Physical keyboard envy.

[economichitman]

I've had the optimus for about 2 months now.... and I've gotten used to the touchscreen keyboard (having previously used a winmo 6.5 samsung omnia - POS!). Its responsive with an overclock and custom roms, but I really do miss the physical keyboard of my blackberry!
My girlfriend has the rumor touch and I can type on its slide out keyboard about 2x faster than my optimus's touchscreen. 3.2" is just too small for quick typing, especially when multitasking. If virgin were to release something like an Optimus v slide, I'd easily pay 250 for it immediately. (I got the V at 150 originally). Anyone else feel the same? Oh and the intercept is not an option... cdma rev. 0 and the crappy chipset.

 

[bradmc]

Mostly Agreed

I agree that 3.2" is a little tough to type on, but after having the Rumor Touch and the Samsung Intercept, I don't think I'll ever want a slide-out keyboard again. Adds too much bulk and makes the phone feel kinda cheap, imo. The swype keyboard actually works fairly well for me for general texting.

There are other reasons to not get the Samsung Intercept...

- The non-standard resolution looks awful - things like Angry Birds don't show up correctly, and QVC's video channel doesn't seem to work at all.

- You need a non-standard micro-USB cable to transfer data. You can charge with a standard cable, but no data transfer.

- The touch-sensitive buttons were a pain, imo. If they weren't lit, good luck finding them in the dark. And the touch sensitivity is awful in general.

- And the last time I checked, rooting was still a big problem, let alone using custom ROMs. Although, maybe that's changed by now.

Switching from the Intercept to the LG Optimus was a beautiful thing.

 

[whyaphoenix]

delete

 

[LeslieAnn]

Try a few different keyboards, they can make quite a bit of difference.

 

[sdmark]

I really like using keyboard manager. I use SlideIT in portrait and stock gingerbread kb in landscape.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[zires]

Try smartkeyboard...it has predictions which makes typing a breeze for me.

 

[anon(182107)]

RebornROM has the HTC_IME keybord (keyboard from htc sense)
I tried installing the apk from the original thread on xda onto AOSPCMod but it FC's. Still working on that. It seems like every time I try to manually install a keyboard apk it force closes.

Sent from my Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[one80oneday]

I'd rather have a larger screen than a KB even though my previous 5 smartphones had keyboards. Gingerbread KB is the only one I can use on the OV, others suck.

 

[thexxoffspring]

Coming from the Droid 1 I've realized that the only time you really need a physical keyboard is for writing super long text/emails. Other than that typing on the touch keyboard can be a lot more fun. There are so many more options for the touch screen

 

[JerryScript]

There are a couple of hardware options available for the rare time you need to type something on your phone that is more than a couple of paragraphs.

Note: I have not tested any of these with the Optimus V, and bluetooth can be finicky, so buyer beware!

Geeks Choice: Think Outside Bluetooth Keyboard can be found for about $50, here's a video of someone using one on his Optimus V.

Cheap & Functional: Black Mini Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard for iPhone 4, iPad, iPaq, PDA, MAC, OS, PS3, Droid, Smart Phones, PC, Computers. Bonus LCD cleaner and USB Cable Included costs less than $25, but doesn't have the geeky-wow factor of the one above

Poster's Pick: Boxwave Keyboard Buddy is probably the closest you will come to having a built in keyboard on your Optimus V. The one for the iPhone 3GS will hold the Optimus V loosely, a couple of thin rubber strips along the inner edges should make it snug.

There's lots more, these are just the three I've been looking at recently.

 

[ohfivepro]

Poster's Pick: Boxwave Keyboard Buddy is probably the closest you will come to having a built in keyboard on your Optimus V. The one for the iPhone 3GS will hold the Optimus V loosely, a couple of thin rubber strips along the inner edges should make it snug.

There's lots more, these are just the three I've been looking at recently.

once fry's start selling this i might pick one up. wouldnt be too hard to diy a hard plastic case made for the ov to replace the ip4 one.