[sleepngbear]

Once you bring the software keyboard up, the screen height is about the same. The 9900 display is actually slightly larger width wise.

Here's one of my 9900s next to my iPod touch (same 3.5" display as the iPhone) for reference

Click to view quoted image


Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

I had never even considered the display area aspect, but there you have visible evidence why full touch screens don't offer any advantage to users whose primary uses are text-based, not to mention the basic preference of physical vs. virtual keyboards.

[kittencounter]

You make no clicking sounds while typing on full touch devices. Many ppl like that because they don't want other ppl to hear that they are typing messages during conferences /lectures or wtever they r in

[sleepngbear]

You make no clicking sounds while typing on full touch devices. Many ppl like that because they don't want other ppl to hear that they are typing messages during conferences /lectures or wtever they r in

Perhaps then those people ought not be messaging on their phones if they are in situations where they are concerned about being heard. Although I can say that I have responded to emails in the middle of meetings on my 9900 without a problem.

[_StephenBB81]

Perhaps then those people ought not be messaging on their phones if they are in situations where they are concerned about being heard. Although I can say that I have responded to emails in the middle of meetings on my 9900 without a problem.

That is wear my curves have always beat out my Bolds, in a quite environment they Curve keyboard seems quieter than the bold Keyboard

but I would say 9 times out of 10 I barely hear either in a room with people talking

[PineappleUnderTheSea]

Perhaps then those people ought not be messaging on their phones if they are in situations where they are concerned about being heard. Although I can say that I have responded to emails in the middle of meetings on my 9900 without a problem.

You're not heard, but trust me you are seen. Any time a head goes down during a meeting, it's always someone typing away or reading emails on the BB. For some reason I notice things like that, so I try to keep my head up when I get bored and pick up the phone!

We have a Marketing guy at work who will actually stop the meeting and call out the "offenders" that are doing email on their BB. Makes me feel like a schoolboy getting in trouble (I've been caught twice), but he's right, especially if it's a short meeting where everyone needs to be engaged.

[avt123]

Thank you.

So if you are a "doer" vs a "viewer"
Pixel Width is the same between the iPhone 4S & the 9900
but the 9900 has approximately 10% wider viewing area, and same physical height, making the screen size argument a null and void argument any time one is doing text entry.

Very true for the iPhone, unless you have no problem typing on a touchscreen. If you have no problem with it, you gain the advantage of the bigger screen. That means you can be a "doer" and a "viewer" with a full touchscreen, but only be a "doer" with a device like the 9900. I mean, you definitely can still be a "viewer" on the Bold, but it is not as pleasant.

[sleepngbear]

Very true for the iPhone, unless you have no problem typing on a touchscreen. If you have no problem with it, you gain the advantage of the bigger screen. That means you can be a "doer" and a "viewer" with a full touchscreen, but only be a "doer" with a device like the 9900. I mean, you definitely can still be a "viewer" on the Bold, but it is not as pleasant.

It all depends on how much doing vs. viewing you plan on doing. If you're not doing much viewing, it's hardly unpleasant. I can web browse just fine on my 9900, and in fact I much prefer viewing on it than on the 9810. But the vast majority of my mobile activities are text-based 'doing'. The bigger screen of a full touch device is nowhere near the advantage that a physical keyboard is to users like me.

And just for giggles I dug out the 9810 yesterday to recharge it and load up the most recent leaked OS, but also partly to remind myself what I might be missing after five months with the 9900. I quickly realized that I'm not missing anything at all. There is nothing about the 9810, not even the larger display, that I like more than the 9900. The only thing I may possibly like to try is a landscape slider, but it would have to have a keyboard of the same high quality as the 9900, which in my opinion the 9810 (and every other slider I've tried so far) doesn't come close to. But there's no two ways about it, I simply have to have a physical keyboard on my phone.

[avt123]

It all depends on how much doing vs. viewing you plan on doing. If you're not doing much viewing, it's hardly unpleasant. I can web browse just fine on my 9900, and in fact I much prefer viewing on it than on the 9810. But the vast majority of my mobile activities are text-based 'doing'. The bigger screen of a full touch device is nowhere near the advantage that a physical keyboard is to users like me.

And just for giggles I dug out the 9810 yesterday to recharge it and load up the most recent leaked OS, but also partly to remind myself what I might be missing after five months with the 9900. I quickly realized that I'm not missing anything at all. There is nothing about the 9810, not even the larger display, that I like more than the 9900. The only thing I may possibly like to try is a landscape slider, but it would have to have a keyboard of the same high quality as the 9900, which in my opinion the 9810 (and every other slider I've tried so far) doesn't come close to. But there's no two ways about it, I simply have to have a physical keyboard on my phone.

Understandable. But why does it matter on how much viewing vs doing you do? I was specifically talking about a person who prefers a full touchscreen/ touch keyboard device. If they have no problem with text input then they get the added benefit of the larger screen as well. However, a great added benefit for the physical keyboard is the shortcuts.

For me, I didn't mind web browsing on my 8330, 9000 and 9700, but I prefer browsing on my iPhone and Android devices due to the larger screen.

For those who have to have a physical keyboard, the 9900 is as close to perfect as you can get right now. The only landscape slider on the market that I actually like is the Droid 4. The keyboard isn't as "premium" but after using it for a couple of minutes I was definitely able to type very fast on it and it was a pleasant experience. Definitely not as nice at the 9900 though.

And honestly, the screen difference isn't big enough from the Bold to the 9810 for me. I would rather have the Bold. No way I would want to use a screen as small as the 9810s as a full touch device, and I personally can't stand portrait sliders.

[belfastdispatcher]

I don't hate full touch but I find myself terribly slow when I use one, even the PlayBook.

When browsing my biggest problem is the lack of top and bottom shortcuts, it's annoying how many times you have to swipe just to get back to the top of a webpage.

[avt123]

I don't hate full touch but I find myself terribly slow when I use one, even the PlayBook.

When browsing my biggest problem is the lack of top and bottom shortcuts, it's annoying how many times you have to swipe just to get back to the top of a webpage.

Some browsers are more annoying than others when it comes to scrolling. It took me two swipes to get back to the top of this page using Chrome on ICS. On the iPhone, you just click the top right corner of the browser and it jumps up to the top.

Safari Basics - How to Use Safari, the iPhone Browser

On browsers like Dolphin, it has gestures. All you have to do is draw an arrow pointing up and it will instantly take you to the top of the page.

[blackberry_lover_forever]

Isn't RIM the only keyboard phone available right now? At least the only notable one? Isn't it possible RIM could be losing money over the next couple quarters? I'm not sure how profitable keyboard phones are right now? More importantly how profitable they will be going forward. Which causes me to question why they would EOL the full touch screen phones they have now, but that is another story...



I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "OS feature set", but I think its the apps people are after the most, and is obviously RIM's huge weakness.



BlackBerry fans keep clamoring over these keyboards, but two huge mobile phone companies that are completely destroying RIM right now offer no keyboards at all, and I don't see any of those users asking for them. With the iPhone moving further and further into RIM's traditional territory, without a keyboard, it seems to me that the niche the keyboard fills among traditional users is shrinking.

Seems like you're confusing causes and conséquences... You told yourself apps are the reason why IOS and Android are blasting RIM, not full touchscreen. And for the fact users are not claiming for keyboard, the most of my Iphones owners friends who tried my bold told me just this keyboard would make thèm go - or go back - BlackBerry, évén if they like theirs iphones. And actually, North América and its consumers don't représent the whole world and the whole market...

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[randall2580]

I find myself needing any keyboard at all less and less. I was thrilled when Nuance bought Vlingo as I already think Vlingo works very well but Nuance will make it better. I think it's just a matter of time before we have "Star Trek" type communications with our computers/smart phones, in the last few years voice to text has gotten much better and anti-texting/typing laws get more severe, we will continue to move away from keyboards all together.

[_StephenBB81]

I find myself needing any keyboard at all less and less. I was thrilled when Nuance bought Vlingo as I already think Vlingo works very well but Nuance will make it better. I think it's just a matter of time before we have "Star Trek" type communications with our computers/smart phones, in the last few years voice to text has gotten much better and anti-texting/typing laws get more severe, we will continue to move away from keyboards all together.

I can agree this will happen for the casual user, for me I type at least twice the speed I speak at, and in cases of using macro's and autotext I type orders of magnitude faster than I speak and with more clarity.

Also I dread the day when people are using voice to text and I land at an airport,

[belfastdispatcher]

I can agree this will happen for the casual user, for me I type at least twice the speed I speak at, and in cases of using macro's and autotext I type orders of magnitude faster than I speak and with more clarity.

Also I dread the day when people are using voice to text and I land at an airport,

Never gonna happen, same as videocalling, it's best used in private. To this day I have yet to see it used in public.

[Joltcola1234]

I had never even considered the display area aspect, but there you have visible evidence why full touch screens don't offer any advantage to users whose primary uses are text-based, not to mention the basic preference of physical vs. virtual keyboards.

I don't really get these comments. Why does screen real estate matter while you are typing? I've never seen anyone complain about needing more space on a screen while they type, lol

[BlackBerry Guy]

I think that's exactly what sleepngbear is trying to say...that screen real estate does not matter when you're typing because the software keyboard takes up half the screen anyway.

[Joltcola1234]

Seems like you're confusing causes and conséquences... You told yourself apps are the reason why IOS and Android are blasting RIM, not full touchscreen. And for the fact users are not claiming for keyboard, the most of my Iphones owners friends who tried my bold told me just this keyboard would make thèm go - or go back - BlackBerry, évén if they like theirs iphones. And actually, North América and its consumers don't représent the whole world and the whole market...

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

App's are the reason though, I'm not trying to convince myself of that. The keyboard on the BB is great, but I think among non BlackBerry users its viewed as yesterdays smart phone. Consumers want touch screen because by large that's what is popular, that is the in thing. BlackBerry users keep trying to justify the need for the keyboard because it "makes them more productive", "it is better to type with". I don't agree with either of those statements but that is the sentiment for BlackBerry. I think you are going to see the keyboard continue to fade out of BlackBerry phones going forward.

And you are right, NA does not represent the entire smart phone market, but it is the most important in terms of profitability.

[Tre Lawrence]

I don't really get these comments. Why does screen real estate matter while you are typing? I've never seen anyone complain about needing more space on a screen while they type, lol

Plus, it negates to potential advantage of the option of landscape typing.

[belfastdispatcher]

Ever noticed how people type on touchscreen vs keyboard? I only noticed in the airport, TS lift the thumbs way up and strike down, physical keyboard almost slide their thumbs on the buttons. I know i do when typing on the PlayBook vs 9900

[Joltcola1234]

I think that's exactly what sleepngbear is trying to say...that screen real estate does not matter when you're typing because the software keyboard takes up half the screen anyway.

But that is a given, everyone is well aware of that. The screen size when your typing is a non issue from any standpoint.

I see what is being said, that the screen size doesn't matter if your primary purpose is typing. But everyone is already well aware of that, that would be why you make the decision to purchase a 9900 or 9930 over a 9850 or 9860.

[BlackBerry Guy]

Most of my iPhone and Android using friends will freely admit that using a physical keyboard is a much better typing experience. But for them, a keyboard and BBM alone are not worth the trade off of losing out on all the other things those two other platforms have that BlackBerry is lacking.

It comes down to priorities and preference, that's all.

[BlackBerry Guy]

But that is a given, everyone is well aware of that. The screen size when your typing is a non issue from any standpoint.

I see what is being said, that the screen size doesn't matter if your primary purpose is typing. But everyone is already well aware of that, that would be why you make the decision to purchase a 9900 or 9930 over a 9850 or 9860.

Guess it all comes down to what you plan on doing when you're not typing lol

[Tre Lawrence]

One can be JUST as productive on a touchscreen as they can on a physical keyboard if they want to.

Having said that, choice and preference are major deciders. Nothing wrong with wanting a physical keyboard, and RIM would do well to continue to create devices with this staple inc

[avt123]

Ever noticed how people type on touchscreen vs keyboard? I only noticed in the airport, TS lift the thumbs way up and strike down, physical keyboard almost slide their thumbs on the buttons. I know i do when typing on the PlayBook vs 9900

My thumbs hover over my screen. I don't life my thumbs "way up". I type on a touchscreen the same way I type on a physical keyboard, and it is actually easier/faster for me because I don't have to press down at all on the screen. I have never seen people type the way you are describing on a touchscreen. Lifting your thumbs up that high is a waste of time.

[Tre Lawrence]

My thumbs hover over my screen. I don't life my thumbs "way up". I type on a touchscreen the same way I type on a physical keyboard, and it is actually easier/faster for me because I don't have to press down at all on the screen. I have never seen people type the way you are describing on a touchscreen. Lifting your thumbs up that high is a waste of time.

You don't? I always lift my thumbs at least the requisite 12 inches that everyone knows touchscreen users must do to type... LOL.