I got a request from Mitch Howe to mention how the Frogpad is going.

Well, I'll tell you. I'm entirely satisfied with the frogpad product. I'm actually pretty speedy on the lil thing now, and I don't need to look at it, except when I'm programming(which uses many special symbols I need to often check even on the qwerty).

The only reason I don't use it all the time is because the bluetooth software is a bit buggy, and it has a tendency to lose it's pairing with my computer when I turn it off and on too many times.

This means that I have to going through the pairing ritual, which means hitting the reset switch with a paperclip, and typing in the code that appears on the screen. This is fantastically annoying, and has me wondering why I asked for the bluetooth version in the first place. I had visions of carrying it from computer to computer, using for mobile devices, etc etc, but the truth of the matter is that I'm on the same computer, day in and day out, and having a battery-operated wireless keyboard is just less important than reliability and no hassles.

When I get going though, it's really fantastic, one of my pet peeves is the fact that many of the programs I use require me to both type and mouse, which I can do now without a pause in between.

I also am happy having chosen the left-hand version, as my left hand is getting a mite stronger and more dextrous with all the concentration and workout.

All in all, I'm surprised, although I regret not getting the wired USB version. If the pairing problems keep up, I may have to think about replacing it, or seeing if I can't modify the thing to operate continously plugged in, so I can just never turn it off.

((A word of note though, I'm kind of an odd duck, and this keyboard did require quite a bit of getting used to. It was literally three weeks before I wasn't pulling my hair out, trying to keep from using the qwerty keyboard every time I was on it, just because of the terrible speed. (I got used to typing as fast as I do) It's not as bad now, but I still use the qwerty keyboard for gaming, and when I need programming done fast, or in great volume. My mispellings have also gone up. It's strange, but it seems that nearly 15% of my spelling ability was based on what 'felt' right. So I need to think more to get wrong words corrected.))