Yet another pandora-sucessor concept

[xiongxioi]

+ 1 to Exo.

I would be greatly pleased if I can hold pandora 2 with one hand while tap with its keyboard with the other. This is not possible due to pandora's bottons all have ridiculous travel and are generally really stiff and spongy. I have to forcefully grasp it at the edges with both hands to type anything, it's really annoying and kinda defeats the purpose of having a full keyboard. .

 

[EssoAir]

+ 1 to Exo.

I would be greatly pleased if I can hold pandora 2 with one hand while tap with its keyboard with the other. This is not possible due to pandora's bottons all have ridiculous travel and are generally really stiff and spongy. I have to forcefully grasp it at the edges with both hands to type anything, it's really annoying and kinda defeats the purpose of having a full keyboard. .

Thank you! Finally someone that knew the words to describe my dislike of the Pandora keyboard. Im really bad at explaining stuff like that, but literally I couldn't agree more with what you said

 

[ekianjo]

+ 1 to Exo.

I would be greatly pleased if I can hold pandora 2 with one hand while tap with its keyboard with the other. This is not possible due to pandora's bottons all have ridiculous travel and are generally really stiff and spongy. I have to forcefully grasp it at the edges with both hands to type anything, it's really annoying and kinda defeats the purpose of having a full keyboard. .

You know, it's not the case on all Pandoras. On my rebith the buttons are quite stiff but on my 1Ghz they are much softer and nicer to use. I am not sure what caused the change but don't assume all Pandoras behave the same. 

 

[xiongxioi]

You know, it's not the case on all Pandoras. On my rebith the buttons are quite stiff but on my 1Ghz they are much softer and nicer to use. I am not sure what caused the change but don't assume all Pandoras behave the same. 

That's very kind of you to point it out for me. Then just treat this as a kind of thing to keep in mind when making pandora 2. It's great that we are making progress, but it would be for nothing if we can't keep them. For pandora 2 to be marketed towards more serious people, a nice soft and responsive keyboard with as little travel as possible is quite essential.

I know people all have different typing preference, and I can't speak for everyone, but for a device this small, we should give up the force feedback if it and sensitivities are mutually exclusive.

 

[Neelix]

I wouldn't give up tactile feedback,  I do however agree that less travel in the keys would be preferable.

- Neelix

 

[Grench]

I disagree a bit on getting rid of the key travel.  I think it is very important to have.

The key travel helps prevent accidental or false-positive keystrokes.  I.e. it helps ensure that you actually meat to press the key.

I have both a CC and a 1Ghz Pandora - the keys have a fair amount of resistance when the keypad is brand new, but over the course of a few weeks of use they soften up nicely.  There is a break-in period.

I'm still convinced that the keyboard on the Pandora is one of those cases where it's actually WAY better than most of the alternatives.

The rubber membrane sheet style keyboards are worse - you can't run your finger over them to 'count' the letters from the edge without hitting 2-3 keys on accident.

The tiny blackberry keys aren't bad on a phone, but are truly annoying to type anything of consequence on if you have big fingers.

The existing Pandora keyboard is a very good compromise.  It is meant to be used with two thumbs.  If you're typing with your fingers, then you're doing it wrong.

 

[Exophase]

I'd probably rather have a slightly higher error rate on keypresses than a substantially higher average press time. But the preference would really depend on what the values for those numbers actually are.

 

[Neelix]

*nods*   I wouldn't want to eliminate key travel altogether,  I just think it could stand to be reduced. As it stands I find that some of my keystrokes don't always register even though it feels like I fully depressed the key.   I reckon you could probably halve the current key travel, without making it so sensitive that you couldn't touch the keys without pressing them,  but it would make the keyboard feel a lot more responsive.

- Neelix

 

[EssoAir]

Ya, lots of times I try to press a key on the pandora, and because of the roundedness my finger slips and I have to hit it a second time just for it to register. Ive never had a fasle press, but ive had to repress lots and lots of times.

 

[Binky]

 

[levi]

Mode?


And what's that button to the left of mode? Is it the USB host enable button, as I don't see one of those otherwise.


I like the new keyboard alignment. Whether that double row enter key works depends on the technology used to make the keyboard, I think, but it's an idea worth running with as it neatens things up.


And I've possibly missed this part of the debate, but I don't see the reasoning behind having both a pandora button and a home button.

 

[Binky]

That's the keyboard/controls mode, switching between (for example) mouse, game controls, and screen-mapping.

Perhaps the wifi, USB and bluetooth buttons should light up to indicate their individual statuses?

 

[Asiyura]

Mhhh, there is a problem I overlooked at first, you "used" a push button for power.
But in your design, it's on the outside of the clamshell where it can be pushed accidentally.

And I can't understand why you want physical buttons for switching bluetooth/wifi/usb host on/off.
I think that a menu invoked by the "home" button would do the trick for those. (and lessen the "button mess" between and under the nubs)
And brightness can be mapped as it is on the current pandora, it doesn't really need dedicated buttons. (IMO it's a waste of space)
I still like the hardware "mode" button though.

 

[Binky]

How about a paper-clip-hole reset button instead? And use the slider for power?

I turn wifi and USB-host on and off quite frequently. Having hardware buttons would make this more streamlined and simplify UI design.

Mapping the brightness to keyboard buttons resulting in fewer keys being available for interesting characters

 

[EssoAir]

How about a paper-clip-hole reset button instead? And use the slider for power?

I turn wifi and USB-host on and off quite frequently. Having hardware buttons would make this more streamlined and simplify UI design.

Mapping the brightness to keyboard buttons resulting in fewer keys being available for interesting characters

You see? People have different ideas about what needs to be on they keyboard. This is why I was saying we should have a user-replaceble keyboard. Alas, it will be too thick and hard to manufacture....

 

[Asiyura]

How about a paper-clip-hole reset button instead? And use the slider for power?

Or a button inside the clamshell, I liked the slide being only used as "hold". (I tend to use too much force when using the current power/hold slider)

I turn wifi and USB-host on and off quite frequently. Having hardware buttons would make this more streamlined and simplify UI design.

I had a few laptops with hardware switches for bluetooth and wifi… I never used them to turn them on or off.


I always used the software because, most of the time, I had to choose what to connect to (device, networks, …)

Edit : i don't use bluetooth that much, I'm a "wire" guy. Wired things (mouse, keyboard, earphones, …) never run out of batteries ^.^

Mapping the brightness to keyboard buttons resulting in fewer keys being available for interesting characters

Agreed! You've convinced me, hardware brightness buttons are better!

 

[Grench]

Getting better - but what's with the ginormous 3x oversized enter key?

Use that space from the lower 1/3 chunk of the enter key for a dedicated @ key?  Shift for ~?  Or maybe / and shift-\ ?

 

[patrick295767]

Looks nice

How much space to people thing should be left around the nubs/dpad/facebuttons?

into my pictures, you may see that THE PERFECT KEYBOARD leaves you a comfortable access to keys 

and a specific space in between

Please clone me this keyboard (see above into thread) ... 


I believe the keyboard is the most imporatnt aspect... here I found something that did interest me : 

image making the comparison: 

 

[fusion_power]

The function and control buttons are to close to the Nubs imho, I would prefer some more space to feel more comfortable. I imagine that the future nubs have more travel than the current ones so these control buttons should be better placed on top above the nubs than so close at the bottom.

Actualy, the old placement of the numbers and function keys above the nubs is fine.

 

[Binky]

Actualy, the old placement of the numbers and function keys above the nubs is fine.

I disagree.

I find those buttons are too small and too close to the hinge (and too far from the rest of the keyboard) to be comfortably accessible.