Software keyboard vs hardware keyboard. - General Topics

I do a LOT of email and texting and i use a Tytn with hardware keyboard now. But my Tytn is slowly dying. I need a replacement.
I need a little help here:
- Any hardcore email/texting fans that happily work with an onscreen keyboard? Looks tempting, because the formfactor is way better. Or do i need a phone with a hardware keyboard?
- Are there any tests/reviews that compare hardware vs software keyboard in typing speed and typos?

I bought my TyTnII because of the qwerty hardware keyboard but I find I harldy use it.
I use Resco keyboard as welll as some of the other inbuilt ones.

WDawn said:
- Are there any tests/reviews that compare hardware vs software keyboard in typing speed and typos?
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The Hardware Keyboard was a main reason to buy my phone.
If you speak German you should read this.
http://www.golem.de/0711/56006.html
if not hereĀ“s a little summary
iphone keyboard VS Hardware Keyboard
-Both groups tipped equal fast
-5,4 mistakes per mail (iphone) 1,4 hardware keyboard.
-the people in the test voted for preferred method and 85% liked the hardware keyboard better.

It really comes down to you, but....
If you want my opinion, I have done a LOT of comparison between various on screen keyboards and hardware keyboards and for me I can type faster on my Touch with PCM Keyboard and my custom skins and layouts than any of my hardware keyboards.
The reason is simple. With a screen keyboard (and the right software/skin/layout) I am able to take elements from hardware keyboards and various other quicker input methods.
For example, on my PCM skins, I added a features from my BlackBerry 8310, where you press and hold a letter for a caps and press and hold the space bar for a period and a space. I added elements from the iPhone keyboard of holding and sliding your finger for numbers, symbols, .com, etc that is not possible with a hard keyboard. On the number page, the numbers are bigger than any hard keyboard I have seen.
For me size and weight is one of the biggest factors. I like to keep my phone in my pocket (don't like cases or clips) and all my hardware keyboards (with the exception of the S710) are too big and heavy. I use the touch over the iPhone because of weight and size as well.

Forget about keyboards, and get the phone you want, keyboard or not, then if its too bad, you can always pick up a bluetooth keyboard to put in a bag when you need to do some hardcore writing.
That's what I'm planning to do if I get a Diamond

I am new to WM as before had only a regular Sony E. cellphone and I hated T9.
I now use a touchscreen only phone ( atom life).
I use fitaly and lately created a PCM fitaly layout ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2413491&posted=1#post2413491 )
its quick for me. i dont miss having buttons to press. but i dont always like covering up usually 20% to 50% of the screen
you should try using your tytn with just software kb for a week. see if it fits your needs. give it maybe 2-3 days per sip of your choice.
Popular finger sips: Diamond and similar HTCs, PCM , tengo thumb/regular, resco ... many others
for stylus only i do recommend fitaly, there are others...but im used to something.
True about the bluetooth KB for when u need it

Thank you for your replies! Will try type with the software keyboard on my Tytn. Great test between the Iphone and Blackberry btw, wich makes me think that'll have to stick with the hardware keyboard.

Bluetooth keyboard! I did try all three methods for more than a year each and external folding keyboard is wayyyy better.

Related

Larger Keyboard

Basically, I am looking for a QWERTY soft keyboard with larger keys than the built in one in Portrait mode.
I apologise if there really is a well known solution to my aggravation. It must have trekked over the horizon, cos I spent atleast 6 hours last night trying to find it.
So, I find the most convenient way to type is with thumb or fingers, and I can do this on the built-in keyboard, with a moderate accuracy. It's still more convenient than getting out the stylus.
I have demod perhaps 15 different SIP Keyboards now and NONE of them have a larger keyboard in Portrait mode than the built-in keyboard.... WHY? They either have large keys and a stupid gimmick or small keys and a standard QWERTY. Could the calligrapher keyboard be any smaller?
Here is my ideal SIP Keyboard: a qwerty keyboard with just the letters (and . , ?) on screen, but taking upto half of the screen. The numbers can be hidden under a shift or alt key.
Does this exist? All the large key keyboards I have found take up the whole screen, which I find very irritating in itself.
We've all the seen the iphone and its keyboard right? Is there not a single program with good size keys for ppc? I found one that is ABCD etc. not qwerty and the guy wanted to charge over 100 dollars on handango.
Please Please Please. Help me and suggest a solution. Thank you.
PS. I have found ideal software for the Palm OS, is there a version for PPC? Look here:
http://www.handango.com/PlatformPro...e=english&platformId=1&N=96804 95766&R=165068
I just found a good one for all those interested.
Its called Happy Tapping Keyboard. It resides on some obscure korean site i think. Do a google search and use the translate option. It works enough to understand.
So far it is hands down the best keyboard available. Its larger than the built in one and even larger in landscape, but most importantly it only takes up a little bit of the screen, so you can still see stuff.
I highly recommend. And it is free and skinnable. You can also add a WAV sound to the tap, an audio aide so you know when you have hit it. That is if you dont want to enable all screen tap sounds in WM5.
some details
Thanks for this HTK program,
this is the link for download :
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/KOTETU/00000103
once it is downloaded, you need to move the cab file directly to your device (don't run it from your computer).
and this is the one for some skins :
http://blogs.shintak.info/articles/979.aspx
put them in the picture folder or a folder that you will easily find on your device.
choose the right VGA/QVGA mode
to change the skin :
go to setting then choose the keyboard icon and find the skin you put in your folder.
et voila !
rq : would be nice if the button could be bigger !
and it is obsure japanese not korean,
cheers
I can't seem to find "\" char... anyone enlighten me pls
Why do you want to translate a Korean site when you can just get it next door.. yes, next door here. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=296455&highlight=

What if someone skinned the old phone pad to look like the new HTC keypad

There have been lots of posts by people looking to properly disable XT9 that is integrated in the HTC soft keypad and keyboard to make the "regular" word completion work when using the hardware keyboard.
For quick SMS messages, I still prefer a phonepad with XT9. I like the large layout of the HTC keypad, but XT9 drives me nuts. After trying about every SIP I could find, I think the smootest for T9 phonepad input is the HTC Phone Pad (also called Intellipad) that apparently used to be included on HTC roms. It's quick and T9 only rears its face when you're using it.
There are a number of skins out there for it, including a touch-style one that looks close to the new HTC Keypad (sorry for not looking up the creator) but the 0-9 keys are always smaller (due to the extra keys on the sides I guess).
I think it would be great if someone with some knowledge of creating SIPs and skinning them could create a new skin for this Phone Pad that is laid out just like the new HTC Keypad. I imagine this would take a little more modification than just a new skin due to the size of the buttons and the layout. For example, I don't see the need for the arrow buttons on the corners of the Phone Pad, but you can't scroll through the word suggestions with the hardware "D-pad" 'as is'.
I wish I could get this started myself, but unfortunately I have no knowledge of how to make/edit a SIP. I know there's plenty of people out there that can however, so hopefully someone might be interested in making a more usable version of the new HTC Keypad and interested in taking this on.

Keyboard

Hello all,
I am looking into purchasing a cruise, but before I has wondering if anyone would be able to answer a simple question. Is the typing on the virtual keyboard hard or is it pretty simple. I had an Iphone, is it similar to this type of keyboard? Any help is appreciated. Thanks,
Sergio
Well, standard the Cruise comes with the standard WM6 keyboard (to be used with the stylus). But also with a keyboard from HTC which is already much better to use with fingers.
Next to what comes on the Cruise standard, there are quite some keyboard applications available, to give two examples:
PocketCM (http://www.pocketcm.com)
TouchPal (http://www.cootek.com/)
PocketCM can be customized and quite some skins and keyboard layouts can be found. You can compare this one more to the keyboard similar as seen one the iPhone.
Cootek TouchPal is also a bit like the iPhone keyboard, but uses another method of input (can be compared to T9, but different ). This should enable you to type quite fast.
You have to try them and see if you like them...

Resco Keyboard 6.0 review

I've used Resco Keyboard off and on for quite a long time. But while I continued to use it on my iPaq I more or less shelved it on my last two phones because the "thumb board" never seemed to be what it was advertised to be, and the normal mode wouldn't resize to take advantage of the higher resolution and larger screens. Fast forward to last night.
I downloaded the trial of the new version (6.0), and installed it. First thing I noticed is that the thumboard works. It looks somewhat similar to the Full Qwerty kb that comes on the HD2, though there is a space between each of the keys. And this makes for fewer mistakes while typing.
What makes Resco's kb so appealing has always been the extra things and customization that you can do with it, and in this new version the process of customizing it is extremely easy. I had modified the old version to work for me in terms of key layouts but it was tough to do. This new version uses only two files, and both are in the MS Siliverlight format. They are csv files and I only had to modify one of them, _Symbols.csv in order to make the two numeric boards appear exactly as I wanted them to, and it only took me an hour or so to do it. I had no prior experience with the format used, it's just that easy to modify the files. I was even able to reassign the values of the two center keys at the bottom of each of the numeric keyboards to act as a spacebar of sorts. And now, between the qwerty and the first numeric board I have all of the keys I need for 99% of my typing. There are only 2 keys on the 2nd numeric board that I need to use it for.
In addition to making the process of changing the key values much easier Resco continues that idea with their FX board. This feature allows you to store phrases, date and time stamps, hyperlinks and just about any kind of string you use frequently, each to be added to your open document, appt. etc, with the press of a single key. And this time, just as with the keyboards, the process of adding these special strings is so much easier than with previous versions.
I only needed to use this for as long as it took me to figure out the reassignment of keys to realize that this was worth the $9.95 price. I've been using it as much as possible today and have no regrets, it's a very slick keyboard. And it seems to work just as well in landscape. Because you can try before you buy I would recommend it to anyone. It's worth a look imho.
edit: Almost forgot to mention, one of the screens contains large buttons for all four arrow keys, and also Cut, Copy, Paste, Del, Select All, and an extra backspace key. Pretty slick.
so, can u tell me why when i use resco keyboard pro 6 as default the windows mobile UI seems to be sluggish.. the menu scroll is not as smooth when using HTC keyboard..
sorry for my bad english.. hope you understand..
does anyone know of any skins for resco 6.0
I have seen no difference at all in the performance of the phone or the UI with Resco 6.0 installed. Of course I'm running a very clean ROM. And I'm not using Sense. I have Spb Mobile Shell installed. Works like a charm
Resco doesn't have any skins showing on their site, though I haven't yet checked their forum. I am sure the skins from previous versions would not be compatible. I wouldn't mind a little color but I wouldn't mess with the layout I have with it now. Just my personal preference, that.
resco keboard registry product key
I have HTC p6500 Mantle wm6.5 with a resco keboard installed and running. I need to factory reset and will need the product key which I have lost all trace of.
Can the product key be found in the registry?
Or!
Can a product key be found somewhere else?
Regards William

largest keyboard app

Which of these keyboards have the biggest keys when using the phone in portrait mode; the android keyboard, the ime mod keyboard or better keyboard? I am looking for one that makes it less likely for those of us with fat fingers to fat finger what we are typing.
Um, i'd have to say Smart Keyboard Pro with the HTC Skin has the biggests keys. And it's not as big of a file as the HTC IME mod so there isn't that much lag when using it
come keyboards i have used
There is a keyboard called thick buttons which resizes the keys as you type making the keys that are most likely the next letter in the word larger and the rest smaller, you can also set the resize rate (small,medium, large)
SwiftKey is a pretty cool keyboard that scans your chat history to try to predict what word you will type next. They keys are pretty much the same size as the htc keyboard though. feature updates to the app will be able to scan sms, twitter, email and then create different recommendations based on the app you are typing in i.e. sms, email, or twitter.
Right now my fav keyboard app is touchpal. Don't be afraid that a lot of the text about the app is in chinese in particular parts of the tutorial they board can be set to english and all your txt recommendations will be in english. This keyboard has three layouts (my fav is the compact keyboard which gives you two letters per key but with txt prediction enabled typing is not a problem. they keys in this layout are pretty big to making it hard to miss the one you want) What is really cool about this keyboard is the ability to swipe either side ways to change keyboard layouts or down to access the secondary key (e.g. swiping down on say e will give you a 3) or in full quwerty keyboard swiping up gives you the capital letter of the letter.
Another keyboard you might want to put on your radar is blindtype. It is not out yet but it looks really awesome. It functions similar to swype but instead of swiping your finger across the keys you type normally. Look it up and you can see videos of it being demoed. It is not aval right now though but it looks like the keyboard to have for us with big fingers lol
blindtype DOES look amazing!
cant wait for it.
umm, it does not show up in my market. wth
you might want to check out ultra keyboard it allows you to re-size the keyboard making it bigger or smaller and it also has incorporated swype style typing and it also allows you to use better keyboard themes it's a paid app but in my opinion well worth it
been using big buttons keyboard for months. since i only type one handed in portrait this works perfect. it's laid out different but within a minute of typing im a pro.
itrackit said:
umm, it does not show up in my market. wth
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No offense if you looking for blindtype they said in the post its not in the market. Don't feel bad I didn't completely read it the first time
Sent from Froyo 2.2 Super Hero

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