After owning the X1 for 18 months I am fixed on a hardware keyboard.
Recently the cable between teh keyboard and the screen started to wear and I was forced to use software input. I have to say my typing speed reduced by 75%. I am sure that some of the new phones with bigger screens have better software keyboards and in landscape mode they may be OK but I don't believe they will ever be as good as a quality (or in the x1's case mediocre!) hardware keyboard.
So what are my options in the upcoming months? I would like to try android but am happy to stick with windows mobile which I have been uing for the last 4-5 years if ther are no Android options. The HTC roadmap looks a bit bleak...
There is the droid but that is USA only and a bit old now. Is there anything on teh horizon for me?
An HTC Desire with a keyboard looks like it would be perfect.
Sounds like a no then
Related
Hi... noob here
I want to buy a new phone but i want to be able to upgrade to WM7 when it comes out [i know i can depend on xda for that ].
I like the Diamond but i am a little scare of the low battery life and the not so fast UI [TouchFLO3D], that is why i thought about buying Jade, better battery life and faster UI.
Which one do you think i should buy?
when windows mobile seven come out it will have different hardware specs and it will run off of a different windows ce seed.....
Its a long way off (windows mobile 6.5 will be out first) and as i previously hinted everything will be changing when it comes out.... there is a chance that none of the phone out will fully support windows mobile seven when it comes out.
If i were to guess the one that would be supported though, i would go with the touch pro or touch hd
joel2009 said:
when windows mobile seven come out it will have different hardware specs and it will run off of a different windows ce seed.....
Its a long way off (windows mobile 6.5 will be out first) and as i previously hinted everything will be changing when it comes out.... there is a chance that none of the phone out will fully support windows mobile seven when it comes out.
If i were to guess the one that would be supported though, i would go with the touch pro or touch hd
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why touch pro but not diamond?
theyre the same thing.
just touch pro has hardware keyboard...
thats true i wouldn't say one over the other except my personal prefence to the hardware keyboard.
Most just looking at the windows mobile seven "specs" that have been leaked or put out i can see these phones as far as hardware wise being most prepared (g sensors, light sensors, they have capacitive sreens (capabale of multi-touch) along with there classic pressure screens.... ect)
of course i have no way of proving any of this, its all just my own opinion on the matter of which phones i think are most prepared.
actually they claimed that new hardware will be needed.. so.. well... new hardware will be needed, most probably
From what I glean from reading blog posts about WM7 it seems as though touch and g-sensor are going to be major parts of the OS. Based on the assumption of using an OS that is built around touch, I would go for the biggest screen you can get...the Touch HD.
I would also agree with above that WM7 is a long way off and will prolly require new hardware, so you should get the phone that does that you need it to do now, and worry about the upgrade later. I just don't feel that WM7 is close enough to be a deciding factor in what device to get. In that vein, I again highly recommend the HD. After a week of heavy use I have reached for the stylus about 5 times, and I type faster on the screen with two thumbs using touchpal faster than I can on the tiny, tiny little keys on the Touch Pro keyboard. One thing not to be overlooked with virtual keyboards is the error correction and prediction software that catches mistypes really well. THe Diamond screen is just to small, and in my opinion it runs slow and laggy compared to the HD. I am also really pleased with the HD battery life and the near perfection of TF3D out of the box.
Hi,
The time has finally come, my contract is up and I'm looking for my next phone.
I've been umming and ahhing for a while now and I'm still at a loss
Tired of my Touch Dual, missing a hardware keyboard, missing my Universal if truth be known. In fact, if it wasn't so damn big, I'd still be using it.
So, want a good speck to see me through to the WM7 devices (if they make em).
Hardware keyboard is a must.
So far have the hots for the Touch Pro 2, shame about the lack of 3.5mm h/phone socket.
Then there is the upcoming Xperia 2, looks nice, but still lacks some performance (according to the few reviews I've read)
Help me out folks, any more sugestions to the pot? Which one would you settle for and why?
Thanks
Mav
I must agree, hardware keyboard is a must
I would recommend TP2, the 3.5mm adapter is so small that you dont even notice.
Xperia 2 will not be made by HTC for me would not be an option.
Or wait a few months, great devices with hardware keyboard will be presented
The 3.5mm audio is something i would want. The UK TP2 doesn't have one from what I can see.
Any heads up on the other devices that are coming soon that could be of interest? If I need to, I will hang on to my Touch Dual, but it's boring the heck out of me at the moment. I guess, the end of the 18month contract is up in 10 days and it's time for a change, but I could hold off for a while. The problem with mobile devices is that there is always something new around the corner. You could wait forever
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 is out the end of Sept (or maybe 6th Oct with win 6.5)
800mhz with hardware keyboard and 3.5 Amoled screen.
Could be interesting with the Samsung App Store opening next week for WM devices
So those three new phones were announced recently - not one with a keyboard. I love my Fuze's keyboard, it is absolutely incredible. I'd love to be able to use it as a wireless keyboard for computers too (especially if we can get it working on a Slate computer with no keyboard.)
However, my Fuze is a little old. I'd like a bigger screen, probably something in Android, etc. I'm going to want it replaced. But I can't have a software keyboard, it drives me crazy. The iPhone keyboard is... okay. The one on the HTC Droid Eris is a giant nightmare. I'd rather have an attached keyboard.
Problem arises here: The Touch Pro II Keyboard is a little annoying. And I haven't even seen a real keyboard on a phone since (The regular Droid keyboard is just stupid, and what on Earth is with that D-Pad? The Droid keyboard is actually the same size without that D-Pad as the Fuze's, except it's only three lines big (plus the rather useless fourth line with the huge space bar) and has smaller keys.
So... any chance that a good keyboard phone will come out before my contract expires sometime this late Summer/Fall? Or will I be buddy buddy with my Fuze for a while?
There have been announcements for other HTC products with keyboards. In fact, there are plenty of these. I forgot their code names but these products are coming out.
There will be more htc keyboard devices, but the trend has been less than before.
thehyecircus said:
So those three new phones were announced recently - not one with a keyboard. I love my Fuze's keyboard, it is absolutely incredible. I'd love to be able to use it as a wireless keyboard for computers too (especially if we can get it working on a Slate computer with no keyboard.)
However, my Fuze is a little old. I'd like a bigger screen, probably something in Android, etc. I'm going to want it replaced. But I can't have a software keyboard, it drives me crazy. The iPhone keyboard is... okay. The one on the HTC Droid Eris is a giant nightmare. I'd rather have an attached keyboard.
Problem arises here: The Touch Pro II Keyboard is a little annoying. And I haven't even seen a real keyboard on a phone since (The regular Droid keyboard is just stupid, and what on Earth is with that D-Pad? The Droid keyboard is actually the same size without that D-Pad as the Fuze's, except it's only three lines big (plus the rather useless fourth line with the huge space bar) and has smaller keys.
So... any chance that a good keyboard phone will come out before my contract expires sometime this late Summer/Fall? Or will I be buddy buddy with my Fuze for a while?
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Yeah, not any good keyboard device since the greatest Universal!
I went to Rhodium and I got used to keyboard and working quite ok for me, but we need a better processor!
Have a look on Toshiba K01, or HTC Tera (which is not really an upgrade)
Keyboard devices were always been a few ones only, but in general the most wanted
They will continue alive!
Can anyone tell me where to find a link to download the HTC Keyboard for the T-Mobile My Touch3g?
I'm not sure if this exists, but I thought I'd ask.
I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate (and loved it) up until about 1 month ago, when I got sick and tired of 30-35 effective WPM on the touchscreen keyboard and switched back to my old first generation Blackberry Bold. Believe it or not, the relief of going back to the blackberry was HUGE even while sacrificing all of the obvious advantages of Android. Touchscreen keyboards just arent for me. I spent nearly a year hoping I would get better at it, and I'm not particularly bad, but I'm just quite quick on a hardware keyboard (65-75wpm) and that is hard to ignore. I do a lot of typing (emails for work and also fairly heavy SMS user ~6000 in+out per month).
So to the point, can anyone recommend a phone for me? I've tried the landscape style hardware keyboards and I am not a fan unfortunately, because I think there are a couple of those to choose from.
Any portrait hardware keyboards? Blackberry style? It would need to be a slider of course to avoid having a tiny screen.. still looking for a ~4"+ screen.
Thanks <3
jammin1911 said:
I'm not sure if this exists, but I thought I'd ask.
I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate (and loved it) up until about 1 month ago, when I got sick and tired of 30-35 effective WPM on the touchscreen keyboard and switched back to my old first generation Blackberry Bold. Believe it or not, the relief of going back to the blackberry was HUGE even while sacrificing all of the obvious advantages of Android. Touchscreen keyboards just arent for me. I spent nearly a year hoping I would get better at it, and I'm not particularly bad, but I'm just quite quick on a hardware keyboard (65-75wpm) and that is hard to ignore. I do a lot of typing (emails for work and also fairly heavy SMS user ~6000 in+out per month).
So to the point, can anyone recommend a phone for me? I've tried the landscape style hardware keyboards and I am not a fan unfortunately, because I think there are a couple of those to choose from.
Any portrait hardware keyboards? Blackberry style? It would need to be a slider of course to avoid having a tiny screen.. still looking for a ~4"+ screen.
Thanks <3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC makes the T-Mobile Dash and the Ozone with portrait hardware keyboards, and 12 other phones with the more popular landscape slider keyboards and the big screens. It's gonna be tough to get a 4" wide screen with a portrait keyboard. That would be one big phone!
Happy shopping!
for the 4" I was thinking more like the Blackberry Torch slider style to avoid the phone being huge
Thanks for the input!
//EDIT// I would LOVE to see a phone that is basically what Motorola is showing off right now, the Droid 4 with slideout qwerty keyboard, except for it to slide up and down instead of requiring i turn the phone sideways to use it (aside from these keyboard being too wide to type comfortably on, using an android phone sideways in most cases is pretty obnoxious).
Have you checked out the DROID pro? I know it's a little old now but I owned this phone and I loved it, my first smartphone was a treo and that's all I've been use to. I don't care what anyone says, physical keys especially portrait style keyboard is so much netter then landscape
MO3iusONE said:
Have you checked out the DROID pro? I know it's a little old now but I owned this phone and I loved it, my first smartphone was a treo and that's all I've been use to. I don't care what anyone says, physical keys especially portrait style keyboard is so much netter then landscape
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I couldn't agree with you more. That is a pretty wicked phone and that's exactly what I want but with a current generation OS and specs
I have a i9000 and a Droid Pro to replace it on the way.
But I think it will be too slow.
How's about the LG Optimus Pro
Any potential successor to our beloved Photon Q? Has any of the big makers announced a more powerful, better spec'ed smartphone to take the throne from our Photon?
I don't think any of the new phones have kb's.
The Q might be one of the last sliders. Enjoy it.
Nope, nothing so far :'(
It's quite dramatic. I have owned an HTC One X prior to this, and in no way typing on a touch screen is as fast, precise and ergonomic as typing on a hardware keyboard.
I have owned the Nokia E70, E90, N900, as well as the Motorola Droid 2 Global and Samsung Captivate Glide in the past, and I really hope the Photon Q won't be the last one.
I have been thinking the same thing recently - this is the last Android phone with HW keyboard (if you do not count some low level Chinese phones). Seriouslyyyyyy - it is the middle of 2013 and there are zero phones announced. I am not complaining of lack of speed but I would really appreciate some battery life improvements, build quality and maybe display resolution .
idimitro said:
I have been thinking the same thing recently - this is the last Android phone with HW keyboard (if you do not count some low level Chinese phones). Seriouslyyyyyy - it is the middle of 2013 and there are zero phones announced. I am not complaining of lack of speed but I would really appreciate some battery life improvements, build quality and maybe display resolution .
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Hopefully in the future someone will make a handset with full keyboard unlockable for any network. Open source phones. Hopefully in the future.
Was there ever a point in the past that had zero qwerty phones on the horizon? Is there a period of drought we can compare this one to or is this one unprecedented?
matt2k12 said:
...Was there ever a point in the past that had zero qwerty phones on the horizon? Is there a period of drought we can compare this one to or is this one unprecedented?
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If memory serves correctly, QWERTY phones didn't start showing up en masse until Blackberrys came onto the scene. Even in their heyday (if there ever was such a thing), hardware keyboards were niche products.
I've always been partial to the physical keyboard, myself. At first, it was because my large hands have a difficult time using the on-screen keyboards effectively (even with swype or some derivative). Now in addition to that, the tactile feel of pressing buttons makes it seem like I'm doing something useful with my phone.
xaelith said:
If memory serves correctly, QWERTY phones didn't start showing up en masse until Blackberrys came onto the scene. Even in their heyday (if there ever was such a thing), hardware keyboards were niche products.
I've always been partial to the physical keyboard, myself. At first, it was because my large hands have a difficult time using the on-screen keyboards effectively (even with swype or some derivative). Now in addition to that, the tactile feel of pressing buttons makes it seem like I'm doing something useful with my phone.
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I guess we need to go buy the new BB to game the market for physical keyboards? lol.... Samsung or Motorola will have the next QWERTY phone, whenever that may be. No one else has any interest.
matt2k12 said:
I guess we need to go buy the new BB to game the market for physical keyboards? lol.... Samsung or Motorola will have the next QWERTY phone, whenever that may be. No one else has any interest.
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HW keyboard phones have always been slow for new models to come out. it's a much smaller market. but those of us that love the keyboard will always be there. A new keyboard model will come out eventually. I just got my Photon Q in May because I knew there was no other model in the near future with a HW keyboard.
I've been looking around, and there are a few keyboard cases that will go on the likes of an iphone or a Galaxy S4. I think that's going to be the best option for those of us with thick thumbs. I would pay a premium for a good phone with a good keyboard, but there's just not enough demand for it anymore, I guess.
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