Use Mode Command to Speed Up the Palmtop's Keyboard

You can speed up the Palmtop's keyboard response and increase the repeat rate when you hold down any key.

To do this use any method to get to the DOS prompt and type the command

MODE CON: rate=32 delay=1

Here is what the command is about.

Mode --Mode typically configures the parallel and serial ports, code pages and the display. In this instance you can change the "typematic" rate (the rate at which DOS repeats a character when the key for that character is held down). The typematic rate has two components: rate and delay. The syntax for the MODE command to set the typematic rate is:

MODE CON[:] [RATE=r DELAY=d]

CON --Refers to the keyboard.

RATE=r --Specifies the rate at which a character is repeated on the screen when you hold down a key. Valid values are from 1 to 32 and equal approximately 2 to 30 characters per second respectively. The default value on your Palmtop is 20. If you set the rate, you must also set the delay.

DELAY=d --Specifies the amount of time that elapses after you press and hold down a key before DOS starts to repeat the character. Valid values for d are 1, 2, 3, and 4 (representing 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1 second, respectively). The default value is 2. If you set the delay, you must also set the rate.

By placing the above command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you can set the repeat rate to 30 characters per second and tell DOS to pause for 1/4 second before repeating the character.

The downside to speeding up the keyboard is that you will be pushing the Palmtop a little bit harder than before. You can expect to see a drop in the battery life.

I used the mode con speed trick in the past before getting a DoubleSpeed upgrade. It worked fine in certain applications (e.g. 1-2-3 and Memo) and not so well in other apps such as the database apps.