I'm sick of touch screens!

[scribe4food]

Look, why isn't there more hard keyboard, portrait slider phones? I dislike the landscape sliders, and the Droid Pro specs suck! Why can't there be a Venue Pro like device for Android? All these damn phones look the same! I have an EVO 4G. I wish I could get the same phone, with a slide out portrait keyboard. Is that too much to ask for? What do all the high end spec, Android phones have in common? There all freaking touch screen slabs. And the few, extremely few, slider keyboard phones are landscape. Why can't the portrait slider keyboard get any love from Android? A 4-4.3 inch screen, front and back camera, gingerbread, dual-core, 1.2 ghz, Super LCD (or whatever the screens are now), gorilla glass, mircro-sd card, portrait slider keyboard! How about some variety? No, variety doesn't exist with Android hardware. If you want a high end android device it's either going to overwhelmingly be a touch screen slab, or a landscape slider.

I'll be getting the EVO 3D phone (and what the hell is this fade with 3D), but I will be cursing all the way.

 

[I.R.R.V.]

why get the evo 3d if you are going to be cursing all the way? 200+ is a steep price to pay just to complain about what you got, why not get a palm pre?

 

[Averix]

I'll be getting the EVO 3D phone (and what the hell is this fade with 3D), but I will be cursing all the way.

Really? You're going to spend that much on a piece of hardware you really don't want? Reality is that the touch screen is fast replacing the physical keyboard for Android (and other higher end) devices. iOS and WP7 devices aren't doing them anymore. You may want to consider that new BlackBerry coming out at the end of summer rather than force yourself to be cursing the EVO 3D for the next year or two.

 

[bb_batman_dcx]

Really? You're going to spend that much on a piece of hardware you really don't want? Reality is that the touch screen is fast replacing the physical keyboard for Android (and other higher end) devices. iOS and WP7 devices aren't doing them anymore. You may want to consider that new BlackBerry coming out at the end of summer rather than force yourself to be cursing the EVO 3D for the next year or two.

I completely agree with Averix. If you don't really want it and know you will be cursing yourself, why spend the money on it? Again, just like Averix said, your best bet would be to go toward Crackberry Nation and go with the new Torch that's coming out. It's got the portrait-sliding keyboard that you want AND it has a touchscreen. Also, the new Torch has pretty good specs...not as good as the high-end Android phones coming out but a helluva lot better than the blackberries of old!

 

[scribe4food]

If I wanted a Torch or Pre then I wouldn't be on an Android site. Android OS is what I like, all your suggestions are pretty jump ship and go to a different OS. I don't want a different OS, because i love Android! However, all the high end android phones are touch screen. I'm getting the EVO 3D because of dual core and a physical camera button.

But not having options sucks. Save the rhetoric of touch screen being the next wave, options are still nice.

 

[Joescan09]

Go for the Palm Pre 3

 

[Bodar]

But not having options sucks. Save the rhetoric of touch screen being the next wave, options are still nice.

Options are always good, but I think the problem may be that you & your love of portrait sliders are in the minority. I don't have numbers to back this up, but logically speaking, if portrait sliders sold really well, at least one company would build more of them, right? Why spend money designing a phone if it isn't going to sell all that well, just on the form-factor alone? It's just bad business. As I said, I'm not proclaiming fact here, but just my suspicions. Even landscape sliders are becoming less prevalent nowadays.

 

[scribe4food]

Options are always good, but I think the problem may be that you & your love of portrait sliders are in the minority. I don't have numbers to back this up, but logically speaking, if portrait sliders sold really well, at least one company would build more of them, right? Why spend money designing a phone if it isn't going to sell all that well, just on the form-factor alone? It's just bad business. As I said, I'm not proclaiming fact here, but just my suspicions. Even landscape sliders are becoming less prevalent nowadays.

I don't agree Bodar. There is no basis for comparison. There has never been a viable portrait slider option to compare who the masses would flock to. We've been forced fed the touch screen. Name one portrait slider that was made, of the higher end quality. There are none. So how can a comparison be made? It was an initial start to compete with the original iPhone design, and it has only evovled to larger screens (which I like), however we will never know if the consumer will prefer a portrait slider until one of equal or greater value, to say a Thunderbolt, is made.


Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[ragnarokx]

All these damn phones look the same!

No, variety doesn't exist with Android hardware.

I can see these statements being true for the Apple phones phone, but not for Android. We've got plain touchscreens, portrait keyboard touchscreens, landscape keyboard touchscreens, simultaneous dual screens (Echo), alternating dual screens (Genesis), and even 3D screens. You don't get more variety than that. Usually there will not be a phone that meets ever last one of your criterion - compromise comes with the territory.

 

[Telperion]

Sliders are universally thicker than their slab counterparts, have higher return rates due to moving parts breaking down which costs carriers more, portrait sliders have a smaller keyboard and are prohibitively tall when extended, and there simply is not a market for them.

 

[ovdevil]

And your sending reply's from a Zoom which if I last looked has no slide out keyboard.:-!

 

[bb_batman_dcx]

I don't agree Bodar. There is no basis for comparison. There has never been a viable portrait slider option to compare who the masses would flock to. We've been forced fed the touch screen. Name one portrait slider that was made, of the higher end quality. There are none. So how can a comparison be made? It was an initial start to compete with the original iPhone design, and it has only evovled to larger screens (which I like), however we will never know if the consumer will prefer a portrait slider until one of equal or greater value, to say a Thunderbolt, is made.


Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

your best option is to plead to Apple to make a portrait-slider iPhone (i.e. an iPhone Pro)...that way the rest of the industry well try to follow suit to compare and then you will have a high end portrait slider Android phone

please dont hate me for that comment but Apple did start the touchscreen craze...so its not crazy to think that this could happen as well

 

[DroidXcon]

your best option is to plead to Apple to make a portrait-slider iPhone (i.e. an iPhone Pro)...that way the rest of the industry well try to follow suit to compare and then you will have a high end portrait slider Android phone

please dont hate me for that comment but Apple did start the touchscreen craze...so its not crazy to think that this could happen as well

I.heard apple invented the fruit aswell

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

I agree with the OP. There needs to be more variety. Even though I currently have a glass slab device, I would like to see more BlackBerry like devices, portrait sliders, and horizontal sliders.

 

[Averix]

I agree with the OP. There needs to be more variety. Even though I currently have a glass slab device, I would like to see more BlackBerry like devices, portrait sliders, and horizontal sliders.

I understand where you guys are coming from, but reality isn't in your favor.

First, as previously mentioned, the cost of manufacture and maintenance of a physical keyboard is higher. I'm guessing you wouldn't be willing to shell out an extra $50-$100 for that physical keyboard. In most cases, including that keyboard means the rest of the phone isn't cutting edge tech in order to keep the prices on par.
Second, keyboards are fast becoming a niche in the mobile space. BB is really the one still selling that as a feature. All of the recent Android attempts at keyboard inclusion haven't produced "blockbuster" results (Droid Pro for instance). If people are willing to use touch screens just as much as physical keyboards, why make them? The market is demonstrating this.
Third, there are still options for you. The Epic is a higher end phone with a keyboard. It isn't on the cutting edge anymore, but I don't think you're going to find too many more high end options like that. There are also options on other carriers like the Droid Pro, the Sidekick, and several others that you may want to consider jumping carriers for.

Bottom line, everyone has their preferences. The market is no longer pushing physical keyboards on cutting edge phones for Android. If I were you, I'd evaluate the trade off of new tech against the frustration of not having that physical keyboard. Make a decision that won't have you cursing your phone daily for the next 1-2 years.

 

[AndroidOne]

I would submit to the OP and those in agreement with his position, rather than create a complaint thread on a user site like this, the suggestions for such a device are better directed to the manufacturers themselves. If enough people ask them they may be inclined to produce such a device in the future.

Although I consider your request a valid one, posting here is truly pointless as none of us can remedy this.

 

[mordbane]

Give it time. If the Venue Pro takes off you will likely see a similar handset offered with Android. Portrait sliders are a fairly new form factor and the latest phones offering it haven't performed well in the market (albeit for other reasons maybe). Microsoft has alot of ground to make up with WP7 so they have to be more aggressive with seeking out customers who's needs are not being met with Android and iOS. Corporations listen to customer buying decisions. You can rant and cuss all you want but if they don't get indications that they are losing customers for the Venue Pro, they're not going to offer its features on its flagship "iPhone killer" devices.

Sent from my grubby hand