Fascinate for someone who is used to a physical keyboard
StinkyPete
Newbie

I am looking to upgrade my wife's ENV2 to a droid.  She likes the Fascinate byt us concerned about her move from a physical keyboard to a touch screen keyboard.   The Fascinate seems to be a nice large screen (and therefore an easier touch entry), but I wanted to see how others felt with that kind of transition.

 

Also... general feelings (pro or con) on the phone (probably going CPO)?

 

Thanks!

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10sEn
Contributor - Level 3

I used to have a phone with a physical keyboard (and coincidentally, it was the EnV2) prior to the Fascinate and had some reservations myself prior to purchasing this phone.  The phone has a typing feature called Swype which is supposed to speed up typing on the virtual keyboard.  Of course, it may feel a bit odd at first not having something tangible to press on, but I got over that fairly quickly.  In case you haven't read about it, Swype allows you to type by sliding your finger across the virtual keyboard, as opposed to pressing on the virtual key.

 

Here is a YouTube link that shows you Swype in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuP6AQPRpUg

 

Of course, some people won't like this, so for those individuals who actually like pressing virtual buttons, this phone also has an android keyboard.  I still recommend playing with the Swype feature before deciding whether to use that or not.

 

As with any phone, there are pros and cons associated with the phone.  What the pros and cons are specifically depends on what phone you're comparing it to.  It's somewhat difficult to compare this phone to the EnV2 as they are different.  One thing she may notice is that the battery goes out fairly quickly on this phone if the phone is constantly being turned on and used.  I could go 2 days on my EnV2 before charging, but I have to recharge this phone once a day (sometimes twice based on how much I use it).  But that's an unfair comparison since this phone is like a mini-computer, and I use this phone for many more things than I did the EnV2 (e.g., surfing the web, emails, creating word processing documents, and some games).  btw, playing games is one thing that will drain your battery very quickly...although using the word processor for a while can drain it quickly, too.

 

If she texts a lot, she'll enjoy the difference in the texting feature.  On this phone, like many Android phones, she will be able to see the entire conversation, which means no more looking through sent texts when she can't quite remember what the person is responding to.  Here's a screen cap I found online that shows an example text.

 

example of texting bubbles

 

And I do like the 4" screen.  Yes, it makes the phone a bit larger than most, but it's worth it, imo.

 

The phone does occasionally freeze up on me, but pulling out the battery usually fixes that.  Also, while the battery life isn't the greatest, one can control that a bit by downloading an application to "kill" (or force quit) applications.  Unlike the EnV2, you will have to turn this phone off and on every once in a while (again, it's like a mini-computer and computers start to lag if you leave them on for an extended period of time, too).

 

Hope this helps you, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

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10sEn
Contributor - Level 3

I used to have a phone with a physical keyboard (and coincidentally, it was the EnV2) prior to the Fascinate and had some reservations myself prior to purchasing this phone.  The phone has a typing feature called Swype which is supposed to speed up typing on the virtual keyboard.  Of course, it may feel a bit odd at first not having something tangible to press on, but I got over that fairly quickly.  In case you haven't read about it, Swype allows you to type by sliding your finger across the virtual keyboard, as opposed to pressing on the virtual key.

 

Here is a YouTube link that shows you Swype in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuP6AQPRpUg

 

Of course, some people won't like this, so for those individuals who actually like pressing virtual buttons, this phone also has an android keyboard.  I still recommend playing with the Swype feature before deciding whether to use that or not.

 

As with any phone, there are pros and cons associated with the phone.  What the pros and cons are specifically depends on what phone you're comparing it to.  It's somewhat difficult to compare this phone to the EnV2 as they are different.  One thing she may notice is that the battery goes out fairly quickly on this phone if the phone is constantly being turned on and used.  I could go 2 days on my EnV2 before charging, but I have to recharge this phone once a day (sometimes twice based on how much I use it).  But that's an unfair comparison since this phone is like a mini-computer, and I use this phone for many more things than I did the EnV2 (e.g., surfing the web, emails, creating word processing documents, and some games).  btw, playing games is one thing that will drain your battery very quickly...although using the word processor for a while can drain it quickly, too.

 

If she texts a lot, she'll enjoy the difference in the texting feature.  On this phone, like many Android phones, she will be able to see the entire conversation, which means no more looking through sent texts when she can't quite remember what the person is responding to.  Here's a screen cap I found online that shows an example text.

 

example of texting bubbles

 

And I do like the 4" screen.  Yes, it makes the phone a bit larger than most, but it's worth it, imo.

 

The phone does occasionally freeze up on me, but pulling out the battery usually fixes that.  Also, while the battery life isn't the greatest, one can control that a bit by downloading an application to "kill" (or force quit) applications.  Unlike the EnV2, you will have to turn this phone off and on every once in a while (again, it's like a mini-computer and computers start to lag if you leave them on for an extended period of time, too).

 

Hope this helps you, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

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NuDroidUsrr
Specialist - Level 3

My wife just did that same move at the end of last month, but chose to go with the Samsung Continuum, rather than the Fascinate. It is basically the same phone, just a little smaller (Easier for her to hold onto with smaller hands). It took her about 2 days or so to get used to the swype keyboard, and she likes that now, but as the other poster said, message threading is great, because on the env2, it would not, and I would respond to things and she would not know what I was referring to. She also likes the Emoticons that you can send through text messages now to other smart phones... She could not see the actual image of it before.

 

  Also, she got into a bad habit of texting while driving (I know, it is illegal and I told her not to, so it was not that often), but without the physical keyboard, it makes texting while driving harder, which she said is also a benefit (I agree with her).

 

  Plus, now she can get our gmail calendar's, email, and all the other things that go along with having a smartphone.

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roachman55
Enthusiast - Level 2

StinkyPete wrote:

I am looking to upgrade my wife's ENV2 to a droid.  She likes the Fascinate byt us concerned about her move from a physical keyboard to a touch screen keyboard.   The Fascinate seems to be a nice large screen (and therefore an easier touch entry), but I wanted to see how others felt with that kind of transition.

 

Also... general feelings (pro or con) on the phone (probably going CPO)?

 

Thanks!


I had Voyager and then EnV Touch  and loved the physical keyboard so it was a rough switch, it is slower to type on the touch screens and didn't like Swype so I usually use voice to text but just downloaded Vlingo for voice to text and that is better then stock one on phone and instead of # signs when you swear with Vlingo you can swear and talk longer. The rest of phone is worth not having physical keyboard if you also like taking pics and vids, the screen size is great and beautiful.

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dpblusea
Enthusiast - Level 2

I find that the it is easier to type on the Fascinate using Swype.  I had the EnV a few years ago and then moved to the Omnia.  I hated typing on the Omnia, however the Fascinate's screen is much larger and easier to use.  Using Swype I mostly use the portrait mode since it is so easy to type.  It does take some getting used to, but after that it is much better and quicker than a physical keyboard for me.

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Jax_Omen
Specialist - Level 3
To offer an alternate opinion: I cannot stand typing on a touchscreen. Swype is great, and a huge improvement over the tap-oriented keyboards that are out there, but it's still just nowhere near as comfy for me as an actual physical keyboard. Also touchscreen input SUCKS for games, I can't even imagine how terrible OpenTyrian would be with touchscreen controls. So yeah I'd actually recommend the Droid 2 (R2D2 is cheaper, Global is slightly faster and works worldwide) for the physical keyboard even though the screen and camera aren't as nice.


But most importantly, go to a store and get some hands-on time with both phones before deciding. VzW charges you $35 to swap if you don't like the phone you get, they charge you $0 to play with their display units.
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beaderwoman
Newbie

I LOVE the Swipe keyboard. On-phone support is easy to access. I had no trouble switching from  my touch screen Droid eris to the Fascinate keyboard with its Swipe system. And the faster you move from letter to letter, the more instinctive the phone is. It is so much easier that tapping.  And bottom line, if you don't like Swiping, you can choose not to enter information that way in the set-up.  I had a Droid Eris and thought that was a big improvement over my previous phone. This Samsung Fascinate is light years ahead.

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StinkyPete
Newbie

I appreciate all the feedback very much.  Love the thing about the swearing and the ###s - I never knew that.

 

I do plan to go to the Verizon store and have her try it out. 

 

My feeling is that she will get used to it quickly.

 

I have an ENV Touch and will be heading to the Thunderbolt - so I have been trying to use the touch screen on my ENV over the past few days, but it is a hard habbit to break.

 

Thanks again!

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