I had some time to kill at Best Buy while waiting for my Mother-in-law's Jitterbug phone to be updated. So naturally, I spent my time at the cell phone area testing keyboards.
The rap on the Pre is that the keyboard is too small, or not easy to use. But compared to what? I asked the staff person what the most popular Blackberries were, since that would be the competition. She said the Curve, the Bold, and the new Tour. I tested these plus the Palm 800w, Centro, Pre, and also the Nokia E71.
I typed my favorite test sentence: "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party" on all 7 keyboards.
Here is my ranking:
1. Tour
2. Pre
3. Bold
4. E71
5. 800w
6. Curve
7. Centro
I'd place my old Treo 700p at 1.5, between the Tour and the Pre, and the iPhone 3GS at 5.5 ahead of the Curve ;)
So, for me, the Pre compares well. What keyboards are the ones that are so much better?!? Certainly not most Blackberries!
By the way, this post was typed entirely on my Pre. And there were only a couple typos.
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I think that keyboards are one of those things that are intensely personal. I have held this opinion of desktop (and laptop) keyboards for a long time and I don't believe it's any different for phones. Folks tend to get very angry about this or that keyboard, but really it's all a matter of trying it out and learning what works for you.
ReplyDeleteI love old IBM Model M keyboards on the desktop, "click-y" (mechanical, not membrane) keyboards on laptops, and physical (not touch/software) keyboards on my mobile devices. I also type faster and more accurately when those preferences are met, but that doesn't imply that those keyboards are inherently better for everyone.