Torch or Focus?

[VernonEL]

At&t

Quote: "I am currently on Alltel which is in a market that AT&T has acquired. Now I have heard all the horror stories about AT&T's service. But I live in a fairly small market so I think I should be ok."

First of all, I think there is a thread somewhere here at WPC that shows how most apparent service shortcomings by AT&T can be blamed on the iPhone.

Anyways, I used to have service with AT&T here in Fargo (not their official market). I still had great voice reception, but only EDGE data. I only switched to Alltel because work ended up dragging me further into ND. I cannot wait to have AT&T again. Better customer service, better call quality, ability to use voice and data at the same time (which I actually miss much more than I thought I would), etc...
Lets not forget the Biggie: WP7!

PS: What am I doing wrong with the quote thingy?!? I'm sure it's something blatantly simple, but after several tries I've still got nothin'!

 

[VernonEL]

BB Keyboard

Pro BB:
- I somewhat miss a physical keyboard, and BB makes the best.

I currently use the Bold 9650, which has been touted as having one of the best keyboard made by BB, and I am having a real tough time with it. I loved my old Touch Pro keyboard. I actually link it up to WiFi and use it instead of my Bold for longer emails. (I also use my TP for web browsing, document editing, gaming, FB, Twitter... if my wife is on the PC, instead of using the Bold.)

Here are a few reasons that I like the over-three-year-old-TouchPro's keyboard over the Bold 9650's:

Bold does not have: Tab, control, and arrow keys, and does not have dedicated keys for comma, period, and numbers. Bold will not: Allow you to hold function, like for typing in SSNs or addresses, you have to press "alt" between every character. Same thing for "all caps". Touch Pro has both larger keys, and a more comfortable fit in ones hand. (TP is also smaller overall and still has the same size screen with better resolution.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a completely eternal pessimist: I like the Bold's battery life, Tasks application, and the fact that the FB app notifies externally.

JMHO

 

[firedancer1189]

I am rocking the Tour 9630 currently. I realize that a major factor BB has going for them is their physical keyboards. But compared to my friends that have decent touchscreen keyboards I don't even come close to keeping up with them. I thought I would be a lot faster on a BB. I have average size fingers and consider myself pretty dexterous but for some reason I am just not as fast as I would like to be on my Tour.

Looking forward to giving the Focus's virtual keyboard a try!!

 

[VernonEL]

Virtual Keyboard

For sure!

I feel that Microsoft has done an amazing job with their predictive and corrective text system. I loved how on my Pro it would auto-correct and predict what I would be typing. Plus it was easy to update the dictionary. I have heard great things about WP7's (what's the word I'm looking for here guys?) predictive and corrective text system. BB is just slowing me down.

Side note for current WP7 enjoyers: Do you get the option of using the phone (numbers) virtual keyboard and utilize T9? I loved having to only use 8 to 11 keys.

 

[firedancer1189]

Side note for current WP7 enjoyers: Do you get the option of using the phone (numbers) virtual keyboard and utilize T9? I loved having to only use 8 to 11 keys.

Good question! I know so many people are anti-T9 but I actually got super efficient with it on my original HTC Touch.

 

[VernonEL]

Good question! I know so many people are anti-T9 but I actually got super efficient with it on my original HTC Touch.

LOL!!

Me too!
I bet next your gonna tell me you could text on a touch screen without looking at the screen!

 

[selfcreation]

LOL!!

Me too!
I bet next your gonna tell me you could text on a touch screen without looking at the screen!

lol i can do that , dont guaranty perfect typing but yeah. lol

Txting and driving makes you learn fast but not suggested LOL!

 

[VernonEL]

No-look Texting While Driving

Yeah, it's amazing what one can learn under the right circumstances. I never thought I'd be able to do it. The last year or so I've had a hands-free visor clip so I'm back to using voice primarily again.

Pesky things called age and maturity.

 

[spitothec]

Bold does not have: Tab, control, and arrow keys, and does not have dedicated keys for comma, period, and numbers. Bold will not: Allow you to hold function, like for typing in SSNs or addresses, you have to press "alt" between every character. Same thing for "all caps".

You can hold down Alt with your left thumb and type entirely in numbers/punctuation with your right thumb. Caps-Lock, or "all caps" is turned on by pressing left-Alt then right-Shift. It's turned off the same way.

At least that's the way it's worked on my 4 BlackBerrys..

 

[VernonEL]

You can hold down Alt with your left thumb and type entirely in numbers/punctuation with your right thumb. Caps-Lock, or "all caps" is turned on by pressing left-Alt then right-Shift. It's turned off the same way.

Thanks!! I figured if it was possible, someone here would know how to do it!

 

[DontHate707]

get a palm webos phone wtf rim is good for work but palm is better.
wp7 has office but it doesnt have as much features for business yet.
just wait for next month when palm has its announcement and see what u like or MWC might introduce new wp7 devices i mean u never know...

 

[Rico]

I know hardware keyboards aren't sexy, but I like having them for anything longer than a quick text session. I've gotten used to the Focus' keyboard, but I'd kill to have something like my Moto Q9h, Nokia E72, or even my old Fuze, but with Windows Phone 7. The problem with the keyboard isn't just the fact that it's virtual, but that on screen elements are small, which makes editing words tricky. My Captivate, which has the same size screen, has a larger landscape keyboard than my Focus, the latter having an app button and status bar on the sides of the screen eating up precious space. I've gotten decent at the keyboard and feel more confident using it in portrait, but I don't feel as confident as when I used any of the other devices I mentioned. It seems iPhone users love the keyboard.

Also, the lack of copy and paste is really starting to get to me. Last night I needed to quickly copy my contact details from one email to another, and despite realizing that there was no copy and paste, I futily tried to select the details in an even more futile effort to copy and paste them. When I couldn't do that, I decided I'd just try to call the my contact, whose number was in the same email. I tapped on the number which was formatted as most phone numbers are, and nothing happened. Fortunately, I was by a computer so I just signed into my Gmail account and took care of things there, but I shouldn't have to do that. Things like that are killing the business use case for WP7 for me, which is a shame because the email app is excellent, and pretty much everything else about the Focus and Windows Phone 7 in general is great.

By the time your Focus arrives, we should be getting the update soon. I'd use it for a couple of weeks but realize you may end up selling it for a device with a keyboard.

And to whomever asked, no, there's no way to use the phone keyboard. Tthe app uses whatever keyboard is assigned to a particular field. And given the expansive dictionary, I'm not sure T9 would be as effective for blind typing as on other platforms.

 

[VernonEL]

Also, the lack of copy and paste is really starting to get to me. Last night I needed to quickly copy my contact details from one email to another, and despite realizing that there was no copy and paste, I futily tried to select the details in an even more futile effort to copy and paste them. When I couldn't do that, I decided I'd just try to call the my contact, whose number was in the same email. I tapped on the number which was formatted as most phone numbers are, and nothing happened. Fortunately, I was by a computer so I just signed into my Gmail account and took care of things there, but I shouldn't have to do that. Things like that are killing the business use case for WP7 for me, which is a shame because the email app is excellent, and pretty much everything else about the Focus and Windows Phone 7 in general is great.

And to whomever asked, no, there's no way to use the phone keyboard. Tthe app uses whatever keyboard is assigned to a particular field. And given the expansive dictionary, I'm not sure T9 would be as effective for blind typing as on other platforms.

Rico,
Thanks for the in-depth insight.
I totally agree about the C&P. For those people that say they don't find a use for it, I can only imagine that they do not use their devices for much more than gaming. I really got great use out of the feature on WinMo, and was very disappointed to hear we needed an update to get it on WP.
Bummer about the singular text entry. Using fewer (8 to 11) virtual keys could greatly reduce "fat-fingering".

 

[darren20101]

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