The missing D-pad has caused a bit of discussion. Some say it is completely unnecessary to have a D-pad, some say it is useless piece of device without it, some say the device is very difficult to use without it, while others say it is only a minor annoyance.
I would like to do this survey, and hopefully the design team in HTC will see the result and take it into account when designing the successor to Touch HD.
For those who vote that the device is impossible to use or a major inconvinience, please explain your case to to support why you have voted that way. This is to give others the chance to help you find alternative ways of using the device, and perhaps increase your satisfaction.
Its the one thing i am really missing on my HD........
I don't have mine yet.
But when I had the SonyEricsson P900 and Nokia 7710, I didn't use the hardware buttons much.
Though not having an "enter" button could be an annoyance.
...Which DPad? can you please remind me, after two weeks of touch HD, why do you need a Dpad and for what?
SingaporeAirlines said:
Though not having an "enter" button could be an annoyance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be possible to re-map any of the other buttons to "enter" ???
Also, at first I voted 'important', but then I considered the only times I really used the D-pad was for browsing and for some games, which I haven't been playing for a long time.
After all I think basically everything could be managed by using fingers or stylus.
pzucchel said:
...Which DPad? can you please remind me, after two weeks of touch HD, why do you need a Dpad and for what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I like it in Pocket informant contacts, the work around is to open the sip as this has the left, right, up, down, enter, just wish I could have those keys with out the Letters.
Maybe on a rainy day somebody will modify the Keyboard files and save it as a D-pad Keyboard.
That way you could swap the keyboard from standard to DPAD over the up icon at the bottom middle of the screen (the setings menu).
I didnt like it at the start, but Im not use to using it without it and I dont miss it anymore.
I got into a royal rumble with some psychos (who wanted to convince me that the lack of TV-OUT is worse than Armageddon) earlier so I will just post a few points I used previously:
1. If I am using a TOUCH screen I don't expect to NEED a D-pad.
2. If I am using a NON-TOUCH phone, then by all means, I am going to need a D-pad.
I can't be any clearer than this.
Now, if I do need a D-Pad then either:
A.) I don't understand the concept of a TOUCH screen.
B.) I play games like a 4 year old on my $1,000 SMARTphone.
C.) The screen sensitivity sucks and the software sucks even more.
C is on the manufacturer- if I just bought a TOUCH-screen phone and I NEED a D-Pad then they have F'n failed miserably. And I guess I have failed as a consumer for not doing my research.
These are MY thoughts, since you asked.
Back in the ipaq days, those units came with a sleeve you can attach for for example, a keyboard, CF expansion slot etc.. I wonder if there can be a USB expansion for a Dpad?
a soft d-pad
a d-pad works well when using the phone single-handed where you need the more precise control.
As suggested above a "soft" d-pad would probably be just as good, especially with haptic feedback and large buttons... anyone...?
A Soft-D-Pad would be excellent.
All device should have a dpad
Every time I see a device without a dpad I shake my head because it always looks as if a 5way would have fit in nicely. Its retarded to eave it out for looks! It is such a pain to navigate a cursor threw text with your finger.
Remembering my P900 days, that six-way wheel thing on the side was pretty nice.
They could have done something like that.
I have no necessary use for a dpad with my customized rom & apps...
galaxys said:
I have no necessary use for a dpad with my customized rom & apps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is that? In what way does the customized rom & apps help?
From my perspective, I missed D-pad only in mails application, MP3. In your rom, how is navigating from mail to mail, from mail account to another account, screen blanking and unblanking, song skipping done?
Appreciate you sharing these tips with us. Thanks.
jamespaulritter said:
Every time I see a device without a dpad I shake my head because it always looks as if a 5way would have fit in nicely. Its retarded to eave it out for looks! It is such a pain to navigate a cursor threw text with your finger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you refering to things like page up, page down of a document? Do you not have FtouchFLO, FtouchSL and stuff like that to do the same thing? I don't use D-pad for things like these.
maati said:
A Soft-D-Pad would be excellent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose if the D-pad is not a soft keyboard the use of which involves changing the keyboard first, then it would be okay. If it is a soft keyboard, then I think it is not worth the trouble.
exe said:
Back in the ipaq days, those units came with a sleeve you can attach for for example, a keyboard, CF expansion slot etc.. I wonder if there can be a USB expansion for a Dpad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then what? You have something dangling out from the HD's USB port?
For the four posters who said HD is useless without the D-pad, would you mind describing what applicatoins and what you were trying to do that were made impossible due to the lack of D-pad?
Thanks and cheers.
eaglesteve said:
Are you refering to things like page up, page down of a document? Do you not have FtouchFLO, FtouchSL and stuff like that to do the same thing? I don't use D-pad for things like these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not mean page up or page down. I think it is difficult to place and move a cursor threw text such as when you are editing a few words here and there in a document.
Related
i deeply like the specification, but after i was flexible with my diamond's direction button, i was confucing with Touch HD, no direction button.
not every software can use like Oprea's touch feeling, many of the application do not support scroll.
guys, what did you think about the no direction button?
I think youll only miss it when you want to play certain games.
In fact this is one thing (absence of a d-pad) which is making me even consider the Xperia.
I use spreadsheets a lot. I really don't know how effieient it would be to use spreadsheets without a d-pad
Other small things such as using the smart dialer to send SMS messages. I just imagine when you press a few keys on the smart dialer and have a list of contacts how do you select a contact to send a text message to. I believe as soon as you touch the contact with your finger it will start dialing
I use the D pad to control audio, without having to pull out my device from my pants pocket. With the HD, I am giving that up, it's a huge negative. But I'm still going to go for it, love that big screen. If I had bought a iTouch or iPhone, I would have the same problem. Just figure out if you're willing to give it up or not.
exe said:
I use the D pad to control audio, without having to pull out my device from my pants pocket. With the HD, I am giving that up, it's a huge negative. But I'm still going to go for it, love that big screen. If I had bought a iTouch or iPhone, I would have the same problem. Just figure out if you're willing to give it up or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still hope that there will be a remote for earplugs to slip track and volume. Just for the normal 3.5 jack, like on the nokia phones.. I hope, because that'll be important for me.. Greez, cad^^
cadenza said:
I still hope that there will be a remote for earplugs to slip track and volume. Just for the normal 3.5 jack, like on the nokia phones.. I hope, because that'll be important for me.. Greez, cad^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a blue tooth headset clip that has the controls on it, and you plug in your headphone into the unit. We will have to see if you can plug into the 3.5mm plug and still use the BT device just for controls. That would be best of both worlds.
This is something I am afraid
I want to be able to play "most" games ...
Especially emulators ...
I saw iPhone has nice emulators with "virtual buttons" ... but I have never seen one in WinMo !!
Lord.Bachus said:
I think youll only miss it when you want to play certain games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
srmz said:
I just imagine when you press a few keys on the smart dialer and have a list of contacts how do you select a contact to send a text message to. I believe as soon as you touch the contact with your finger it will start dialing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does... That annoys me no end. I can't drag a contact upwards to scroll - it dials them. In the "Last Called" list.
exe said:
I use the D pad to control audio, without having to pull out my device from my pants pocket. With the HD, I am giving that up, it's a huge negative. But I'm still going to go for it, love that big screen. If I had bought a iTouch or iPhone, I would have the same problem. Just figure out if you're willing to give it up or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you wouldn't - the iPhone has a dedicated volume control on the side, and a remote button for track skipping etc on the headset
I can honestly say that after a week with the iPhone, and an interface that's actually designed 100% around the touchscreen, I've never once missed the d-pad for anything. I doubt the same would be true of the Touch HD.
srmz said:
In fact this is one thing (absence of a d-pad) which is making me even consider the Xperia.
I use spreadsheets a lot. I really don't know how effieient it would be to use spreadsheets without a d-pad
Other small things such as using the smart dialer to send SMS messages. I just imagine when you press a few keys on the smart dialer and have a list of contacts how do you select a contact to send a text message to. I believe as soon as you touch the contact with your finger it will start dialing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SRMZ, +1
I still cannot decide which model to choose - X1 or HD - and now I am thinking more and more of getting an X1. I simply understand that the only thing about HD that I am going to really love and cream-my-pants because of is the 3.8" screen.
I think that HD is a perfect device for non-WM-addicts, for people who will use just TF3D-interface and Opera at most, without installing any tweaks/programs/registry-hacks/emulators/debuggers/consoles/younameit. Cause when you want to install one of them, you're in trouble - no hardware keys, no D-pad... Achtung!
One more thing I thought about.. Every phone has a kind of a "secret combination of keys", e g "turn-on-the-phone-holding-two-buttons-pressed-and-enter-diagnostics-mode". I wonder if the sensor buttons would do that?
Acelister said:
It does... That annoys me no end. I can't drag a contact upwards to scroll - it dials them. In the "Last Called" list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For devices with less hardware buttons, AEBPlus helped a lot. Would someone be kind enough to try it out to see if it helps at all? You can uninstall easily, at least I did on my Ameo.
http://ae.inc.ru/aebplus.php
I'm another one on the X1 or HD trail. HD for screen, X1 for dpad.
Fortunately I'm with orange so I think I'll just get the HD and if i don't like it, send it back in the 14 day window and get the X1.
jon- said:
I'm another one on the X1 or HD trail. HD for screen, X1 for dpad.
Fortunately I'm with orange so I think I'll just get the HD and if i don't like it, send it back in the 14 day window and get the X1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here... i can get the HD today if i want to, but still considering the Xperia...
Hrmmm....I was under the impression that the button area at the bottom of the phone (where the 4 buttons are) was touch sensetive and could be used for scrolling similar to diamond....is this not the case? That thing about not being able to scroll through call history scares me.....
jon- said:
I'm another one on the X1 or HD trail. HD for screen, X1 for dpad.
Fortunately I'm with orange so I think I'll just get the HD and if i don't like it, send it back in the 14 day window and get the X1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I will be buying it SIM free I am not sure if I get the 14 return option or not, though I thought that was in the UK law, but it's unclear on CPW's website.
jon- said:
I'm another one on the X1 or HD trail. HD for screen, X1 for dpad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly same trail i am stuck on. Unfortunately i just have one shot at it. Either the X1 or HD, and then stick with it atleast for an year before i change for a new one!
Ive got both.....much prefer the HD
Super Chimp said:
As I will be buying it SIM free I am not sure if I get the 14 return option or not, though I thought that was in the UK law, but it's unclear on CPW's website.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's called distance selling regulations or DSR. If you're unhappy with anything you've brought in the past 14 days unseen (ie mail order or online) you can return it under DSR. I believe they are allow to ask for a restocking fee but it can't be anymore than a certain % of the device cost. Google DSR for more info.
I'm very put off by the lack of hardware buttons. This phone can only be used two handed. If it had the same hardware buttons as the Hermes and Kaiser it'd be a killer device.
finisterre said:
I'm very put off by the lack of hardware buttons. This phone can only be used two handed. If it had the same hardware buttons as the Hermes and Kaiser it'd be a killer device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Sir,
May I please have some of the coolaid you are drinking? The Touch HD occupies similar dimensions to that of an iphone....the iphone can be used with one hand - I do so on a regular basis - therefore what is it that has convinced you that one handed operation is not supported?
Shouldn't this be able to get "ported" to our Diamond?
iPhone Ocarina
So yeah, we've come up with 2 great application/game ideas;
1. The DiamondFlute "one finger on the screen, pressing to any note; and the other finger is turning around the D-PAD and changing the sound like a trombone!! so not discrete but continous sound change like a theremin!! (pls search for what a theremin is)
ofcourse microfone is also the starting point of workflow!!"
2. The New SpaceInvaders "a shooter where there come stuff towards you, while you blow you shoot and then you aim by using the accelerometer; tilting the phone either left or right."
(see attached image of how I imagine it to look like)
multitouch ==> might be a problem for our Diamond
oh right, totally forgot about that. Still, would be cool if someone could do an app that uses the microphone as the iPhone Ocarina does.
MisterSosa said:
multitouch ==> might be a problem for our Diamond
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone developed a program that uses the cap pad/screen combo? If you were able to assign a virtual mouse using the cap pad and have the other screen element (note) activated by touch, you could have "two" keys to play... Kind of a cheesy method, but you get the point.
norkoastal said:
Has anyone developed a program that uses the cap pad/screen combo? If you were able to assign a virtual mouse using the cap pad and have the other screen element (note) activated by touch, you could have "two" keys to play... Kind of a cheesy method, but you get the point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! I was just thinking the same thing! Like use the capactive d-pad + touch screen. Lol.
capacitve pad is a reosta!!! So here is the idea!!
one finger on the screen, pressing to any note; and the other finger is turning around the D-PAD and changing the sound like a trombone!! so not discrete but continous sound change like a theremin!! (pls search for what a theremin is)
ofcourse microfone is also the starting point of workflow!!
Good idea but who will do this! ) the guys doing for iphone earn quite good money, but for wm, that's not the way so...
emre_aachen said:
capacitve pad is a reosta!!! So here is the idea!!
one finger on the screen, pressing to any note; and the other finger is turning around the D-PAD and changing the sound like a trombone!! so not discrete but continous sound change like a theremin!! (pls search for what a theremin is)
ofcourse microfone is also the starting point of workflow!!
Good idea but who will do this! ) the guys doing for iphone earn quite good money, but for wm, that's not the way so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds awesome and actually doable.
emre_aachen said:
capacitve pad is a reosta!!! So here is the idea!!
one finger on the screen, pressing to any note; and the other finger is turning around the D-PAD and changing the sound like a trombone!! so not discrete but continous sound change like a theremin!! (pls search for what a theremin is)
ofcourse microfone is also the starting point of workflow!!
Good idea but who will do this! ) the guys doing for iphone earn quite good money, but for wm, that's not the way so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mean like a portamento/glide/slide?
Actually, I think more games and fun apps can be made with the "microphone-blow" feature. For example a space-invader like game where you accelerate by blowing. Or a shooter where there come stuff towards you, while you blow you shoot and then you aim by using the accelerometer. (Now I really want the last example I came up with, would be pretty cool).
I'll make a concept art-image for it tonight so you'll see what I mean and if some developer happens to read this.
I thought the Diamond did have multi-touch support, its just not enabled because Apple will freak out, you know, because they own everything to do with it.....
Sama with the G1
chumbagen said:
I thought the Diamond did have multi-touch support, its just not enabled because Apple will freak out, you know, because they own everything to do with it.....
Sama with the G1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
diamond has panel multi-touch not screen multi-touch
see this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hljoYtITLJY
JesperO said:
Actually, I think more games and fun apps can be made with the "microphone-blow" feature. For example a space-invader like game where you accelerate by blowing. Or a shooter where there come stuff towards you, while you blow you shoot and then you aim by using the accelerometer. (Now I really want the last example I came up with, would be pretty cool).
I'll make a concept art-image for it tonight so you'll see what I mean and if some developer happens to read this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the image if anyone's interrested. The purple thingies are the bad guys and you shoot those white rings. You aim by tilting the phone either left or right (the black ring aint moving I imagine it to be more like gravity like when you aim)and shoot by blowing into the microphone (I guess it's the microphone they use in the iPhone Ocarina?).
Does this sound appealing?
Hi,
i found this in another thread, i was just wondering whether any devlopers would be able to use this file and adapt it to work with the x1? I would do it myself but im useless at all this stuff... (and plus i dont know how.)
The file can be found through this link-
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=440141&highlight=screen+sensitivity&page=2
What good would it do you to have a mouse pointer on the X1 screen? If the OS isn't optimized for it, there'll be no real benefit.
I used the demo of True Connect for a while which lets you move your PC mouse off of the screen onto the X1 screen. Very slick, but ultimately just a novelty because it didn't add any useful functionality to the X1. If they added drag and drop they would be on to something.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, I think the only reason why this hasn't been done already is because on the driver side the optical pad output is digital, eg: just 4 directions, and not coordinate output, like say a mouse.
samsung omnia has this option, (change from 4 way scrolling to a mouse).
Would be great to have this on the Xperia
wow my first post xD
@korval
i have to correct you....
a standard PC mouse with an oldschool trackball has also only 2 axis to get 4 directions but you can move the pointet over the screen like you want....
jo do not need more than this two axis but the only thing is to detect both of them simultaniously......
and i Love the pointer on Omnia but i dint like the Omnia itselve...... its only my second "emergency" device
ah and sry für bad english im a german one xD
On Screen Mouse
I'd be keen for this as well - it would be a nice cool UI feature.
What is really annoying (and spose off topic), the use of the optical pad doesn't register as a button/screen press, so the password lock screen comes up while you are using the optical pad to scroll!
(i was forced to set a longer timeout.. ah well, can't have everything secure..)
the_black_dragon said:
wow my first post xD
@korval
i have to correct you....
a standard PC mouse with an oldschool trackball has also only 2 axis to get 4 directions but you can move the pointet over the screen like you want....
jo do not need more than this two axis but the only thing is to detect both of them simultaniously......
and i Love the pointer on Omnia but i dint like the Omnia itselve...... its only my second "emergency" device
ah and sry für bad english im a german one xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yip, thats what I meant! I think you explained it a bit better than I did.
And now i will quote here what ive also written in another thread for this:
I will donate 50€ for the one who do this that its working like on my Omnia.....
this is a promise!!!!!!
would anyone use a laptop touchpad only like arrow keys instead of a mouse pointer??? NO!!!!
Greetz
i dont get it.
why not use the touch screen?
what reasons would u need this for?
the reason is that i want to use my device some times (if im on the walk) with only one handy.... also to use the browser......
the TF3D and spb etc is good to handle in one hand but not the browser like obera and opera mini..... also the small checkboxex in some programs are too small.....
on omnia i never have to use the stylus and i want to have this feature on my X1 because it MUST be possible!!!!!!
the_black_dragon said:
the reason is that i want to use my device some times (if im on the walk) with only one handy.... also to use the browser......
the TF3D and spb etc is good to handle in one hand but not the browser like obera and opera mini..... also the small checkboxex in some programs are too small.....
on omnia i never have to use the stylus and i want to have this feature on my X1 because it MUST be possible!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree 100%
Opera Mobile 10 has this built-in.
r3bel said:
Opera Mobile 10 has this built-in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah but it is too slowwwww
I dont understand some people here. Why are certain users against an additional input method? Isnt it a fact that everything that broadens the spectrum of available possibilities is generally a good thing? Have we fallen under Apple philosophy that condemns options that were not intended by the developer of the phone?
For me its clear that I would highly appreciate any additional way to control my device, especially a mouse pointer since this could replace the stylus when on the move. Even the small checkboxes would not force me to pull out the stylus anymore. How can anybody not support this? I dont get it. Isnt WM about freedom of choice?
I dont think anyone is against it, its just any developers who have read this dont think its important enough at the moment to spend time on, especially if they have other ongoing projects. But feel free to develop it yourself, no one will criticise you for making it, and if you do make it I am sure plenty of people will use it. No one here is Steve Jobs. lol.
korval said:
I agree 100%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need a mouse smooth cursor llike the PC mouse for X1.tks!!!
i'm dying to get the HD2, but I've never yet had a phone that didn't have either a jog dial / rollerball / direction pad or some way of moving around the screen without just using touch...
you Blackstone owners are the guys in the know - i guess you've had the HD for a year or so - how do you find it? Do you wish you had a hardwarde key to scroll around the screen while browing etc? It always struck me that without a direction control a touch screen definitely became a two-handed device whereas with a jog-dial or similar one is enough for most things.
be great to hear some views - Thanks!
hey... I thought I will miss the direction pad when i first went for the HD, but I didnt... (maybe the first week only when I was allready used to use the D-pad on my Polaris)..
As far as the stylus is concerned, I hardly use it as well... I mean i use it only when i text somebody, simply because i want to text faster without pressing the wrong letters, but with a bigger display on the HD2 I can't see this being a problem... I don't text a lot so its not a problem for me... To be honest I used it a lot more on my Polaris on the smaller display...
Now you know is down to the individual and what you use on a daily basis... WM6.5 is created as such you will not need the stylus a lot... As for browsing I use it one handed, scrolling with my thumb.
take care
wilbur said:
i'm dying to get the HD2, but I've never yet had a phone that didn't have either a jog dial / rollerball / direction pad or some way of moving around the screen without just using touch...
you Blackstone owners are the guys in the know - i guess you've had the HD for a year or so - how do you find it? Do you wish you had a hardwarde key to scroll around the screen while browing etc? It always struck me that without a direction control a touch screen definitely became a two-handed device whereas with a jog-dial or similar one is enough for most things.
be great to hear some views - Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think most people would agree with me and state they wished the HD had a d-pad, however with the latest roms available and some extra apps installed like AEBPlus (for directional up & down) you can manage without a d-pad or stylus for everyday use. Unfortunately when it comes to games you are very limited and without this excellent sites dev's most games would be useless for the HD. Thankfully if you search the apps, software & games forums you should be able to find a d-pad usable for games.
I was however a little disappointed that the HD2 doesn't have a d-pad (or drivers) as I thought HTC may have learnt, obviously not
leftkats said:
WM6.5 is created as such you will not need the stylus a lot...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true, but with the capacitive screen of the HD2, you can't use a stylus at all,so not needing it much is still a big problem. This is paticularly true if you use Office mobile a lot like I do or want to accurately cut and copy text.
Moandal said:
That's true, but with the capacitive screen of the HD2, you can't use a stylus at all,so not needing it much is still a big problem. This is paticularly true if you use Office mobile a lot like I do or want to accurately cut and copy text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh yes... I forgot the cut and paste thing... I use my stylus for that as well... I am sure I will figure out something else to mask the problem...
leftkats said:
oh yes... I forgot the cut and paste thing... I use my stylus for that as well... I am sure I will figure out something else to mask the problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does cut&paste have to do with the stylus? Is there some feature I don't know of?
Fallen Spartan said:
Think most people would agree with me and state they wished the HD had a d-pad, however with the latest roms available and some extra apps installed like AEBPlus (for directional up & down) you can manage without a d-pad or stylus for everyday use. Unfortunately when it comes to games you are very limited and without this excellent sites dev's most games would be useless for the HD. Thankfully if you search the apps, software & games forums you should be able to find a d-pad usable for games.
I was however a little disappointed that the HD2 doesn't have a d-pad (or drivers) as I thought HTC may have learnt, obviously not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well - I don't agree at all! Screen size is everything - and if the HD2 had a DPAD, the screen would have to be smaller... I can't think of a single situation where I would need a DPAD! What do you need it for?
And concerning the OP: I use the device with one hand most of the time as well... When texting, I can use my thumb (or both thumbs if I want to type faster) without problems. The same applies to scrolling. The only problem I have is with older WM builds with the start menu icon in the top left corner - it's hard to stretch the thumb all the way across the screen - but with newer builds (6.5.1) the start menu has moved to the bottom. So that problem is going to be taken care of!
MAMeingast said:
What does cut&paste have to do with the stylus? Is there some feature I don't know of?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is much easier to select text with your stylus in order to cut or copy text. It is more precise, as mentioned on an earlier post.
MAMeingast said:
Well - I don't agree at all! Screen size is everything - and if the HD2 had a DPAD, the screen would have to be smaller... I can't think of a single situation where I would need a DPAD! What do you need it for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you had read my post I was hinting at a d-pad for gaming.......everyday use I don't need it, but for gaming, thats a different matter for a lot of people.
An optical pad is not that big. No need to cut the screen size.
The difference is such like hard keyboard and touch keyboard.
quite some people cannot live without a hard keyboard.
leftkats said:
It is much easier to select text with your stylus in order to cut or copy text. It is more precise, as mentioned on an earlier post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah - ok! I thought there was some special way to copy and paste using the stylus. Yes: That's very true. Text selection is alot easier with the stylus. That would be an issue they'd have to address on the HD2. Isn't there some zoom & select feature on the iphone? That would make alot of sense to me...
Fallen Spartan said:
If you had read my post I was hinting at a d-pad for gaming.......everyday use I don't need it, but for gaming, thats a different matter for a lot of people.
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Ok - some games do require a DPAD. But many new games will not, specifically because devices like the HD and the HD2 do not have one. Also, as I've said: screen size is everything to me. I don't really care for games (there are enough good games working without a DPAD) and prefer a bigger screen. And that was my point: Your post began with the sentence "Think most people would agree with me and state they wished the HD had a d-pad" and I just wanted to reply: I don't!
I only use the stylus when I play solitaire and surf the web; clicking links could be quite an annoyance without a stylus.
MAMeingast said:
Ok - some games do require a DPAD. But many new games will not, specifically because devices like the HD and the HD2 do not have one. Also, as I've said: screen size is everything to me. I don't really care for games (there are enough good games working without a DPAD) and prefer a bigger screen. And that was my point: Your post began with the sentence "Think most people would agree with me and state they wished the HD had a d-pad" and I just wanted to reply: I don't!
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No probs, but I actually agree with you. I don't really use the stylus at all any more and I'm not into gaming that much either, but there has been a lot of development in the software forum for a d-pad for games not specifically designed for the HD so there is still a demand for a d-pad.
Toss3 said:
I only use the stylus when I play solitaire and surf the web; clicking links could be quite an annoyance without a stylus.
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Think this is were some of the improvements in the HD may really shine with the new capacitive screen. Hopefully this will make browsing more like the iphone experience...or hopefully better again. Only time will tell.
MAMeingast said:
Ah - ok! I thought there was some special way to copy and paste using the stylus. Yes: That's very true. Text selection is alot easier with the stylus. That would be an issue they'd have to address on the HD2. Isn't there some zoom & select feature on the iphone? That would make alot of sense to me...
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Regarding the zoom thing.. I saw a video the other day where igo8 was running on HD2, and the guy would pitch and zoom on the map, but it seemed as the whole program was zoomed in, not just the map. If this is true and it can be achieved in other programs then selecting text won't be (that much of) a problem...
IMHO, having no D-pad is a major pain, particularly with single handed contact's selection and controlling music FF,play,pause,skip without having to pull it out of your pocket, turn the screen on and do it there.....it really is such a backward's step for what I've just said, its not even debatable in my eye's
Have tried a couple of games with the onscreen controls briefly and thats as much as I ever want to try it....I thought it was useless.....missing D-pad's is one of the biggest backward's step's with most newer model's for me.
Stylus is my reason for using WM, if it didn't have it, I wouldn't use it, high res screen's with small text and icon's, precision, clean screen, faster typing [for me]...stylus is windows mobile imo, although the shell's and interface add on's have made them much more useful without a stylus...what's the point, might as well buy one of the other three major mobile OS's as you lose the benefit's of point precision combined with dense data and high resolution.
The stylus is less of a pain on the diamond and HD because pulling it out also turn's the device on, although I would prefer it top mounted than the bottom.
My 2 cent's anyway.
Regarding text selection on the HD2:
http://pocketnow.com/software-1/selecting-text-on-the-htc-hd2
in that video he says that new text selection functionality is only available in the HTC Sense part of the UI, and not in the basic Windows Mobile bits... which is a shame.
The main use of a direction pad / rollerball for me is selecting links while browsing, esp where there is a long vertical list of links to chose from - using my G1 if i don't use the rollerball I am always hitting the wrong one (and I don't want to zoom in just to select a link!).
Having switched to Android, the only reason I feel like giving WMob another go is the specs on this thing - primarily the RAM, which is just awesome. I guess that given that most of the new ultra-high-end android devices that I am chosing between are similar in not having any other form of input other than the screen (htc rachel, acer liquid etc) I guess it shouldn't alter my choice much.
I think the real deciding factor is that the HD2 is going to be the first one that is actually going to make it to the market and the fact that i am eligable for an upgrade is burning a hole in my pocket!
I've done some searching and can't find a keyboard input that only shows the up/down/right/left arrows. There are a few d-pad apps out there but they take up half the screen! All I need is to be able to switch my input from my regular keyboard to a directional one so I can turn the pages in my old scripture reader. A bar across the bottom, that didn't take up a ton of real estate, would be great.
Riverplace said:
I've done some searching and can't find a keyboard input that only shows the up/down/right/left arrows. There are a few d-pad apps out there but they take up half the screen! All I need is to be able to switch my input from my regular keyboard to a directional one so I can turn the pages in my old scripture reader. A bar across the bottom, that didn't take up a ton of real estate, would be great.
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I fully agree. Is there any app out there?
Buy a Iolite..... !
You would think that this would be a priority for some gamers out there! There are plenty of games that need d-pad to play.
Frank Caarls said:
Buy a Iolite..... !
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No disrespect intended my man, but this is the first unhelpful post I've seen you make. He chose to buy a Mega, I chose to buy a Mega, some of us are limited in our choice of phone.
I happen to think the mega is the best phone I've ever had in my twenty...something years of life.
So no, we don't wanna buy another phone for 1 feature, he wants an app, a touch input that offers this feature to the phone he chose.
Dear Uppy,
It was never my serious intention to have somebody buy a new phone which is just out on the market nor offend Mega users....sorry if people read it that way.....
And after searching again did not find the application our friend wants.....unfortunately
Oh i wish some think like that exist ... i'd want it on my whitestone too... i was just wondering can any one extraxt the dpad of the ezinput and make it work like a seprate SIP... Lol that would be cool
Handwriting
For the moment I'm switching to the "handwriting" input whenever I need the arrows. It has arrows and doesn't use up as much room on the screen. Still, it could be better if it were just the row of arrows at the bottom.