Unnecesary Keyboard

[Exophase]

Well, that's it! Another two year delay while we strip that keyboard off the PCB and out of the molds!

Can I buy that i.MX31 prototype you made then? I always wanted a handheld that looks like it's made out of some sort of hybrid of soap and cheese.

 

[paddy]

LOL @ Nightwheel post+pics

 

[Sphinxter]

Original Direction of this thread:

New Direction:

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Anyways, I like the fact the Pandora has a physical keyboard. I can use my iPod Touch's on screen keyboard just fine mostly. But it's still hit or miss sometimes. And it doesn't have that feeling that I'm typing on something (e.g. a keyboard).

And don't even get me started about typing with a joystick and a action button. Thats just plain tedious and takes too long.

At least it's trajectory is improving.

 

[EvilDragon]

I really wouldn't want a laptop, but a very portable multimedia-gamming system fully customizable with tons of emulators and open source... and very small and cool. That would be nice, if I want a laptop I would purchase a netbook. Unfortunately, some cool portable devices like Ipod Touch can't run homebrews or emulators without jailbreaking or hacking or stuff like that, this is where pandora truly leave them behind.

That device you're looking for is called the WIZ.

Or maybe you want to get one of these:

 

[kuru]

Lawl, "couldn't be simpler". Nice find ED, those Onion guys seem to be hilarious.

"Using computers for actual work and not dicking around" XD

 

[calc84maniac]

Or maybe you want to get one of these:

+1

 

[Dead1nside]

ED that video's hilarious. Sums up the Apple fanboy crowd too.

 

[Rockthesmurf]

This device is cool but the keyboard is just plain unnecessary, making the device larger and even ugly, why not use an on-screen keyboard instead? Come on guys learn from the bigs: Iphone and NDS. I know I will be flamed or hated by the pandora fan boys but the keyborad is one of the reason keeping me from buying this, maybe if they release a Pandora 2.0 without keyboard I will be glad to purchase it.

Developers and people behind pandora: you know your device is wanted, you know this is the device we all wanted since years, but in the looks departament... it just looks like an weir-ugly divice like that NGage thing.

That's all I wanted to say... for now.

If you want a Pandora without a keyboard, go make one, if not, STFU.

Steve

 

[JayFoxRox]

There is one huge problem with touchscreen keyboards - they are missing feedback. The iphone is acceptable to me because it has that rumble / force-feedback / vibration but its still not too good to type.
This is not a full sized keyboard neither and the Pandora is still as big as a NDS. Removing the keyboard wouldn't make it smaller anyway since users wanted a clamshell design (not my favourite option too) and you still need some room to hold the device which would be hard if it was shorter (also reducing possible display size because slide-in keyboards etc are patented)

And besides that I can't seem to find any benefit of a touch-/osd-keyboard. Having a second touchscreen for it would be really stupid because you would use it seldomly (there are only very few DS games which use both screens in a good way..). Instead of having a keyboard on the second touchscreen you can also just have a real one like we have now.

Even worse: A second touchscreen and/or osd-keyboard would make porting harder as the keyboard would take up space of the display(s).

 

[nik166]

i'm getting a pandora because my EEEPC 4G is still too big: so i want a keyboard

virtual keyboards are lame, especially on such a small screen, especially if you also want to see stuff at the same time on the screen, especially if you want to feel the keys

i mean i already have a PSP and a DS, and they work fine, but coming and say "the pandora is a gaming device, it doesn't need a keyboard" feels weird, unless it comes from someone who actually has the power to decide what the pandora is


looks like a request for a GP2X 2.0 instead of a pandora

 

[worzyl]

Removing the keyboard wouldn't make it smaller anyway since users wanted a clamshell design (not my favourite option too) and you still need some room to hold the device which would be hard if it was shorter (also reducing possible display size because slide-in keyboards etc are patented)

Out of interesting, what design would you have preferred if your not keen on the clam shell design, along with the slide out design being patented?(didn't know this....)

 

[JayFoxRox]

Something without mechanical parts, we also discussed that on IRC yesterday. My dingoo and PSP are still fine (meaning: only scratches on the dingoo which you can't see while the display is on, no problems with the PSP) after month / years of use and I go skating with the dingoo and throw both devices around etc. (They do have lots of scratches - but not on the display)
My DS, compaq handheld and a notebook I have access to broke at the hinge even though I handled them with care (well the DS was slammed into a wall when a friend kicked the charger cable while pushing away from a table, but just for comparision: my PSP already fell down about 5-6 metres on stairs and survived it).

The major problem with clamshell designs is that they break by far too easily when you drop the device (and this happens once in a while even if you try to avoid it).

If the case had a metal frame or was made from some sort of rubber, a clamshell design would be fine, but plastic usually breaks too easily.
Slide out keyboards are also fine as they are usually very stiff - but as you said: patented.
A clamsheel design where the 180° display would slide back into the original case a small bit would be cool though as it would give great stability.

 

[second exodous]

^ I thought the clamshell was flawless myself until my nephew broke his the second time, same as the first, the hinge broke next to the power lights. Nothing is indestructible, the screen is either exposed or the hinge is the weak area. I'm the opposite of you, my SP and my DS are fine, no scratches or beaks, but my GBA, Nomad, and my Game Gear all have scratched screens. Admittedly I'm older now so that could be 99% why my SP and DS are fine, but for me I like the clamshell design. I don't drop my devices a lot but I don't give them much protection when I put them in my bag or what not. My cell phones also get the screen scratched often, I just prefer the clamshell design.

 

[ahahah]

rather than redirect the autor of this topic to all machines that have not keyboards, why don't convince him of utility of a keyboard?
you will use keyboard to do what?

i don't think you can use keyboard to play amstrad games for example (or other old "keyboard-have machines"), the keys are not positionned as the originals one (spacebar?) and they are too close each other.

so, his question interests me.
what use will you have with the keyboard? (and will you use it so often?)

thanks

 

[lulzfish]

what use will you have with the keyboard?

Typing in web addresses, typing in command lines, programming, being efficient, having a plan to kill everyone you meet, instant messaging, making notes, etc.
I might have already said this, but if you ask a stupid question twice, you get two stupid answers.

 

[Prometheus]

i don't think you can use keyboard to play amstrad games for example (or other old "keyboard-have machines"), the keys are not positionned as the originals one (spacebar?) and they are too close each other.

It doesn't matter that they're not laid out identically, in my view - this certainly doesn't stop people from using emulators for these machines on desktop computers and laptops, after all.

As long as the keyboard mapping can be made as close to the original as possible for such machines, it will work just fine for most things, I think.

so, his question interests me.
what use will you have with the keyboard? (and will you use it so often?)

Myself, I'll be using it for writing, occasional command line stuff if/when I feel like it, terminal-based games (such as robotfindskitten, which has a nice Python version), typing URLs and all that sort of stuff, and of course, with emulated classic computers (particularly the C64 and Amiga).

 

[Vlynndar]

Instant messaging, forum use... Everything I use my current keyboard now for.

I also use this keyboard to game with, luckily the Pandora has a pretty decent alternative set of buttons :lol:

 

[crackerjacker]

I definently have mixed feelings on the subject. On the one hand, a true blue gaming system does not really have need of a pysical keyboard. The few keys that you use in game could be mapped to buttons. On the other hand, linux is a little squirly. I have an m704 with built in keyboard. I have done as much tweeking as I can to make everything touch screen, but every once in a while I just need a keyboard. Most of the onscreen ones are week sauce, and I don't always bring my portable keyboard.

 

[hosant]

No, just get an iPhone if that's what you want.

 

[xpansive]

on screen keyboards are crap.