So I finally got to try a Polaris in person today. Overall, I was very impressed, however I did find the Touch interface a little clunky for typing SMS. Perhaps this is just because I have never used it before.
I didn't have a chance to time myself with a stopwatch when using the Polaris, but I am curious to see if anyone who has experience using the Touch interface could post some comparative times typing the same SMS on a regular keypad compared to the Touch.
When I came home today, I timed myself typing a standard 160 character SMS on couple of different phones -
Nokia 6300: 65 seconds
Samsung S800: 69 seconds
HTC Touch Cruise: ??
Note that the times themselves don't really matter, I'm just interested in the comparison between a hardware keypad and the Touch from someone with experience using both.
Any feedback you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!
I think its kinda useless to compare this from other people.
Everyone types on a different way (not everyone is speedy on SMS, it depends how much SMS'ing you do on a daily basis)
But the more you practice on a touch keypad (or alternatives), the better and faster you get at it.
Of course, you are right - everyone types at different speeds. That's why the actual times themselves don't matter to me - what interests me is the relative difference between typing on a hardware keypad and a Touch keypad.
If a fast typist takes 60 seconds on a hardware keypad and 69 on a Touch keypad, while a slow typist takes 600 seconds on a hardware keypad and 690 on a Touch keypad, then I will know the difference is approximately 15%. In either case, the times aren't relevant, just the difference between them.
I understand that the numbers will always vary from person to person. We have so many great users on these forums and getting a range of feedback seems like one of the best ways to take advantage of their expert experience.
Thanks again!
Related
I've currently got both an xda2 and an xda2i. I'm thinking of changing to the iq when its available ( I believe it a re-labelled tornado).
Has anyone else done this - changed from touch screen pda phone to a similar phone to the tornado and if so what do you think, pros and cons of each type.
Also which software works as add ons ( currently use tomtom5, sprite backup, pocketmax phonealarm to name a few).
Thanks in advance.
Hi petest!
I didn't switch to a tornado, but I got to play with one for a couple of days, and after being used to Pocket PC interface, and touch screen, the limited Smartphone platform seemed really annoying and frustrating.
Here are my impressions:
- Getting around start and options menus is a pain, since you can't scroll directly through the whole menu, but have to press 'more' to see the options that don't feet on screen.
- The file browser is also problematic, as you have to change views to see the files and you cant type a file name to get to it quickly.
- Typing is a problem since you only have the numeric key pad, even with T9 function. It makes the PPC on-screen keyboard look great.
- Finally, shutting down a program, to free up memory is a pain as well, if it doesn't have an exit option.
On the positive side:
- It is closer in size to a regular cellphone then most PDAs.
- The screen is protected, and not as vornable to scratches and various damage as a touch screen.
- The numeric keypad makes one hand usage easy.
Well that's my opinion, but as you might have noticed, the touch screen and the comfort it brings is a big issue for me, so I might be bias against Smartphones in general...
Thanks for the reply levenum.
Like yourself I find the touch screen good on the pdas and they're all I've used for the last 4 or 5 years so I'm used to the features of them.
It would be useful if I could borrow one (xda iq / imate sp5) for a couple of days to play with and see how i get on - I might just get one on a new contract and if i don't get on with it trade it in.
Thanks again.
Hi,
Having owned a Qtek 2020/8080 and a 9090, I thought I'd give a windows mobile handset a fourth try by buying the HTC touch pro.
These are my experiences so far:
- the first 2 days I had a hard time not accidentally hang up during phonecalls
- Slow responses lead to usability hell - when a tap on a button does not seem to register, a second tap triggers a second action.
- GPS coordinates do not seem to be attached to pictures' exifdata, while it is enabled using Kaisertweak.
With the previous phone I had (Motorola RZR) I could start a new phonecall within 2 seconds. With my htc touch pro it takes 2 seconds to get to the contacts screen.
My second choice would be an iPhone. Usabilitywise that might have been a good idea, but I really require a hardware keyboard like the htc touch pro has.
Are there any speed-specific tweaks available that could speed up the userinterface? Are there themes that consume less cpu/mem?
(I do love this device because of the amount of features it packs. I'm in some kind of love-hate relationship with my phone, currently ;-)
pitr2 said:
Hi,
Having owned a Qtek 2020/8080 and a 9090, I thought I'd give a windows mobile handset a fourth try by buying the HTC touch pro.
These are my experiences so far:
- the first 2 days I had a hard time not accidentally hang up during phonecalls
- Slow responses lead to usability hell - when a tap on a button does not seem to register, a second tap triggers a second action.
- GPS coordinates do not seem to be attached to pictures' exifdata, while it is enabled using Kaisertweak.
With the previous phone I had (Motorola RZR) I could start a new phonecall within 2 seconds. With my htc touch pro it takes 2 seconds to get to the contacts screen.
My second choice would be an iPhone. Usabilitywise that might have been a good idea, but I really require a hardware keyboard like the htc touch pro has.
Are there any speed-specific tweaks available that could speed up the userinterface? Are there themes that consume less cpu/mem?
(I do love this device because of the amount of features it packs. I'm in some kind of love-hate relationship with my phone, currently ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No slowness problems here - but I did make use of the speed tweaks in the 'Raphael Tweaks' thread from the off, so I can only advise doing the same.
dgpurvis said:
No slowness problems here - but I did make use of the speed tweaks in the 'Raphael Tweaks' thread from the off, so I can only advise doing the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, tweaks do make a difference.
Hrm,
no problems here ROM info in sig and zero tweaks applied.
Once you apply the tweaks, have turned it on and gone through the various touch flo pages once (seemingly to get things cached) then the interface is fast.
kempas said:
Once you apply the tweaks, have turned it on and gone through the various touch flo pages once (seemingly to get things cached) then the interface is fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have removed the touchflo application from the today screen, as that was giving me the most headaches. Touching the screen didn't always register, but setting the sensitivity higher helped. I'll give that a try after I have applied the speed tweaks.
Thanks for the replies.
I found that just putting the stylus on the screen doesnt make the device react, but once a tiny bit of pressure is used it reacts flawlessly.
scarecrow2012 said:
I found that just putting the stylus on the screen doesnt make the device react, but once a tiny bit of pressure is used it reacts flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a resistive touch screen, that's how they work. They require at least a modicum of pressure to register a touch/press.
Syphon Filter said:
It's a resistive touch screen, that's how they work. They require at least a modicum of pressure to register a touch/press.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some have regretted that the Touch Pro doesn't have a capacitive screen because of this, but I've noted they have the opposite problem, in that screen presses can register too easily. At least with a resistive screen it is possible to adjust the required pressure.
dgpurvis said:
Some have regretted that the Touch Pro doesn't have a capacitive screen because of this, but I've noted they have the opposite problem, in that screen presses can register too easily. At least with a resistive screen it is possible to adjust the required pressure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One would assume the same applies for capacitive touch screens too.
Capacitive screens work on measuring the distortion of magnetic fields, the distortion threshold before a "touch" is registered could be adjusted.
Syphon Filter said:
One would assume the same applies for capacitive touch screens too.
Capacitive screens work on measuring the distortion of magnetic fields, the distortion threshold before a "touch" is registered could be adjusted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure that's the case. I was commenting on what can be done with a resistive screen rather than comparing unfavourably with a capacitive screen.
No speed issues here, even without tweaks.
I can agree that screen sensitivity is too low even if set up to high but I taking my time...: )
Regards
B.
my question is this. I just got a new omnia 2 i920 and there are several problems with this model that it would take a long time to post them all but a few I would love to see fixed on my phone through reg edit or hacked skins.
first problem I have is the qwerty keyboard. no matter what I do my messaging speed on this phone is very slow just to type out a few words takes too long. I also own a captivate and the keyboard on it is way better and more accurate. I can't type very fast at all on my omnia 2 whatsoever I find myself using the stylus just to send a message. on the captivate no issues and I can type very fast on. is there a way to change the skin on it? I'm seeing the letters closely grouped together unlike the captivate layout is much better and faster. i see 2 issues that is the culprit in this the touch responsiveness and the grouped up letters which I changed to the available layouts on this phone to Samsung and swype. I've changed the responsiveness in the settings and in reg edit from 40 to 0 it seem to help a little. can a new skin layout fix this issue?
second problem is the increased ring. as I get a phone call it takes like 5 seconds for this phone to reach the highest level volume. is there a way to turn this off?
any help on this will be very appreciated.
Hello to all, am going to ask if anybody of you have a problem in TPs Touch Capacitive Pad? I used this app
Nav Debug Tool by HTC
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2511016
To check out this multi touch stuff in my TP (though I know before that it has a multi touch feature, I just want to check if it's working properly) but it seems that the pad has a problem. The problem was sometimes, it can register my touch and most of the time, not.. sometimes it can register the multi touch, and most of the time, not .. even the nav wheel has a problem which doesn't register the rotation most of the time. Is this a common problem in TPs or even Diamond??
I even use the signed os WM6.1 but still has a problem.. so I wonder if any of you guys having the same..
thanks!
It's been happening to me for about a year already as well. Seems like it's just defective. It resets thought after sleeping the phone and waking it. I'm not sure if it was because I used to use Sensor scroll or it's a little scratched up.
I hear the d-pad was a good conceptual idea but that is about it... I personally don't use the d-pad at all because of this, much less any of the buttons (to include the power button). On the other hand, from what I can tell about the d-pad "sensor" from using the NDT(Nav debug tool), it does seem pick up points but it seems to not like repetitive touches. It almost seems like the sensor overloads the processor to the point that it fails in terms of keeping up with the actual location that is being touched; if that makes any sense?
R^7Z said:
I hear the d-pad was a good conceptual idea but that is about it... I personally don't use the d-pad at all because of this, much less any of the buttons (to include the power button). On the other hand, from what I can tell about the d-pad "sensor" from using the NDT(Nav debug tool), it does seem pick up points but it seems to not like repetitive touches. It almost seems like the sensor overloads the processor to the point that it fails in terms of keeping up with the actual location that is being touched; if that makes any sense?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that made sense but why would HTC permit a buggy front pad???
You know, it seems many phone brands/cooperations come under fire due to lack of something or another; maybe proof of concept? Perhaps the debug tool is to blame? Or even the sensor degradation over time? One can only speculate so far before it becomes a volatile thought... Again, I point out the idea being good, conceptually. So, I don't know where that exactly puts us as being end users? Then again, I've never really had a decent experience with phones, much less with newer phones; my thoughts and expectations may be slightly on the negative/lesser side of things because of this.
I have the same issue. I used to use GScroll to flip pages in e-books, but finally it got so buggy I had to dump it (other GScroll features were almost impossible to use). I've used NavPad DBug. What I do find is that running the compact heaps command of SK Tools will temporarily fix things, at least most of the time. When I have NavPad DBug running, if it's logging compact heaps will clear out the traces. Somehow or other, it cleans things out when the nav pad gets confused or overloaded with inputs. But even compact heaps doesn't work all the time.
It would be sweet if the capacitative area really worked, but unfortunately it appears to get worn out about the time that you figure out all the things you can do with it. Lol.
Edit: I wonder if the device has problems distinguishing a single touch of your finger vs. several touches. That could really screw up the function of the device.
So, I really really wanted to love this tablet. The disappointments have been many, but this focuses on the most severe and frustrating one.
Whenever I am using Dabbler, Skecthbook Pro, ArtFlow, or any other pen-enabled apps, the weirdest things start to happen. It works OK for a while, but then the tablet only starts receiving input from the stylus. Not even UI elements are usable with my fingers. PLEASE NOTE: I do know the tablet has a stylus-only mode, and this is NOT enabled. PLEASE ALSO NOTE: No, the stylus-only mode in the apps is not enabled either.
After a fresh reboot, I open the drawing app and everything works. Palm-rejection is gorgeous, pen accuracy is spot-on, multitouch gestures as pinch to zoom and panning work flawlessly. But after a while, or after I exit the app and return, it starts progressively degrading performance. At first it only accepts pinch to zoom like 50% of the time. Then it gets worse, until I can't do a thing without the stylus - not even the back, home and multitasking buttons.
I spoke with an nvidia tech support rep, and after a back and forth of emails (mostly me giving him info about the proof of purchase, serial number, etc) he told me to contact the seller (Amazon) and ask for a replacement.
I was about to go ahead and replace it, but I wanted to know if any of you are getting the same issues. On the latest official ROM, can everybody use Dabbler, Autodesk Skechbook, etc. for PROLONGED periods of time, and with a high tablet up time, without issues? Is this issue device-specific?
THANKS so much for any help and sorry for long post.