Database Users

No hardware keypboard!

I love my x7500, except this hardware keyboard that is poorly designed and not very functional. But there is the way to use this device and type very fast with built in software keyboard! Just go to the Options for keyboard and change size to Large. Now keys are accessible without using a stylus! I am very happy now.
No need to carry stinkin' keybard no more

ID64 said:
I love my x7500, except this hardware keyboard that is poorly designed and not very functional. But there is the way to use this device and type very fast with built in software keyboard! Just go to the Options for keyboard and change size to Large. Now keys are accessible without using a stylus! I am very happy now.
No need to carry stinkin' keybard no more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even the hardware keyboard isn't that good compare to Universal, i still find it quicker compare to the soft keyboard.

Does anybody know anything technical about the KB? It should be possible to make our own keyboards for the Athena if we can just find out a little about it.
Imagine a small clip on adaptor that sticks to the bottom and has a PS2 socket on it

I've considered making a magnetic ribbon cable for "detached" use. Where you hold the keyboard in your hand and it's connected to the Athena via a magnetic cable that attached to the two components. Not sure if this would be worth anything to anyone out there but it should be VERY easy to make.

I also wondered if there was support for a docking station like use, with charger and keyboard plugged in, so you pop the athena into it and it charges as well as connects the KB.
You dont suppose the kb is actualy just USB do you?

I think some kind of slide down qwerty keyboard similar to the hermes / spv m3100 would be great. That way the keyboard could clip on the back of the Ameo and then the keyboard could slide out? if you get me?
The magnetic keyboards great if your at home, or in the office, but out and about its not practical.
I do agree that the software keyboards pretty good with large keys, thats what i use.

Yes, a slide out KB could easily be incorperated into a clip on protective case. In fact, you wouldnt need a new bk. Just mount the existing one into the slide part of the case, where the case would have a ribbon cable to make the connections.
There is a HUGE market for third party KB mods for the Athena, HTC really missed a trick here by not having some alternate kbs ready at launch.
For example, why doesnt the Dock have a KB? or a KB socket? Jeez, its not hard to put a ps2 socket in the dock, or a slot to put the normal Athena KB into it!
How about a large full size KB with Athena connector in it...

have you guys tried go-ten yet? Nothing can match this in terms of accuracy and speed. I've tried Resco, Spb, Hikeyboard, the standard default both big and small, and nothing come even remotely closed to the ease and speed of go-TEN for me. It is unconventional at first glance, but once you see it, you may wonder why was'nt all soft input keyboard so smart, easy, and quick. If you use predictive text in SMS you may get the idea right away.
There is very very small learning curve only. Only six keys most is the times, but you have the option is pressing all 26 characters.Best thing is there is a free version.
Try it, and you won't want the hardware keyboard again.

eaglesteve said:
have you guys tried go-ten yet? Nothing can match this in terms of accuracy and speed. I've tried Resco, Spb, Hikeyboard, the standard default both big and small, and nothing come even remotely closed to the ease and speed of go-TEN for me. It is unconventional at first glance, but once you see it, you may wonder why was'nt all soft input keyboard so smart, easy, and quick. If you use predictive text in SMS you may get the idea right away.
There is very very small learning curve only. Only six keys most is the times, but you have the option is pressing all 26 characters.Best thing is there is a free version.
Try it, and you won't want the hardware keyboard again.
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Click to collapse
Do you mean TenGo??? Dude you had me searching the wrong thing on Google because I didn't want to be lazy and ask for a link. LOL
Check spelling bro.
Here's a link for those that want to look into his suggestion
http://www.tengo.net/4100/tengokeybd_sipintro.html

eaglesteve said:
have you guys tried go-ten yet? Nothing can match this in terms of accuracy and speed. I've tried Resco, Spb, Hikeyboard, the standard default both big and small, and nothing come even remotely closed to the ease and speed of go-TEN for me. It is unconventional at first glance, but once you see it, you may wonder why was'nt all soft input keyboard so smart, easy, and quick. If you use predictive text in SMS you may get the idea right away.
There is very very small learning curve only. Only six keys most is the times, but you have the option is pressing all 26 characters.Best thing is there is a free version.
Try it, and you won't want the hardware keyboard again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi eaglesteve.
Do you have a link to this software or developer info etc please? can't seem to find anything when googling for it.
Cheers.

No worries found it. Thanks for the heads up.
http://www.tengo.net/tengo_pocketpc.html

ID64 said:
I love my x7500, except this hardware keyboard that is poorly designed and not very functional. But there is the way to use this device and type very fast with built in software keyboard! Just go to the Options for keyboard and change size to Large. Now keys are accessible without using a stylus! I am very happy now.
No need to carry stinkin' keybard no more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tere Igor
Have you tried any of the soft keyboard options out there?

TenGo is not as intuitive as it appears, but is smart software.
OK just given the TenGo SIP a good run for it's money tonight. It is a very nice lookin application that has real potential.....BUT....the learning curve is a major drawback IMHO and not worth the time to learn. Why do I say that?
Firstly, I/we use QWERTY keyboards of one type or another every day and wether it's afull sized USB PC keyboard or a slide-out PPC keboard or SIP based, the QWERTY principle really has left an intuitive mark on me at least over the years and learning a new system does not make much sense to me if it is not going to be everywhere....just on my Ameo.
2ndly, I have no time to keep checking if the predictive text has recognised the word I intended for it to type. I mean if you don't check what you're typing regularly, then by the time you've reached the end of your document/txt, you'll struggle to make sense of what you have typed yourself!
3rd and last, I like to use slang terminology and this causes the predictive technology more problems in recognising what I have typed e.g. it will try to guess what slang I have used and effectively translate it to something similar in it's perfect english database.
Verdict? Perfect for those who write perfect english all the time and have the time to learn and train a new system,....BUT useless for those who already know what they want to type and just want it done quickly without spell checking every word as they type. It is very smart software indeed, but not natural or smart enough for the human mind. Gimme a larger SIP panel instead.
Not for me, but thanks for the heads-up.

mackaby007 said:
3rd and last, I like to use slang terminology and this causes the predictive technology more problems in recognising what I have typed e.g. it will try to guess what slang I have used and effectively translate it to something similar in it's perfect english database.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me but for me it's the fact that I regularly communicate in a number of languages.

mackaby007 said:
OK just given the TenGo SIP a good run for it's money tonight. It is a very nice lookin application that has real potential.....BUT....the learning curve is a major drawback IMHO and not worth the time to learn. Why do I say that?
Firstly, I/we use QWERTY keyboards of one type or another every day and wether it's afull sized USB PC keyboard or a slide-out PPC keboard or SIP based, the QWERTY principle really has left an intuitive mark on me at least over the years and learning a new system does not make much sense to me if it is not going to be everywhere....just on my Ameo.
2ndly, I have no time to keep checking if the predictive text has recognised the word I intended for it to type. I mean if you don't check what you're typing regularly, then by the time you've reached the end of your document/txt, you'll struggle to make sense of what you have typed yourself!
3rd and last, I like to use slang terminology and this causes the predictive technology more problems in recognising what I have typed e.g. it will try to guess what slang I have used and effectively translate it to something similar in it's perfect english database.
Verdict? Perfect for those who write perfect english all the time and have the time to learn and train a new system,....BUT useless for those who already know what they want to type and just want it done quickly without spell checking every word as they type. It is very smart software indeed, but not natural or smart enough for the human mind. Gimme a larger SIP panel instead.
Not for me, but thanks for the heads-up.
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Click to collapse
Ha ha, that was my first reaction too. So I almost passed it up initially without giving it a fair chance.
This are the facts:
1. You have not given up your qwert keyboard. It is still functioning 100% as one. If you choose to press the precise position of each individual 26 keys, what u type on is also one of the words that can b selected. Therefore you can still use slang such as lol, gtg,brb,etc. C how I can intentionally use shortened words on this post?
2. It is to b thought is as a very forgiving qwert keyboard, because of the built-in intelligence. You can type in the exact spelling of your words, not just limited to the words in the dictionary.becausr while it tries to predict what you want to type, what you actually type also appears as one of the choices. Now you see why slang is not a problem?
3. the system is actually very smart in selecting the default hint word out of all the suggested ones. The default choice is the underlined and first hint word. You don't need to do anything in order to select it other than the space bar ( which u hve 2 anyway w normal qwert keyboard) The only difference is u need not be precise in typing. U merely hve 2 touch the correct keygroup. U got it?
I thnk u r really going 2 like it once u go thru the 3 min tutorial. THERE IS ALMOST NO LEARNING CURVE!
JUST WATCH YOUR TYPING SPEED FLIES!

btw, there is a known problem with tengo installation. You may have problem selecting this as the default sip, or even selecting it.
i'll find the thread later and post it here.

eaglesteve said:
btw, there is a known problem with tengo installation. You may have problem selecting this as the default sip, or even selecting it.
i'll find the thread later and post it here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installation problems aside, I agree that one can write a very nifty speeds and that the learning curve can appear to be low. My point was that it is not natural, certainly not to me.
I see your point about being able to use slang, but as it will not be the default word selected, you have to select it yourself each time you use it or teach the database a new word (slang) in order for it to recognise it in the future.
If it works well for you eaglesteve that's great and I wish I was as capable at adapting as you are, but for me and possibly for others, I'm looking for a SIP keyboard that will help to improve/enhance the way I'm already used to typing without feeling unsure if my document/txt is being typed correctly. I know you know what I mean.
However as your experience has taught you, maybe one evenings worth of testing is not enough for me to dismiss it so easily. But then I have kept it installed for further testing alongside my usual SIP methods.
Thanks again for the heads up though.

mackaby007 said:
No worries found it. Thanks for the heads up.
http://www.tengo.net/tengo_pocketpc.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go here for free tengo:
http://free.tengo.net/
Go here for commercial versions"
www.tengo.net
It supports vga
You may use it exactly the same way as your old qwert board is you go choose.
But then,you'll right away realise that there is a much easier way....quicker... More flexible..enjoy.

mackaby007 said:
I
I see your point about being able to use slang, but as it will not be the default word selected, you have to select it yourself each time you use it or teach the database a new word (slang) in order for it to recognise it in the future.
I'm looking for a SIP keyboard that will help to improve/enhance the way I'm already used to typing without feeling unsure if my document/txt is being typed correctly. I know you know what I mean.
though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to teach the dictionary that the slang is a valid word. when you use it the first time, there will be an audio warning. But if you used it once, it automatically gets into the dictionary, and become just another normal word the next time you type it
Funny it is exactly because I want an SIP keyboard that will help to improve/enhance the way I'm already used to typing without feeling unsure if my document/txt is being typed correctly that I think tengo is the answer.

mackaby007 said:
Hi eaglesteve.
Do you have a link to this software or developer info etc please? can't seem to find anything when googling for it.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.tengo.net/

text help

i am struggling with this phone, at first i loved it as the potential looked amazing, but i used to be a heavy texter, it was simple with a normal phone, and could text with out lookin at screen, so was pretty quick, new i would have to get used to the touch screen, but i have it set up for phone key pad so i can use it like a normal phone, but there will be no chance of texting without looking due to cant feel buttons, but i find it slow and end up spelling words wrong, and have to delete and respell, then u press a button and doesnt register, so again get a garbled word and have to resplell, and worse is when it highlights the words, if you dont press space and try to edit something you get you word insert again either to the end of the original word or halfway through message - how do i turn that off i dont need it suggesting words, just want to type and maybe use the arrows to scroll to the next word, and not have it inserted randomly onto the message.
this phone is not great for texts or email. is there a better programme out there for texting with? cheers

there are millions of text input programs, but I recommend you: TouchPal (for Thumb-use, with the smart-keyboard) and TenGo (for Stylus-use). If you get used to this, belive me, you can type really fast. I know what you mean, once, I came from a life with Nokia, too, and I could write everything without looking and extremely fast, but the time to get used to a touchscreen-phone is much longer than you/me thought!! But after some months (!) you will see, you can type very, very fast, with this keyboards. Or wait until the new maila comes out (you can flash Dutty's extreme ROM), this is much better in full-QWERTY than the one by now. So, search a little bit, you'll find really millions and millions of keyboards!! Try some
Good luck!! And don't give up hope
Greets, cad^^

thank you, i will check, i have browsed forums but hadnt seen anything about texting, so again, thank you

No prob. Just look around, xda is for 95% of the questions/problems the best source. But if you are new here, look at the xda-wiki!!!! It is very, very, very important and helpful, there you get the most information!!! You see, its at the upper bar, the 4th icon from left. So, happy reading and have fun with your new toy And enjoooooooy it^^

I actually thinky the HD is better for texting than I thought originally, but your point about words inserting themselves within words is very valid.
What I don't understand is that the phone is capable of haptic feedback but it doesn't do it for the keyboard input. I assume the only way is to install Touch Response

yes, it is, but it's very easy to install and it's very good working! So, no probs But if you text REALLY a lot, than look now in the accessory section, they are currently discussing about external bluetooth keyboards. Me too, I'm interested in one of these, and I find 55$ for the Brando one not expensive.. Just look at it
Greets, cad^^

SPB Keyboard works absolutely fantastically on the touch HD, the fact you can press a button to make the keyboard fullscreen and horizontal for text messaging makes it particularly handy.
I had the same problems when I had my very first touch screen phone (LG Viewty) and found that texting was very difficult using a phone keypad layout, I switched to the keyboard layout and using the tips of my thumbnails to tap out the messages it works a lot better! Maybe give it a try and tap out a few messages to see if it feels easier. Trust me you'll get used to it!

Yes, I like spb-keyboard, too, but it's only in ugly qvga theme, I didn't found any wvga so, it's very unsharp and not good looking. ok, I know, I'm absolutely crazy complaining about the "look" of a keyboard, but actually I think it matters so, I really like the Touchpal (I'm writing now on it) and until I fully test the new HTC keyboard, I think Ill stay with this But thanks for your information!! Have fun
Greets, cad^^

The rubbishness of windows comes through very quickly

I got a bit suckered by all the good reviews for this phone on so many websites and bought it yesterday. I've had a long time [misplaced] affection for windows phones. I say misplaced because every single model I've owned has let me down.
The sense interface is great. Windows is not. I've just made 16 attempts at trying to login to windows live, struggling each time to input a 20 char secure password on the dinky keyboard and when i finally got the password right, i succeeded in invoking the 'too many failed logins' mode of windows live. Nice.
why is this stuff so difficult for windows mobile phones? why does the phone not go into landscape mode for EVERY application? why is that so difficult to implement? Why did HTC not put a bloody switch for landscape mode? you have a wide screen which would make an onscreen keyborad far more friendly yet you're still stuck trying to hit the 'sweet spot' on a portrait-mode keyboard!??! Not only are you stuck in portait mode but you no longer have a stylus to help you hit those keys!
The initial WOW factor has disappeared for me and I've only had the phone for a day!
can someone help me with some tips on landscape mode? is there some way i can map one of the hard keys to be a landscape mode switch? or some software that does something similar?
thanks!

Install BSB Tweaks this allows landscape for any appplication
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=589305

I tried but didn't seem to work for me. maybe i was doing something wrong?
i enabled the tickbox for IE and after the soft reset i tried running it but it did nothing when i rotated the screen. Am I missing something here?

try using Gyrator .. It works on every application

aloms said:
can someone help me with some tips on landscape mode? is there some way i can map one of the hard keys to be a landscape mode switch? or some software that does something similar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just made an app that does just that. Have a look at PLToggle in my sig.

Calm down mate, trust me, windows mobile is by far the best OS out there for mobiles. The only reason everyone prefers the iphone is because of its usability, apart from that theres not much you can do but 'get an app for that', however thanks to this forum, you can do almost anything with a windows mobile device, especially one as powerful as the leo. You just need to get used to it, if sense is bugging you, get spb shell or another ui. And of course theres gonna be loads of problems with it, its pretty new, but its good points strongly outway its bad points (oh and might I add, you'll be getting all your tech support from this site, not htc, trust me), so just give it some time and you'll realise, after 'making it yours' how awesome a phone it is.
If the keyboard isnt doing it for you, download a new one! (thats the great thing about winmo) the two popular ones at the moment are swype ( a completely different style of keyboard) or finger keyboard. I personally like the one htc supply you with, heres a tweak taken from this thread which will lower the sensitivy of the screen which makes typing much easier. Alternatively, bsb tweaks can do this all for you from its menu.
Oh and about the rotate thing, on xanny tech's pandora rom, he has a little execuatable file in the start menu with rotates everything, and its mapped to a long press of the send key, so thats pretty useful, im not running his rom anymore but if you know anything about flashing, flash his first, its very good indeed and has lots of tweaks and useful stuff preinstalled.
Hope that helps a little, if not just ask

thanks for your help mate. having bought into a 24 month contract I'm pretty much stuck with getting to learn the phone whether i like it or not.

aloms said:
thanks for your help mate. having bought into a 24 month contract I'm pretty much stuck with getting to learn the phone whether i like it or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with [★]. Once you know it better, you'll get to love it. There's so much under the hood of this thing that yes, you'll find a few things that you don't like, but they'll be outweighed by the things that you do

aloms said:
The sense interface is great. Windows is not. I've just made 16 attempts at trying to login to windows live, struggling each time to input a 20 char secure password on the dinky keyboard and when i finally got the password right, i succeeded in invoking the 'too many failed logins' mode of windows live. Nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You, Sir, need to check out my thread, which would surely have come up if you had used the search function. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5197442 Windows Live/Hotmail etc seem to only take 16 characters. Anything after that is ignored. But the Windows Live application on mobile accepts more than 16 and will try and authenticate with everything you type in. 20 character password will not work. Reduce your pass to 16 characters or less and it should work. Post back in this thread to let me know if this sorts your issue out.

If it's a keyboard you're after then try Swype. Have a search for it. I too had a lot of sensitivity problems with the keyboard and it would take ages to type a simple email. Swype solved that. It's a lot less sensitive than the native keyboard and I used SIP to make it my default. In terms of landscape mode, try using Opera instead of IE (although Opera lacks flash). BSB Tweaks will handle the rest although I don't use it myself.
Trust me, stick with the phone and, with a few tweaks to have it running how you like it, you won't look back!

Just return the darn phone, smack it to the floor and trample it good, or learn to use it since you've bought it. Please save yourself over a high blood pressure leading to a stroke, my friend. It's only a phone.. (but then there's always iPhones for usability's sake, whatever it means)

aloms said:
The initial WOW factor has disappeared for me and I've only had the phone for a day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, you need to calm down a tad. Ok, the phone is not perfect. However, there is endless configurability for the phone. The best thing you could ever have done was to come to this site where there is a tweak for almost anything.
Sit down, fasten your seatbelt and take a look around. You need an open mind. The HD2 is no iphone. It's the iphone killer. Just needs a little tweaking that's all.
Alternatively, you could ditch it and join the bandwagon, I mean iphone!

Try Swype, best KB I hve used on a phone, my mate with an Iphone thought it was great and was going to look for it for the Iphone, once tweaked the HD2 is the best mob by far!
I was doubtful when I first had it like you say I thought I should have gone for the Iphone but now I am so happy with it

Windows is rubbish because of the HTC keyboard?? Ok...
Isnt the whole ADVANTAGE of winmo that if you dont like something you can change it?

The advantage of WinMo is the tweaking and Office Mobile My wife had a HTC Hero for 2 months and at the end she begged me to get her a new Windows Phone because the freaking Android won't open rich text format files (unfortunately in her job she is obliged to use rtf as standart file format) without great hassle even with all possible office replacements I cound find on the net. Not to speak of that, that even the enhanced HTC mail client for Android can't open messages that are sent from mail.bg (a very popular bulgarian web mail service). That was the end for Android

Hotmail mail on the HD1 was a pain, same on the HD2. Gmail is working perfectly though which is very annoying when like me, you use Hotmail on your desktop to access your Gmail emails...

aloms said:
I got a bit suckered by all the good reviews for this phone on so many websites and bought it yesterday. I've had a long time [misplaced] affection for windows phones. I say misplaced because every single model I've owned has let me down.
The sense interface is great. Windows is not. I've just made 16 attempts at trying to login to windows live, struggling each time to input a 20 char secure password on the dinky keyboard and when i finally got the password right, i succeeded in invoking the 'too many failed logins' mode of windows live. Nice.
why is this stuff so difficult for windows mobile phones? why does the phone not go into landscape mode for EVERY application? why is that so difficult to implement? Why did HTC not put a bloody switch for landscape mode? you have a wide screen which would make an onscreen keyborad far more friendly yet you're still stuck trying to hit the 'sweet spot' on a portrait-mode keyboard!??! Not only are you stuck in portait mode but you no longer have a stylus to help you hit those keys!
The initial WOW factor has disappeared for me and I've only had the phone for a day!
can someone help me with some tips on landscape mode? is there some way i can map one of the hard keys to be a landscape mode switch? or some software that does something similar?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all get rid of that IDIOTIC iPhone imitation keyboard and replace it with the divine fingerkeyboard from xda.
And then deactivate the utterly unpredictive xt9 "predictive" (more like vindictive) text input.
I did these steps and now I can FINALLY type.
An $800 phone and it takes a donationware sw keyboard to make it usable

Aloms - I had the same problem with my Ipod Touch in the beginning. Don't worry, you will get use to it. BTW HD2 keyboard is better especially in landscape

I will join this thread with my three questions.
I have converted to the dark side and bought iPhone 3GS after having gone through a lot of phones and OSes. I have given up on WinMo (using HTC Pro) basically because of 3 issues:
1. Phone app in the sense of its responsiveness. I mean, someone is calling - first 2 seconds the hardware buttons light up, next 2 seconds the phone starts to vibrate, next 2 seconds there is a sound. Is it happening on the HD2 too? How responsive is it? Plus does it have a good gsm reception? With my HTC Pro I had to keep on testing different radio roms and have not been satisfied ever...
2. When you use HD2 say 4-5 days or longer, does it slow down over time. I mean especially when you use contacts with 1000 entries etc, or is it instant?
3. On a brand new HD2 just charged, when you load in your 1000 contacts, does it have an instant search of a contact in the contacts app? Or an email address in the "To" section when you want to write an email?
Frankly speaking, HD2 looks very tempting, but I am afraid mainly of the 3 above areas and am thinking to wait for Windows 7 or something?
PS. HTC Pro is still with me, but in the drawer...

OliveUK said:
Hotmail mail on the HD1 was a pain, same on the HD2.
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Click to collapse
I've had a Diamond, a HD, and now a HD2 and I can say with 100% confidence that I never had 1 single problem with Hotmail. I've seen a very small number of users on here with issues and every single one of them has turned out to be user error.
I suggest the same in this instance as it works flawlessly when set up correctly, which 99.9% of users do.

Typing With The Keyboard Help

Hello All....
I just recently purchased the HTC HD2 and coming from an Iphone, they keyboard on here to type seems to be rather difficult. Is anyone else having problems with this at all? It seems it takes me twice as long to write a message or anything on here vs. iPhone. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or does it just take a good amount of time to get use to?
Any help, would be much appreciated!!
Thanks..
Marc

it does seem different to any keyboard i've used, and a lot of that i think is down to the screen sensitivity.
I use swype, which helps some, but even then it is almost unuseable until i apply the bsbtweak for reduced screen sensitivity.

for me, it helps to have the audible and vibrate options checked. it makes it a little bit easier to tell when you've actally touched a key. you could also try the phone keypad option for texting and use xt9....it works surprisingly well for text messages though it can be a bear to use when it doesn't recognize a word.

samsamuel said:
it does seem different to any keyboard i've used, and a lot of that i think is down to the screen sensitivity.
I use swype, which helps some, but even then it is almost unuseable until i apply the bsbtweak for reduced screen sensitivity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yap try swype or the new slideit 4.1. with them i type almost faster than with a hardware keyboard - true story.

shu8i said:
with them i type almost faster than with a hardware keyboard - true story.
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Click to collapse
yea I agree.now that I'm two months into using swype itsa fair bit faster than keying.

I agree with you Marcf, the HD2 keyboard isn't near as easy to use as the iPhone, it's the only feature of the HD2 that I still have a problem with. I use the Skype keyboard which is a little better but it still doesn't work near as well as an iPhone or even my old Omnia. My only hope is that some third party developer will come out with something better one of these days.

The keyboard is a pain.
I found disabling the vibrate on key press to help, it speeded up my typing anyway.
Swype is good but im not sure if im quicker using it tbh.

Thinking of selling my HD2 and moving on. Why? Keyboard sucks.

Don't get me wrong. I love my phone. Have been with windows mobile for many years. Never had an iphone or any Apple product.
I just find the keyboard on this phone sucks. You would expect it to be better than the iphone as it is wider but the truth is the iphone keyboard is way better. I think the ghost area for each key spans a bigger area on the iphone thus makes it more accurate. My sister has an iphone and i can type very well on it.
With the HD2 keyboard I am constantly making mistakes. I hate that the XT9/ABC key is directly below the A key as I find myself constantly switching to ABC mode by accident. I have to be more careful and precise when typing, thus slower. Sometime spaces are not entered. I have tried the sensitivity tweaks. I have tried different roms. I have tried the phone pad. Still aways not perfect.
Ok, I am a big fan of Winmo. I started the HUGE hints and tips thread on here and on the Blackstone forum too many years ago. Not bashing WinMo or this phone - just the keyboard makes for frustrating use.
I think I should get a new phone. Not sure whether to get a Blackberry with a physical keyboard, an iphone, an android phone or just another winmo phone with a keyboard. I used to have an Asus P525 which was a fab phone and had a great keyboard. Sadly dated specs though.
Am very tempted with a WP7 phone. Am just fed up with the HD2 keyboard.
Don't know what to do.
Any advice?

Have you tried other keyboards such as Swype?

i know what you mean. however, i use swype and that makes typing on this phone quicker than any other phone i have ever tried.

I have tried swype briefly but I did not give it the benefit of time. Maybe I should try it again.

I know how you feel man. I hate the keyboard on my HD2. Thats the main reason I have been using my iPhone over my HD2. The HD2 blows my iPhone away as far as performance goes, but I just cant type on the damn keyboard. I tried Swype and it adds so much speed to typing, but It seems like it doesn't recognize a lot of the words I type, and it suggest things that aren't even close. I know back when I was running Hero roms on my G1 I had the option of calibrating the keyboard. Do we not have this option on the HD2?

yea you are right it takes forever typing using the hd2 keypad constantly making mistakes.. a physical keypad would be my preferred choice But it is abit weak to change mobile phones over a keypad dont you think?? if you said the battery life then i would agree! anyway all the best. i tried using swype but it suffers from lag!!

Do you really think it is a bit weak of me to change the phone because of the keyboard? Don't you think that the keyboard is one of the most important parts of a phone that someone uses daily? How can HTC not get the one important thing right? Everything else about the phone is great - well almost. But the keyboard just sucks! with a capital S

how much you willing to part with it?

i totally agree with the keyboard thing. I don't know if mine is even worse than others because when I ask other people about the keyboard on the HD2 they say its fine.
When I press "keys" it constantly hits all the keys around it, so i want to type 1 letter and end up having 4 or 5 letters pop up. Because of this I rarely text anymore and end up calling people for simple replys to their texts such as, what time for a froff?
It's possibly the only bad thing about the HD2, but it is massively bad.
I think hot and cold days really effect it, along with really warm fingers and when the screen heats up a bit from being on for a few mins.

I've learned to live with swype. Still not as fast as my hardware kb on my tp2, but the other specs made upgrading a nobrainer.

haven't had any problems with the keyboard on my hd2, have you guys tried asking any of the developers to try to replicate the iphone keyboard for the hd2?

tboy2000 said:
Do you really think it is a bit weak of me to change the phone because of the keyboard? Don't you think that the keyboard is one of the most important parts of a phone that someone uses daily? How can HTC not get the one important thing right? Everything else about the phone is great - well almost. But the keyboard just sucks! with a capital S
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Yes.
I just noticed how difficult it is to use the keyboard for long senteces. I was doing heavy, long texting today, and I kept getting mistakes. (I sometimes use Swype, but its accuracy can be way off at times.
I agree that HTC's EzInput isn't that great. It was probably meant only for single-touch, resistive screens that their older devices have. I personally found the virtual keyboard easy to use on my TP2 when I had to do quick texts -- it was much more accurate (and keep in mind: resistive screens are more accurate than capacitives).
They only boast their keyboard because it has the d-pad buttons on it (compared to other keyboards).

I have no idea what you are talking about: i fing the virtual mb to be quite nifty. for example, i am using it right now to type this rsponse. its going just zplebdix. except cor the paefz when my fingeracacvidentakky touch outside the area of the keypad abnd that automaticlly diskisses the meyoad. that is annoying.

Have you tried to change the settings for the standard keyborad - it kan change the feeling a lot.
But in the end i wasn't satisfied with the standard keyborad, so i tried Fingerkeyboard that isn't a "swyping" keyboard?
Or, SlideIT, that i use. It's smilary to Swype, but much better for me.

hi,
By sensitive tweaks do you speak about this one :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=697765
Work for me....

tboy2000 said:
I have tried swype briefly but I did not give it the benefit of time. Maybe I should try it again.
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you really should give it a good try. At first it does not recognise all the words you type but then it learns and is soooo much quicker.
A friend who has the iphone said my keyboard was crap so we compared his against my swype. he was still on the first couple of words by the time i had finished the sentence. Granted i do touch type but swype really is quick with practice.

i wouldn't
use swipe pal, once it learns a few words and you get used to it its awesome, also the rate at which andriod is being developed for the hd2 is quick and the keyboard on that is fantastic on the massive screen.
i stick with it mate.

jkolner said:
SlideIT, that i use. It's smilary to Swype, but much better for me.
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SlideIT is the one, I love that keyboard. It'd a bit quirky when you first use it, but once you get used to it, it's amazing. I can't use Swype anymore, it's not half as good as SlideIT IMO, and the fact that it hangs over the bottom taskbar on 6.5.x puts me off too.
So many links, I'm not trying to get you to try SlideIT, honest!

There are so many 3rd party keyboards, resco keybpoard, touchpal, fingerkeyboard, sywpe....
I'm using swype&touchpal. tochpal for internet browsing, cause swype sucks there - i'm using german dic.
..and i love them.

Ah yes, Fingerkeyboard, I forgot about that one. It's a nice freeware keyboard, similar to the default one. Try that also.