[b830ag2]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a new mobile for my missus and she's a HEAVY texter....

She also fancies a touchscreen phone, to keep up with the times etc and get better web surfing and bigger screen for pics and vids etc.

Anyway, I she's never had a touchscreen phone before, and neither have I, but I've heard reports that they're not that great for texting. Mis-pressing keys..poor navigation to make corrections...lag between one key press and the next (she types fast!).

Anyone out there with experience of touchscreen phones and texting? Any suggestions?

We have had a look at the Samsung Tocco Ultra which has the inbuilt keypad, which sounds ideal..but this has no wifi which is a must as the GSM/UMTS signal inside out house is intermittent (must have lead in our walls or something!).

Any other suggestions?

Cheers,
Andy.

[welshbrad]

My girlfriend has long finger nails and can only seem to use samsung touchscreen phones, they are a diffrent technology to other touchscreens (e.g iphone, htc, etc..)

Best off going to have a play at one of your local shops.

[Rygar]

Well I dont know how it compares to other touchscreens but the samsung i8910 touch screen keyboard in landscape is a breeze to type with on that big screen. The haptic feedback helps too. However may be a bit overkill if you dont want/use all the other features of this phone.

[Rich9600]

I have had an iphone 3Gs for about a month or so and it is quite good in its QWERTY landscape format. However, I think I personally prefer the multi tap format of my previous O2 Orbit (HTC made). This just works like a normal phone with predictive text etc.

On the HTC's you can also use its hand writing recognition and the stylus. This is really quite effective and more than just a gimmick! My hand writing is terrible and it worked for me!

[RandomLee]

After not getting a long with a LG KU990 Viewty a while back I had my doubts about texting on touchscreen phones, however I got a HTC Hero recently and it's a joy to use in both QWERTY and T9 modes.

When it 1st arrived I thought the onscreen keys looked a little bit narrow however after using it for a few days I rarely mistype, and I don't have the most slender fingers. It does pay to use the side of your finger though, but most t/s phones are the same in this respect.

It also does a good job of correcting your spelling, defaulting to the corrected version so you don't have to retype. Predictive is good too, with words appearing in a row so you don't have to go to any effort to select them.

Flip into landscape and it's even easier as it widens the keys out. HTC have definitely put a lot of thought into it's design, although you can also buy an alternative keyboard from Android Market which I think is customizable.

[NicolasB]

If you want a pure touch-screen phone then get one with a capacitive screen. The iPhone is the best that I've tried, though I've heard good things about the Samsung i8910, and the HTC Hero is also good (although the screen is quite a bit smaller, which doesn't help).

You might, however, consider getting a phone that has a physical keyboard as well as a touch-screen. I have an HTC Touch Pro 2 and am loving it so far. It's not for everybody - it has some great business-oriented features, but the camera isn't too hot, and it's thicker and heavier than most phones; but the keyboard is just wonderful.

There are plenty of other phones with keyboards, of course. I'd avoid the Nokia N97 if I were you, but something in the Blackberry range, or a Nokia E71 or E72 might work. Or a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Personally I like the Touch Pro 2 better than most of these, not least because the keys on the keyboard are better spaced; but if you girlfriend has small, dexterous fingers she'll be okay.

[b830ag2]

Hi all,

Thanks for your suggestions!
There's a few more phones for me too look into there, great.

Think I'll check out gsm arena and phone arena etc for reviews and then nip down to the local carphone warehouse for a play too.

Thanks again.

[meansizzler]

HTC Touch HD has a nice 3.7" Widescreen, nice large keys for texting with double the iphone resolution, making picture viewing and web browsing easier on the eyes, also groups texts by conversation

[LucS]

I'd go for a touch screen phone, with a physical keyboard to slide out, like for instance some models from HTC. Lot easier to type, you can also use both thumbs instead of one finger.