about the keyboard....

[lovebritty]

sup im new...i was wonderin how bad the physical keyboard is on this phone...i got kinda big hands....

 

[Barbara]

sup im new...i was wonderin how bad the physical keyboard is on this phone...i got kinda big hands....

I can't help because I have little 5'1" hands, but I have seen others posting that have big hands and say that they have adjusted.

 

[lovebritty]

o well i just wanna know like is the physical key board better than the touch screen one?

 

[vincentp]

Personal preference. I like both, but I use them for different things. The physical keyboard takes some serious getting used to, but once you do it's just fine. I can definitely type more quickly and more accurately on it than on the on-screen keyboards. I use those for short messages. If I have to write something lengthy, such as an e-mail, I'm much faster on the physical. Other people are the exact opposite way, and fly on the on-screen. It depends on the person.

 

[Barbara]

o well i just wanna know like is the physical key board better than the touch screen one?

That depends on who you talk to. Some have sworn that they hated the keyboard and have since found reasons to use it and have gotten to liking it better. Some thought that they could only use the onscreen and found that the physical fit some needs. Some just use the onscreen and have no desire to ever open up the slide. There are three options on this phone and I think that's not a bad thing.

 

[vincentp]

Another plus to the physical keyboard is that you have a d-pad, which makes getting around in certain blocks of text much simpler. In addition, you have more screen real estate while using it since the on-screen keyboard is not taking up half of the screen.

 

[lovebritty]

so is the keyboard easy to use....cause i heard the keys are flat and small and hard to push

 

[sukanas]

if thousands of businessmen who have bigger hands can use a blackberry keyboard, hopefully the droid shouldn't be a problem for getting used to

 

[writhum]

I use the physical keyboard, but with my TEETH.

 

[superdesi]

droid's physical keyboard is my best friend. Heres a hint: use the tips of your thumbs when using the physical keyboard rather than the fingerprint area of your thumbs. You don't risk hitting other keys that way and you still have a leg up (or thumbs up) on the animal kingdom! Opposable thumbs RULE!

 

[superdesi]

I use the physical keyboard, but with my TEETH.

You are ahead of our time friend.

 

[ol_techer]

As someone who never used either type of keyboard before I can tell you that I much prefer the functionality of the physical keyboard. I have fairly wide fingers and found I had a lot of trouble with either keyboard when I first started using them. I've significantly improved on the key presses and have even been able to use the vertical mode, if only with one finger. I agree that having the D-pad is a plus. To me it's much the same as the arrow keys on a standard keyboar and I use it a lot. I'm often frustrated with switching modes on the soft keyboards. I don't have that problem on the slide-out.

 

[craighwk]

I wanted to like the physical keyboard, but I just can't. I have big hands as well and can't help but fat finger the heck out of stuff i type. I am much faster and comfortable on the soft-keyboard.

 

[russmd]

I was so looking forward to the Droid because it has a physical keyboard, but having graduated from an old Treo 700W, I have to say that the Droid's physical keyboard is lightyears behind the old Treo's (and Blackberry's) keyboard. The raised, rounded keys of the Treo allowed me to type confidently with two thumbs at super speed - I found I was almost as fast on that as I am on the computer. The flat Droid keyboard gives me constant double presses despite having tried and tried for a month. I've tried thumb tips, index finger tips, etc - it still is so slow, especially when I have to constantly go back and correct words. If the Droid somehow had been designed with a physical keyboard more like the Treo, it would be unbeatable. I hope they listen - in my mind, that's its main flaw.

 

[overcaffein8d]

I use the physical keyboard, but with my TEETH.

i call that "jimi hendrix style"

 

[lovebritty]

soooooooo is the keyboard that it has worth the extra width and weight?

 

[thaprofessor33]

Best advice is to visit a Verizon store and try it for yourself.

 

[craighwk]

soooooooo is the keyboard that it has worth the extra width and weight?

You'll really be the only one who can determine that. I would say no, but others will say yes.

 

[ralphjb]

I switched from an AT&T Tilt to the Droid, so the adjustment for me was not that great. I was used to a slide out keyboard with a landscape design. I was already used to typing with fingernails.

I like the Droid keyboard better, primarily because it has more hard keys and thus does not require as much "shifting" as the Tilt did.

I use the on screen keyboard when writing brief notes, entering url's etc. But when some real typing is involved (say a paragraph or more) and slide out the keyboard and use the hard keys. One of the things I prefer about this method, because the ease in typing and holding the device, is that the whole screen remains viewable, rather than occupied by the soft keyboard.

I can understand someone moving from a Blackberry or Treo struggling at first. My wife has a Blackberry. It looks like an easier device to type on than the Droid, Tilt, or any other landscape style keyboard.

It is a trade-off. The larger screen and convenience of touch screen outweighs the slightly less convenient keyboard to me.

 

[GDroid]

Best advice is to visit a Verizon store and try it for yourself.

NOT doing what thaprofessor said would be a mistake. You should definitely head out to the store and try before you buy.

 

[rdillz]

The physical keyboard is fine for me. They do need to add spell correction and suggestions.
And I wish the numbers were in a separate row.

 

[vincentp]

Trying it at the store is an excellent idea, but I didn't like the keyboard at all in the store. After a few weeks I liked it a lot. Take that for what it's worth.

 

[ralphjb]

I agree with that assessment. Certainly check out the device in the store. The HTC Hero is there too, so you have a real good chance to compare approaches. But like anything new, you first need to get used to it. This certainly applies to the keyboard. Even though I had the experience with the Tilt keyboard, I had a period of adjustment. At first, I did not like it as much. But through use, changed my mind and got very proficient at typing with it - even more so than with the Tilt.

If you ever follow Engadget, some of the guys there have had a similar experience - didn't like the hard keyboard at first, but have learned to like it. They do complain about the soft keyboard compared to the iPhone. Having never used the iPhone, I can't speak to that. But at least in portrait mode, I imagine the narrower screen of the Droid, results in smaller "keys". I've gotten pretty good typing with it though. I can even type one handed.

 

[vincentp]

I've spent a decent amount of time with iPhones, so I can say that their onscreen keyboard is very nice. Since I went back to the default Android keyboard after the 2.0.1 update, though, I can type just as fast as I ever could on an iPhone, and I haven't really had much time to practice with it. It's different, for sure, but just another thing that takes getting used to; I would hesitate to call the iPhone keyboard "better" at this point. I am referring to both the landscape and portrait (which I use a lot) keyboards as well.