Just wondering if any of you nexus one owners happen to text frequently and if you have a hard time with the virtual keyboard. I can type at light speed on my G1 and frankly, the only thing that worries me about the nexus I ordered is not having this physical keyboard. So let's hear it. Is it awful, usable, good, or downright amazing?
That has been my largest worry as well. I'm a G1 user who is very fond of the hardware keyboard. However, I am forcing myself with the Nexus One to learn to love the Onscreen. It seemed like all the best and newer phones were not coming with keyboards, or when they did the keyboard was not very pleasant to use. At least once I(we) get over the hump of getting used to the onscreen with the N1 we can then go to ANY other android phone and be satisfied.
My Nexus One SHOULD be waiting for me on the counter when I get home... will pop my SIM in and away I go.
I'm in the same boat although I've noticed on my G1 I'm better with the HTC_IME keyboard than the stock. I'm hoping we can push the HTC_IME keyboard to the N1.
It's actually not as bad as i thought it would be. I wish it had the HTC IME, so I wouldn't have to click a button for numbers or exclamation points. FYI: I installed HTC IME, but it doesn't look that great on the screen.
I don't have a nexus one and part of the reason why I love my G1 is because of the physical keyboard and I also like the HTC IME over the android one by leaps and bounds. I am currently using "shapewriter" from the market and it took about a few days to get used to and see the benefits but since i got used to it, my texting is now almost twice as fast as the keyboard. I haven't used the keyboard for texting for a couple weeks now whereas before i would only use the keyboard during texts. Shapewriter is making me really consider getting a nexus.
The keyboard in landscape mode is great. Plus I've been using the voice input to send texts and its pretty accurate for the most part, awesome new feature. I'm not missing my G1 keyboard at all.
I'm sure the VK will be good. My G1 physical spacebar broke (go figure..) and I have been using the HTC_IME on it for months now :\. Can't wait for the N1 though. It should be here tomorrow
Glad to hear all that! I've switched to using on vk on my G1 to get ready lol. But unfortunately I'm using HTC_IME and it's awesome. I think cyanogen said he plans on porting the HTC_IME for nexus shortly. Let's keep our fingers crossed
Well I have never used the HTC IME and always had a hardware keyboard (except the Artemis where I used a stowaway bluetooth when heavy typing).
I can not type at the speed I could on the G1 keyboard but it is not bad. I do not like that I can not see my IMs/SMS when typing in landscape but the keyboard is good for the most part. In portrait mode I rely a lot more on autocorrect but mistakes are not terrible there either. Of course I have only been using an on screen keyboard for about 2 hours so hopefully with experience it will get easier. Even now though for texting where typos are not a huge concern it gets the job done.
It is a trade off, no hardware keyboard but it is very thin. I would have gone the other direction but I can understand the choice.
I went from a g1 to an iphone and really missed the keyboard. Once I got used to the iphone I was able to type quickly and accurately. I send/receive about 2200 texts a month so I would say I'm an avid texter (not a fan of talking except to certain people).
I expect the n1 to be similar to the iphone in terms of texting.
matt_stang said:
Just wondering if any of you nexus one owners happen to text frequently and if you have a hard time with the virtual keyboard. I can type at light speed on my G1 and frankly, the only thing that worries me about the nexus I ordered is not having this physical keyboard. So let's hear it. Is it awful, usable, good, or downright amazing?
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I send about 2K-3K texts a month in addition to my email, Web browsing and other keyboard use. The physical keyboard was a must for me for years. Two months ago I traded one of my G1s for a myTouch. I decided to play with the myTouch and then ended up using it. While I sometimes miss the keyboard I got very used to the onscreen keyboard. Now that I have the N1 I can say that I don't miss the keyboard at all. Besides, with ShapeWriter (simply amazing) and Swype (haven't tried it yet but will now that I have an N1), onscreen keyboards are very good.
So far, I have found that using speaking to send the texts are remarkably easy and accurate. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of speaking to "type" my texts.
The VK isn't that bad though... seems really accurate and there is no lag so its easy to deal with.
Speech to text has removed my need for keyboard use of anykind at home/work/walking.
On screen is accurate enough not to annoy me when speaking out loud would look weird.
I would try better keyboard if default is no good. User dictionary is a must.
I was really worried about this, too -- I got really used to the physical keyboard on my G1 and was really fast at it, although I sometimes used the HTC IME (the Android one sucks).
Now that I have my N1, I'm finding that both Swype and ShapeWriter are AMAZING and with them I can type nearly as fast as I could on a physical keyboard. Definitely give them a try.
i typed a couple hundred text messages yesterday without really any issues, and i come from the ultimate text whore from the Bold 9700 but i had the mt3g b4 then so im not a total noob haha
mlevin said:
I was really worried about this, too -- I got really used to the physical keyboard on my G1 and was really fast at it, although I sometimes used the HTC IME (the Android one sucks).
Now that I have my N1, I'm finding that both Swype and ShapeWriter are AMAZING and with them I can type nearly as fast as I could on a physical keyboard. Definitely give them a try.
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I have to agree with you about Swype. I've not owned a phone without a physical keyboard since before 2005 and I was worried about the N1 not having a physical keyboard as I'm a big texter/GTalker. The standard keyboard is 'OK' but Swype is pretty damn good. It takes a little getting used to but when you've learned the basics, you get pretty quick at typing out long texts/messages.
Can I ask if it's the beta that was released for the Droid that you're using? I get a silly message box every time I switch to landscape or open the camera app.
Every phone I've owned has had a physical keyboard until my MyTouch, although I still used my G1 as my main line, but I can say that while I would prefer a physical keyboard, I don't really miss it. The screens big enough that it's really easy to type, I use Better Keyboard which doesn't have the voice key, but I'm not that interested in the voice typing. I'm not having any problems or regrets though.
When using this phone in landscape mode, I type as fast and accurately as I did with my Tmo wing. It's very responsive and the keyboard is plenty big.
The HTC keyboard does work on the nexus one, the person on this video has it running
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB8Xv3qpEDs
Almost all my phones have had physical keyboards and i text a lot... I've been using the nexus one for only about a day now and the keyboard is OK but... sometimes it doesn't register keys. I don't know if it has to due with the lack of multi touch but it doesn't catch some of my button presses especially space bar.
i owned an iphone for about 4 months and while I'm not a huge fan of the iphone I have to admit that their virtual keyboard works a LOT better...
Related
I was tossing around the idea of getting an HTC Magic when it comes out on T-Mobile just because it looks really slick, but now that I've finally got Android 1.5 installed on my G1 and I've had some good time to get used to the Virtual Keyboard I'm totally relieved that I don't have to rely on it.
I don't know how the iPhone people do it, I just can't imagine ever getting half as fast on a Virtual Keyboard as I am with the G1's physical keyboard. It's just cumbersome and difficult, and requires a level of concentration to type that I just don't have to use on real keys. It gets the job done, and the auto-complete suggestions are pretty intelligent, but it's just damn hard to use compared to the real keyboard. If it was all I had I would get fed up with it and just wait until I can use my laptop to compose a longer email.
I hope we continue to see a lot more phones with keyboards, because right now they seem to be the exception, and I'm afraid my upgrade options will be limited because so many of the big Android phones coming out are touchscreen-only.
chefgon said:
I was tossing around the idea of getting an HTC Magic when it comes out on T-Mobile just because it looks really slick, but now that I've finally got Android 1.5 installed on my G1 and I've had some good time to get used to the Virtual Keyboard I'm totally relieved that I don't have to rely on it.
I don't know how the iPhone people do it, I just can't imagine ever getting half as fast on a Virtual Keyboard as I am with the G1's physical keyboard. It's just cumbersome and difficult, and requires a level of concentration to type that I just don't have to use on real keys. It gets the job done, and the auto-complete suggestions are pretty intelligent, but it's just damn hard to use compared to the real keyboard. If it was all I had I would get fed up with it and just wait until I can use my laptop to compose a longer email.
I hope we continue to see a lot more phones with keyboards, because right now they seem to be the exception, and I'm afraid my upgrade options will be limited because so many of the big Android phones coming out are touchscreen-only.
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Not to mention times when you want to type but you aren't in the OS environment (like recovery terminal).
I definitely miss it. But, I got this free Google Ion phone, so it's obviously fun. But the battery is YARDS better than the old battery. This one is 1340mAH, so obviously it'll last a lot longer.
oxeneers said:
I definitely miss it. But, I got this free Google Ion phone, so it's obviously fun. But the battery is YARDS better than the old battery. This one is 1340mAH, so obviously it'll last a lot longer.
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You bastard.
You're one of the lucky IO attendants? I envy you.
if someone asked me to trade my G1 for a Magic I would have to say no...because I adore my physical keyboard...
The reason for me to buy the G1 and not to wait for the Magic was... I think you already know it: the physical keyboard.
A friend of mine owns an IPhone and I tried and tried and cant get used to the virtual keyboard.
I'm able to type nearly blind on the physical one... show me how you do that on the virtual one.
I remember on my first touch screen phone (mda compact) actually having to explain to somebody that you touched the screen the dial. ;-) Often wonder how I survived on that phone, fortunately it had a good dial pad input with T9.
Yep, lets face it, if Apple did a iphone with a proper keyboard a lot of people would buy it in an instant, (heresy I know!)
I'm always surprised that nobody has attempted to copy/license the keyboard of the Psion 5mx.
Proper keyboards are for people who actually use their phones for communication longer than a txt message. But there is also a significant proportion of the market that just txt, thus hopefully there will always be two categories of phone.
I agree. I love having the newest, coolest, most awesome device on the market, but if it doesn't have a physical keyboard, it gets immediately dumped from possibility.
chefgon said:
I was tossing around the idea of getting an HTC Magic when it comes out on T-Mobile just because it looks really slick, but now that I've finally got Android 1.5 installed on my G1 and I've had some good time to get used to the Virtual Keyboard I'm totally relieved that I don't have to rely on it.
I don't know how the iPhone people do it, I just can't imagine ever getting half as fast on a Virtual Keyboard as I am with the G1's physical keyboard. It's just cumbersome and difficult, and requires a level of concentration to type that I just don't have to use on real keys. It gets the job done, and the auto-complete suggestions are pretty intelligent, but it's just damn hard to use compared to the real keyboard. If it was all I had I would get fed up with it and just wait until I can use my laptop to compose a longer email.
I hope we continue to see a lot more phones with keyboards, because right now they seem to be the exception, and I'm afraid my upgrade options will be limited because so many of the big Android phones coming out are touchscreen-only.
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Click to collapse
Same here. I hate the g1 keyboard but I need it and the on screen one as well.
totally. a physical keyboard is what makes this smartphone basically a laptop in my hands. i just hope that we get a hardware refresh with new chipsets and hopefully an internal ati gpu backend for media. "HTC DREAM 2 - the clunky old bastard is back with a fresh new look"
haha no physical keyboard. hey how do you like playing the nes, snes, sega emulators? OH WAIT, YOU DONT! hahahaha.
That is the SOLE reason I will never own a Magic. I was so excited when I first about the g2, but I was hoping against hope that it would have a physical keyboard. They should totally manufacture it both ways!
My G1 is the first phone ive had with a physical qwerty keyboard. I now know that i will not ever buy another phone without one.
Im happy with my phone for now but i am getting a bit of jealousy looking at that new Samsung jobbie - please Samsung, make one with a qwerty!
my pros and cons of the virtual and physical keyboard
Virtual Win:
Nice to have a quick keyboard to type like a 4 letter txt or something
Virtual Lose:
no matter how hard i try i cannot get this to type at my speed. tried 1.5 stock keyboard, chompsms', and betterkeyboard
BRING BACK CHOMP'S VIRTUAL KEYBOARD PRE CUPCAKE, that was the best
Physical Win: keeps up to my speed, need i say more?
Physical Lose: i have a paranoia that if i slide it out enough, itll eventually break
I'd like an upgraded g1 with more ram and a faster processor, as long as the hardware keeps up to date i would own a g1 for life, obviously i'm in agreement with the physical keyboard.
I'm looking at the samsung with android but no physical keyboard only downfall...sooo...i'll have to wait for an upgraded g1....and i'm thinking about doing some sodering myself to see what i can accomplish....
I've switched to Magic from G1 because the build of the slide out keyboard is just too scary for me - the chance of the ribbon pulling out, the wobbliness of the keyboard, the tiny hinge it all rests on...
It's always going to be apples and oranges with hard and soft keyboards. Some are happier with hard keys and others with Soft.
For me personally, the extra memory, and much better battery life, and whizzy fast ROM (I have a google ion Dev Phone) combined with a really solid feeling, slick fone that feels fabulous to hold are the reason why I ADORE my Magic, and no, I'm personally not missing the physical keyboard at all - I have the HTC keyboard installed as an extra keyboard and can swap between the standard and HTC ones. I can type as fast as I need to for using my phone, and I love the predictive text and user dictionaries.
For me, it's a Fone first and foremost, and as such the lighter and slicker magic is the one I prefer to the chunkier clunkier G1. I have a netbook, laptop and PC to do all the other stuff (LOL because I'm a Gadget Addict..)
Erm LOL but having said that, the G1 is a brilliant handset and if anyone wants a very well looked after rooted G1 then check out my sig...
Dayz xx
I strongly favor a hardware keyboard. The ability for me to do administration at any time is very important to me and this is simply not practical with the virtual KB (VKB). Connectbot does not seem to let the VKB be used for terminal (though you can type in your password with it). I have never tried using remote with the VKB but I can not see that working well either.
I also leave my gtalk on my phone all the time so type a lot. For short messages the VKB is fine but the hardware KB is better, especially when you are typing more than a few words.
If donut includes the HID profile for bluetooth though the landscape changes. At that stage the Samsung i7500 is tempting with a stowaway BT keyboard. The downside to that is the Samsung is not an HTC device thus no custom ROMS on XDA. XDA-dev is half the reason I have stuck with HTC devices for the last few years.
I could be persuaded to use this instead?
Whats the on-screen keyboard like? I know the screen is HUGE so i'm guessing the on-screen is fairly big? I need to be able to type fairly fast for taking notes in meetings etc and this is why I normaly buy phones with keyboards.
Thanks!!!
(please be honest, i'm about to spend £400 on this and I don't want that to be a waste of money)
The onscreen keyboard is good, but don't expect magic - if you feel you need a hardware keyboard then you will most likely be disappointed with what the HD2 offers.
In all fairness I never owned a WM phone with a full hardware keyboard, but I still make mistakes on the HD2's virtual keyboard same as I did with the virtual keyboard on my previous phone - so my conclusion is that it's not perfect.
Personally, I find FingerKeyboard better than HTC's anyway, I use that most of the time. Swype is good as well for accuracy but I find typing stuff is a bit slow because you're having to swipe your finger across a huge screen without lifting off to enter words.
I normally prefer hardware keyboards, however I have found that the HD2's screen is fairly large enough to work with. Also, use XT9 and go at it like you don't care if you misspell words, generally it will auto-correct you fairly well.
I personally prefer touchscreen keyboards rather than hardware keybaords, I find hardware keyboards a bit fidly to use.
The HD2 keyboard is pretty good, I think it's as good as the one on iphone, which I have just come from. The keyboard automatically corrects the majority of your mistakes, but you will still make the odd one. However, I also make the odd mistake using any keyboard, such as my laptop. In fact I probably make more errors typing on a PC/laptop keyboard as there is no auto correct function.
there's a thread about this on here somewhere with a lot of people complaining about the keyboard. it seems you either love it or really hate it. I would suggest going in a shop and ask to try it before you buy it. me personally I think its fine but don't take mine or anyone else's word for it, like I said a lot of people hate it, WITH A PASSION!
I owned a touch pro 2, which has the best hardware keyboard out there, and sure i was afraid i'll lose that sweat keyboard, but in the end i can say that i'm happy with the hd2's keyboard. Sure, i'm not as fast as i used to be on my tp2 but still...
I think you will be fine.
I've always had a HW keyboard since 2005, but after a few weeks practice with Swype, I'm very fast and more than happy given it means my phone is much thinner.
thanks for all input guys, very much appreciated!
Some touchscreen keyboards are ok, some are usable and some are good. Don't think that because a touchscreen keyboard on X device is good, therefore the HD2's will be good too. It isn't. It's a pig of a keyboard. Typing on it is one of the most frustrating tasks known to man. Sure it's a great device but you're asking specifically about typing on it.....and typing on it is horrendous. YMMV.
I can Swype faster than a HW keyboard
eskasi said:
I can Swype faster than a HW keyboard
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A lot of people prefer to type rather than sliding their fingers around in a whole new style. It shouldn't be necessary that we have to install new keyboards and get used to whole new styles of inputting text, just because the supplied keyboard isn't up to scratch. Personally I don't want to learn how to 'swype'.
Swype is the best solution for 1 handed typing. I dont see how its better than the regular keyboard unless you prefer to use 1 hand to type all the time.
sunking101 said:
A lot of people prefer to type rather than sliding their fingers around in a whole new style. It shouldn't be necessary that we have to install new keyboards and get used to whole new styles of inputting text, just because the supplied keyboard isn't up to scratch. Personally I don't want to learn how to 'swype'.
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Jeez, lighten up - there's nothing to learn, you just swipe your finger on the letters and that's it. If I wanted to type 'jerk' I would put my finger on J, drag to E, then drag to R and finally drag to K and that's it.
Hardly involves a learning curve... plus, that's just one option. If you don't like HTC's keyboard try another normal QWERTY keyboard, nobody's forcing you to try one of these newfangled keyboards. FingerKeyboard is a standard one and works better than HTC's IMO.
I use the standard HTC keyboard. I grip the device with my palms and type using my thumbs. My hands are freaking huge.
I can get approx 30wpm.
The auto-correct feature is simply amazing
I just came from a TYTNII with Hardware keyboard and we VERY worried about getting the HD2 without a keyboard as i type e-mail and SMS from my phone regularly for work purposes. So my choices were the HD2 or Touch Pro 2... The HD2 just had WAY too many PROS compared to the Touch Pro 2, so i took the plunge and got the HD2 and resolved myself to if i can't type well enough, then i'll just put up with the frustration or wait till i get back to the office to reply. Well, i was pleasantly surprised and can type fairly fast, probably SLIGHTLY slower than the hardware keyboard. I also have FAT fingers. I think the capacitive screen and multi-touch work in its favor to make typing a bit better on this phone than a normal (old type) touch screen. So, all in all, VERY happy with the HD2 without hardware keyboard. Oh, and i type in PORTRAIT mode, not Landscape!!! If i could marry my HD2, i would!
stickydonkey said:
If i could marry my HD2, i would!
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Hmm, I think that's in legal in Kentucky actually.
Well, in my country, our president just married his 5th wife with another on the way. He now has 18 children (of his own)! There should be no problems marrying my HD2...
stickydonkey said:
I just came from a TYTNII with Hardware keyboard and we VERY worried about getting the HD2 without a keyboard as i type e-mail and SMS from my phone regularly for work purposes. So my choices were the HD2 or Touch Pro 2... The HD2 just had WAY too many PROS compared to the Touch Pro 2, so i took the plunge and got the HD2 and resolved myself to if i can't type well enough, then i'll just put up with the frustration or wait till i get back to the office to reply. Well, i was pleasantly surprised and can type fairly fast, probably SLIGHTLY slower than the hardware keyboard. I also have FAT fingers. I think the capacitive screen and multi-touch work in its favor to make typing a bit better on this phone than a normal (old type) touch screen. So, all in all, VERY happy with the HD2 without hardware keyboard. Oh, and i type in PORTRAIT mode, not Landscape!!! If i could marry my HD2, i would!
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He he nice! I love my HD2 too. I came from a Kaiser as well and my reservation was losing the superb hardware keyboard.
I found the HD2's standard keyboard flawed. The problem isn't the sensitivity as such but the fact that the keys are too small and close together. With an improved design it could be great.
BUT I found my solution, SWYPE! What a god send! I'm actually significantly faster with Swype than I was with my old Kaiser hardware keyboard. It really is that good. I am almost as fast as a PC keyboard.
And as for learning it, well it takes no time. I have demonstrated it to several people who have had a go and within a minute they are Oooing and arrring as they Swype words with ease. It's so intuitive there really is very little learning or adaptation required.
Hi
Does anyone with Nexus one had experience with cell phone with a physical keyboard?
I am looking to know how good is the N1 keyboard compared to milestone or cliq or backflip...?
Thanks
Well... I used to use a Blackberry 8830 personally... Sure, it's more of a portrait setup, but whatever..
Either way, the N1 w/ Haptic feedback enabled is actually quite easy to use. Obviously it'll still take some getting used to, but it's plenty good for me. Without the feedback, it'd be a completely different story imho.
What I've learned is this: With time, you'll be just as comfortable with a virtual keyboard. Though there IS a learning curve.
honestly, with the text correction, it works great. I'm coming from an xperia, and a TYTN II, so I've been with physical keyboards for a while.
mrbkkt1 said:
honestly, with the text correction, it works great. I'm coming from an xperia, and a TYTN II, so I've been with physical keyboards for a while.
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This ^^^
This is a huge bonus once you get settled. You'll need to edit in some of your own personal corrections (Hold down on the word you wish to add to auto-correction until is says "Saved"). You'll end up incorrectly correcting some commonly used words initially. My main ones are apps (usually changes to Alps ) and "Haha" which changes to Bahamas... Everyone will find a few words that auto-correct in ways you wish they didn't
But yeah... Earlier, I don't recall exactly what I was sending to my wife... but "Bolton" made its way into my sentence. LOL!
Oh... Don't forget! You can use Speech-to-Text on this device. Simply swipe your finger to the right edge on the keyboard, and it brings up a speech menu. With practice, you may find that you actually prefer it. (Again, this will take some self-training, due to the way we all enunciate things differently)
legolas.w said:
Hi
Does anyone with Nexus one had experience with cell phone with a physical keyboard?
I am looking to know how good is the N1 keyboard compared to milestone or cliq or backflip...?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the 6800, TP and then the TP2 for reference. I was convinced that I *needed* a physical keyboard as typing on the soft keyboards of the above mentioned phones was always error prone for me. The TP2 was better than the others due to the larger screen size, but still was not as easy as the hardware keyboard.
With that said the soft keyboard on the Nexus One (with haptic feedback enabled) is really easier to type on than the above phones. At this point I don't feel that I need the hardware keyboard any longer, but there is definitely a bit of time required to get used to the soft keyboard if you are used to a hardware keyboard.
I would say the soft keyboard with auto correct is actually quite good on the Nexus One. It works well enough that I am not motivated to sell the phone and get a new one, so it can't be all bad
As far as typing goes, is there any way to change input language? I am Brazilian and I have to change it to Portuguese-br in order to type...
Like everyone else on here generally seems to agree, once you actually get used to it, it won't be an issue for you. And if you get the HTC_IME, (I know, it looks kinda pixelated, but not so much so that I can't deal with) it makes things even better.
It's really good once you get used to it. I'm using Swype at the moment which is even more awesome, but no voice dictation on it yet. The funniest auto-correction for me so far was "haha" to "bahamas," and I forget what I texted someone, but it ended up sending "burial phone."
With TMOUS rumored to be giving away phones on the 19th it may be my chance to bail on AT&T. I know the phone is superior spec-wise but I'm worried about moving from a physical keyboard to on-screen. I played with one at the store and it seemed ok but not great. I have to agree with some posts I've seen on here that the iPhone keyboard seems better, but I've got no plans to buy that PoS. I compose lengthy emails on my phone daily and was wondering if some of you who made the switch from physical keyboard to the HD2 could tell me what you think of it. I'm also not a huge fan of losing so much screen real-estate when typing in landscape which I'll be doing most of the time, so would like your thoughts on that as well.
Thanks.
I had your exact same concern when I upgraded from my Touch Pro 2 (also coming from a Fuze and Dash so I thought I was reeeeally going to miss that keyboard). Instead, I am a big texter. 20,000 sent/received per month. Compared to the iPhone's keyboard (I have an ipod touch so I can accurately compare the two) HTC's kinda sucks. However, after 3 weeks or so I can say I have built up quite some speed. It's like you said, okay, but not great.
The only time I miss a physical keyboard when the predictive text acts wonky. For example, if you try to type too fast itdoessomethinglikethisbutwhy? It got all the words right! How come when I hit space it knows to put that word down and then to predict the next word I'm about to type but it doesn't freaking space? Drives me up the wall. It's almost like you can out-type it.
Or the dreaded ,comma thing it always does ,and it's stupidly annoying.
The real advantage is the beautiful screen. It may not seem amazing at first, but use the HD2 for a week and then try to go back to the TP2. Everything seems...miniaturized.
So, in conclusion, it doesn't beat the iPhone's keyboard but after a few weeks of practice you can probably type at a decent speed. I might miss a physical keyboard sometimes but I don't miss the Touch Pro 2.
Great, thanks for the info. Had a Fuze myself and a Treo before that so a hardware keyboard is kind of ingrained in how I use a phone. Considering your volume of typing seems to be at least as much as mine maybe I could get by with the on-screen.
Thanks for the newbie guide also, very well written. If I do get the phone it'll give me a jumping off point while I research ROMs.
How are you finding the virtual keyboards? I use swype but its pretty innacurate at times is there any alternative that you have used in landscape or portrait that has meant you no longer miss the physical keyboard. I'm not sure I can make the jump from a physical keyboard!
I was a BlackBerry convert to Android for the Desire Z. The physical keyboard was a 'must' for me, however, in real world usage the more I used the DZ, the less I actually used the physical keyboard and found myself using the onscreen 90% of the time.
It's been 2 days now on the Nexus S for me, can't say I'm missing it. The pro's for me were the larger screen, lightweight feel & design, and in my usage case, stronger reception everywhere I go (this was important).
I'm switching between swiftkey, smart keyboard pro and the default gingerbread keyboard and find myself using the stock keyboard more often than not. I never spent a ton of time with Swype or it's equiv's, (and what I did, I didn't like) so I can't comment much there.
I guess this is why there's a return policy on phones
I was totally a hardware-keyboard kinda guy. Got my NexusS and wasn't sure how I'd adapt, but frankly it works great for me. Sure, I make typo's, probably more than on a hardware based kb, but the autocorrect works pretty well, and the more I type on it the fewer mistakes I seem to make. Also, when you get tired of typing you can always just hit the mic button and just talk to it.
The improved form factor of the phone is nice as well. Thinner and sleeker without the extra hardware. Surprisingly, I dig it.
I came from a G1.. I do miss the physical keyboard but have gotten used to the touch screen pretty quick. I switch back and forth from the stock keyboard and SwiftKey..
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App