How Easy It Is To Type On?

[Chewi]

Hi guys. New here. Have had to talk myself out of shelling out for a Pandora several times already. Then my wife asks me what I want for Christmas. Argh! She thinks an Xbox 360 would be better but what does she know?

So I'm trying to convince myself that it might be useful for some occasional work. I'm a coder who usually works from home but I travel down to the office in London every few weeks. I don't like lugging a laptop around but something like this would be perfect, at least on the train and in the hotel. I'm just wondering how easy it is to type on. Obviously it's not going to feel as comfortable as a regular keyboard but I do have a couple of other things to compare against. First, there's my wife's Nokia E71. That's only good for thumb typing and not much fun. Second, I still have an old Toshiba Libretto 70CT. I was thinking that this is about the same size but if the Pandora is 140mm wide then that's only 2/3 the width! That REALLY is small. That's not just the screen width right? Am I kidding myself here?

Comfort (or lack of) aside, I do my coding in Emacs. I notice there is no Ctrl key but I'm sure I could find a way around that. And no, that wouldn't be by using Vi instead.

 

[lulzfish]

There is a Ctrl key, so you can use Nano.
I don't know how easy it is to type on, since only the developers (like 5 to 10 people) own prototypes at the moment.
It's easier to type on than a cellphone and harder to type on than a laptop, I'd guess.

 

[Mr B]

You wanna code on the panda? Bring a soft keyboard. One of those you can roll up. Or the pocket size folded one. Both should work, and are regular size keyboards, with a full set of keys.
I'd say for anything else then last minute changes, and 30 seconds of "oh crap, i got to write this down" the keyboard on the panda will simply be to slow for typing larger texts on, at any rate of speed. (And i'm guessing most would resort to some variation of thumb, or 2 finger typing, and end up with pains...)

B!

 

[typs lik dis]

The Pandora is designed for handheld thumb typing. It has more like a really good cell phone QWERTY pad than a really tiny laptop keyboard. Unless you have absurdly tiny hands, 8-finger touch typing won't be remotely practical.

 

[gruso]

Second, I still have an old Toshiba Libretto 70CT. I was thinking that this is about the same size but if the Pandora is 140mm wide then that's only 2/3 the width! That REALLY is small. That's not just the screen width right? Am I kidding myself here?

It really is that small. The size of an original Nintendo DS. 800x480 is a good screen resolution to be productive on, but the screen size could be a problem depending on how your eyesight is. On the other hand, an Xbox 360 isn't going to help you get much work done either.

 

[Chewi]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys.

Good point about the roll up keyboard, I was forgetting that. I've also been tempted by that laser keyboard but it's a bit pricey and probably more gimmicky than practical. I generally use Dvorak as well but I know when to compromise. The screen is a bit smaller than the Libretto's. I have found window management a bit cumbersome on there but a full-screen terminal session shouldn't be too bad.

Still can't decide but if work goes well (so far, so good) then maybe I'll just get one for fun.

 

[-Tj-]

I've also been tempted by that laser keyboard but it's a bit pricey and probably more gimmicky than practical.

I'd be extremely wary of those. The reviews I've read about them weren't good, and I don't think they'll be very nice to code with. If you can get one of the fold-up types, I'd say go for those. I had one for my old Treo a long while ago and it was awesome. I plan on finding something like it for my Pandora.

 

[craigix]

I find the Pandora keyboard pretty nice for doing terminal work and web urls, things like that, it's nice.

Anyone who used to code on the ZX Spectrum will know what the Pandora keyboard is like.

 

[juniorm33]

I find the Pandora keyboard pretty nice for doing terminal work and web urls, things like that, it's nice.

Anyone who used to code on the ZX Spectrum will know what the Pandora keyboard is like.

Apart from the overall size

 

[gruso]

I find the Pandora keyboard pretty nice for doing terminal work and web urls, things like that, it's nice.

Anyone who used to code on the ZX Spectrum will know what the Pandora keyboard is like.

Now I want a gif of the keyboard selection scene from Micro Men.

 

[MDave]

I find the Pandora keyboard pretty nice for doing terminal work and web urls, things like that, it's nice.

Anyone who used to code on the ZX Spectrum will know what the Pandora keyboard is like.

I've got a video request for you reply to this post ... using your Pandora and show us how fast/easy it would be to use during typical use

 

[skeezix]

Projected keyboard is fail... I mean, you going to carry around a table to project it -onto-?

Bluetooth keyboards are good though

jeff

 

[MrBlais]

I find the Pandora keyboard pretty nice for doing terminal work and web urls, things like that, it's nice.

So I suppose writing a DSM-IV psychology paper would be completely out of the question?

I like the idea of having a fold up keyboard, but isn't that eliminating the portability purpose?

 

[rv6502]

I find the Pandora keyboard pretty nice for doing terminal work and web urls, things like that, it's nice.

So I suppose writing a DSM-IV psychology paper would be completely out of the question?

I like the idea of having a fold up keyboard, but isn't that eliminating the portability purpose?

its still smaller and lighter than a laptop, and separately its easier to fit.
Pandora in a pocket, keyboard in a backpack, suitcase, bag, trunk, whatever.

pull out the Pandora for quick notes / games.
if you need to do some more serious typing bring out the USB keyboard, much cheaper and comfortable than special PDA keyboards.

although the look of a full-sized keyboard used with the pandora makes me think of the shrunken head guy in beetlejuice

 

[musicalwoods]

So I suppose writing a DSM-IV psychology paper would be completely out of the question?

I like the idea of having a fold up keyboard, but isn't that eliminating the portability purpose?

I plan on getting an Apple compact keyboard, either the bluetooth or USB one. That plus a Pandora is still smaller than my current laptop, and I'd only need to pull the keyboard from my briefcase when I actually wanted to type more than a paragraph.

 

[tristan.clark]

I've also been tempted by that laser keyboard but it's a bit pricey and probably more gimmicky than practical.

I'd be extremely wary of those. The reviews I've read about them weren't good, and I don't think they'll be very nice to code with. If you can get one of the fold-up types, I'd say go for those. I had one for my old Treo a long while ago and it was awesome. I plan on finding something like it for my Pandora.

I've got a Cellulon CL850 laser keyboard, from ebay.

In terms of portability, its good about the size of a mobile phone. The space you need for the 'keyboard' is actually quite large, so if you're on a train you could find yourself using the Pandora's thumb board. All the drivers and extra software that come with it are all Windows. This doesn't mean that you can't use it with Linux (I use it with Ubuntu with no problems), but switching off the clicking noise or adjusting the sensitivity might be out. Actually using it takes practice but is not too bad, but don't expect to be able to touch type with it.

 

[tristan.clark]

How about a chording keyboard? One of the testimonials for the Twiddler claims to have written a thesis with his!

 

[VRAndy]

Problem with the laser keyboards is that you can't feel the keys. So even though it's roughly full sized, you can't touch-type. You have to be constantly looking at your fingers.

Turning on the beeping and/or clicking noises only helps a little.

 

[MDave]

Can't help but feel like having a keyboard on the Pandora is made redundant when all the posts I'm reading here are discussing alternative external keyboards to use. Why did the community want one when their going to use bigger external ones? :blink:

 

[Pleng]

Presumably they want an external one to use when it's convenient to do so?

You may as well ask why the community wanted a built in screen when many people are planning to have it plugged into the TV at times...