For short and quick things I will use the portrait mode qwerty. If I am going to be sending a long message, email or writing a note then I use the landscape keyboard.
For portrait mode I actually really like the compact qwerty but if you are having to enter something with out prediction it sucks hard.
@sixty5low try the landscape with your thumbs. Download a note program and give it some practice. If you put a little trust in the autocorrection you find that you can type extremely fast. I can type faster on it then on hardware keyboard.