Physical or Virtual keyboards

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

For those of you coming from smartphone with physical keyboards or have had a lot of experience with physical keyboards, how has your experience with the virtual keyboard of the EVO? I have to say, I prefer the typing experience on my EVO. I think that the keyboard is even better than the iPhone keyboard. What do you guys think?

 

[Crimson]

I honestly prefer it to my Pre's physical keyboard as well. I didn't think I would, but I do!

 

[akarol]

I'd say, if you're mostly typing in English you're good with the virtual keyboard. There are tons of programs with amazing English predictive features. Not that luck with Portuguese end here though.

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

I'd say, if you're mostly typing in English you're good with the virtual keyboard. There are tons of programs with amazing English predictive features. Not that luck with Portuguese end here though.

Really? I didn't think that there was a difference with other languages.

 

[Yourdogsdead]

Swype has made it actually fun to type. I used to hate using virtual keyboards, but I really enjoy it. Color me weird.

 

[aweedman]

I definitely prefer the physical keyboard. I don't like how it makes the phone thicker..

 

[meyerweb#CB]

I came from a Treo. All in all, I think I still prefer the Treo keyboard: I was just more accurate with it. BUT, after 5 or 6 weeks, I'm getting close to being as accurate (thanks in part to prediction), and maybe a bit faster than I was on the Treo. In landscape, that is. In portrait, I'm not very good at all.

But the Treo 755p and it's twins had the best keyboard I've found on any phone. Better than BB, and way better than the Pre. Compared to the cramped, midget keyboard on the Pre, the landscape keyboard on the Evo is definitely an improvement.

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

I came from a Treo. All in all, I think I still prefer the Treo keyboard: I was just more accurate with it. BUT, after 5 or 6 weeks, I'm getting close to being as accurate (thanks in part to prediction), and maybe a bit faster than I was on the Treo. In landscape, that is. In portrait, I'm not very good at all.

But the Treo 755p and it's twins had the best keyboard I've found on any phone. Better than BB, and way better than the Pre. Compared to the cramped, midget keyboard on the Pre, the landscape keyboard on the Evo is definitely an improvement.

I have had the opposite experience than you with the virtual keyboard. I type a lot faster in portrait mode. The keys are a little closer together so I can really reach with with some speed. The predictive text is a life saver though. I would hate to see what my messages look like if I didn't have the predictive text activated.

 

[Genisis]

yea id have to say swype is a life saver....i hated typing on the htc keyboard. I use that keyboard and the incredible's keyboard as well it has more space and it doesnt have the arrows at the bottom. But swype has def made my life easier if it wasnt for swype i would prefer a physical keyboard as for as typing. Dont like the bulk it adds but ease of use is wayyy better.

 

[akarol]

All in all, physical will always be more efficient than a virtual keyboard. However, with more and more use, the virtual keyboard can be quite speedy.

I have used Swype but I seem to prefer the HTC IDE MOD keyboard found in Fresh's ROM better. Even though I make tons of mistakes when typing really fast, the software corrects them all perfectly. I might go back to Swype soon, but for the time being, I'll stick with the IDE MOD.

Also, I downloaded the SwiftKey BETA which works pretty similarly to the IDE MOD keyboard. I just like the simplicity of the IDE MOD one better.

 

[JERAVICIOUS]

I never thought I'd like a soft keyboard after I had an instinct. Playing with an iphone, I was still convinced that my next phone would have a physical keyboard, that is why I got a palm pre instead of the hero. I was skeptical about the evo, but the screen size makes texting so easy. Adding swype to the evo makes me love texting more. It's ready and texting is so much faster.

 

[dtreo]

I came from a Treo. All in all, I think I still prefer the Treo keyboard: I was just more accurate with it. BUT, after 5 or 6 weeks, I'm getting close to being as accurate (thanks in part to prediction), and maybe a bit faster than I was on the Treo. In landscape, that is. In portrait, I'm not very good at all.

But the Treo 755p and it's twins had the best keyboard I've found on any phone. Better than BB, and way better than the Pre. Compared to the cramped, midget keyboard on the Pre, the landscape keyboard on the Evo is definitely an improvement.

@meyerweb
I certainly agree with you and after quite a while with a 755p, only the 800w was better and IMHO was the best mobile keyboard of any device. I can't figure out why Palm and or HTC wouldn't use that keyboard on a new device running any OS. I'd love to have that keyboard on a 3.5" or 3.7" screen somehow with a nice battery and Froyo...oh would that be nice.

 

[TWC_SouthPhilly]

I'm still in the bus about the whole physical keyboard vs. virtual keyboard thing.

I had a Pre before getting the EVO and before that a lot of Treo's from the 180 to the 800. So I was really use to a physical keyboard. So much so that it was one of my biggest reason for staying with Palm for so long.

I've had my EVO for a month and some change now and I'm starting to get just as fast and as precise as I was with my 700. I have to agree with meyerweb, after using the 700's physical keyboard you get spoiled a bit.

The only problem I seem to have is when I'm typing I tend to hit the period key instead of th space key when typing.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

All in all, physical will always be more efficient than a virtual keyboard. However, with more and more use, the virtual keyboard can be quite speedy.

I have used Swype but I seem to prefer the HTC IDE MOD keyboard found in Fresh's ROM better. Even though I make tons of mistakes when typing really fast, the software corrects them all perfectly. I might go back to Swype soon, but for the time being, I'll stick with the IDE MOD.

Also, I downloaded the SwiftKey BETA which works pretty similarly to the IDE MOD keyboard. I just like the simplicity of the IDE MOD one better.

I too like the IDE MOD keyboard. I guess I should spend more time with the Swype beta, though, before writing it off.

@meyerweb
I certainly agree with you and after quite a while with a 755p, only the 800w was better and IMHO was the best mobile keyboard of any device. I can't figure out why Palm and or HTC wouldn't use that keyboard on a new device running any OS. I'd love to have that keyboard on a 3.5" or 3.7" screen somehow with a nice battery and Froyo...oh would that be nice.

Never tried the 800, but definitely agree on your other points. An good Android phone with a Treo keyboard would be great.

 

[Kedar]

Swype + Screen size = great!
I wouldn't go back to palm pre's keyboard... it was kind of annoying to use sometimes.
Palm Pixi still, in my opinion, has one of the best keyboards...

 

[NicksGarage]

I came from the Treo 800W which was my first phone with a full qwerty keyboard and it was very easy to use. I tried the Treo Pro and it was bad, tried the Pre and it was too small. I also tried the Touch Pro2 which I almost bought before finding out about the EVO. That keyboard seemed like it would have been easy to use but didn't care for the slider. Before the Treo I was using a Palm OS phone with Grafitti.

The transition to an onscreen keyboard wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Being a touch typer it still takes some getting used to remembering where the letters are on the keyboard. The stock HTC keyboard was ok but I got into the Swype beta and it's been great. The touch typing problem is worse though because I have to move my finger around a bit to see the letter I need to hit but for the most part Swype figures out what I meant.

The big advantage for me that comes with the virtual keyboard is the ease of getting to symbols and numbers. Especially with the swype keyboard. I really didn't like the big cursor keys on the standard HTC keyboard but the way Swype set it up is great.

The other good thing about on-screen keyboards is that if you don't like it, you can probably install one you do like. On a hardware keyboard, you're pretty much stuck with it (except for the fact that I could use MyMobiler on my 800W).

 

[Hurleygm]

I wouldn't trade swype fort anything.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk.

 

[scott_0]

I initially felt I would miss a physical keyboard, but I dont miss it all! Im really fast and accurate with both touch input and Swype

 

[ZimLanfire]

I came from MOTO Q's, Touch Pro's, and a Moment - eventually to my Evo today, and I can honestly say that I've made far fewer typing errors with a physical keyboard than I do with my touch keyboard. I'm constantly going back and correcting errors.

That said, however, I'm getting better and my Evo's 'word learning' is fixing it slowly but surely.

Nothing beats the solid click of a physical keyboard but the Evo's typing interface isn't half bad.

 

[wrecklass]

Had the BB Curve and liked the physical keyboard despite the small keys.

Got EVO 4G and Swype and thought I had found the complete solution.

Then I got SwiftKey, and it is like the thing reads my mind. Fastest texting I have ever done without errors.
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Typed on my EVO 4G with Tapatalk