Coping without an optical trackpad

[andyg1]

I was the thread OP, and it seems that we don't have a solution for the optical trackpad. Sad face Shame because I use it a lot.

I am out of contract now and am struggling find a handset I like. I've looked at the spec for the Galaxy Nexus and just think it would be too big - my Desire is scratched up to death after living in my pocket for a year and half.

I am tempted to go for a Galaxy SII. Not sure about whether I would miss the HTC Sense features.

One thing I definitely can't live without is the number pad keyboard (the old style with predictive text). Presumably this is a feature of Android, and not just HTC Sense, and is therefore available on newer versions of Android....?

 

[GrenW]

Number pad keyboard......you mean T9? When you type a number it starts searching your contacts. Is that what you mean?

Not on ICS as a standard but many of the custom roms have it and there are plenty of dialer replacements.

 

[andyg1]

Number pad keyboard......you mean T9? When you type a number it starts searching your contacts. Is that what you mean?

I mean for typing any text - SMS, forms, websites, emails etc. I can't use the qwerty keyboard - portrait nor landscape. I would be lost if I couldn't type using the "old style" phone keyboard. Is it available on ICS?

 

[GrenW]

Not as standard but there are plenty of keyboard/dialer replacements around

 

[Flumme]

Man, I haven't even considered the grim possibility of a phone without trackpad!
Scary stuff...

 

[GrenW]

Man, I haven't even considered the grim possibility of a phone without trackpad!
Scary stuff...

2 weeks in and I'm not really missing it. Not a huge type but I do enough

 

[arpheztwig]

bump
+7

I've been scouring the news and rumors for hints of a new phone with a trackpad to no avail. are there even any phones from the last year or so, with a dual-core processor (1.2, 1.5 GHz, whatever) and 768+ megs of ram that have one? it looked like the international Galaxy SII had one, but, apparently, it's just a dedicated hardware home button...

I was upset enough when I had to switch from my g1's trackball to an optical pad, but now my myTouch 3g is broken and I'm using an old iphone... feels so dirty... and navigating anything is a huge pain in the ass, I can't imagine doing this for the next 2 years, even with android.

does anybody know why android hardware has steered so far from the hardware it was designed for? I want a keyboard, a trackball, (or even a d-pad,) a menu button, and an end call button (back-buttons do nothing during a call, why don't they end them?) I think it's absolutely insane that some new phones have none of those things.

edit: I had forgotten about the 4g slide. I guess I was disapointed in the ram and the screen size. but it seems acceptable. at least I should be able to find one cheap to last me until manufactures stop making just slabs.

 

[Deleted User]

The Desire's optical trackpad has got to be one of the most useful physical features of all modern smartphones and tablets. I find it frustrating using devices without it.

 

[Nasalhair]

I've recently changed my Desire for a One X and the keyboard has cursor buttons on it for moving up, down, left and right - I actually find it easier to use than the trackball/trackpad.

 

[Deleted User]

TouchPal Keyboard has got a page with big cursor buttons and copy and paste, etc, buttons.

 

[davoid]

what these keypad cursor arrow equivalents don't reproduce is the ability to hover over links in web browsers as an earlier poster mentioned.

 

[bert2612]

The Desire's optical trackpad has got to be one of the most useful physical features of all modern smartphones and tablets. I find it frustrating using devices without it.

I agree, I was sick of my desire before upgrading to an S3, and now I realise how useful the trackpad was, it made everything from calling people to editing text messages a doddle. I am more than satisfied with the S3 but I have to admit that a lot of basic tasks could be performed much quicker on the desire thanks to its trackpad. A trackpad would be a welcome addition to a phone with a screen as big as the s3 so one can operate the phone with one hand easily whilst still maintaining a good grip on the phone, though I'm not sure it would necessarily fit in with samsung's idea of style and elegance, which is probably the most important attribute of the phone. Nevertheless, the S3 is an amazing handset, can't recommend it enough