Moment to Shift...

[knightprincess13]

So I'll be going from a Samsung Moment to a Shift on Monday. My boyfriend works at RadioShack & bought me a Shift so I won't have to wait 'til May for my upgrade. I'm concerned about the lack of a hard-key camera button. I use my phone for tons of on-the-go photos, so having the ability to hold the side camera button is really convenient. Has anyone had problems transitioning from side button to no side button?

Also the lack of a dedicated number row on the slide-out keyboard irks me. I read on another thread that the function symbols are oddly placed and harder to use? Is this true?

 

[sdalby]

The camera is very easy to use and I prefer a non hardware camera key. On my girlfriend's Droid the camera button was a bit hard to press and would sometimes shift the picture. Plus the touch focus feature on the shift is great.

I like the position of the FN key. Its almost where it would be on a true keyboard. The numbers are very easy to use while typing. Honestly though the position of the special keys took me about an hour to get down. Every phone has different placement and it doesnt bother me one bit.

 

[sajmonides]

I personally went from Moment to Shift and I'm assuming you've been using the hard keyboard a lot, just as I was. However, when I switched to shift and got this amazing app called Swift Key (had to pay $1.99), i VERY rarely use the hard keyboard. That app gives you an amazing keyboard that is super fast and learns your words pretty quick. It gets to the point where when to type a full, 6-10 word sentence, I have to click keys maybe like 5 times. Rest of them are predictions which you choose from and like I said this app learns very quick very well.
I've had shift for about a month now and am still not 100% used to the new hard keyboard (I could type faster on my Moment), but it's probably because of the fact that I rarely use it, while I was using it all the time on the Moment.
When it comes to the camera - like sdalby mentioned, the touch focus is really an amazing feature. I'd still rather have a small button on the side like you, but I guess we can't have everything. The touchscreen however is very sensitive and much smoother than Moment's, so hitting the camera button is much easier.
A lot of the pictures that you took with the Moment will be displayed smaller on the Shift. There is a noticeable difference in picture quality between those 2 phones. Hope I helped a little.

 

[knightprincess13]

Thanks for both replies. I've had the phone for about 8 hours now & I really love it. Haven't really fiddled with the camera yet, but the keyboard is growing on me. For anyone thinking about switching from the Moment to the Shift (or hell, any Samsung to any HTC) I will say that Sense is so much easier to use than the Samsung software. I like the menu unlocks and the swiftness HTC provides as opposed to the lag of my old Moment. My boyfriend's mom has the Captivate and even her phone has those little quirks. The Shift is definitely a speedy little phone. I can't see everyone loving it like I do though.

sajmonides, thanks for the info. I trialled Swift Key on the Moment and I liked it, but I prefer hard keys.

 

[chknhawk]

i have had my shift for just over a week now. just love it so far, the moment was really buggy. just love htc sense so far. the keyboard took some getting used to, i think im over it now. i would not go back to samsung after having this htc. last two phones were by samsung instinct and moment. the camera button is not a big deal to me, i could take it or leave it.

 

[kiddk1]

also went from moment to shift but I have to say i never really used the hard camera button, the only complaint I have about the shift is the placement of the volume keys, I am always pressing them in landscape mode. otherwise this phone ROCKS!