Pandora keyboard design discussion

[patrick295767]

Hi Guys, 

I have been working around with handeld since they first came up on the market. 

Man, who designed the keyboard of the Pandora? I would bet that the designer never used a Psion in his life before

Could we start to design together a improved designed box? With keeping same mother board of course.

For example, the Tab key ... it has nothing to do there.

Best regards

 

[Askarus]

I like it.

 

[elwing]

it looks like... on photo at least...

 

[moxie]

Oh, a lot of the people who were involved with the design of the keyboard had used a Psion. They also knew the price of a Psion-style keyboard. It was discussed, desired and dejectedly rejected on grounds of cost.

The Tab key is where it is, so that it should be easy to press Tab with just a quick roll of the thumb (pressing Fn and Space at almost the same time). 

There is a thread by hmc on more realistic improvements on the keys

 

[_wb_]

The Pandora keyboard is quite good once you get used to it. I wrote several thousand lines of code on it. Yes, a dedicated TAB key would have been nice, as well as an extra pair of shoulder buttons for Fn and ALT. Otherwise I'm quite happy with it.

 

[TrashyMG]

It works really well for thumb typing in mind.. There is no perfect keyboard layout.. look at the discussion of the layout for the iCP2, for every 5 people that like a layout there are another 5 that absolutely hates it.

 

[CocoCreekFisherman]

I happen to love the Pandora's keyboard. The buttons are easy to feel and have a soft touch to them. The look is old school retro too.

Just wish there was night time illumination  B)

 

[fusion_power]

Hi Guys, 

I have been working around with handeld since they first came up on the market. 

Man, who designed the keyboard of the Pandora? I would bet that the designer never used a Psion in his life before

Could we start to design together a improved designed box? With keeping same mother board of course.

For example, the Tab key ... it has nothing to do there.

Best regards

Can you imagine that there were a couple of gigantic forum threads about the Pandora Keyboard layout?   The keyboard was discussed over many months I remember. Thousand people with twothousand opinions, pretty funny.  If it was worth all the discussion, I don't know because I still searching most of the time for the correct button, I see not much logic in the layout but if the majority is happy with the keyboard, I'm fine with it. You can type on it, and sometimes it really displays what you wanted to type actualy, at least. ^^"

I expect a better and more developed one for Pandora 2, different layouts for different countries too.

 

[Kumaki]

The keyboard is just fine with me.

And you can always re-map it if you don't like it.

 

[Askarus]

Space on the right is also great.

Better foor thumb typing than in the middle.

 

[bismuthdrummer]

It appears from your post you are only referring to the layout of the keyboard, can you clarify the thread title?

The soft keys themselves are the most comfortable I have ever used. I have owned and used many handheld keyboards, and the P1 blows everything away in terms of comfort. The design layout could be tweaked, but "most uncomfortable ever" is a bit too hyperbolic for me to continue discussion.

 

[Fluff]

I love the keyboard actually, better than any phones I've used.

 

[A2000]

It appears from your post you are only referring to the layout of the keyboard, can you clarify the thread title?

The soft keys themselves are the most comfortable I have ever used. I have owned and used many handheld keyboards, and the P1 blows everything away in terms of comfort. The design layout could be tweaked, but "most uncomfortable ever" is a bit too hyperbolic for me to continue discussion.

Oh man, you never touched a Psion 5, did you? The Pandora's keyboard is fine for thumb typing. It can be used for typing with four or six fingers but you can't touch type. The resistance of the keys is way to high and the round buttons tend to be kind of  "slippery". Your milage may vary. Though I have to admit that other handhelds are even worse. On the other hand you get used to type with the Pandora really quick.

But the Psion 5 keyboard... I even had the idea to cannibalize an old Psion, take it's keyboard and build an interface to connect it via USB. But the keyboard is to wide to fit and I don't know how to build an interface.

 

[LineOf7s]

The Pandora hand held was designed to be used whilst held in the hand. Touch typing? Pfffft~

 

[A2000]

^^Yes, while gaming or taking notes but not while doing word processing or editing spreadsheets. I really wonder how _wb_ managed to program Microbes on the Pandora. On the other hand, having a Pandora gives you the freedom to use it on occasions you never would use a laptop or netbook.

 

[Kumaki]

Heck, I'm going to be using Portabase to populate a Database with over 140,000 items in three categories.

And that means a lot of thumb-typing.

Unless there is a way to import from a laptop a database in a different format, I have no idea what file extension PortaBase uses.

 

[klapse]

Heck, I'm going to be using Portabase to populate a Database with over 140,000 items in three categories.


And that means a lot of thumb-typing.


Unless there is a way to import from a laptop a database in a different format, I have no idea what file extension PortaBase uses.

That is rather hard to believe. Perhaps you can tell us what exactly you are planning to do and we can offer suggestions.

 

[thatgui]

Heck, I'm going to be using Portabase to populate a Database with over 140,000 items in three categories.

And that means a lot of thumb-typing.

Unless there is a way to import from a laptop a database in a different format, I have no idea what file extension PortaBase uses.

Just create the database on your pc, copy it to the SD-Card, and then open it with the Pandora version of Portabase

 

[Binky]

Get a USB keyboard?

For reference, I've had my pandora since september, do a moderate amount of typing on it, and get just under 40wpm typing the quick brown dog jumped over the lazy fox using the standard keyboard.

 

[ShleeDragon]

Ladies and Gentlemen.. the Pandora 2 keyboard