• $40

• Innovative Concept
• You can either tap or write in Graffiti
• Contains many useful keys directly on keyboard
• Very Intuitive Text-Entering System

• Tad Pricey
• Obscures Graffiti Backlight (which isn't NOVASIB's fault)
• Hand may become weary after extended typing

Design:
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If you want to purchase one of these, go to silkyboard.com as they make a model for just about every single Palm model, all for $40. Although that sounds like a lot of money, you do get four boards. Frankly, after a week of use, I couldn't see myself using all four for quite some years, so that's on one hand a benefit, but on the other hand it's a lot of money to spend if you don't. Fortunately, this is a great product, so I doubt you'll try to send it back.

Installation
The Silkyboard II arrived in an unassuming brown package which I quickly opened. It contained the actual product casing along with a floppy disk with the software, and four silkyboard overlays with some applicator strips.

At first I was concerned about installing the software, because I happen to be one of "those mac users" with no floppy drive. Fortunately, the packaging told me that Silkyboard.com had all the drivers on it so it wasn't a problem. Installing the overlay was pretty easy, except for the fact that I had to take off one of my screen protectors and reapply one afterwards. I then installed three files that totaled 48k to run the software. It runs a quick calibration test and gives you instructions on how to use it, and you're ready to go.

First Impression
Anyone with Silkyboard I probably wonders what the difference is. Anyway, Silkyboard II has five rows of buttons instead of four. In the fifth row there is Space and some other useful buttons that substitute for the Silkscreen Buttons and speed up text editing. You can do any key without Graffiti at all, though if you like it is still readily available.

I was quite surprised because I really didn't think I was going to like it that much. After all, it did obscure my Graffiti backlight, but the light that snuck through was helpful. This isn't NOVASIB's fault, so I didn't dock them for it. It's actually a quite intuitive system and you can easily switch between tapping and writing on the fly, no key combos or anything. The tapping works well and is far better than writing if you're average at Graffiti like most Palm users are.

One minor problem is that some of the application buttons are slightly difficult to push, but they work. My initial impression was a highly favorable one.

Tapping
The only problem I had with the Silkyboard II was that my hand would get tired. It's great for typing a few sentences but I wouldn't recommend this instead of a regular keyboard if you planned to use it for writing essays. It does tire your hand out from the constant movement around the screen. It's a small issue though, and shouldn't keep you from purchasing it.

Other than that, tapping produced a really high level of accuracy. Normally, on Graffiti, I'd screw up a letter, erase it, and screw up again, which got old pretty fast. The Silkyboard II is especially great for typing repeat characters. Anyone who writes lots of web addresses on Palms knows what a pain it is to write "www".

The fifth row of buttons the Silkyboard II added are a worthy addition. They contain not only the regular silk buttons, but also copy, cut, paste, return, find, and contrast (if your Palm supports it).

Conclusion
Aside from a little bit of hand tiredness, this is a great way to enter text. In my opinion it's better than Graffiti, and even if you like Graffiti a lot, you can use both with this product. At first, I had planned to take off the overlay after the review but now I plan to keep it. Silkyboard II is well worth the money, and stands up well to all other text input methods.