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Help where's backspace on slideout?

J

janw

Lurker
I got a desire z yesterday & haven't yet figured out how to take the cursor backwards (say I've written a word & want to change the first letter, I dont want to have to delete the whole word which is what it seems I have to do with this slideout keyboard)

I had one of the original HTC querty models (E650 here in UK ) & so far it seems the old keyboard was far superior to the z's...
 
Slug said:
Top row, extreme right, marked DEL/<X. Defaults to backspace, <FN> alters this to DEL.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. That's what I expected, but I've tried it every which way & it doesn't work.

I've discovered that I can use the track pad to move the cursor but it's less precise than arrow keys.

Any other suggestions anyone?
 
I am not sure what you want the key to do.

As far as I can see there are no cursor movement keys, i.e. no key to move the cursor back one character without deleting anything. The DEL/<X is "backspace and delete". When I tried it with FN it appeared to be "delete all text in the current entry box".

To edit mistakes earlier in what I have been typing without having to retype everything after I tap the screen to get the cursor in roughly the right place and then use the track pad to get the position exactly right.
 
Thanks. I now see they've replaced the cursor arrow keys (the term I should have used instead of "backspace", which is the term the manual uses to mean delete last letter) with the trackpad. This is not a smart move, in my opinion. The arrow keys on the old qwerty model were much quicker & more precise.
 
I would have preferred arrow keys rather than the track pad. However, adding 4 additional keys for arrows would require some realestate on the keyboard. The result would either other keys need to be removed or the keys must be smaller and closer together.

I found that the fastest way to move the cursor is to just touch the screen where you want the cursor to be. It has taken me a number of weeks, but I've gotten pretty proficient at aiming my touch.
 
Thanks for the tip Stuntman - though I still think arrow keys would have been far more useful than the shortcut buttons...

Any tips on making the keyboard more visible ? I find the keys impossible to distinguish without the backlight, and I'm currently having to go into a darkened room to get the keys to light up...
 
janw said:
Any tips on making the keyboard more visible ? I find the keys impossible to distinguish without the backlight, and I'm currently having to go into a darkened room to get the keys to light up...
Click to expand...

You can try to cover up the light sensor. I think it's on the top left when looking at the phone in portrait orientation.
 
This annoyed me for months too and, as a previous owner of an HTC with cursor keys, i thought this was a real step backwards. BUT ...
When you are typing a text, simply touch and hold the screen in the box where you are writing the text. A small 'magnifying glass' window appears - just drag this around until the cursor is in the place you want it to be in, and then correct or type as required. This function also allows you to select text, select all, copy, paste and so on. If you have the HTC Desire Z User Guide, go to page 68 to see more detail. Actually the feature is called the 'magnifier'.

Hope this helps!

G
 
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