By Jeff Carlson
I enjoy discovering secrets about the Palm platform, but I also have a secret of my own: I don't write Graffiti very fast. Although Palm's pen-based method of entering text is quick to learn and easy to use, I've never been able to use it for taking long notes or even writing more than short snippets. My hands just can't keep up with my head when I'm writing, so my Graffiti starts to look like the early handwriting recognition of Apple's first Newton devices: "The quack bruin fax junked over the hazy fog."
That's why I was particularly happy when Landware came out with their GoType! keyboard, a compact device requiring no batteries, which works with a PalmPilot or Palm III-compatible organizer. For more information, see Fredlet's review of the GoType! keyboard in the December 1998 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199812/gotype001.html. I was able to carry and use my Palm device, but when I needed to input a lot of text I could quickly attach it to the GoType! Keyboard and type away.
Unfortunately, I gave in to the temptation to buy a Palm V, which caused me to have to shelve my trusty GoType! Keyboard for a while. I love my Palm V, but the different pinout configuration of the serial port meant that I couldn't attach any existing Palm-compatible peripherals. And because Palm Computing apparently didn't communicate the change to developers well enough in advance, I found myself relegated back to Graffiti-only input until the GoType! Pro appeared.
A quick aside: I actually did find a great interim solution in The Bridge, a $14.95 adapter that lets you use a Palm V with older Palm peripherals. For more information about The Bridge, see Claire Pieterek's article in the September 1999 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199909/bridge001.html. Now my original GoType! keyboard is in the hands of my father and I'm using Landware's new GoType! Pro with my Palm V.
Going pro
Overall, the GoType! Pro is pretty much the same as its older brother. It features 62 keys arranged in QWERTY formation (the software also supports the DVORAK key layout), with six green function keys that launch the Palm device's built-in applications by default. A slide-out stabilizer offers more support to prevent the unit from tipping backwards. It's easier to pull out and retract this stabilizer than the one on my original GoType! keyboard, but that could be attributed to minor manufacturing differences between individual units. The hinged lid is a nice, translucent, purple color but it has the same shape and dimensions as the other GoType! keyboard's opaque gray lid. The Palm V or IBM WorkPad 3c slides into a curved slot that rotates out as you lift the lid, and fits snugly.
