Entering Text the Easy Way

[Editor's note: HP and Compaq have merged and the new company retains the Hewlett-Packard name. The official name of the iPAQ is now the "HP iPAQ Pocket PC," but many iPAQ accessories are still labeled with the Compaq brand name and referred to as Compaq products on the Web. We will continue referring to them as Compaq products until HP changes the labeling.]

Pocket PCs are useful devices, but it's not all that easy to enter large amounts of text into them. The best solution is to enter text on your desktop PC and transfer it to your Pocket PC. But if you're traveling, that's not always practical.

Pocket PC manufacturers and third-party developers offer a number of good text-entry solutions.. This article focuses on hardware solutions, comparing several external keyboards and snap-on thumb-pad keyboards available for the iPAQ 3850 Pocket PC 2002 and 3650 Pocket PC. Each of these solutions comes with software that must be installed on your Pocket PC. In a sidebar at the end of this article I list but do not review keyboards available for other Pocket PCs.

EXTERNAL KEYBOARDS: FOR ENTERING LOTS OF TEXT

External keyboards are the best all-around solutions for people who need to enter a lot of text directly into their Pocket PCs. The first two keyboards below have been reviewed in previous issues of Pocket PC magazine.

The Stowaway Portable Keyboard is a well designed accessory that folds out into a full-size keyboard with a standard QWERTY layout and the comfortable key pitch (center to center spacing) of a standard desktop PC keyboard. All this folds up into a case a little bigger than a Pocket PC.

Thoughtful design work didn't stop with the keyboard itself. Stowaway comes with a software program that must be installed on the Pocket PC. This software is packed with functionality, allowing the user to adjust the repeat rate and delay of the keys, program the function keys to launch applications, and select different language support. A feature that is unique to the Stowaway is the ability to "hot dock." This feature lets the Pocket PC detect the keyboard upon connection, without the user having to reset the handheld or launch a keyboard application. Since its introduction, a Japanese model has been released, and the English QWERTY keyboard software supports French, German, Italian, and Spanish. For more on the Stowaway, take a look at Rich Hall's article on portable keyboards in the July 2001 issue of Pocket PC magazine (www.pocketpcmag.com/Jul01/ keyboards.stm).

Stowaway is priced at $99.99 and is available for all iPAQ Pocket PC's as well as all HP Jornada Pocket PCs. Note, however, that an adapter is needed to connect the Stowaway to iPAQ 3800 series Pocket PCs. If you already have a Stowaway keyboard and have recently bought an iPAQ 3800, you can purchase the adapter separately from Think Outside or Targus for $9.95. According to Think Outside, the adapter is included in recently packaged versions of the iPAQ Stowaway keyboard. The Stowaway is available from Targus (www.targus.com). It was designed by Think Outside Inc. and is also available on the Think Outside's eStore, which can be accessed from its Web site (www.thinkoutside.com).

The Compaq Foldable Keyboard is a brand new product manufactured exclusively for Compaq by Darfon Electronics. This keyboard works only with the iPAQ H3800 series Pocket PC. This new keyboard is similar in concept to the Stowaway, but folds up in a different way. The hinged cover folds back to create a back brace for the iPAQ. Then, left and right portions of the keyboard pull out and the center pops up. Finally, the left and right portions slide back and lock in place. Compaq has expanded their international support by offering this product in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and English.

The Compaq Foldable Keyboard has a standard QWERTY keyboard layout with Tab, Caps Lock, Fn, Ctrl, and Start menu keys. A key to the left of the spacebar launches iTask, the iPAQ's program launcher. However, the keyboard does not have F1, F2, etc. Like the Stowaway, the Compaq Foldable Keyboard comes with software that lets the user adjust the repeat rate and delay of the keys and configure the Hotkeys to launch specific Pocket PC programs.