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The keyboard for me is less userfriendly then an onscreen keyboard, so I might as well use a regular android phone and chroot into a rootfs (linux deploy) or us

The keyboard for me is less userfriendly then an onscreen keyboard, so I might as well use a regular android phone and chroot into a rootfs (linux deploy) or use it with a handheld or regular bluetooth keyboard. I would be interested in a wifi/bluetooth linux device with AA or AAA batteries and an e-ink display, optimized for long battery life. The android based Onyx Boox has everything except for the AA batteries.

manaskarekar 11y ago
> The keyboard is less userfriendly then an onscreen keyboard ... I can see how 'swype'-like features would help the onscreen keyboard, but apart from that I have fond memories of typing on the physical keyboards of old dumb-phones with pretty good speed. This seems like a great device, and although it may be impractical in some ways, it's got a very Hitchhiker's Guide vibe to it. I would love to buy it if it's reasonably priced with a great battery life.
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  AFAIK battery life for the Pyra is expected to be around 10 hours, which is good for a handheld games console (for comparison, the new 3DS XL has about 3.5 to 7 hours battery life). As for the price, it'd depend on what you meant by reasonable, but isn't going to be an impulse purchase for most. You may wish to consider the Pandora, which is the predecessor of the Pyra, you might get lucky with finding one for a reasonable price on eBay.
  - manaskarekar 11y ago
    Doubt it : http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPEN-PANDORA-1002-1Ghz-Second-Edition-Mini-Linux-Computer-Video-Game-w-AC-/272161656888?hash=item3f5e195038:g:A60AAOSwvgdW31oc http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPEN-PANDORA-1002-1Ghz-Second-Editio...
    - ZenoArrow 11y ago
      As I said "might get lucky", especially after the Pyra is released and more existing Pandora owners sell up to get the Pyra.
ekianjo 11y ago
> The keyboard is less userfriendly then an onscreen keyboard Really? Like, you prefer your fingers to run over glass than something you can actually press ? I would have said the exact opposite, because I absolute hate using Smartphones and tablets to type text.
- fsiefken 11y ago
  I do understand the tactile feedback is nice. A long time ago I got an HTC pocketpc with slide-out keyboard for the same reasons, but I felt the clicking also slowed me down. For the small screen on that particular device the tedious stylus and finger entry was slower, so the keyboard was a plus. But with bigger mobile screens nowadays finger or stylus entry is less of an issue (especially with smart entry hacks). For keyboard entry for typing longer e-mails or ssh access I now only use an external keyboard where I can use 10 fingers instead of 2 thumbs - for the same reason I prefer a frogpad to a twiddler for one-handed entry.
  - khedoros 11y ago
    Writing anything beyond SMS-length on a touch device, I end up popping the keyboard up and down repeatedly to give what I'm writing a useful amount of screen space. With swipe entry, my raw input speeds of English are much better than with some kind of thumbpad, but watching the keyboard still means ignoring what I'm typing and going back to fix typos. I like how touchscreen swipe input seems to flow. I like how a physical keypad can be used without necessarily looking at it, and how it doesn't reduce the view of what I'm writing. I haven't used a stylus interface that I've particularly liked because it seems like the worst of both worlds. All those together are why I also do my best to avoid writing anything sizable on a mobile device.

manaskarekar 11y ago

> The keyboard is less userfriendly then an onscreen keyboard ... I can see how 'swype'-like features would help the onscreen keyboard, but apart from that I have fond memories of typing on the physical keyboards of old dumb-phones with pretty good speed. This seems like a great device, and although it may be impractical in some ways, it's got a very Hitchhiker's Guide vibe to it. I would love to buy it if it's reasonably priced with a great battery life.

ZenoArrow 11y ago
AFAIK battery life for the Pyra is expected to be around 10 hours, which is good for a handheld games console (for comparison, the new 3DS XL has about 3.5 to 7 hours battery life). As for the price, it'd depend on what you meant by reasonable, but isn't going to be an impulse purchase for most. You may wish to consider the Pandora, which is the predecessor of the Pyra, you might get lucky with finding one for a reasonable price on eBay.
- manaskarekar 11y ago
  Doubt it : http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPEN-PANDORA-1002-1Ghz-Second-Edition-Mini-Linux-Computer-Video-Game-w-AC-/272161656888?hash=item3f5e195038:g:A60AAOSwvgdW31oc http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPEN-PANDORA-1002-1Ghz-Second-Editio...
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    As I said "might get lucky", especially after the Pyra is released and more existing Pandora owners sell up to get the Pyra.

ekianjo 11y ago

> The keyboard is less userfriendly then an onscreen keyboard Really? Like, you prefer your fingers to run over glass than something you can actually press ? I would have said the exact opposite, because I absolute hate using Smartphones and tablets to type text.

fsiefken 11y ago
I do understand the tactile feedback is nice. A long time ago I got an HTC pocketpc with slide-out keyboard for the same reasons, but I felt the clicking also slowed me down. For the small screen on that particular device the tedious stylus and finger entry was slower, so the keyboard was a plus. But with bigger mobile screens nowadays finger or stylus entry is less of an issue (especially with smart entry hacks). For keyboard entry for typing longer e-mails or ssh access I now only use an external keyboard where I can use 10 fingers instead of 2 thumbs - for the same reason I prefer a frogpad to a twiddler for one-handed entry.
- khedoros 11y ago
  Writing anything beyond SMS-length on a touch device, I end up popping the keyboard up and down repeatedly to give what I'm writing a useful amount of screen space. With swipe entry, my raw input speeds of English are much better than with some kind of thumbpad, but watching the keyboard still means ignoring what I'm typing and going back to fix typos. I like how touchscreen swipe input seems to flow. I like how a physical keypad can be used without necessarily looking at it, and how it doesn't reduce the view of what I'm writing. I haven't used a stylus interface that I've particularly liked because it seems like the worst of both worlds. All those together are why I also do my best to avoid writing anything sizable on a mobile device.