[Sairos]

With all due respect, I don't understand why you don't understand this? I'm sitting here watching TV while typing this precisely because I'm NOT looking at my 9900 while typing!

I look at PEOPLE I'm talking to. Phones are not people.

If not using text to voice, I look at my phone to read what others have typed. Why do I need to look at 9900's screen to see what my thumb has typed? Thumb already knows. Thanks to muscle memory and tactile feedback.

Looking at my phone while typing is like looking at a microphone while addressing an audience. Lol. Looking at 9900 while pressing speed dial is like looking at steering wheel while driving. Imo.

I suspect our inability to understand each other has most to do with respective "personality types"?? Folks like me simply wouldn't have a life AT ALL if we couldn't include nearly continuous work communications into our futile pursuit of "life". There simply aren't enough seconds in a day to devote both hands, and both eyes, to communications. For some of us. It's a "personality type" thing. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, won't. Lol.

Statistically predictably, you'll likely derive comfort identifying with the glass oriented collective majority. Others of us derive perfectly legitimate comfort among the redundant diversity of hyper competitive minority status.

Haha this is gold, I only saw your post after I wrote mine. I visualized the TV situation but didn't write it xD.

[medic22003]

Haha this is gold, I only saw your post after I wrote mine. I visualized the TV situation but didn't write it xD.

Lol well the only time I ever needed to text without looking was driving and I was dang good at it with my flip phone haha. I get you guys point about tactile feedback and muscle memory. If I could find the 5 key with the little bump on it I could type what I needed to pretty accurately. Now this wasn't ever anything long but same concept. Can't do it with a smartphone with either keyboard personally but that's what talk to text is for now

[Joel Olmedo]

Obviously everyone is entitled to an opinion on this because it is a personal preference issue. For myself, I still prefer pkb because:
1. Travel distance between the keys is less, so typing is faster.
2. Accuracy. Most noticeable when typing in a moving vehicle, walking etc. Even the slightest unexpected movement can lead to errors on a vkb.
3. Vkb blocks half the screen.
Yes the pkb can slow one down a bit on the Priv due to the slider, and models such as Classic and Passport are hampered by a square screen. Personally I always thought an iPhone 4/5 size screen (portrait orientation) with a pkb would be the ideal format for a BlackBerry...but no such model appears to be imminent particularly now that Mercury has been canned. Too bad.

Having the entire screen in full view is possible when using the pkb. The vkb reduces the screen in half. This is a luxury I only realized when actually using the pkb on the Priv and once you get used to that when using any app that requires text input, there's no going back. The only reason I'll migrate to another BlackBerry is when they come out with a superior slider pkb phone. I'm hoping they'll keep this form factor alive. I don't mind paying more.

[fschmeck]

Depends on what you type I find. I was good on a VKB back when I was just sending general messages, but when I have to include lots of symbols or code samples I need a PKB or I'm constantly fighting with the autocorrect.

The choice of both is great though, but hopefully I'll move to Mercury at some point.

Posted via CB10

[idssteve]

Lol well the only time I ever needed to text without looking was driving and I was dang good at it with my flip phone haha. I get you guys point about tactile feedback and muscle memory. If I could find the 5 key with the little bump on it I could type what I needed to pretty accurately. Now this wasn't ever anything long but same concept. Can't do it with a smartphone with either keyboard personally but that's what talk to text is for now

Stupidly guilty of distracted driving myself, way over ten yrs ago. Didn't take long to realize the hazard & cease the practice WELL before authorities started warning. Don't do, nor condone, distracted driving in ANY way. Strictly forbidden by company policy and WILL result in extreme sanction, including possible discharge, if any coworkers are reading this.

That said, there are SO many routine situations where single handed type by feel skillset gets leveraged into real time communications that I feel truly handicapped when carrying only my Z30 or new D60. Situations where voice/text simply aren't appropriate. Such as while feeding face at mealtime (like now), or watching movie on TV, etc, etc. 9900's form factor is SO superbly optimized for real time single handed type by feel. Classic a distant second place. Little "teet" on "5" is still there on Classic. Speed dials set to "5" and also "P" are most easily accessible by feel, imo.

I've only tried Priv briefly but felt it was way too tall & top heavy while typing, imo. PKB speed dials & shortcuts get hidden away by sliding the KB BEHIND the screen. Who needs to look at the full sized screen while typing on PKB??

I've long advocated (since Torch) that a better "more BlackBerry" slider configuration would be to slide PKB in FRONT of the lower part of the screen to provide more comfortable form factor during typing while preserving ready access to PKB shortcuts & speed dials... Imo. Fwiw. PKB could then be extended to expose the full screen anytime desired. Oh well... Hoping Mercury gets the little "teet" on "5", at least... Lol.

[kcdberry]

In my opinion, that's because of the 'convenience' of the vkb on the Priv. I mean considering its size as a phone and the fact that you have to do an extra albeit easy step, which is slide out the pkb, you'll end up just using the vkb. I think even BlackBerry themselves mentioned that with the Priv, you have the choice - you can go full vkb or pkb.

Posted via CB10

[idssteve]

If Priv's PKB slid in front of the lower part of the screen, how often would users slide it out of the way just to use VKB?

[menshawy]

Finally some reason. People got over PKB and moved on to VKB and never looked back. Not saying that it's not good but screen space is more important than occupying it with rows of buttons. Accurate, maybe, but slower than the VKB with good prediction engine

Posted via CB10

[Prem WatsApp]

With all due respect I don't understand this. Do you watch TV without looking? Talk to people without looking at them? We are visual people and it is natural to look at a screen that provides you with information. I know we're all different but for the majority of people I don't believe this is an issue.

I'm looking at the words as they appear on the screen and rather concentrate on the text I'm writing. That only works with tactile feedback. Sure, VKB works for a lot of people...

:-)

•   Mercurial greetings , hopefully coming soon to Planet Earth... :-D   •

[Prem WatsApp]

VKB pretty much forces you to look at the Visual keyboard... ;-D

•   Mercurial greetings , hopefully coming soon to Planet Earth... :-D   •

[Toni_1990]

Feeling old school...

OP I have 100k more words than you and we have the same amount of "auto correct" words. Goes to show how much more accurate I am on the physical keyboard than you are on the virtual keyboard. Long live the physical keyboards lol.

[naijab0y]

Feeling old school...

OP I have 100k more words than you and we have the same amount of "auto correct" words. Goes to show how much more accurate I am on the physical keyboard than you are on the virtual keyboard. Long live the physical keyboards lol.

Fantastic. You just won a trip to Disneyland. Have fun. I'll try to improve when I get the Mercury.

[Alain_A]

Lol