Comments on: Review: Seiko ThumBoard

In recent months, several companies have introduced new options for those who aren't fond of entering lots of text with Graffiti. One of these is Seiko Instruments' ThumBoard. There are versions of the ThumBoard for the Palm V series, m500, m505, and Visor. Long-time reviewer Pepper takes a look at the m505 one.

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How Will the i705 Do Versus Blackberry?

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/28/2001 4:15:37 PM #

I hate these thumb keyboards. If I could learn to use them, I would get a blackberry, which has such excellent coverage for wireless communication.

Anyone know of a blackberry that uses a something like a Palm portable keyboard???

Thanks, Robrecht

RE: How Will the i705 Do Versus Blackberry?

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/28/2001 5:50:10 PM #

What kind of comparison is that.....the blackberry should be called the "Brickberry".....from all indications of the snapshots on the web on the so-called i705....it looks like a great device for the individual who need their emails on the go....

RE: How Will the i705 Do Versus Blackberry?

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/29/2001 12:17:07 AM #

to the person who replied:

what an idiot! and what do you call the Talkabouts?! Jeesh, people are just stupid these days!

The Blackberry is a two messaging system, the i705 is a PALM. MAJOR differences there...

RE: How Will the i705 Do Versus Blackberry?

palm_pilot_guy @ 12/29/2001 8:20:00 AM #

Take a chill pill, mon! Don't flame him so soon.

The person just didn't understand the difference between a Blackberry and a i705!

The Blackberry is more of a NETpliance because it was just made for sending e-mail and stuff like that; it's dedicated.

The i705 plus the Palm capabilities plus the wirless capabilities. It's kinda like an all-in-one TV/VCR, you have TV viewing capabilities and VCR viewing capabilities right out of the box. Whereas, just say, a Palm m500, is just a TV but you can buy a VCR (wireless modem) to have the wireless capabilities.

If you were asking about the i705 input device, it's Graffiti according to a rumor photo but they might have to change it to a thumboard because of the lawsuit.

Bring back Oldsmobile! Bring back Oldsmobile!
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[img]http://gmautobuilder.com/carimages/2002400205.jpg[/img]

RE: How Will the i705 Do Versus Blackberry?

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/29/2001 9:59:05 AM #

Hellow again.

My point, admittedly off-topic or reverse topic, was that although the Blackberry has excellent coverage, I don't like the thumb keyboards for composing more than one or two word emails. Instead of making a Palm more like a Blackberry, there are those who would like to make a Blackberry more like a Palm. Personally, I would rather see Palm coverage and service become as reliable and well known as Blackberry's.

We don't know yet how good the coverage and service will be for the i705. Obviously, the i705 will have more to offer, but other PDAs have a lot more to offer too, eg, SONY T615C, and adding email capability to other PDAs is sometimes very involved or impossible for the average user.

I know of one major corporation that stopped providing Palms to their executives and replaced them with Blackberries because they were considered so much simpler for staying in touch via email.

In the end, good network coverage and ease of use will probably be more important than prerelease snapshots on the web.

Thanks, Robrecht

Handspring Visor & Thumboard

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/28/2001 6:36:18 PM #

Anyone used one with the Handspring Visor? I have a Fellowes Pocket Keyboard for my Prism and it's totally useless. If I attempt to use it with a springboard module (namely my Xircom 802.11b module) the drivers get confused and try to access the springboard instead of the keyboard thru the serial port. :-P

I'd definitely buy one of these, but I'm not gonna drop another $50 into a keyboard without knowing for a fact it will work.

8==8 Bones 8==8

RE: Handspring Visor & Thumboard

jonecool @ 12/28/2001 6:46:51 PM #

Too weird, I just posted the thread below you about the same thing at roughly the same exact time...

RE: Handspring Visor & Thumboard

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/31/2001 6:09:51 PM #

Wow. ;-)

Actually, I may just go ahead and get one once I have the cash on hand. If you'd be interested, send me an email at "bones3d@charter.net", and I'll let you know what I find out once I've tried one out.

8==8 Bones 8==8

Question: HS Version work with VisorPhone?

jonecool @ 12/28/2001 6:42:42 PM #

I have recently received the Fellowes PDA Keyboard (for the Handspring Visor) which, unlike the Targus (Stowaway) keyboard cannot be used while accessing a communication springboard (i.e. VisorPhone or Xircom Springport). My primary reason for purchasing one is to use it for e-mails and come to find out their driver conflicts with the Springport on the Handspring device.

I'm curious about the Seiko ThumBoard and if it suffers from the same limitation? If so, I guess the Stowaway is a no-brainer.

Thank you for the Review!

RE: Question: HS Version work with VisorPhone?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2002 1:02:35 AM #

I've tried the thumboard with the visorphone and it won't work,

RE: Question: HS Version work with VisorPhone?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/20/2002 5:03:18 PM #

You need to download the latest driver from www.seiko-austin.com. Should work fine after that.

RE: Question: HS Version work with VisorPhone?

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/10/2002 10:33:59 PM #

so, does it really work with the new driver? i read about the remove VPhone, turn on thumboard, insert Vpone cha-cha which is the workaround. will the new driver eliminate that or should i just sent the thing back when it comes...

Good review...and...

Cheetah @ 12/28/2001 7:00:19 PM #

I liked several things about the Seiko Thumboard, but there were 2 glaring problems that made me abandon it:

1. the form factor works great when the Palm is out of it's case, but interferred with my case (which has a very tight fit, so is difficult to use). This single problem meant that I'd have to choose between the Thumboard and my case...my case won.

2. the keys were too easy to press, meaning you could accidently hit the wrong key (or 2 keys) accidently. Anyone who has ever used a Blackberry knows that the keys are much tighter and therefore you rarely if ever hit the wrong keys.

Mainly due to problem 1, and partly due to problem 2, I bought a Targus Thumbpad, which is similiar to the Seiko unit, except it does not have either of the above two problems.

I really like it, and would recommend it to anyone who would have the same issues as I did with the Seiko.

RE: Good review...and...

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/1/2002 10:32:11 PM #

How does your targus thumpad solve the case issue. I am trying to find a case that will fit the combined unit.

thanks

Thumboard and Mobile Internet

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/28/2001 9:32:04 PM #

Hi guys, I haven't commented on the boards lately but I'd like to talk a little about my experiences with the Seiko Thumboard (Vx) and it's compatibility with my Ericsson T39 mobile phone.

The Seiko Thumboard is pretty big, there's no question. If you are looking for slim, look elsewhere, it's a pain in the pocket. Typing on the Thumboard is relatively easy, the keys are placed in the same position as your computer's keyboard, but are extremely close together and I find typing to slower than entering text with grafitti.

Actual Comment:
This comment is really in relation to the Thumboard's ease of use with mobile phones. After sliding the Thumboard onto my Palm Vx, I layed the entire unit down on the table and placed my T39 next to the infrared port to try chatting on Instant Messenger. Upon pushing on the keyboard I noticed immediately that the whole unit (Palm and Thumboard) shake back and forth (like a see-saw) because the Thumboard only covers half of the backside of the Palm. This causes problems because as you type the Palm-Thumboard unit move around and I lose the IR signal with my phone. Using the Thumboard with a Bluetooth-enabled PDA would be ideal because it's much more reliable than IR, but unfortunately I couldn't test that setup (however with a 10m radius to work with I'm sure you could hold the unit however you like).

What I recommend:
A few weeks ago PIC posted a link to this Folding-Keyboard site: (www.man-machine.com). This setup would allow the Palm to lay flat against the table, thereby allowing the signal to remain uninterrupted while typing away on a "normal sized" keyboard.