A big, usable, external keyboard for free!
You already have it! It's attached to your desktop PC computer and it's easier and less expensive to use than any of the smaller, customized solutions. All you need is CEKeyboard, a free program from Foliage.
1. Download CEKeyboard at www.foliage.com/ce/body.html.
2. Connect your PC Companion to your desktop PC using the synchronization cable that came with your device. (Make sure you have ActiveSync installed.).
3. Install the Windows CE portion of the program.
4. Run the Desktop PC portion of the program.
A small Window labeled "Foliage CE Keyboard" pops up (see Screen 1). Whenever you click on that window to select it, you can type directly into the open application on your PC Companion (Pocket Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, Word, Excel, etc.). It even works with third-party applications you install on the PC Companion.
CEKeyboard can be used to more quickly enter or modify any textual information on your PC Companion, but it is particularly useful for applications that are only found on the PC Companion. A byproduct of using CEKeyboard is that you have more useable screen space on the Palm-size PC because you do not need to have the soft keyboard or JOT window up while entering information.
Screen 1: CEKeyboard lets you type data into your PC Companion from your desktop PC's full-size keyboard.
A unique double-protection against data loss
Say you're traveling and your H/PC crashes, along with your vital Pocket Outlook data. "No problem," you say! "I've got a backup." This happened to me once on an airplane, and when I tried to restore from my backup, I got a message telling me that my backup file was corrupted. I had the data back on my desktop PC, but that was 5,000 miles behind me. I was out of luck.
Now I carry a secondary backup in the form of a Pocket Excel spreadsheet. If it ever happens again, all I have to do is open my Pocket Outlook backup spreadsheet in Pocket Excel. First make sure that the data on your PC Companion is synchronized with your desktop PC. Here's what you do to create the data backup.
1. Open Outlook on your Desktop PC.
2. Go to the Outlook application you want to back up (Contacts, Tasks, etc.).
3. From the File menu, select the Import/Export option.
4. From the "Choose an action to perform:" menu, select Export to a file.
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