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> I tried out a G1 yesterday, and although it looked quite nice, the keyboard is so small it's impossible to use :( I have to completely disagree with you here

by enomar 18y ago

> I tried out a G1 yesterday, and although it looked quite nice, the keyboard is so small it's impossible to use :( I have to completely disagree with you here. The keyboard is one of the G1's redeeming features. I type much faster and make much fewer mistakes on it than when typing on my iPhone. It's especially better than all those phones with physical keyboards with weird non-standard layouts. YMMV...Just thought I'd offer a counter example to yours :)

axod 18y ago
Yeah you may be right, I just couldn't work out how I'm supposed to use it... One finger, two thumbs, 2 fingers? With the iPhone i use 1 finger and can type pretty fast, but with the G1 it was just really hard to hit the right key, and you actually have to press pretty hard which slowed me down a lot. How long did it take you to get used to it? Does it always take so much effort to register a keypress, or does that 'loosen up'.. :/
- randallsquared 18y ago
  I've had mine for about two months, and the keyboard feel hasn't changed. I haven't noticed that it takes a lot of effort, but I tend to press buttons much harder than necessary anyway, since my proprioception is poor. By the same token, I'm fairly abusive of hardware, and I was really worried that the G1 would come apart quickly, but it's held up very well, aside from the occasional ominous creaking sound. One thing I really like about the G1 keyboard is that there's a definite "break" when the key is pressed, so if I'm paying attention, I can tell when the key goes down. The physical feedback helps a lot for me.
- lacker 18y ago
  If you're trying to do 1-finger typing, no wonder you found the G1 inconvenient. Use the G1 keyboard with two thumbs, holding the device with both hands. (I can't even figure out how you would use it with two fingers.)
  - axod 18y ago
    Yeah I just can't do 2 thumb typing. iPhone one finger peck works for me... does the G1 also have an on screen keyboard?
    - enomar 18y ago
      It will... http://lifehacker.com/5115473/touch+screen-keyboard-shown-in-android-cupcake-video http://lifehacker.com/5115473/touch+screen-keyboard-shown-in...
andyking 18y ago
I replaced my ancient mobile with the latest LG Cookie last week. It's just a £100 pay as you go model, not really a smartphone, but it has a touch-screen and turning it on its side when writing a message reveals an on-screen QWERTY keypad. But it's almost unusable. I don't have fat fingers and I do about 90wpm on a PC keyboard, but these on-screen keypads are terrible for hitting the wrong letter. It's actually quicker to drop to T9 texting mode on the number buttons. Perhaps the iPhone's better, I've never seen one "in the flesh", but I can't imagine how they'd make a touchscreen QWERTY keypad work. I had a play with the G1 in the phone shop just out of interest (the disappointment on the shop assistant's face when I said I didn't really want a £35 contract but just wanted the pay as you go phone was quite shocking). It was most impressive and the keyboard was very quick to type on. Hopefully, since I'm under the impression that Android is freely available for manufacturers to use on their phones, we'll start to see some budget manufacturers (Huawei?) using Google's OS at some point in the next couple of years to give users a decent experience without spending loads of money on putting together a proprietary OS.
- axod 18y ago
  The iPhone is definitely the best keyboard I've tried on a smartphone yet, but perhaps others take some practice to get used to.

by enomar 18y ago

axod 18y ago

Yeah you may be right, I just couldn't work out how I'm supposed to use it... One finger, two thumbs, 2 fingers? With the iPhone i use 1 finger and can type pretty fast, but with the G1 it was just really hard to hit the right key, and you actually have to press pretty hard which slowed me down a lot. How long did it take you to get used to it? Does it always take so much effort to register a keypress, or does that 'loosen up'.. :/

randallsquared 18y ago
I've had mine for about two months, and the keyboard feel hasn't changed. I haven't noticed that it takes a lot of effort, but I tend to press buttons much harder than necessary anyway, since my proprioception is poor. By the same token, I'm fairly abusive of hardware, and I was really worried that the G1 would come apart quickly, but it's held up very well, aside from the occasional ominous creaking sound. One thing I really like about the G1 keyboard is that there's a definite "break" when the key is pressed, so if I'm paying attention, I can tell when the key goes down. The physical feedback helps a lot for me.
lacker 18y ago
If you're trying to do 1-finger typing, no wonder you found the G1 inconvenient. Use the G1 keyboard with two thumbs, holding the device with both hands. (I can't even figure out how you would use it with two fingers.)
- axod 18y ago
  Yeah I just can't do 2 thumb typing. iPhone one finger peck works for me... does the G1 also have an on screen keyboard?
  - enomar 18y ago
    It will... http://lifehacker.com/5115473/touch+screen-keyboard-shown-in-android-cupcake-video http://lifehacker.com/5115473/touch+screen-keyboard-shown-in...

andyking 18y ago

I replaced my ancient mobile with the latest LG Cookie last week. It's just a £100 pay as you go model, not really a smartphone, but it has a touch-screen and turning it on its side when writing a message reveals an on-screen QWERTY keypad. But it's almost unusable. I don't have fat fingers and I do about 90wpm on a PC keyboard, but these on-screen keypads are terrible for hitting the wrong letter. It's actually quicker to drop to T9 texting mode on the number buttons. Perhaps the iPhone's better, I've never seen one "in the flesh", but I can't imagine how they'd make a touchscreen QWERTY keypad work. I had a play with the G1 in the phone shop just out of interest (the disappointment on the shop assistant's face when I said I didn't really want a £35 contract but just wanted the pay as you go phone was quite shocking). It was most impressive and the keyboard was very quick to type on. Hopefully, since I'm under the impression that Android is freely available for manufacturers to use on their phones, we'll start to see some budget manufacturers (Huawei?) using Google's OS at some point in the next couple of years to give users a decent experience without spending loads of money on putting together a proprietary OS.

axod 18y ago
The iPhone is definitely the best keyboard I've tried on a smartphone yet, but perhaps others take some practice to get used to.