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Help HELP - HATE the Optimus V virtual keyboard

T

tessabanks

Lurker
I just got the LG Optimus V and am loving everything about this phone (for some reason I'm not having any of the battery drain issues, dropped 3G etc).

But typing on that virtual keyboard is driving me insane, even in landscape mode. I have slender fingers but I still end up hitting the wrong keys and using that delete arrow after every third letter. Makes me feel like a 5 year old everytime I try to send a text or email. lol

It's gotten to the point where I'm seriously thinking about returning it and getting the Samsung Intercept through VM instead. I've seen all the bad reviews on the Intercept, which steered me to the Optimus in the first place, but might be worth it for the keyboard.

Before this I had an unlocked Nokia 97 Mini w/slider qwerty (which had serious issues with battery dying after 5 hours on standby and the most awkward OS you've ever seen). But the keyboard was awesome.

So my question is, should I stick it out with the Optimus a while longer? For people who moved from a physical to virtual keyboard, how long did it take you to feel comfortable with it? And any tips on how to calibrate the keyboard so I it doesn't take a minute just to type one sentence?
 
It took me maybe a week to get comfortable with swype, but now I love it..you can change the settings to make it more error tolerant or more speedy,i just played with that bar until I found where I liked it
 
agreed. swype was weird at first, but now i love it. i have small fingers too and typing on the android keyboard can be kind've a drag. you'll get the hang of it, though.
 
Swyping is WAY better on these touchscreens than actually trying to type. The app includes a tutorial to learn how to Swype as opposed to type.
 
i could understand if someone was coming from an physical QWERTY keyboard as i remember it took time adjusting to an iphone way back when. now that i am used to it, plus SWYPE, i text faster now than with the older keyboards (and i HATE my workphone blackberry bold keyboard....arghhhhhh!)
 
I was also annoyed with the small size of the virtual keys but as soon as I started using swype, that annoyance went away. Swype is pretty amazing.

I'm always surprised at how sloppy I can be about getting my finger on the "correct" letters and swype still figures out what I was trying to input. It was awkward and slow going at first, but I got decent quickly and I'm pretty sure I can swype faster than I can two-thumb a regular keyboard now.

I'm pretty sure swype is the default keyboard, but in case it isn't or you changed it go to Settings > Language & Keyboard > Select input method. You know you've got swype set if the lower left hand key on the keyboard has an "i" in a circle above a finger tracing a blue "s". Hit that key for swype tips and a tutorial.
 
I cannot stand the swype keyboard and the stock keyboard because the keys are so close. I downloaded I think its call gingerbread keyboard for 2.3 or something like that and i like it alot better than the stock keyboards
 
The only key you really have to be accurate with is the first letter of the word once it "learns" your vocabulary
 
Definitely give it more time. And try different keyboards! Swype should be preloaded on the phone. I also like the Gingerbread keyboard, and I just got SwiftKey which is good as well.
 
h4x0rj3ff said:
I cannot stand the swype keyboard and the stock keyboard because the keys are so close. I downloaded I think its call gingerbread keyboard for 2.3 or something like that and i like it alot better than the stock keyboards
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%.

It's probably worth giving Swype a serious try but if the OP can't get into it, try this keyboard. It's in the marketplace.
 
Cheers for all the advice. Yeah, i tried Swype and couldn't get past the first word in the tutorial unless I went r-e-a-l-l-y slow. Utter failure at it, seems like the touchscreen only recognizes my touch half the time.

But today I discovered the little mic icon, and started dictating my emails and texts into the phone! Completely amazed at how well it works, 100x faster and 50x more accurate than typing on a keyboard. Has anyone tried it?

Not sure how it'll work sending texts in a noisy bar etc, but for now it seems the best solution. And I'll give the gingerbread keyboard a try as well for times when I can't dictate messages.
 
I've actually never tried the voice-to-text lol I figured it would be bad, but I'm gonna give it a try
 
Coming from a Palm Treo 680 with a decent physical keyboard, I had to learn two things about the virtual keyboard to make effective use:

1. Figuring out that I have to overshoot the key you are trying to hit when punching individual letters took a while. My finger completely covers the key, and even looks like I am trying to hit the key beyond it. Once I figured that out, I can type fairly quick key-at-a-time.

2. Swype is brilliant. It's not looking for you to accurately hit keys, it's looking for a pattern that matches a word. So long as the pattern matches, it will get the word right. The first character doesn't even have to be right. Pick a word and swype the pattern. Try intentionally starting on nearby different letters but don't change the pattern. Swype will get it right. I can type faster now with swype than I could on the Treo's physical keyboard! :cool:
 
I've moved over from a TMobile Sidekick with 5-row qwerty keyboard and it's been an experience learning the new typing method! But after two weeks I'm getting pretty good with the swype.

Best advice I've gotten from a veteran Droid user: Stop trying so hard.

Also, I figured out I didn't have to hit shift or SYM keys to get a number or punctuation - just long-hold a key and it will pop up. That rocked my world. lol

I'm still slow as christmas when I swype, but getting better and more confident. Give it a little time.
 
I also use the little microphone button and then just speak my text into the phone. Very easy and if you speak clearly, it understands you 80-100% of the time. I only use the keyboard for URLs or email addresses etc.

One thing I found with the keyboard is that if you worry less about precisley pressing the correct key, and just try to hit 'center mass' on the key you want it works pretty good.
 
I wasn't sure about the Swype @ first, but I've really gotten to like it. I'll have to try the voice 2 text and see how that works.

Glenn |B)
 
the weddle said:
I've actually never tried the voice-to-text lol I figured it would be bad, but I'm gonna give it a try
Click to expand...


the voice to text thing is HILARIOUS. i dunno if it's the way my boyfriend and i talk or something, but when we **** around with it and try to send messages to friends, it always comes out with the funniest stuff. we were cracking up for nearly a half hour the other night using it.
 
I have found that i realy like better keyboard in compact qwerty in protrait mode. I will have to spend a train ride getting used to swipe if i really want to use it. i may try that today.
 
I'm using swiftkey and after a week or so it's rather scary how quickly it learns your habits and predicting your words. Swype was too much of a pain in the butt.
 
I don't like Swype, personally. I use speech to text and the android keyboard but am now searching for alternatives. I have huge thumbs I guess. I want one that works with my thumbs not my index fingers.
 
started using swype just now. it was the default keyboard but it scared me immediately so i deactivated it.
i type very fast on the default keyboard but i still didn't like it due to the errors i'd make, so i started using swype based on the good recommendations. it's been about an hour and i already like it more than the other one.

also, in regards to the transcription option, i enjoy it much. i've learned to augment my pronunciation a bit hoping to increase accuracy, so far it's seemed to work
 
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