A year or so ago a magazine interviewer I was talking to pulled out a Targus keyboard and attached it to his Visor to take some notes about our conversation. For several minutes the interview stalled while we discussed keyboards, Graffiti, and note-taking on Palm devices. I came away thinking that even as an old hand at using the Palm, there are times when a keyboard would really make sense. I toyed with the notion of buying one of the keyboards, but never followed through.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I was handed a Seiko Thumboard to review. I have to admit that we had discussed the mini-keyboard several times before I actually got my hands on it, and my curiosity was piqued. Once I had my hands on it I was even more fascinated.

So what is it? Well, basically it is a small keyboard device that your Palm V slides into, covering the Graffiti area. It’s only slightly wider and thicker than the Palm itself and, with the Palm inserted, adds about a half inch to the length. On the device is a QWERTY-style keyboard and Palm-specific function keys. All of the keys are small and round and placed in a manner that you are intended to hold the Palm between your two hands and type with both thumbs. Alternately, you can hunt-and-peck with one thumb or finger, or even your stylus. You download a small driver to your Palm, slide it into the keyboard, and go.

After looking at it I had a number of questions. Were the small buttons going to be too hard to push or too close together for someone with large thumbs? Was it going to be easy to use, practical, and convenient? Would it really work as advertised or would it be twitchy and unreliable? It looked just a little too small and “cute” to be practical. At the first opportunity I synced my Palm V and tried it out. I was surprised at the results.

Typing is actually very easy. The buttons require exactly the right amount of pressure – enough that you don’t get spurious entries when the edges of large thumbs push the edges of adjacent buttons, but not so much that you can’t type well. In fact, I quickly learned to type very well using both thumbs without having to stare at the keyboard. The keyboard supports all of the Palm functions, extended characters, scroll buttons, and even commands like “done” and “new” by using function keys. It even allows you to use the keyboard to do command shortcuts using a button and the appropriate character. It’s easy enough to use that I could hand my Palm to non-Palm savvy coworkers and they could instantly be typing notes, entering To Do items, and generally screwing up my data. And, boy, did everyone who saw this goodie want to play with it…

It also doesn’t contain any batteries. Instead the Thumboard uses power from your Palm to operate the keyboard. I was concerned that it might drain my batteries at an alarming rate but, surprisingly, I couldn’t really detect any noticeable change in the battery use.

It isn’t absolutely perfect, though. Installed, you can’t put your Palm in any normal cases and it’s a bit bulky for most pockets. Plus, the buttons are exposed and you’re likely to end up inputting unintentional data as it rattles around in a pocket. The limitations of the Palm means you aren’t completely free from the stylus, either. Some functions, such as drop-down menus don’t support keyboard input and require you to use the stylus. But these are minor issues. The Thumboard is small enough to carry around in your pocket or briefcase, and having to pop your Palm out of its case and into the keyboard is a small price to pay for the convenience it gives you in a note-taking marathon.

If you find Graffiti frustrating or do enough data entry that you’ve ever thought a keyboard might be a good option, I’d highly recommend you try out a Thumboard. It’s small, easy to use, and inexpensive, and that’s a lot to get in one package.

Currently available:
> Palm V
> Palm Vx
> Palm m500
> Palm m505
> Handspring Visor
> Handspring Visor Deluxe
> Handspring Visor Platinum
> Handspring Visor Neo
> Handspring Visor Pro
Thumboards for the Sony CLIE and Palm m100 and m105 will be available in the second half of 2002.

--Tucker Hatfield
Senior Palm Reviewer