Onscreen keyboard on Nexus One

[Hook]

I'm trying decide between a Nexus One and a GSM Milestone. I would prefer a Nexus One, but a lot turns on keyboard issues. Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on a Nexus One.

I went to a Verizon store and tried out a Droid, bith the physical keyboard and the onscreen keyboard. The physical keyboard is not great, but usable. The onscreen keyboard seemed overly sensitive. I could barely tell I was touching the screen. It may be because I'm used to a Nokia touchscreen keyboard with haptic feedback, which I think the Nexus One has. However, I found the Droid screen a little hard to use.

Now I understand that any onscreen keyboard takes time to get used to, but I would appreciate impressions of it from Nexus One users.

 

[daffyduck]

Now, I have never owned a phone that had a keyboard / pad since my N95.

The closest I have come is looking at a Motorola Cliq in a shop (not a good comparison with the Droi/Milestone I know..) & never felt even remotely interested in having the physical keyboard.

If I want to text relatively quickly with my two thumbs, I turn the phone sideways and go landscape with the stock keyboard......I have gotten better over the last couple of months & my speed and accuracy have increased a lot.

Therefore, advice is that if you go for a non-physical keyboard, you probably will prefer it but takes a bit of getting used to & working out what works best for you.

Also, I wouldn't touch the Milestone as it can't be rooted easily, so limits your options a little......

 

[Hook]

Yeah, I think I'm pretty convinced to go with the Nexus One. I really didn't like the Droid keyboard, but was surprised by the on screen keyboard feel. However, I suspect that having haptic turned on will solve the problem I was perceiving. Still going through forums and user manual and youtube, but I am pretty close to pulling the trigger.

Thanks.

 

[daffyduck]

A lot of the feedback I saw on the Droid keyboard is that it was too flat & that was impacting usability.....

Oh, I don't use haptic on sound feedback on the Nexus keyboard. A, it would annoy the hell out of me; B, drain the battery faster; C, maybe.....slow the phone down a bit when typing (at least not to the same extent as it did with my old Hero).

Do ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt, order the Nexus, its a great phone. My wife will probably have a Desire to replace her Hero (I prefer Vanilla Android).

 

[SBERG]

Should have my nexus tomorrow. Been using a BB storm for the past year. As glad as i am to be getting rid of it i have to say it did teach me how to properly use a touchscreen keyboard. Have to assume a physical keyboard(droid) is the same as the click feature of the storm. You have to press it to work, right? I guess the biggest difference is going to be learning not to press too hard on the screen. Dont see that being a big deal though. Just glad im getting rid of my storm.

 

[grainysand]

Swype! Good things cannot be said of it enough. It converted me from "bawww I can't cope without physical keyboard" to "YES! I'm never going back to a physical keyboard again EVER." Takes getting used to, but once the learning curve is past, you'll type really really fast.

Failing that, there's always alternative keyboards to download. Keyboard Pro and Better Keyboard seem to have good rep, and the HTC IME (ported soft keyboard from the Desire) is only second to Swype.

 

[|mpulse]

Swype! Good things cannot be said of it enough. It converted me from "bawww I can't cope without physical keyboard" to "YES! I'm never going back to a physical keyboard again EVER." Takes getting used to, but once the learning curve is past, you'll type really really fast.

Failing that, there's always alternative keyboards to download. Keyboard Pro and Better Keyboard seem to have good rep, and the HTC IME (ported soft keyboard from the Desire) is only second to Swype.

I've read a bunch of good things about Swype and just watched a demo vid of it and it looks sick!

I can't wait to get my N1 so I can try it out, very impressive looking.

YouTube - Nexus One Using Swype

 

[Hook]

Well, I'm sold. Nexus One it is.