Sliders on PPC's?

[dorelse]

Ok, I'm curious about eveyone's opinions on the use of sliders on PPC's.

Now that the wizard has the slide out keyboard, as well as the Samsung i730, its hearlded (by some) as the greatest 'new' feature in the world. Yet, when Palm used it (albeit in a different way, and never for a thumboard) on their PDA's, a lot of people on the PPC side said it was the dumbest thing ever made.

I should mention that, yes, I've owned a T3, but have been using my Axim x50v for about a year now, as well a number of other PPC's over the years.

Personally, I don't have any strong feelings for or against a slider PDA, it was a non-issue on the T3 for me, while others did have strong feelings one way or the other.

Is it b/c its a thumboard that is hidden vs. the Palm screen being partially covered that makes it a better design? (Too me, its a very nice design feature.)

Dunno, just curious if people hate any slider design outright, or if people like having the thumboard tucked away that makes it acceptable?

[martin_ayton]

I have one on my HTC Blue Angel. It was one of the reasons I bought the thing in the first place. I almost never use it: the buttons are just too small and there is not enough physical feedback for me to feel when I have pressed one properly. In fact, just about the only thing I use it for is the softkey which I have mapped to SPB Pocket Plus's 'Alt-Tab' switcher and to type in my password when I get impatient after a sort reset and hit start too quickly for the screen keyboard to be ready.

Does it bother me? No. It slides away and I don't think about it.

[dorelse]

I personally stayed away from the Blue Angel only b/c I didn't like the 'membrane' style thumboard. I didn't think I'd use it much because I didn't like the way it felt. So I'm with you there.

[Paragon]

Being a past PDA2k owner I found that the slide out keyboard was a very efficient use of space. The keyboard slid out of sight when not in use keeping the form factor in place with PPCs with similar sized screens. I find that thumboards are too small to use effectively though, unless you are a hardcore user. The buttons are too small, plus I find that my hands cramp from holding it. It is too top heavy.

Now, I think the Wizard is an entirely different animal. With the keyboard being used in portrait, it makes it much wider and easier to use...bigger buttons, and better spacing. As well, it looks like the balance of the Wizard is much better than the PDA2k, making it much easier to use.....soon we will know for sure. ;)

Dave

[Don't Panic!]

Although I just recently acquired a SCH i730 I hardly ever use the slider keyboard. Well it is good for mapping butoons on WMP10 though. :D

Like Paragon my hands are just to big for those tiny tiny keys.