Okay, so I accidentally stumbled across how to do it. You have to enable it in Locale Text. Then when you go to text - in the text input box just press and hold and you'll see a menu. Select "SELECT input method" and select "Handcent Keyboard". Still trying to figure out how to switch to/from T9. Stay tuned. Let me know if what I posted isn't clear. BTW, when you press and hold to get the menu, you may need to scroll to get to the "Select Input Method" option