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The more I use it, the more I like the keyboard

ralphjb

Newbie
Nov 13, 2009
43
0
I had an AT&T Tilt before this, so the transition for me to the Droid keyboard was pretty easy.

Nonetheless, I did a lot of travelling last week, and did some serious work on the Droid during my travels. My experience cemented my enthusiasm for the slide-out keyboard design.

For short emails, texts, etc., the onscreen keyboard is fine. In fact, I am pretty proficient at one handed typing in portrait mode.

But when it comes to writing extensive messages, etc., I really prefer the slide-out. More important to me than the physical keyboard, is that I can see the whole screen while typing. This is really useful for reading, reviewing and editing messages.

I am hoping that Motorola sticks with this design in future iterations. I am worried that all the negative harping will convince them to do otherwise.
 
More important to me than the physical keyboard, is that I can see the whole screen while typing. This is really useful for reading, reviewing and editing messages.

I found this to be the main reason I still use the physical keyboard. I don't know about future designs. It seems like things are going all touchscreen, but Motorola still makes a lot of phones with physical keyboards, so I think if anyone is going to stick to it, they will.
 
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I used to be a hardcore blackberry fanboy. And while I tink they still make the best keyboards on mobile devices, the Droid keyboard is actually really good. And I use it frequently. My keys are bubbled, so I'm not so sure about the unfortunate bunch with flat keyboards.

Same here. I have the good keyboard as well and I just love it. Its also great for getting to those small links on websites using the D-pad. And sometimes I just like having a real button to push and not a screen...
 
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I doubt there are actually two types of keyboards. Rather, I think there are two types of people: group 1, who has actually tried using the keyboard and says "oh hey, it's not that bad at all. I actually like it!"; and group 2, who tried it for about 5 seconds and said "what crap, these keys need to jut out 2cm like they do on my desktop keyboard." People need to start trying to use the physical keyboard more; it's really pretty damn good.
 
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I doubt there are actually two types of keyboards. Rather, I think there are two types of people: group 1, who has actually tried using the keyboard and says "oh hey, it's not that bad at all. I actually like it!"; and group 2, who tried it for about 5 seconds and said "what crap, these keys need to jut out 2cm like they do on my desktop keyboard." People need to start trying to use the physical keyboard more; it's really pretty damn good.

I would say you are right on with that. I don't believe there are two different model keyboards either. Most people try it and hate, like I almost did. Once I used it for a bit, and got use to the way you needed to work the keys, it's actually pretty good for what it is. They had to do what they did to give us all this sexy azz phone!!
 
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I use the virtual keyboards for very short text entry, but I use the physical keyboard most of the time. The Droid is the first phone I've ever had with a keyboard and I think it works great. I also find the d-pad to be quite functional and somewhat more usable than the trackball on the Eris and N1 phones that I tried.

Most of all, I like the physical keyboard because it allows me to actually see the display without a virtual keyboard taking up most of it. This is most useful when using SSH (ConnectBot) to login to Linux machines.

Having said all of that, the two piece design of the Droid really sets off my OCD. I will probably go to a one piece phone in the future.
 
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I would say you are right on with that. I don't believe there are two different model keyboards either. Most people try it and hate, like I almost did. Once I used it for a bit, and got use to the way you needed to work the keys, it's actually pretty good for what it is. They had to do what they did to give us all this sexy azz phone!!

You hit very close to my motivation. I don't doubt that Motorola, or someone else, will make phones with slide-out keyboards. What I really like about the Droid is that Motorola did so in a very thin device. Heck, it is not much bigger than my Razr V9.
 
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I am coming from a Blackberry so I am used to a very good qwerty keyboard. Have only had my droid for a few days (it arrived on Tuesday) and while the Droid qwerty is nowhere near as good as a blackberry qwerty. I think its not as terrible as some have made it out to be. it just takes some geting used to is all.

I can understand that. My wife has had Blackberrys for a few years. There is no doubt that from a keyboard standpoint, it is finger friendly. When I was tiring of my Tilt, I thought of getting a Blackberry, especially as the displays have improved. But along came the Droid, with a big, beautiful display. Every product involves trade-offs, and for my tastes, the Droid hits the mark the best.

My suggestion to you, if you have not tried, is to type with your thumbnails. It works pretty good.
 
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I still hate the keyboard, but because the offset due to the D-pad. I have large hands, and it still feels unnatural to reach over with my left thumb. I am an excellent touch typist, so I find that it's very unnerving to have my right thumb want to hit some keys that normally the left would, because it is so uncomfortable to do so with the right thumb.

If they had eliminated the Dpad, I would have been very happy with the keyboard, even as flat as it is.
 
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If they had eliminated the Dpad, I would have been very happy with the keyboard, even as flat as it is.

I see what you're saying about it being in the way and making typing awkward, but I think it's something that you just have to get used to dealing with. For me, I love the exact cursor control the d-pad gives me when editing long emails or messages. It's so much better than poking around on the screen to do it.
 
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I doubt there are actually two types of keyboards. Rather, I think there are two types of people: group 1, who has actually tried using the keyboard and says "oh hey, it's not that bad at all. I actually like it!"; and group 2, who tried it for about 5 seconds and said "what crap, these keys need to jut out 2cm like they do on my desktop keyboard." People need to start trying to use the physical keyboard more; it's really pretty damn good.

Nah, there really are two "different" physical keyboards. They're not really different "keyboards" so much as, I would guess, it's a manufacturing thing - Some people got keyboards where the buttons are all kinda bubbled up in the air and other people (like myself) have keyboards that are flat. Supposedly, the bubbled up keys are easier to type on. Try a search on here and you'll find a few threads about it with pics and everything - One of the guys took some pics of a bubbled keyboard next to a flat one and you can clearly see the difference.
 
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