Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard Jornada 560 Series Pocket Keyboard

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After 2 weeks using my Jornada 568 with the pocket keyboard, I can honestly say it is one of the best accessories I have ever purchased for any handheld. As a former owner of several Palm and Handspring units, I tried nearly all of the available keyboards -- the Palm/Targus stowaway keyboards, the GoType models, and even the Seiko Thumboard for Palm 505. My favorite was always the Palm foldaway -- it had a tiny form factor for easy storage, but opened up to a near full size keyboard, with excellent tactile response to the keys. It also worked without a hitch, everytime! The only problem with it was that you needed a flat surface to place it on in order to use it -- you could not set it on your lap.

With this pocket keybaord, HP has really come through with a great product. After a quick install of the driver, I connected the PK to my 568, launched the PK software to configure the device, and was typing away -- all in a matter of minutes. The keyboard works for all applications that take text entry, and I've so far had no problems whatsoever. The keys are spaced just far apart enough for me to type relatively quickly, and with few errors. The keys have a nice feel to them to, with a slight tactile response that signals you've properly pressed and released each key. I'm 6 feet tall with fairly large hands -- if I can type on this with ease, most folks will likely have no problem.

I also like the way the keyboard comes with its own protective cover for the unit -- it slips on over the Jornada in place of the cover the unit comes with, and only adds about a quarter to half an inch to the length of the unit. It's still slim and short enough to carry in my shirt pocket.

Finally, the unit is just darned attractive -- the Jornada was already a good-looking Pocket PC, but the keyboard gives it a whole new and compelling look -- if you see one, you'll really want to try it out!

On the down side -- for one, you need to remove the keyboard in order to charge or sync. It's a minor annoyance, but if you only sync once a day or so, like me, you can leave the keyboard on most of the time.

My only other minor gripe is that the keyboard covers up the hot keys on the Jornada, and I would have liked the keyboard to have included its own hot keys for just this reason. I've yet to figure out whether I can program the thing to open apps based on keyboard shortcuts, which would greatly enhance my PK usage. The keyboard does, however, include power on and off buttons, and a slider control on the side that allows you to lock the Jornada to keep it from turning on accidentally. That's just more smart engineering, which seems to have been behind this product from the beginning.

I'm fairly new to the Pocket PC world, having spent all my prior PDA time with Palm units. I still like Palms, but my Jornada 568, with the always on, ultra-portable Pocket Keyboard, has become my new favorite PDA. I take it everywhere, and highly recommend both the Jornada and the Pocket Keyboard.

Great accessory for Jornada. Even has backlight so can be used in dark, adds little to no weight to Jornada and fits perfectly.

I have one of these pocket keyboards for my Hp Jornada 568, and while it is a great way to type on my jornada, it is missing one very important thing - A CONTROL KEY ! It has shift, caps, numbers and a symbol key, but there is NO way to copy and paste text using only the HP keyboard, I have use the screen keyboard ctl-c and ctl-v or the stylus to copy and paste text. What HP needs to do now is release a driver update to provide a control key on the keyboard, since changing the actual keyboard now would not help the people who already have one, and they are not going to ship replacements to everybody.

The following link is for an application that was mentioned on a discussion board. The following features were copied from that web page. I hope this helps!

... [URL]...HPHotKey makes your new HP 560 clip-on thumb keyboard approximately one hundred times more useful.
- Firstly, the application makes sure the HP keyboard driver is launched and hidden in the background after a warm reset.
- Secondly, you now get twenty-two special hotkeys for launching your Pocket PC applications and performing useful tasks. Once you've used this feature, you'll never do without.
- Simply press and release the SHIFT/CAPS key, and quickly tap one of the letter keys to launch four user-defined and twelve pre-programmed applications such as Address Book and Calculator.
- You can also stop the current task, return to the Today screen or open the Start menu - all without using the stylus. Version 1.1 fixes some bugs, and adds copy and paste for many applications, as well as cursor up and down keys.

I love my 568 and also purchased the pocket keyboard. I give only two stars because the keyboard hides the power and USB connectors. If you install the keyboard you have to run off of battery power and must remove the keyboard to use synchronize or recharge.

The manual is bad. You must remove the original cover of the Jornada to install the keyboard. The manual does not tell you how to do this.

If you drop it, the cover and the hinges could come off. Good luck finding the hinges again! Now when I use my keyboard with my jornada, i have to do without a cover becasue those flimsy little hinges are long gone. And I overpaid for mine because I bought it ... at my local Brandsmart. Should have come to [Amazon.com], but it was an impulse buy. The keyboard also seems to add a lot a heft to the pocket pc, even though it doesn't feel that heavy on it own. Other than that, it's great. It beats the hunt and peck method you would otherwise have to use! And it lights up so you can use it in the dark.

The HP Jornada "thumbboard" has a nice feel, quite comfortable for long typing. The accompanying software driver is stable, and installation is simple.

Unfortunately, the method used to attach to the Jornada is ungainly - remove the lid, then shove the little pins on the keyboard face into the old hinge slots. To make matters worse (much worse), the keyboard blocks the sync/power cable connections, so you have to at least partially remove it in order to put it on its cradle to sync or recharge. I'd expected better from HP.