Review Of Input Methods

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.mtekk.com.au/browse/page455.html">http://www.mtekk.com.au/browse/page455.html</a><br /><br />MTekk has reviewed five input methods using the new XDA II. They are:<br /><br />• FITALY<br />• FSB (Full Screen Keyboard)<br />• Word Logic<br />• TenGO<br />• Quickwriter<br />• Resco<br /><br />Head over there if you are looking for a better input method than what you are currently using. You can <a href="http://www.ehansberry.com/pages/pocketpc.html">browse my Pocket PC page</a> of course to see which one I use. ;-)

[Jonathon Watkins]

Interesting. I was expecting FITALY to walk it & was surprised to see it only got 5 out of 10. I tired it for the trail period but was not sure about committing. I can see how it would be faster if I stuck with it, but I'm not sure...

WordLogic with 9 out of 10 looks worth a look though. I will install it and see how I get on. Whenever my wife uses my PPC she likes to use Letter Recogniser, so it's definitely each to their own. :!:

[Andy Whiteford]

Hmmm, I thought I recognised that Icbar skin from the tengo picture! ;) I would have rated Tengo higher though.

[petvas]

I use Wordlogic for ages and I can say that it ROCKS! 8)

[Doug Raeburn]

Great review... personally, I rank Fitaly quite a bit higher. It's difficult to get good enough with Fitaly to really benefit from its design within the context of a review. So I think Fitaly got two strikes for its learning curve... once because the curve exists (no denying that), and again because the learning curve prevented the reviewer from becoming proficient enough in the time available to experience the best of the product. I'd give it a 9/10.

I was a big WordLogic fan a couple of years ago, but I went away from it because I felt it need improvements, and none have come forth. It's nice, but somewhat short of perfect, and it really needs to evolve. It's been a while, but one of my major gripes was the lack of gesturing for caps. In its current state, I'd give it a 7/10.

I tried Tengo, and I encountered all of the same issue with it as did Mike. I think his rating for that product was right on target. I really didn't care for it overall.

Just my 2 cents about the methods that I've tried... right now, I'm really enjoying Decuma OnSpot, and I think that's going to prove to be one of my favorites.

[jmarkevich]

I am intrigued by this QuikWriting thing. Has anyone got it to run safely on their machines? How does it mangle your screen protectors :)?

(I tried a demo of Fitaly, it was OK, left little round spots in the keyboard area after an intense weekend notetaking session. Yeah I have cheepo screen protectors).

[Ed Hansberry]

Fitaly definitly has a higher learning curve, but greater rewards once learned.

[baker]

Has anyone ever tried Keystroke CE? I'm curious how it does.

[Jeff Rutledge]

Fitaly definitly has a higher learning curve, but greater rewards once learned.

I agree completely. I've tried pretty much every input method I could find and always come back to FITALY.

I liked WordLogic a lot but found I was only fast with WL when performing word processing tasks such as writing email messages. It's very fast as long as you're sticking within the known english language. Otherwise I find I'm back to the normal keyboard entry which is painful after getting used to FITALY.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Fitaly definitly has a higher learning curve, but greater rewards once learned.
This is true, but it took me about 90 minutes of dedicated practice before it became my fastest method of SIP input.

So it's tough, but it can be overcome with dedicated practice over a short duration.

[Andy Whiteford]

I'm really enjoying Decuma OnSpot, and I think that's going to prove to be one of my favorites.

I'm playing with this just now and I think it's great, very easy to make corrections etc. and the recognition is already quite good before personalizing it.

I have also checked out Messagease and thought it was very good, similar to Quickwriter but it would be appear to be a better developed solution.

[Will T Smith]

This guy cites a high commitment necessary for Fitaly. This is a lot for a guy who says he never commited to ten fingered typing. From this perspective, the entire article is biased because this guy will NEVER commit to ANY keyboard solution if he can't commit to QWERTY.

He also fails to mention the Fitaly Letris program that can speed your introduction to Fitaly in a fun way. Nor does he review Calligrapher, which doubtless has improvements over it's licensed, stuck in time older brother Transcriber.

I wouldn't put ANY faith in this review.

[mmarlor]

Hmmm, I thought I recognised that Icbar skin from the tengo picture! ;) I would have rated Tengo higher though.

:lol: It was a good picture, and Mike didn't give us one to use. Naturally of course I provided a link to your excellent review, and I hope you don't mind :-)

Mike found TenGO a little frustrating but he's starting to warm to it. He was planning to do a followup review including Calligrapher which he had overlooked.

Actually, the guys from TenGO really impressed me with their response, they obviously care very much about their product - http://www.mtekk.com.au/browse/page457.html.

Will T Smith, just a little response - Mike's one of our forum users, and is new to Pocket PC. Of course ithe review is just his own opinion based upon his own usage. I myself use Letter Recogniser and have done for some time. If, or when, I decide to replace it, I'm sure I'll pick something completely different :-D I've used other products before, but somehow it always seems more convenient to go back to the standard ones, especially when I had to reload my XDA so many times thanks to radio stack issues.

I suspect Fitaly may have been a little intimidating to him and that he may not have been aware of the Latris program you mentioned.

I'll point Mike over here for inspiration for his followup review. He may like to look into the other software suggested.

Guys, appreciate your mention of the review, and the feedback. It's always great to see other people's own thoughts.

[Brad Adrian]

I realize the purpose of the review wasn't to necessarily be an exhaustive overview of all entry methods, but I still like Calligrapher -- even though I seem to increasingly be a minority. I was really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY angered by the extra 20 bucks PhatWare charged for the latest upgrade, but the recognition engine and the options have been greatly improved.

I may not be as fast with handwriting as with other methods, but it still feels the most natural to me.

[tanalasta]

I'm still considering whether to buy calligrapher and would have liked to see a comparison in that review.

Still - is calligrapher that much better than microsoft transcriber (especially at recognising words not in a dictionary like most medical terminology)? I'm not fussed about being able to used macros, just a down to earth accurate and fast input method.

[Ed Hansberry]

I was really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY angered by the extra 20 bucks PhatWare charged for the latest upgrade

Upset eh? Just a tiny bit? ;-)

[mtb]

Let me introduce myself - I'm Mike, the guy who wrote this article. Despite appearances, I don't believe I've even met "Will T Smith, PocketPC Enthusiast" so I have no idea why he should get so offended as to personally attack me, particularly since he knows nothing about me other than what he has inferred from this article. So here's a little background.

History: The first computer I ever used was in 1977, it was a 300 baud teletype with punch-paper tape reader and keys that almost needed a hammer to press - I used this for one term in three (U.K. school) for the next two years. Computing as a mainstream subject was in its infancy as were personal computers (any brand), not that my family could afford one. I then had a year without computer access at all before finally getting to university. It was not until the second year of university that the typing tutorials were offered since we did not get terminal access until year two, year one was coding sheets and punch card machines (five for general use of students).

Given that, prior to this time, typing was generally considered a female skill for those wishing to pursue a secretarial career, I might be excused for having picked up the odd few bad habits and not having learnt the correct finger use - and old habits die hard as they say. As I also made quite clear, the keyboards we used in college were vastly different from those on which we were taught to touch type - by having to look at the keyboards for the other keys it broke the habits &amp; training the touch typing sessions instilled.

Today: As a contractor I am expected to be productive from day one. If I were to try to learn touch-typing on the job, I'd be dismissed for not being productive. I may not be able to touch type with all ten fingers and thumbs but I can still achieve a reasonable typing speed with only six digits, certainly far better and more accurate than it would be during the training period.

This guy cites a high commitment necessary for Fitaly.

Are you disagreeing? Are you saying it requires no commitment?

Let's do a little maths here...

The time the XDA II has been available in Australia: less than a month (it's my first PPC as you would know if you did some reading of the MTekk forums).
Average trial period of reviewed software: 14 days.
Number of products to review: 5.
Factor in Christmas and New Year (a.k.a. getting a life) and the time to review each product is: 2 days and that's if I did not play with my five year old son during my time off work and spent the whole time on the XDA.

Given these factors I think I was very fair to Fitaly in my comment - the product does require commitment, I acknowledged that. I also pointed out that to be realistically reviewed software of this nature needs more than 14 days trail period and I stand by that too. I cannot say if Fitaly's 30 days is sufficient either, but if I had reviewed it for longer than the others I would have been providing it an unfair advantage. Had I decided to only review one product for each trial period, it would have taken the better part of three months to perform the review so let's be realistic here.

This is a lot for a guy who says he never commited to ten fingered typing. From this perspective, the entire article is biased because this guy will NEVER commit to ANY keyboard solution if he can't commit to QWERTY.

Oh please! If I couldn't "commit to QWERTY", I somehow doubt I could have spent the last twenty (post-uni.) years writing software professionally for a living. Besides, as I've indicated, I don't need to touch type (the touch is inferred by the way) I do quite well enough without. The lead section of the article is merely to provide context to the review, I could have written anything - it's purpose is to create the initial interest and "personal confession" sells. The fact that I cannot touch type is actually irrelevant to the review since the very differences in the interface is the whole point - we're looking for alternatives to the traditional keyboard here, since the device doesn't have one! Commitment...? Give me a break!

He also fails to mention the Fitaly Letris program that can speed your introduction to Fitaly in a fun way.

Funny that... given that I can find no mention of it on the various pages I visited at the Fitaly site. Even armed with the phrase "Fitaly Letris", Google only comes up with two pages of results so it doesn't seem to be that high profile now does it, perhaps that's why I didn't include it! Oh wait, there it is, one small link beneath the Fitaly link on the front page. Shame they forgot to put a link on the Products page which is where my searching took me to.

Nor does he review Calligrapher, which doubtless has improvements over it's licensed, stuck in time older brother Transcriber.

Agreed on both points, I didn't and it has... but don't you know...? Haven't you done any research or do you just spout opinion? Had you taken the time to look in the forums at the MTekk site, you would have seen that I have already identified this omission and will be posting a subsequent re-review which will include it and any other software I have the opportunity to review or re-assess. TenGO has been kind enough to extend my trial period to permit me to reassess their software over a longer period and I have to say that it is growing on me (read: commitment!).

I wouldn't put ANY faith in this review.

Do you treat magazine reviewers the same and make the same ill-concieved, snap judgements about them? After all, you probably know them as well as you know me.

As my mother would have said, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." My version is... "Put up or shut up". If you think you can do a better job, go ahead, write your own review and let others benefit from your 'wisdom'. If you can't be bothered... well, I think that would say it all.

I have not only taken the time to assess all these products professionally, but also to write a review of them for the benefit of other users. It may help some to make a choice, it may let others know of programs they were unaware of. It also will hopefully help some of the software developers to lift their game since they can't fix it if they don't know the problems.

Constructive criticism is beneficial to all; your sort of negative, destructive criticism is the very reason why we don't have more people spending their own time trying to provide worthwhile and beneficial opinions and reviews on the net. The idea is to help others by providing useful opinion, not narrow-minded and baseless personal attacks.

[Andy Whiteford]

Fair points well made. Remember if you disagree with any review you read anywhere be it a magazine or website, accept it is a difference of opinion and it's surely better to have some person's view on a product (good or bad) than none at all.
By all means point out any blatant errors or misleading information and hopefully everyone working together will help the community as a whole.
I personally said I would have scored Tengo higher but then I have used it for a while and this is just my opnion. I would not say however that he was wrong or injust in his opinion on this product.

[Ed Hansberry]

He also fails to mention the Fitaly Letris program that can speed your introduction to Fitaly in a fun way.

Funny that... given that I can find no mention of it on the various pages I visited at the Fitaly site.
It is right on the front page below the Fitaly for Pocket PC link - http://www.fitaly.com :wink:

[mtb]

It is right on the front page below the Fitaly for Pocket PC link - http://www.fitaly.com :wink:

Oh wait, there it is, one small link beneath the Fitaly link on the front page. Shame they forgot to put a link on the Products page which is where my searching took me to.

[Doug Raeburn]

Hi Mike...

As a reviewer, I can relate with your reaction to some rather harsh criticism. You do the best you can within the time and space allotted. Clearly, not everyone will agree with your approach and conclusions, but you really hang on to the hope that people will make the effort to be civil and constructive when they give you feedback. However, this doesn't always prove out... I've experienced the same thing, and I guess some people have no qualms about "letting 'er rip" when they're behind the curtain of relative anonymity that the Internet provides.

Let me say once again that I thought your review was great... very informative and very fair. As I stated above, I would personally rank a couple of the products a bit differently, but I'm in no way saying that such an observation makes your rankings wrong. Just a slightly different point of view. I would wholeheartedly recommend your review to anyone interested in an in-depth look at input methods.

Not to make more work for you, but since you're doing an update, I'd love to see Decuma OnSpot... it shares some characteristics with Letter Recognizer, but takes a very different and innovative approach.

Again, thanks for the insightful review.

Doug

[Pat Logsdon]

Not to make more work for you, but since you're doing an update, I'd love to see Decuma OnSpot... it shares some characteristics with Letter Recognizer, but takes a very different and innovative approach.
I agree. I just purchased Decuma OnSpot last week, and I really like it so far. I've tried Fitaly (even Fitaly Letris! :wink: ) but just couldn't really get anywhere with it. As a touch-typist, "unlearning" the associations was just too difficult, especially as I constantly switch back and forth from a regular keyboard and the PPC's on-screen keyboard.

Just a hunch, but I'd imagine that those who do NOT touch type would have an easier time getting used to Fitaly or related products.

Or it could just be that my brain is defective. That argument HAS been made before... :mrgreen:

[mtb]

Guys,

Thanks for the support, it is much appreciated. Shame about the one apple...!

As regards the other input methods and the follow-up review, I've already got all the ones mentioned downloaded and am trying to organise time to review them while also trying to review Time Recording/Keeping software because that's the next thing I need (I have a list of 20(!) already but if you have any suggestions...).

Meanwhile my poor little XDA II is having a very hard time of things.

Back to it.

Thanks again.

Mike