So I used to have a blackberry curve. I just got a Droid Incredible 2. I love all the features, but man it is a pain in the A$$ typing on the touch screen as compared to the real keyboard of the blackberry. It takes me forever to type. Is this something that most people get used to quickly or should I look for a new phone? I believe the X2 has a slide out keyboard. Or maybe it was the Droid 2. I'll have to look it up.
Do you get used to the touchscreen only keyboard quickly?
- Thread starter TheNinja
- Start date
Can't stand onscreen keyboards myself with the prime exception of Swype.
Nonetheless, I have a G2 with a physical keyboard.
Nonetheless, I have a G2 with a physical keyboard.
For me personally, I can say "no". I've been using touchscreen phones for over 3 years, and my iPad since last year and I've never gotten used to it. I can type 50 words per minute on a real keyboard and on a touchscreen I can type about 5 wpm. On a physical keyboard like a Blackberry or G1, I'm more like 15wpm.
Deeko
Lifer
- Jun 16, 2000
- 30,213
- 12
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Some do, some don't. I'm in the "don't" category. I've hated on screen keyboards for a long time. I gave it an honest try - first with the HD2, which came with both HTC's keyboard and Swype, as well as the Focus, which has WP7's generally well-regarded keyboard...but it just doesn't do it for me.
I carry around a Vibrant and a Venue Pro, and the hardware keyboard is among the biggest reasons I use the VP a lot more.
I carry around a Vibrant and a Venue Pro, and the hardware keyboard is among the biggest reasons I use the VP a lot more.
Deeko
Lifer
- Jun 16, 2000
- 30,213
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The Droid 2 has a keyboard, the Droid X line doesn't. However, the Droid 2 is getting a bit old, if you wanted to switch to that, I'd recommend waiting for the Droid 3.
With punctuation and only counting correctly spelled words? Are you sure? You've really tested yourself and you can do 50wpm on an iPhone touchscreen keyboard with numbers and punctuation? If so, that is very impressive. I normally am a very good typist on a real keyboard but with a touchscreen - even with Swype - I drop an order of magnitude in speed.
Yeah, I just checked myself again. Same as before.
http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
With my keyboard, I got:
"Your speed was: 55wpm. You made 3 mistakes, your mistakes are shown in bold text:"
With my iPhone onscreen keyboard in vertical orientation (I couldn't see the text otherwise), I got:
"Your speed was: 7wpm. You made 11 mistakes, your mistakes are shown in bold text:"
I don't think I could have done much faster than my iPhone score without switching to something like Swype - and even that, I don't think I'd do much faster than 12-14wpm.
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I'm having a hard time as well. Gonna be time to replace my OG Droid soon and there aren't too many options for physical keyboard esp if looking for 4G data. I've been trying different ones for a couple months now in anticipation, and found that I can 'type' the fastest with swype.
Trader05
Diamond Member
- Mar 1, 2000
- 5,096
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I originally hated onscreen keyboards and always thought I needed a physical one. I tried to use an Android onscreen keyboard a couple times to setup my friends phones and I didn't like the experience, it was rather to hard to type on and get used to quick. A month or two ago I picked up a HTC Arrive Windows phone, which has a physical slide out keyboard, and towards the end of ownership I rarely used the physical keyboard, it was much easier and faster to use the onscreen keyboard. I must say the Winphone7 onscreen keyboard is nice.
I tried this again:
http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
56wpm with 1 mistake on real keyboard.
9wpm with 5 mistakes on the iPhone keyboard in vertical orientation. Getting better... although it was an easier piece as well (James Bond vs. a Keat's poem the first time) but still.. it's not even close.
I really don't think I could do that much better on my iPad... maybe a bit better, but the punctuation marks and the inability to quickly go back to erase and fix stuff just kills my speed.
If you guys can fly on a touchscreen, then I'm happy for you, but for me maybe it's an old dog/new tricks thing because I am 1/5th to 1/10th the speed on a touchscreen compared to a real keyboard.
http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
56wpm with 1 mistake on real keyboard.
9wpm with 5 mistakes on the iPhone keyboard in vertical orientation. Getting better... although it was an easier piece as well (James Bond vs. a Keat's poem the first time) but still.. it's not even close.
I really don't think I could do that much better on my iPad... maybe a bit better, but the punctuation marks and the inability to quickly go back to erase and fix stuff just kills my speed.
If you guys can fly on a touchscreen, then I'm happy for you, but for me maybe it's an old dog/new tricks thing because I am 1/5th to 1/10th the speed on a touchscreen compared to a real keyboard.
Yeah, I know what you mean. You don't have to finish to score it though. I gave up about halfway through the Keat's poem it gave me and was pleased that I got a score anyway.
88wpm on a real keyboard - very impressive. I wish I could type that fast.
Well, hats off to you then - and yes, I'm being sincere.
I'm impressed. Makes me feel old... I don't think I could do anything close to 48wpm even if I practiced extensively.
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Kabob
Lifer
- Sep 5, 2004
- 15,248
- 0
- 76
Hrm, I'll run it again and when I get to "Elisabethan" I'll quit before my phone flies!
Back in high school I could only type with two fingers and hit maybe 15 WPM while looking at my hands. That all changed my first year of college though. Why? Online video games, THE best typing teacher there is. Why? Because when playing Unreal Tournament 99 you have to smack talk as rapidly as possible or you'd die, same with playing Diablo 2. I went from awful to amazingly speed without looking at my hands in a matter of a month or two. :awe:
Well, hats off to you then - and yes, I'm being sincere.
Wow, no kidding, that is amazingly fast for an iPhone keyboard.
Fingolfin269
Lifer
- Feb 28, 2003
- 17,948
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You get used to it but will have to concede that you will never be as good as you are on a real keyboard. At least that's how I've finally come to terms with it. I definitely miss my Blackberry keyboard.
Desktop: 74wpm, no mistakes
Droid physical keyboard: 24wpm, 2 mistakes
Droid stock touch, landscape: 20wpm, 0 mistakes
I guess you can get used to it somewhat. I still prefer the physical keyboard, especially because it provides additional screen space. May not matter so much with the larger screened phones though.
Best typing teacher for me was Turbo Pascal in high school.
Droid physical keyboard: 24wpm, 2 mistakes
Droid stock touch, landscape: 20wpm, 0 mistakes
I guess you can get used to it somewhat. I still prefer the physical keyboard, especially because it provides additional screen space. May not matter so much with the larger screened phones though.
Best typing teacher for me was Turbo Pascal in high school.
Deeko
Lifer
- Jun 16, 2000
- 30,213
- 12
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I was bored so I tried this on the devices I had on me....
Real keyboard:
Speed: 87wpm
You made 2 mistakes
Venue Pro (hardware)
Speed: 51wpm
Congratulates! You made no mistakes
Venue Pro (touch)
Speed: 41 wpm
You made 8 mistakes
Vibrant (Gingerbread Keyboard)
Speed: 39 wpm
You made 8 mistakes
Vibrant (Swype)
Speed: 36wpm
You made 19 mistakes
PlayBook (Vertical)
Speed: 37wpm
You made 2 mistakes
PlayBook (Horizontal, angled, all fingers)
Speed: 29 wpm
You made 3 mistakes
The PlayBook keyboard doesn't have auto correct, so I was typing a lot more carefully on that one. Result was clearly slower, but more accurate than the other on screen keyboards. Shows you what "trust" in the auto correct gets you, I guess.
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Thanks for replies everyone. Ya, on regular computer keyboard I can go pretty fast, especially with my ergo keyboard. On the old blackberry even with the tiny physical buttons I could go OK. On this touchscreen....man, it's a pain. I probably need to read the manual or something too though. I can't figure out how to get the symbols without a big hassle. I mean surely there has to be a better way otherwise why would every single device out there be touch only nowadays.
I'll hold on to the Incredible 2 for now, no use switching to the X2 really. And wait until Droid 3 if I"m not used to touchscreen only by then.
I'll hold on to the Incredible 2 for now, no use switching to the X2 really. And wait until Droid 3 if I"m not used to touchscreen only by then.
It sounds like you've only used one keyboard. There are lots and lots of them. As I said, try Swype, Swiftkey (free trial), Better Keyboard (free trial), Smart Keyboard Trial, etc.
hanoverphist
Diamond Member
- Dec 7, 2006
- 9,867
- 23
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i dont think ive ever had to type something on my phone so fast i had to worry about speed much. i went from an enV with a very much loved hardware keyboard to a winmo 6.1 touch only, and i thought i was going to break the phone. turns out i got more used to not using the landscape keyboard, and didnt miss the hard keys at all. now i have a droidX and i still dont use it in landscape mode at all, i can type with both hands fairly quickly in portrait mode and not make many mistakes. i have auto correct and suggest off, they annoy me to no end.
yes, people can get used to the touch only, but only if they want to.
yes, people can get used to the touch only, but only if they want to.
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