about failing to find a proxy server.  This is frustrating, because it is probably the best mobile browser I have ever used, and I’d really like it to work all the time.  Internet Explorer is fine, but not as quick or polished.  This is one of those areas where the iPhone has the advantage- everything “just works,” and frankly I’m a little jealous. (Update: This problem occurs because of Opera Mobile’s default proxy settings.  Click here for a quick and easy fix.)

Proprietary charging/USB plug, and no standard headphone jack: The Tilt has one plug.  It looks like a mini-USB port, but it’s shaped a little differently.  If you want to use headphones, you have to plug in a dongle and plug the headphones into that.  If I had planned to use this phone as a media player, that might have been a deal killer.  Also, in the 21st Century, I really think it’s not too much to ask that I only have to take one charging cable when I go on vacation.  Europe has figured this out- why can’t we? (Update: As posted below in the comments, the Tilt’s USB plug works with a standard mini-USB cable for charging and synchronization.  Still no standard headphone jack though.)

No dedicated camera shutter button: With my Sony Ericsson w580i, I had one of the hardware buttons set to bring up the camera.  I used to pull it out while driving and take pictures without taking my eyes off the road.  I won’t be doing that with the Tilt.  It doesn’t even have a dedicated shutter button- you tap a spot on the screen to take pictures.  Forget about opening the camera without looking at the screen.

Heat: The Tilt 2 gets quite warm while in use- enough to be uncomfortable when held against the side of your head during a long conversation.  I’ll be relying heavily on my Bluetooth headset.

The low battery alarm: I thought I had disabled noisy notifications for things that aren’t calls, but apparently I missed this one.  It’s loud and obnoxious, and it woke up my wife last night.  And again tonight.

Removing the SIM card: A lot of manufacturers make it really difficult to remove SIM cards, and HTC is no exception.  The Tilt’s SIM card slides under a little sleeve, and getting it out involved a knife blade, a finger, and more bending than I am comfortable with.  There are plenty of good reasons why someone might want to switch to their “beater” phone for a day or two, and it bugs me that manufacturers make this more difficult than it has to be.

Placement of the Reset button: To perform a soft reset on the Tilt, you have to take off the battery cover.  This means that the battery cover’s latching mechanism will be subjected to unnecessary wear.

Things I’m still not sure about

Battery life: It’s probably too early to comment on this, because the novelty hasn’t worn off yet and I’m using my phone nearly every spare minute.  That said, I’ve managed to run the battery down to almost nothing during each of the two days I’ve had it.  I’ll be using a lot of internet and GPS, and I could see having to carry the charger around with me during long days.

Carrying around a phone that’s worth more than my car: It just feels weird.

Why not an iPhone?

My wife got an iPhone when I got my Tilt, so I’ve had the chance to compare the two devices a bit.

If the Tilt 2 hadn’t been available from my carrier, I probably would have chosen the iPhone.  I love the iPhone’s size, shape and user interface, and I’m impressed with the way it just works seamlessly.  Windows Mobile by contrast is a bit finicky at times, requiring occasional tinkering or resetting, and applications don’t always work the way they’re supposed to.

That said, there are four major reasons I chose the Tilt: the slide-out keyboard, the user-replaceable battery, expandable storage, and the iPhone’s App Store approval process.

• Keyboard: As I mentioned, I gotta have my hardware keyboard.  I’ve written blog posts and taken notes on my N810’s thumb keyboard.  I’m faster on that keyboard than the average person touch-typing on a full-size keyboard.  I’ve used the iPhone’s onscreen keyboard enough to know that I hate it.  Until manufacturers figure out a way for a touchscreen to reshape itself into individual “bumps” for each key I’ll stick with my hardware buttons and tactile feedback.
• User-replaceable battery: The Tilt’s battery is user-replaceable- you just pop off the back cover to access it.  The iPhone battery is not.  I don’t like equipment that isn’t user-serviceable, especially when even a no-brainer like changing the battery isn’t allowed.  I change my own oil- I think I can handle changing a battery in my phone.
• Expandable storage: The iPhone comes with a fixed amount of storage.  The Tilt comes with a micro SD slot.  You can’t expand the amount of storage an iPhone has, but my Tilt is limited only by the size of available memory cards.  Admittedly this is less significant with the advent of 16 and 32 gigabyte iPhones, but it’s the principle of the thing.  I like devices that are flexible and expandable.
• The App Store: Unless you’ve jailbroken your iPhone, the App Store is the only place to get applications for it.  Every app must be approved by a committee before being made available, which means that sometimes a quality app that provides a valuable service gets rejected for no good reason.  The recent rejection of the Google Voice app for iPhone is a case in point.  Windows Mobile has no such approval process.  If I find an application I want, I download it and install it.  Neither Microsoft, AT&T, or HTC have any say in the matter, nor should they.  It’s my phone, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let someone else tell me what I can and can’t do with it.

Conclusion

I don’t think the perfect smartphone exists yet.  Every device available involves some tradeoffs.  That said, I like this phone and I think I’ll keep it.  For my use case (phone, email, GPS and heavy web surfing) it’s a good fit.

One of my top priorities with this phone is getting it to work with Google Voice and Gizmo the way I did with my N810.  (Update: Click here to read about setting up free Google Voice calls on your Windows Mobile phone.)  I’m also going to see what I can do with the wife’s iPhone, although I don’t think she’ll let me jailbreak it.    Whatever happens, you’ll read about it here, so why not save yourself some time and subscribe to my RSS feed.

© 2009 – 2010, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

Creative Zen Vision M 30 gigabyte

I watched A River Runs Through It on the Creative device.  I expected to have difficulty watching a movie on such a small screen, and was pleasantly surprised with the experience.  The colors are clear and vibrant, and I had no difficulty keeping up with the action.  I turned the brightness up to 100%, but probably could have been comfortable with less.

After I got home, I turned the movie back on and left the player running to see how far it would get before the battery died.  Including the time on the bus, it played for just over 3 hours before switching off.

Although the Creative Zen Vision M has been superseded by a newer model and is no longer manufactured.  It is still available in used or refurbished condition for a very reasonable price. Click here to view the product page on Amazon.com.

Nokia N810

I watched Hitman on the Nokia N810.  The larger screen was definitely a plus, and the sound quality was decent.  My only complaint, and I’m really nitpicking here, is that the playback controls are managed through the touchscreen rather than through hardware buttons.  This meant that if I wanted to adjust the sound volume, I had to take the movie out of full-screen mode.  Adjusting the volume required three separate actions rather than the one action required by the Creative player.  I managed to find a volume level that was comfortable for most of the movie, so this wasn’t a big problem.

I didn’t run the battery into the ground like I did with the Vision M, but based on the power level after one movie, I estimate that the N810 could have played at least one more full movie before running out of juice.

The Nokia N810 has come down considerably in price since it was first introduced.  It’s now available for about half what I paid for mine last year.  Click here to view the product page on Amazon.com.

Conclusion

Obviously any movie is better on a big screen, but both devices were more than adequate as portable movie viewers.  The N810 has the advantage of a bigger screen and a longer-lasting battery, but I think the Creative player has slightly better sound, and I preferred the hardware controls for simplicity and ease of use.  I was happy with both and will use them again.

© 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

Notes

The N810’s built-in “Notes” application is good enough for note-taking and rough drafts.  You have your choice of fonts, as well as italic, bold, and underline styles.  You can also do bullet lists and numbered lists.  I’ve used it while offline to write blog posts, which I then copied and pasted here.

One of the advantages of using Notes over Abiword or Google Docs is that the Notes application is optimized for the tablet’s screen resolution, so you don’t have to squint to read your own work.

You can save Notes either as HTML or text files.  The HTML files will open in your desktop browser.

Google Docs

Until about a week ago, I wouldn’t have recommended this option.  For some reason, the tablets default browser seems to clog up and freeze when dealing with certain sites, including Google Docs and Google Maps.  However, I learned recently that someone has created a new browser, called Tear.  Tear is still an alpha release, so it’s a little clunky and quirky, but it’s blazing fast, and handles most of the sites the default browser has trouble with, including Google Docs, Maps, and Facebook.  Google Spreadsheets is still a little slow, but the the word processor works fine.

Here are instructions for downloading Tear:

1. Open the Application Manager.
2. Open the application menu.
3. Click “Tools,” then “Application catalog…”
4. Click “New.”
5. Enter the following settings:

Name : Qole’s repository:
Web address: http://qole.org/repository
Distribution: maemo
Components: main

Then go to “Installable Applications.”  Install “libwebkit”, then Tear.

Abiword

Abiword is an open source (freeware) word processing program available for Windows and Linux PC’s.  I have not used it, but my understanding is that it is intended to be similar to Microsoft Word.  Some enterprising coders ported it over to the N810.  Instructions for installing Abiword on the N810 can be found here.

Note: I have not used Abiword, so I can’t endorse or disparage it.  If you have experience with it, please feel free to share in the comments section.

Spreadsheets: Gnumeric

For a spreadsheet application that can read MS Excel formats, try Gnumeric.  Once again, I haven’t used this, so if you are familiar with it, please feel free to comment.

As always, the technological marvel that is the Nokia N810 can be purchased here.

© 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

Here are some photos of the device next to my Creative Zen Vision M (approximately the same size and shape as an iPod Classic) and my Toshiba e330 Pocket PC.

Here is a list of features I mentioned in my previous post, and my impressions of them in actual use:

I want to check my email on the go, but I don’t like things I have to pay for month after month.  Ergo, buying a data plan for my phone is not an optimal solution. Besides email, I rely heavily on the internet for real-time traffic and other information, as well as entertainment.  I’ve wanted for a long time to have a portable browsing device.  The N810 has received stellar reviews of its web browsing capability.  Apparently, you can view regular web pages instead of the stripped down portable versions that some devices require.

The N810 excels at web browsing as long as you have either access to a wifi network or a tethered connection to a phone with a data plan.  Web pages display beautifully.  The device isn’t as fast as a full-size desktop or laptop PC.  Resource-hogging pages that have a lot of images or interactive content tend to load slowly.  This includes sites like CNN.com and Facebook.

The Sigalert website that I use for real-time traffic here in Los Angeles works well.  It takes close to a minute to load, but works fine after that.  Many of Google’s services run slowly.  I’ve switched my Gmail account to “basic html” mode because it’s a lot faster that way.  Google maps and docs are so slow as to be useless, but Google Calendar and Reader work fine if you are patient.

I’ve also used the tablet to write and upload posts to this blog.   The blogging interface is just slow enough that I prefer to write posts in the device’s text editor, then copy and paste.  It’s not my favorite way to do it, but it works.  There is also a downloadable blogging client for the N810 that I haven’t tried.

I already use a PDA and portable keyboard to take notes in my classes.  I upload all my notes to a Google document so I can share them with my colleagues.  My university has WiFi internet, so having a WiFi device like the N810 would allow me to directly edit the Google document and save the time I now spend uploading files.

This was a partial success.  The N810 has an excellent note-taking application that includes basic word processor functionality like different text sizes, styles and fonts.  I used the device with a bluetooth keyboard and loved it.  I was unable to directly type into Google Docs, partly because my classroom had no wifi, and partly because Google Docs runs so slowly on the tablet as to be useless.

As a freelance musician, I perform in a lot of unfamiliar places.  The N810’s GPS capability, while not essential, would be helpful for finding gigs.

Again, a partial success. The N810 comes with a built-in GPS receiver and mapping software.  You can connect to satellites and find your position on the map for free.  If you want turn-by-turn directions, you have to buy a license for $130.  Also, the GPS receiver is a bit finicky and can take a while to connect, especially if you are in a moving vehicle.  Sometimes it can take 5 minutes or longer to get a connection.

I didn’t buy the license for turn-by-turn directions.  The GPS would be a lot more useful with the license, but I’ve used it a few times to navigate through unfamiliar neighborhoods or find my way to a nearby major road.  If I really wanted turn-by-turn, however, I would buy a dedicated device.

Skype capability is a big selling point for me.  One of my sisters lives in Europe, and 2.1 cents per minute to call her from any WiFi hotspot is a pretty good deal in my opinion.  Try getting international rates like that from a cell provider.

After 6 months of procrastination, I finally signed up with Skype and bought some calling credit.  I pay $2.95/month for unlimited calling within the United States and Canada, and I bought $10 worth of calling credit for international calls. I’ve spent about 4 hours talking on Skype with the N810 since then, and am so far quite pleased.

If you don’t have a bluetooth headset, you can use the N810 in “speakerphone” mode or with headphones.  The device has a microphone that will pick up your voice.  I connected my bluetooth headset and left the device sitting on my desk while I chatted in an adjacent room.  Call quality is reasonably good, although I could hear some soft crackling.  I haven’t had any dropped calls so far.  Mrs. Fencepost and I have decided to discontinue our current home phone service and exclusively use Skype and our cell phones.

To use Skype, you will need access to either a wifi hotspot, or a tethered connection to a phone with a data plan.

Other Thoughts:

Movies and Music:

The N810 can play movies and music in several formats, although it can’t handle digital rights management.  It’s not my first choice for listening (I have an excellent MP3 player), but its screen, which is relatively large for a pocket-sized device, displays movies beautifully.  Here’s a link with instructions for converting movies.

Ebooks:

A free open-source ebook reader, FBReader, is available for the tablet.  As with movies and music, you can’t use if for books containing digital rights management.  I haven’t used it enough to comment, except that I am impressed with the crispness of the display.

PDF Reader:

The N810 comes with a PDF reader preloaded.  I use it regularly and am quite impressed.  My only complaint is that I can’t bookmark my place in a PDF document.

Thumb Keyboard:

I really like having a thumb-size QWERTY keyboard.  I’ve tried touchscreen software keyboards, including on the iPod Touch, and was not impressed.  Call me old fashioned, but I much prefer a physical keyboard.  Even though I have a bluetooth keyboard, I have occasionally taken notes in meetings and classes, and composed lengthy emails, with just my thumbs.

Screen Resolution:

The internet tablet’s screen has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.  It is beautifully crisp and clear.  Coming to the tablet from my old Toshiba Pocket PC (320 x 240 screen resolution) is like night and day.  It’s like looking at a tiny laptop screen.

Expandable Memory:

The N810 has a slot for mini-SD cards, so its storage capacity is limited only by the size of the card you have in it, unlike certain other products that have only the storage capacity you buy them with.

Conclusion:

I think my Nokia N810 is the coolest thing ever.  I wouldn’t mind if it was faster and could handle every website without a hitch, but it’s very impressive for its size.  I’m one step away from whispering “My precioussss….” as I gently cradle it in my hands.

If you haven’t yet experienced the technological marvel that is the Nokia N810, I invite you to purchase it here.

© 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

“VOIP” stands for “Voice Over Internet Protocol.”  Simply put, with VOIP, your phone conversations go over the internet rather than through landlines.

Okay, why does that matter?

The advantage to VOIP is that it is far less expensive.  For example, the first phone service I ever had was absolute bare bones.  No Call Waiting, no Caller ID, no Voice Mail – just plain old telephone service.  Including taxes, I paid about $28 per month.  The cost only goes up from there.  I just did a quick internet search and discovered that in my area, Verizon charges $40 per month before taxes for unlimited calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.  If I want voicemail, caller ID and call waiting, I would pay $45 per month before taxes.

I have all that and more for about $17 per month through VOIP.com.

My current phone package:

• Unlimited calling to the US and Canada.
• 1.8 cents per minute to call my sister in Germany.  Similar rates to many other countries.  Verizon, by contrast, charges 14 cents per minute.  If I used my cell phone to call Europe, I would pay over a dollar per minute.
• Caller ID
• Voice Mail
• 3-way Calling
• Call Waiting
• Anonymous Call Rejection
• Selective Call Acceptance/ Rejection
• Sequential Ring – If no one answers at my home phone, I can have the call automatically forwarded to any other phone I choose.
• Simultaneous Ring – I can have incoming calls ring multiple phones until one is answered.
• Call Forwarding – I can have incoming calls forwarded to any other phone I choose without ringing my home phone.

I have all that for $17 per month.  None of those features cost me any extra to use.

How does VOIP work?

To use VOIP, you have to have high-speed internet such as cable or DSL.  Unfortunately, dial-up just isn’t fast enough.  When you sign up for VOIP phone service, you can either talk through a software program on your computer or get a little box that plugs into your modem and allows you to use a regular telephone handset for your calls.  Some VOIP providers give you a box when you commit to a certain length of contract, similar to how cell phone companies subsidize handsets.

I pay by the year for my VOIP service.  It costs a total of $204 for 12 months.  I could also pay by the month, which costs $20 per month, but I would also pay an additional $5-10 per month in taxes.  Apparently when I pay by the year, I only pay the taxes once.  Weird, but that’s the way it works.  I was happy enough with the service to renew for a second year last July, so I’ve now had it about 18 months.

Update 7/26/09: I no longer use VOIP.com.  I terminated my contract with them earlier this month after I figured out how to set up free phone service using Google Voice, Gizmo Project, and my old Sunrocket analog telephone adapter.

VOIP Providers

• VOIP.com – This is the company I use.  I chose them because at the time, they were the least expensive option for my purposes.  $17 per month and a free adaptor if you pay for a year in advance.  Also, at the time I signed up, they offered a 30 day money back guarantee.
• Skype allows you to make free calls from computer to computer using a piece of software.  You need a headset, but you don’t pay a monthly fee.  You can also call cell phones and landlines, either on a pay as you go basis, or for a low monthly fee.  Unlimited outgoing calls to the US and Canada for $2.95 per month, and calls worldwide starting at about 2 cents per minute.  You can also use Skype with a laptop or internet tablet at a WiFi hotspot.  For a little more money you can get an incoming phone number.

Disadvantages of VOIP

• Power outages – regular phone lines use a power source separate from the other appliances in your house.  For that reason, your phone will often still work when the power goes out.  with VOIP, unless you have your system plugged into an uninterruptable power supply, no power = no phone.  That said, last summer when I experienced my first earthquake, I tried unsuccessfully to call my wife on my cell phone and a regular landline.  As you might expect, all circuits were busy.  My VOIP phone, by contrast, worked just fine, because power was still available.
• Occasional outages.  VOIP is a relatively new technology, and it is not yet as reliable as regular phone service.  Although problems are rare, I have occasionally been cut off in mid call, or been unable to dial out.  Resetting my VOIP adapter usually solves the problem.

Have you tried VOIP?  Share your opinion by commenting.

© 2008 – 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

The Nokia N810

The Nokia N810 is what’s called an internet tablet.  It is not a phone, but it has Bluetooth and WiFi.  It’s about the size of a large cell phone, and is intended, as its name suggests, as a portable internet device.  You can use it to access the internet at a WiFi hotspot, or tether it to your cell phone if you have a data plan.  Although it is not a phone, you can use Skype with it.  Additionally, it has a built-in GPS and mapping software.

Here’s a video from TigerDirect.com that shows what the device looks like and a few of its features:

Why do I want it?

Several reasons:

1. I want to check my email on the go, but I don’t like things I have to pay for month after month.  Ergo, buying a data plan for my phone is not an optimal solution.
2. Besides email, I rely heavily on the internet for real-time traffic and other information, as well as entertainment.  I’ve wanted for a long time to have a portable browsing device.  The N810 has received stellar reviews of its web browsing capability.  Apparently, you can view regular web pages instead of the stripped down portable versions that some devices require.
3. I already use a PDA and portable keyboard to take notes in my classes.  I upload all my notes to a Google document so I can share them with my colleagues.  My university has WiFi internet, so having a WiFi device like the N810 would allow me to directly edit the Google document and save the time I now spend uploading files.
4. As a freelance musician, I perform in a lot of unfamiliar places.  The N810’s GPS capability, while not essential, would be helpful for finding gigs.
5. Skype capability is a big selling point for me.  One of my sisters lives in Europe, and 2.1 cents per minute to call her from any WiFi hotspot is a pretty good deal in my opinion.  Try getting international rates like that from a cell provider.

Anyway, like I said, I don’t have the device yet.  I ordered it from Amazon and had it sent to my parent’s house where I’ll be spending Christmas.  After I’ve had a chance to try it out, I’ll post my observations.

In the mean time, here are some reviews from people who actually have one, as well as a link to the Amazon sales page.

1. Nokia N810 Portable Internet Tablet (Amazon sales page)
2. Comprehensive review at CNET.com
3. Review at Pocketables.net

Do you have a Nokia N810 or similar device?  Share your opinion by commenting.

© 2008 – 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

[ratings]

As a student, I have to take a lot of notes. I’m a fairly fast typist, and I frequently get impatient when I have to write things by hand. Some of my classmates bring laptops to school, but I am reluctant to carry that much weight around or put such a valuable item at risk of loss, damage, or theft.

I recently purchased a Belkin F8U1500 Wireless PDA Keyboard from an Amazon retailer to use with my Toshiba e330 Pocket PC. I used it last month to take notes during a four-day seminar, and was very pleased. Some of the presenters spoke way too fast for anyone to take good handwritten notes, but I easily kept up with them.

Specifications

• Measures 5.5 x 3.75 by .75 inches. Weighs .4 lbs.
• Uses one standard AAA battery.
• Keys are about 7/8th’s of full size.
• Rated battery life of 360 hours.
• Package includes the keyboard, a PDA stand, and a startup CD with a PDF user guide.
• Price: I paid about $55 including shipping from an Amazon retailer, but could have gotten a used keyboard for less. This keyboard is also available from Fry’s Electronics for about $50.

Photos

Here is the keyboard shown with my Toshiba Pocket PC for comparison:

The keyboard is in the middle, folded. On the left is the PDA stand, on the right is my Pocket PC. The PDA stand snaps onto the folded keyboard for storage and transport. Folded, it’s not much bigger than my PDA.

Here is a shot of my Toshiba e330 mounted on the PDA stand. The flat piece of metal above the PDA is a mirror to reflect infrared from the keyboard to the PDA’s IR port.

Here is a screenshot of the Belkin keyboard management software on my PDA. I enabled the keyboard through this interface and used Pocket Word to take notes.

Here is the keyboard in its original packaging. The black square is a piece of Velcro I added to secure my PDA to the PDA stand.

The Good

• Small and light.
• Able to keep up with my typing speed (80+ wpm).
• Easy to set up and use
• Pocket Word documents can be transferred to my desktop for further editing. In fact, I roughed out this review on the Belkin keyboard just so I could say I did. (I use Open Office with Vista. In order for Open Office to read Pocket Word documents, you have to save them as RTF files.)
• Belkin claims this keyboard is universally compatible.

The Bad

• The Belkin wireless PDA keyboard includes a number of extra functions, accessed by using the “Fn” key. Some of these did not work on my PDA. Also, certain Windows keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl-C for Copy, Ctrl-V for paste, etc. do not work, but I don’t know if that’s Belkin’s fault or whether it is a Pocket Word shortcoming.

The Indifferent

• Due to its slightly smaller size, the Belkin wireless PDA keyboard takes some getting used to. It took me about half a day before I stopped making typos. Now, when I switch between the Belkin and my desktop keyboard, it just takes me a minute or two to acclimate.
• If you are typing without a desk, you’ll want a book in your lap to steady the setup. Otherwise, the keyboard wobbles, and the connection becomes intermittent.

Conclusion

I can’t say enough good things about this keyboard! I should have bought one years ago. Switching from handwritten notes to this is like buying a Ferrari after using an elderly donkey to get around. I expect to use this keyboard for some time to come.

© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.