Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

I just read the Jan/Feb issue of Tap Magazine, which had a great feature on new overlays for the silkscreen Graffiti area. I was particularly floored by one of them, Brochu Software's TapPad. Has anyone out there tried one of these? If so, what's your experience been like?

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Oregon
Posts: 115

This is the first I've seen it. Looks real handy.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

What do people who use these things do about screen protection? Just use the sticker, put it under the screen protector, or stick it to the screen protector?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

I Want One
Do you know if the company that makes TapPad has a website? One that I could order from hopefully? Thanks for any information..

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Baltimore MD, USA
Posts: 717

http://www.sitelink.net/jbrochu/
I'm not sure if it is available yet.
When you follow the link to the actual TapPad site, none of the other pages are present except the order form.
It is listed as $19.95

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Interests: Women, Drums, Visors, Computers, Home Theater and any cool gadgets.
Posts: 138

This does look interesting. It must load a "hack" or some type of driver to let the area it covers react to what you touch like the keypad, cut and paste etc� I only wish it also had and option for a small alpha keyboard layout as well next to the keypad. Then you would not have to tap the little abc) to bring up the keyboard, just peck away on the keyboard whenever your in any app.

Maybe have one button that toggles it on/off so you could write using graffiti over they keyboard if you wanted to.

If I may recommend something for you;
I found a REALLY cool HackMaster hack called keyboard hack. (keybhack.zip on palmgear.com)
This for now is the best thing for this type of convenience. It makes using the Visor that much better. This is the way the keypad should have been designed from the get go.

From the doc file:

quote:

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Keyboard Hack replaces the built-in onscreen keyboard. It combines the alphabetic and numeric keypads into a 69-key keyboard. Some characters (e.g. ~ / : ) are rearranged for internet related content. The program is built with the hope to improve typing efficiency.

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Actually, there is a keyboard layout, which was also reviewed in the same Tap article (they gave it a 9, and the TapPad a 10). It's called the Silkyboard:

You can either tap the keys with the stylus or use Graffiti directly over the keys; the software can automatically tell the difference, so you don't have to switch modes. Check them out at http://softava.com/silkyboard .

I prefer the TapPad since I'm pretty proficient with Graffiti, and it seems less obtrusive. Also, TapPad has a clear base, which I think looks better than the Silkyboards white base. But it doesn't look like you can go wrong with either option.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Interests: Women, Drums, Visors, Computers, Home Theater and any cool gadgets.
Posts: 138

quote:

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Originally posted by Gameboy70:
[B]Actually, there is a keyboard layout, which was also reviewed in the same Tap article (they gave it a 9, and the TapPad a 10). It's called the Silkyboard:

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Hey thanks for that. I didn't actually look at the page when I posted that. I also now remember seeing Silkyboard awhile back before I got the Visor and forgot about it until you just mentioned it
I am not sure if I want either one but may look into them. That keyboard hack is working nice so far.
I do like the look of Tap though. Maybe when they ship and some feedback comes in.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

This is part of an email I got from John Brochu, the maker of TapPad:

"I'm very pleased to announce that TapPad has completed testing and is now available for purchase from our new website at http://TapPad.com ! We are still working on putting up some more info on the product itself, but the entire site design is complete in PhotoShop, so the remainder will be put online very shortly. Right now we have the home page and the order form up, so please give it a look!

If you want to just place your order now, you can go direct to the order form at: http://TapPad.com/orderform ."

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Richmond, VA, USA
Posts: 151

It is also available for a test drive at www.palmgear.com

[This message has been edited by na2rboy (edited 03-15-2000).]