4. Test Two: Using A Dell Axim X30 PDA

PDAs can benefit more from a keyboard like this one because they include richer applications such as Pocket Word or Pocket Excel. Our PDA of choice was an Axim X30 from Dell.

Placing a mobile phone into the mounting mechanism is easy, but a heavier PDA makes the keyboard feel a bit unstable.

The installation program worked fine with the Axim, though it took three or four attempts for the keyboard and PDA to connect. Once connected and after we set some parameters (see next section), the keyboard worked nicely with both Pocket Word and Pocket Excel.

Two cautions: We found it useful to disable the PDA's screen keyboard in order to free up more space for our applications. If you type very fast, the keyboard will eat some characters, so fast typists need to be careful to moderate their speed.

Rotating the Axim X30 90° provided a more useful workspace for Pocket Word.