Making the switch to a virtual keyboard - is it hard?

[PurpleGuitar]

All of my previous smartphones (Treo 650, AT&T 8525, Palm Treo Pro) have had physical keyboards, so I've become very accustomed to being able to bang out quick texts and emails (and the occasional longer doc) on those hardware keys.

So I'm a little apprehensive about getting used to the Evo's virtual keyboard. Has anyone already made the switch from a physical to a virtual keyboard? Was it an easy transition? Do you miss your hardware keyboard?

 

[lawmangrant]

Well, I went from a Treo800w to the Diamond, and I had a hard time without the keyboard, but that was due to the diamonds small screen.

I upgraded to TP2 for the keyboard , and bigger screen, but honestly, I hardly use the hard keyboard, the virtual SIP is just fine on that large screen.

 

[Complex Pants]

I played with a sprint hero for a while and I was adjusting petty well after about 15min.

 

[Rigmaster]

No the switch won't be hard. And as soon as you start using some of the speech-text and text-speech tools, you'll wonder why mini-QWERTYs were ever invented.

 

[Exstatica]

can't wait for swype on android, that will be my new keyboard

 

[legacy]

I switched and I LOVE the virtual keyboards now. I wouldn't go back. I type much faster on the virtual keyboard, and you can't beat having buttons like ".com" that can turn into .edu, .biz, or whatever.

 

[dontspamtheman]

I am a little worried also as I have been using treos for years and I am really fast with the keypad. I think one handed typing will be harder but this seems to be the phone I am waiting for.

 

[Complex Pants]

I actually have trouble doing one handed typing on a physical keyboard because you have to push the button. This isn't the case with software keyboard, so it can be easier. I have also heard that one handed typing with swype is super easy as well.

 

[bcaprara]

You'll progressively get better for a week and youll be fine.

 

[Justin V]

the switch will take about a week or two before you're truly comfortable and typing pretty fast. I went from treo 650, treo 680 BB Curve to BB BOLD9000 (best keyboard ever) to the iPhone 3gs and after a couple weeks I was fine with the virtual keyboard. Probbly not quite as fast but fast enough. What you lose in speed you'll make up for in other areas of awesomeness with the new device. Now I'm getting the EVO as a secondary device (at least for now).

 

[dabackwoodsboy]

it was a easy transition for me and the first time i went full touch screen was with the htc touch and that was a much smaller screen than the evo and i typed supper fast on it as matter of fact even with my moment i use "better keyboard" way more than i ever slide out the keyboard

 

[Gekko]

given the EVO's capactive display, HUGE 4.3" display, and HUGE custom HTC keyboard, it should be relatively easy.

 

[efipaul]

I've had physical keyboards on the last 5 or 6 phones I've had (Currently a Pre), but a friend brought his incredible over a couple of weeks ago, and I can't believe how easy it was to type on. Especially with the auto-correction. I have absolutely zero concern about losing my KB now.

 

[letsgoflyers81]

This has been my biggest concern about the EVO. My past phones have all had physical QWERTY keyboards. I first started thinking it wouldn't be too bad when I started supporting iPhones at work. Granted I hate the phone, but I've become halfway decent at using the onscreen keyboard. I'm pretty sure it won't be too tough to become proficient with the EVO since it has such a big capacitive screen.

 

[maddmatt02]

I had the rant for quite a while, it broke and I took over the wifes instinct when she got the hero. Ive had the instinct for MONTHS, and I still cant really do it very well. but give me the hero and I can almost use the portrait kb, and barely ever have a problem in landscape. hoping a 4.3" screen will make it no problem for me, part of it though is that the auto correction makes it so easy to type even if you do mess up a bit. on the instinct I have to type it wrong, then try to accurately press the word(which I cant) and then choose the correct word, and the instinct is the dumbest thing in the world at trying to predict the correct word.

 

[domer]

I've had the same concern (one of things still keeping me on the fence) about switching to a virtual keyboard. I currently have the Pre, I love the phone, but the keyboard could definitely be larger. Before the Pre I had the Mogul (only for a week), Treo 755, 700p, @ 650p.

I own a ipod Touch, and I'm amazed how well and fast I can type on that, but when I tried typing on my friend's Incredible last week, I wasn't anywhere near as proficient. This has given me the most fear, as I'm assuming the Evo's keyboard (I'm talking portrait, not landscape btw) to be similar in size with the Incredible's. Now, to be fair, I only played around with my friend's Incredible for 10 minutes, so I didn't have time to get used to it. In light of all this though, then why can I pick up my iPod Touch and type very well (fyi, I don't not type much on the Touch, I just did it to compare). I opened up a memo pad app and started typing away, not the case with the Incredible.

Any thoughts on this, as it's driving me crazy

 

[ls3mach]

can't wait for swype on android, that will be my new keyboard

You don't have to wait, it is already available.

 

[Tre Lawrence]

If I am gonna be honest, it is my biggest concern. I blogged from my BlackBerry.

However, I have seen folks type on touchscreens, and tried it myself. I figure I am ready for the jump, and am even prepared to purchase a third-party keyboard accessory for serious stuff.

 

[ls3mach]

Regarding the physical keyboard. I have been using one since my Treo600. I have been using the on-screen keyboard on my TP2 for a good bit. With the size of the screen, it isn't even bothersome. Much faster than waiting for the phone to orient, the using the physical keys.

 

[gol706]

The thing I'll miss from having a physical keyboard is being able to assign speed dials to physical buttons. It's nice to be able to dial a number without having to look at the device.