File this under: “Oh no, here he goes again…”
This brand-new Nokia flagship N82 in black would be a perfect compliment for the birthday present I gave myself last year, don’t ya think? Of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my trusty E61i, per se — it’s just that the Nseries, and in particular the N82’s 5-megapixel camera with insanely-bright Xenon flash, DVD-quality video and TV-out seems better suited to this film school grad than a slightly stuffier Eseries business phone.
But here’s the thing: If I switched to an N82 it would be my first non-QWERTY mobile since my stint with Sony Ericssons in 2003-2004. So I ask you, my fellow smartphone enthusiasts: Am I crazy for even thinking of giving up QWERTY, or is texting fine with T9?
Leave your comments below… Thanks in advance!
Andrew Currie 
3 responses to “Life without QWERTY?”
Yes, you are total crazy.
But that camera is oh *so* good!
AC:
I strongly dislike non-QWERTY keyboards, but that’s what I’m used to using. I can hit 80 wpm on a full-sized keyboard just because I don’t have to think of where the letters are.
On the other hand, I’m not a fast thumb-typist, so when I type on my non-QWERTY LG Chocolate, I’m probably working at the same speed whether the letters are in the right place or not. I should mention that I don’t text message or e-mail from my phone. If I were to do a lot of typing on a phone, I think QWERTY would definitely be a key consideration when browsing phones.
How much do you plan on typing with this new phone?
Ed
James, thanks for writing in… I’m going to add you as a Flickr contact if that’s ok — love those tilt-shift photos from Venice!
How do you like keypad on your N82?
And Ed, I plan on texting just as much on this new beast as I do on my current Nokia.
I’ve actually got a very active discussion on this same subject happening over at the HowardForums:
http://tinyurl.com/3s7ua2
One of the other members there has pointed me to this nifty online mobile typing test:
http://www.iphonetypingtest.com/
I’m only getting about 35 wpm on my E61i. If you can do better, post your results here!