Input methods

[jonat8]

What input method do you use? Which do you think is the "best" for the Pocket PC?

I use the Block Recogniser as I migrated to Pocket PC from the Palm OS so know Grafitti fairly well and can get pretty accurate results with it. The only annoyances are of course text has to be entered letter by letter, although the Pocket PC's autocomplete goes some way to helping with that. Secondly, with no dedicated Grafitti bar like there is on Palm machines, it takes up valuable screen real-estate which is a pain in the neck if I'm using Pocket Excel etc. and a mild annoyance in other applications.

I thought I'd give Transcriber a go... on paper it seemed too good to be true - being able to enter text in words or sentances, being able to enter text in my natural handwriting and having no screen real-estate taken up. But after giving it some patient time I can't get to grips with it at all. I tend to write one or two words then pause to let it recognise. Sometimes it gets all the letters but quite often it misses one or two, so I have to go back and correct. Maybe it's just me but it's much better if I have the device on a desk or other hard surface while using it, obviously because the device can't move about. My handwriting is naturally rather sloppy on paper too, and obviously this could have something to do with the Pocket PC not recognising properly. And I tend to write on a slant especially when the device is in my hand.

So... has anyone else had any success with Transcriber, enough that you'd use it on a daily basis? I really like the concept - it seems like the perfect input method but I guess you really need to spend some time with it so it knows your style of writing (if indeed it does adapt to your writing style). I think I'll stick with Block Recogniser (or Keyboard if I'm typing in a password box!)

And what's the other one... Letter Recogniser, anyone use that? I've never tried it at all.

Jonathan.

[qmrq]

I use block recognizer and a fullsize keyboard. Tried transcriber, it just doesn't work well for words that aren't in the word list it seems. Never put much effort into learning letter recognizer.

[Dave Beauvais]

I wrote a little article (http://www.beauvais1.com/ppc/transcriber/index.html) about making the most of Transcriber. I do pretty well with it, but I still have to correct at least two or three mistakes out of every sentence. :roll:

--Dave

[qmrq]

Two or three mistakes in every sentence? Time to try another input method maybe. ;)

[Dave Beauvais]

Okay, not every sentence. :)

--Dave

[ctmagnus]

I use the SIP keyboard, using large keys and replacing space, enter, backspace and shift with gestures. I was pleasantly surprised to find out how speedy it was.

Edit: Previously, I had used Transcriber and Character Recognizer before that. The tweaked keyboard is easiest and quickest for me. Fitaly was extremely difficult IME and the T9-style SIP blew chunks all over everything everytime I used it.

[jonat8]

I wrote a little article (http://www.beauvais1.com/ppc/transcriber/index.html) about making the most of Transcriber. I do pretty well with it, but I still have to correct at least two or three mistakes out of every sentence. :roll:

--Dave

Wow, those tweaks did wonders for my Transcriber, thanks, it's way more accurante now!

Just one question, I'm having problems entering full stops. When I tap on the screen as if to make a full stop all that happens is the cursor jumps back a few characters. If I try and make a slightly larger full stop it just does the same too... any tips?

Thanks :)

[Dave Beauvais]

... I'm having problems entering full stops. ... any tips?
I'm going to assume that by "full stop" you mean a period, correct? I've found the most reliable way of entering a period -- or any other punctuation, for that matter -- by itself is with the pop-up keypad on the Transcriber toolbar. (The button that looks like a keyboard.) I think the problem is that Transcriber can't tell if you're trying to enter a character or tapping on the screen, so it just assumes the latter.

--Dave

[griph]

What input method do you use? Which do you think is the "best" for the Pocket PC?

I have tried several - I too moved from a Palm on to a PPC so I already knew Graffiti. Transcriber/Caligrapher I never really got on with. I have used Fitaly, but QWERTY is so ingrained it is difficult to teach THIS old dog new tricks. In the end I dropped using it, though I find Fitaly is useful in being able to force use of a single default input method - eg Block Recogniser - but it seems like a waste.

In the end I find that I am fastest using Block Recogniser - it works for me - I am sure others find other options work better for them!

[CTSLICK]

I was devoted to Transcriber until I got tired of mistakes that I made that I could not seem to work around. I gave FITALY another try (3rd time) and it stuck this time. I have gotten pretty good at it now. It reallly it a more efficient arrangement for the PPC. Much less moving around to tap the keys you need.

[Janak Parekh]

Another Fitaly user here. Not having to switch input methods is a huge boon -- I find Fitaly faster than Block, Letter, Keyboard or Transcriber for almost everything (except rough notetaking, in which case Transcriber might win -- but I don't bother anymore). The layout works well, and the "sliding" trick to do caps saves immense amounts of time.

--janak

[KH]

I have been using Calligrapher for years, and with the faster devices now - I LOVE my IPAQ 2215! - real-time note taking is great. If I feel the need for a more deterministic keyboard (ex: passwords) I switch to MessagEase - it's a bit different but stylus-ing is functional. I could never quite make Fitaly work as well.

I do notice one interesting thing. If I use Calligrapher, even if I have to make corrections later, I can still focus on the conference or lecture or staff meeting I am attending; natural handwriting does not detract. If I use any kind of keyboard I may lose real-time data I want to record. The conversion delay if Calligrapher (or Transcriber) is actually useful - it allows me to listen and 'pre-load my cache' so that I capture more thourough notes, even if the accuracy isn't always there.

[Myrddin]

I use, and am addicted too, Fitaly!
I couldn't live without it. It's incredibly fast, now that i'm used to it.

[Paula]

I use the SIP keyboard, using large keys and replacing space, enter, backspace and shift with gestures. I was pleasantly surprised to find out how speedy it was.

Edit: Previously, I had used Transcriber and Character Recognizer before that. The tweaked keyboard is easiest and quickest for me. Fitaly was extremely difficult IME and the T9-style SIP blew chunks all over everything everytime I used it.

First of all what do you mean by replacing keys with gestures? Many evil gestures come to mind 0X but none of them will get keys pressed. :lol:

How do you tweak the SIP?

Does anyone miss not having a thumboard? I'm still trying to decide if I should wait for the mythical (we have not seen a real one yet) 4350.

Cheers
Paula

[ctmagnus]

First of all what do you mean by replacing keys with gestures? Many evil gestures come to mind 0X but none of them will get keys pressed. :lol:

How do you tweak the SIP?

Cheers
Paula

Tap on the little black up-arrow to the right of the SIP button and open options. Select Keyboard in the Input method dropdown, if necessary. Select the Large keys radio button, and the Use gestures for the following keys and... checkbox becomes availale. It's all rather self-explanatory from there. ;)

[Janak Parekh]

Tap on the little black up-arrow to the right of the SIP button and open options. Select Keyboard in the Input method dropdown, if necessary. Select the Large keys radio button, and the Use gestures for the following keys and... checkbox becomes availale. It's all rather self-explanatory from there. ;)
8O I never saw this. Great tip for people who don't want to learn Fitaly. Thanks!

(BTW, on PPC2k2, I had to switch to another SIP and back for it to take effect.)

--janak

[Dave Beauvais]

Just FYI, those gestures work even if you don't check that box, even with the standard size keys. I've never been able to figure out why they even bothered to put the box there since it has no effect.

--Dave

[Paula]

Tap on the little black up-arrow to the right of the SIP button and open options. Select Keyboard in the Input method dropdown, if necessary. Select the Large keys radio button, and the Use gestures for the following keys and... checkbox becomes availale. It's all rather self-explanatory from there. ;)

Thank you, I will remember this, but I'm still not sure what a gesture is. :?

Paula

[nice_micael]

This is what i use for typing and it leat's me have a swedish keyboardhttp://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?productType=2&optionId=1_2_2&jid=24X4596D5B58E8F41CDEBE28X232F3C5&platformId=2&siteId=1&productId=27174&sectionId=0&catalog=30&txtSearch=paragon+interkey

[Myrddin]

the "sliding" trick to do caps saves immense amounts of time.
the 'sliding trick' also works on the regular soft keyboard that comes inbuilt... i don't know if that's only because fitaly is installed though

[ctmagnus]

(BTW, on PPC2k2, I had to switch to another SIP and back for it to take effect.)

--janak

Hmm... It took effect right away for me. The only thing I can think that would cause it is that you have Fitaly installed. I just checked on my PPC2k2 device and it has no issues, the only non-out-of-the-box sip method installed being Transcriber. :confused totally:

[ctmagnus]

Just FYI, those gestures work even if you don't check that box, even with the standard size keys.

--Dave

I noticed that as well. But it's so much easier to hit the right key with large keys in use. and when you have large keys but no gesturing selected, you get the awkwardly-shaped (imo) enter and bkspc keys.

Fun fact: with my previously-mentioned preferred SIP method, all four rows have twelve keys, although the bottom two don't look like at first glance. Large keys with no gestures produces a standard qwerty-layout keyboard but my layout gives a nice (almost) rectal-linear layout.

[ctmagnus]

Thank you, I will remember this, but I'm still not sure what a gesture is. :?

Paula

A gesture is movement (tap and slide) over a key, as opposed to simply tapping it.

[ctmagnus]

the 'sliding trick' also works on the regular soft keyboard that comes inbuilt... i don't know if that's only because fitaly is installed though

Nope. This particular undocumented feature is out of the box. ;)