Have prototype for new type of case that will make the Hermes and other similar slider keyboard PDAs much more useful.
If you were to use your device to everything from sms, email, music, phone etc., where would you want to place it on your body for optimal utility?
Is removing the case while charging a major issue for you?
Which is more important to you form, function or both?
If you had a choice between landscape and portrait modes for your device, which would you choose.
How often do you use the slider keyboard?
Do you use your finger mor than the stylus?
How often do you charge the device? Do you use the extended battery? How many spare batteries do you have for device?
If more than one and is extended, which battery do you use as your primary?
Cannot give much info now, because of R&D and Utility Patent process, however, you are going to want this. Will post more soon with some pics.
Have prototype for new type of case that will make the Hermes and other similar slider keyboard PDAs much more useful.
If you were to use your device to everything from sms, email, music, phone etc., where would you want to place it on your body for optimal utility?
albert: in a pouch. (currently using the Crumpler Thirsty (L))
Is removing the case while charging a major issue for you?
albert: Yes.
If you had a choice between landscape and portrait modes for your device, which would you choose.
albert: both.
How often do you use the slider keyboard?
albert: very often.
How often do you charge the device? Do you use the extended battery? How many spare batteries do you have for device? I have 3.
albert: Charging it everynight with timer. I've 2 original batteries.
Cannot give much info now, because of R&D and Utility Patent process, however, you are going to want this. Will post more soon with some pics.
seq2albert said:
Have prototype for new type of case that will make the Hermes and other similar slider keyboard PDAs much more useful.
If you were to use your device to everything from sms, email, music, phone etc., where would you want to place it on your body for optimal utility?
albert: in a pouch. (currently using the Crumpler Thirsty (L))
Is removing the case while charging a major issue for you?
albert: Yes.
If you had a choice between landscape and portrait modes for your device, which would you choose.
albert: both.
How often do you use the slider keyboard?
albert: very often.
How often do you charge the device? Do you use the extended battery? How many spare batteries do you have for device? I have 3.
albert: Charging it everynight with timer. I've 2 original batteries.
Cannot give much info now, because of R&D and Utility Patent process, however, you are going to want this. Will post more soon with some pics.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for responding.
If you were to use your device to everything from sms, email, music, phone etc., where would you want to place it on your body for optimal utility?
It in my right pocket
Is removing the case while charging a major issue for you?
Yes
If you had a choice between landscape and portrait modes for your device, which would you choose.
Both, depend on what I am doing with my device
How often do you use the slider keyboard?
Only when I have many things to type; like email, sms, surfing, ... so, this is quite often
How often do you charge the device? Do you use the extended battery? How many spare batteries do you have for device? I have 3.
Every 2-3 nights, I have no spare battery
Thanks for the info.
1. I prefer a holster on the belt, under left hand. Using one from Petek now.
2. Yes.
3. Mostly portrait, but in rare cases when I need lansdcape I need it immediatelly and now.
4. Rare and see 3.
5. Charge every night. Have no a spare battery and I'd better avoid them at all.
Lurker0 said:
1. I prefer a holster on the belt, under left hand. Using one from Petek now.
2. Yes.
3. Mostly portrait, but in rare cases when I need lansdcape I need it immediatelly and now.
4. Rare and see 3.
5. Charge every night. Have no a spare battery and I'd better avoid them at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
What was the deciding factor in selecting the Hermes as your device? Superior features such as UMTS, BT 2.0, etc.?
existence said:
Superior features such as UMTS, BT 2.0, etc.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no 3G here, and BT2.0 with MS stack is quite useless for me (I don't need stereo via BT too).
TyTN replaced my good old SonyEricsson P800. For my use P990 can't even do what P800 did for me. I switched to TyTN because there is software for it that I need, it has outstanding number of buttons, incl. the wheel, for one-hand use, and hardware keyboard that I also need, having even smaller size than P800. I'd get Wizard a year ago if it had the wheel and same set of buttons that Hermes has, though I appreciate Hermes CPU performance too.
By the way, speaking about cases.... I had Piel Frama case for my P800 for more than a year. Then I realized that I feel its (or any other case) inconvenience, but the level of protection is quite useless for me. Then I came to a strap and a horizontal holster with simple leather loops that 100% protect it from falling from the belt. IMHO it is more secure than all these belt clips.
After I fixed the holster at the left side (which was possible because Petek model is universal and has no holes for connectors) I don't stop wondering why right handed people put holsters to the right, and manufacturers design them as such! IMHO phones (and TyTN as one) is designed to be used in the left hand, to use right hand only rarely, to touch buttons, for keyboards and handwriting. After that, most of cases and holsters are no go for me because they are hard to carry at the left side.
Lurker0 said:
There is no 3G here, and BT2.0 with MS stack is quite useless for me (I don't need stereo via BT too).
TyTN replaced my good old SonyEricsson P800. For my use P990 can't even do what P800 did for me. I switched to TyTN because there is software for it that I need, it has outstanding number of buttons, incl. the wheel, for one-hand use, and hardware keyboard that I also need, having even smaller size than P800. I'd get Wizard a year ago if it had the wheel and same set of buttons that Hermes has, though I appreciate Hermes CPU performance too.
By the way, speaking about cases.... I had Piel Frama case for my P800 for more than a year. Then I realized that I feel its (or any other case) inconvenience, but the level of protection is quite useless for me. Then I came to a strap and a horizontal holster with simple leather loops that 100% protect it from falling from the belt. IMHO it is more secure than all these belt clips.
After I fixed the holster at the left side (which was possible because Petek model is universal and has no holes for connectors) I don't stop wondering why right handed people put holsters to the right, and manufacturers design them as such! IMHO phones (and TyTN as one) is designed to be used in the left hand, to use right hand only rarely, to touch buttons, for keyboards and handwriting. After that, most of cases and holsters are no go for me because they are hard to carry at the left side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. It is very useful. Will check out your existing holster case and see how it is configured. Yeah, what comes around goes around, the jog wheel is back until people complain about not having a slider. Sorry about the 3G. However, welcome to the Windows Mobile Community.
It's quite simple but of good quality leather:
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Model 1657-G. Manufacturer's web is www.petek1855.com.
You need to think about overquoting!
Thanks for the pic and link.
Have prototype for new type of case that will make the Hermes and other similar slider keyboard PDAs much more useful.
If you were to use your device to everything from sms, email, music, phone etc., where would you want to place it on your body for optimal utility?
TT: Left forearm, a la Leela from Futurama. (Yes I know it's geeky, but you asked)
Is removing the case while charging a major issue for you?
TT: Nope. It goes on the bedside table when I go to sleep, which is when I charge it. Some kind of cradle I could drop it into and charge then pick up in the morning would be handy though.
Which is more important to you form, function or both?
TT: Function is more important [ see above ], but form is not unimportant.
If you had a choice between landscape and portrait modes for your device, which would you choose.
TT: Varies according to use. If I'm sitting somewhere browsing the internet or reading mail then landscape. If I get a call as I'm walking around, then portrait.
How often do you use the slider keyboard?
Do you use your finger mor than the stylus?
TT: I'm using the keyboard more and more for serious text input as I use the device more for email. Mind you this is the first device I've been able to send mail from over the air. Quick input I generally use the soft input panel. It's getting rarer that I use the stylus now; more my finger when necessary.
How often do you charge the device? Do you use the extended battery? How many spare batteries do you have for device?
If more than one and is extended, which battery do you use as your primary?
TT: Charged every night. There's an extended battery? Don't think I'd need one; power doesn't go below 50% in one day even with heavy use.
Cannot give much info now, because of R&D and Utility Patent process, however, you are going to want this. Will post more soon with some pics.
TT: Look forward to it.
Thanks for your response. I assumed there was an extended battery for this phone like other HTC slider models. I have an XV6700, which has an extended battery. Sounds like you are getting great battery life. When people started carrying around the first portable cellphones such as the Motorola Brick and the forgotten bag transportable, those went from geek to chic. It is a matter of perception.
Related
Update 12.23.09
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Link to all pics
Well after two more prototypes and a lot of hard work, I feel that Prototype 4 was the winner. I made a little more adjustment to the top where it wedges in, and of course some coloring for asthetic reasons, and I am through with this project. I have a great final piece, thank you to everyone who helped with advice along the way, and I hope my work helps others save time on their creations.
Project result: a great little gamepad that hides in my wallet until time to play some games! Buttons respond great, have the tactile feel I was looking for, and no longer slides during heavy button mashing! Not easily replicatable but worth the time.
Update 12.9.2009
Hey everyone!
Thanks for all the input! Here is the newest prototype, Prototype 4!
I still think it needs refinement, but i think I made some huge improvements!
After destroying another original housing in trial and error sanding, I have decided against waiting another month for $20 housing.
In this application you will need:
1 CD Case
1 Original Keypad (Some have one, otherwise lets think of some substitutes)
Optional:
Dremel Multitool
Paint
Clear Enamel
Link to the process
Plans for the final prototype 5:
Add quick load and save buttons
Change background to black with grey and red buttons
Try to add a Nintendo logo somewhere
Hope this helps all your efforts out there! People see this and hide their iPhone games!
Edited by wakeupkeo; 18th November 2009 at 08:58 PM:
Link to Prototype 1
OK I have frankensteined a useful gamepad hack for NES, GBA and all the rest. This hack is a DIY craft, and you can customized your version to suit you. This was only my first version after many attempts to crate a workable thumbstick hack for the G1. I actually hope this design will get repeated and improved upon, I have another set of parts on order to do this better the second time.
Hope I can explain what I did well enough to start everyone on improvements...
On to the version one hack. My big problem before was my fingers getting lost on the keyboard during emulators so much that a fast paced game was almost impossible. I tried hacking up nes and xbox controllers to creat a handle that could clip onto the phone and hit the right buttons. No dice after alot of trial and all error. Somewhere along the way after I had already cut up this piece from a white housing, I tried this. I got the idea from old school intellivision, that had interchangable slides over the buttons for each game.
So i figured out which button config I liked, (although now I would do this with eight right hand buttons instead of six) and got to work. Cut out unneeded buttons except some that would stay and get glued for stability of the keypad to the faceplate. On the faceplate, I sanded all the protrusions off, so it was credit card thin and smooth.
Next, I put glue stick glue (the blue stuff) in the underside and pressed my keypad on. this would hold the keypad on for now, and still hardedn to a slick surface and not leave glue on the actual phone.
Then, after it dried, I flipped it over and began the enamel work. I got some nail polish from the drug store, a clear, quick-drying version, and put a coat over the buttons I don't use, to hold the keypad to the faceplate for good. Next, I put thin coats on each game button and let it dry, over and over, until I had a thick bump that was strong, slick, and tactile.
Works great, but the plate as a whole does slide a little on the craziest of games, but now I can play fighting games! So on the next version, I will leave alot more plastic on the top part of the faveplate to make a more secure connection there.
Thoughts? I expect the new parts for my revised faceplate in a few weeks, so I hope to see improvements before then!
Edit: Ok, maybe just hear about some improvement thoughts? Figured this would interest someone, but I guess by the silence that I was wrong... I do plan on moving the directional buttons one over, the select and start one over, and add two more action buttons. And add more to the top part so stay in place a little better. But this version works so well right now, no mis press of buttons, no losing center of direction buttons in a quick game like Tekken and Street Fighter 2 Alpha. I figured I would get some advice for my next and last version, and since the usb host to controller coding seems impossible without technical info from quallcom, this is the best solution to the game controlling buttons I can think of, does anyone have a better idea?
This is actually a really great idea, but not feasible for most people, where do you get an extra G1 keypad?
But, if you could cut a piece of plastic or something to the size of the G1 keyboard (so it would sit snugly) you could just punch holes and/or put buttons on the spots over your selected keys.
Hmmm, I bet even something like a credit card would work.
Just cut the bottom off so it sits perfectly on the keboard, poke holes over the keys you want to press...
The hard part is figuring out how to make buttons.
Thanks for the feedback!
I think you definitely need buttons as opposed to simply holes.
There are two bolts the screen swings to. When I get my next keypad, I am planning on turning that part of the plastic piece into hooks that secure the gamepad. Should be here soon, $20 from hong Kong on ebay. I had the first spare keypad from my Stormtrooper Mod. Others might have one lying around for one reason or another, these are hackers after all.
Credit card idea is perfect, I initially carried the gamepad in the stock g1 padded case but nowadays I keep it in my wallet. Its not bigger than a credit card, and even with the securing improvements still should be smaller than than my id. Iths thin and flexible to handle the wallet no problem.
Once I finish the final version, I will diagram the exact measurements for you all to build your own out of whatever with assurance the buttons will line up!
Edit:
I found the top part that was originally cut off. Its separate but shows layout above the keypad. This is the cut I'm thinking to allow the gamepad to slide into a stationary position. Here is where I'm hoping for more advice on how to cut this just right.
kinda jumping in here. i tried doing it with a credit card, and it works amazing.
i did this for gameboid. it works amazing, actually. better than i expected. i tried it with mariokart (gba), a game where u constantly are moving your thumbs, and so far it was great... ill upload a video when im done with my lab :/
anyways. my tools were: Sharpie, swiss army knife, multiple scissors, tape, and a subway eat fresh rewards card >:]
first i fit the card onto the g1. it slides in pretty nice already, just had to cut off excess...card. marked it with a sharpie, fit to size. try not to make a mess of what you cut off, it comes back. i figured out the buttons i wanted to use. i started with the "dpad." i took the needle thing on the back of the swiss army knife and stabbed it through the card. made it big enough to start cutting. cut out to size. did this for the rest of the buttons as well. i then took the excess card stuff and started cutting out buttons that would fit. started with everything around the same size as the keyboard buttons. i put them in the wholes of the card that was cut out previous, made sure they werent touching the wall, and put a single piece of tape over the top. did that to the bottom too. then, since the dpad felt awkward, i cut one out that imitated the regular gba keyboard, and doubled it on top of the current dpad. i doubled therest of the buttons as well, to have them pop out a bit. put a single piece of tape over the top, none on the bottom. just used some tape to help it stay on the g1, not much is needed, its pretty snug.
as you can see, it isnt great looking, but it works really well
I've always been curious about making use of the mini usb drive the g1 has.
Imagine a shell casing around the phone that mounts into the port and has buttons that can be key mapped into apps for dpads and abxy buttons.
Icebergxx said:
I've always been curious about making use of the mini usb drive the g1 has.
Imagine a shell casing around the phone that mounts into the port and has buttons that can be key mapped into apps for dpads and abxy buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wouldnt get your hopes up. ive tried stuff like that...didnt work out so well. the drivers in the phone only allow the usb driver to do certain things... same goes for the export...it just wouldnt work that...for the normal person. if u have alot of time on your hands and phones you can risk breaking (like HTC, but they have no reason to do this), then go ahead
Nice Credit Card Hack- I think we're onto something here. Easily a way to match the two and offer people diagrams with exact measurements to make their own. Personally I would have kept the L button to the right, so you don't need to leave the directional pad to press it, but whatever your preference.
As for the USB hack, I have done extensive research into this area, and it seems without some code from HTC directly, no one has been able to break into this or a bluetooth hack. Seems easy, usb or bluetooth 12-15 keyboard buttons and we'd be set. But no one has been able to break it, so I have gone to this hardware hack. Any breakthrough news would be greatly appreciated on this thread, but up until now it seems we are at a wall software-wise.
On another note, in doing GBA game research, I noticed a big part of the games were ported from SNES to GBA, so I bought the SNES emulator and gave it a chance. Wow, what a difference. Honestly, the gameplay is so much faster and responsive, the library of games is so much more diverse, I hardly play GBA games anymore until I finish the SNES library. I'm currently working my way through Super Punch Out, and love using Prototype One. When people see me playing the SNES library, they hide their iPhone. Everyone I have encountered admits a separate gamepad is preffered over touching the screen and losing some visibility, and are amazed at the dexterity the Gamepad Prototype One offers. Please keep experimenting people!
Still waiting on my parts from hong kong to make the final design, its taking forever!
wakeupkeo said:
Nice Credit Card Hack- I think we're onto something here. Easily a way to match the two and offer people diagrams with exact measurements to make their own. Personally I would have kept the L button to the right, so you don't need to leave the directional pad to press it, but whatever your preference.
As for the USB hack, I have done extensive research into this area, and it seems without some code from HTC directly, no one has been able to break into this or a bluetooth hack. Seems easy, usb or bluetooth 12-15 keyboard buttons and we'd be set. But no one has been able to break it, so I have gone to this hardware hack. Any breakthrough news would be greatly appreciated on this thread, but up until now it seems we are at a wall software-wise.
On another note, in doing GBA game research, I noticed a big part of the games were ported from SNES to GBA, so I bought the SNES emulator and gave it a chance. Wow, what a difference. Honestly, the gameplay is so much faster and responsive, the library of games is so much more diverse, I hardly play GBA games anymore until I finish the SNES library. I'm currently working my way through Super Punch Out, and love using Prototype One. When people see me playing the SNES library, they hide their iPhone. Everyone I have encountered admits a separate gamepad is preffered over touching the screen and losing some visibility, and are amazed at the dexterity the Gamepad Prototype One offers. Please keep experimenting people!
Still waiting on my parts from hong kong to make the final design, its taking forever!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looking forward to it.
my hack is ok, but it looks like it would break over time. kinda a cheap hack i guess, cost nothing. urs shows promise. engaget worthy
alexjzim said:
i wouldnt get your hopes up. ive tried stuff like that...didnt work out so well. the drivers in the phone only allow the usb driver to do certain things... same goes for the export...it just wouldnt work that...for the normal person. if u have alot of time on your hands and phones you can risk breaking (like HTC, but they have no reason to do this), then go ahead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reminds me when I had iPod Linux on my iPod video 5.5g. We would solder the cables of a nes controller to the board and run it out a hole in the side where there was room -.-) and mounted it in a rough mount on top of the controller.
Worked decent :3 but we couldn't do it through usb as stated because we didn't know how to 'awaken' the usb for such use.
alexjzim said:
i wouldnt get your hopes up. ive tried stuff like that...didnt work out so well. the drivers in the phone only allow the usb driver to do certain things... same goes for the export...it just wouldnt work that...for the normal person. if u have alot of time on your hands and phones you can risk breaking (like HTC, but they have no reason to do this), then go ahead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forget, driver installers? The softwear that makes plugging something into the computer readable and usable?
Anywho I feel as if we devoloped an app to read the modded usb port for it it might work?
Especially with root user.
But I really am more of a concept sort of guy
Hmm, I'm kinda diggin the credit-card thing... I might use an old expired library card or something xD
Can you go a little bit more in-depth on how you made it though? How did you get it to pop up and not hit other buttons when you push down on it?
amgupt01 said:
Hmm, I'm kinda diggin the credit-card thing... I might use an old expired library card or something xD
Can you go a little bit more in-depth on how you made it though? How did you get it to pop up and not hit other buttons when you push down on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. ive been slacking off posting everything. what i did was cut a whole in teh credit card where i wanted the buttons. make it bigger, doesnt have to be perfect. i then cut tiny peaces to the size of the button, so it would only press one. put a single piece of tape over the top and bottom.
then i cut out more of the remaining card to make the buttons bigger, and to make the "dpad" easier to use . put them over the original buttons, so it pops out.
if u dont get it, ill post a video using paper to show what i did. while im at it, if u need that, ill just make a video on usage
AWESOME!
alexjzim said:
kinda jumping in here. i tried doing it with a credit card, and it works amazing.
i did this for gameboid. it works amazing, actually. better than i expected. i tried it with mariokart (gba), a game where u constantly are moving your thumbs, and so far it was great... ill upload a video when im done with my lab :/
anyways. my tools were: Sharpie, swiss army knife, multiple scissors, tape, and a subway eat fresh rewards card >:]
first i fit the card onto the g1. it slides in pretty nice already, just had to cut off excess...card. marked it with a sharpie, fit to size. try not to make a mess of what you cut off, it comes back. i figured out the buttons i wanted to use. i started with the "dpad." i took the needle thing on the back of the swiss army knife and stabbed it through the card. made it big enough to start cutting. cut out to size. did this for the rest of the buttons as well. i then took the excess card stuff and started cutting out buttons that would fit. started with everything around the same size as the keyboard buttons. i put them in the wholes of the card that was cut out previous, made sure they werent touching the wall, and put a single piece of tape over the top. did that to the bottom too. then, since the dpad felt awkward, i cut one out that imitated the regular gba keyboard, and doubled it on top of the current dpad. i doubled therest of the buttons as well, to have them pop out a bit. put a single piece of tape over the top, none on the bottom. just used some tape to help it stay on the g1, not much is needed, its pretty snug.
as you can see, it isnt great looking, but it works really well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I had in mind but was too lazy to actually try. Now you've inspired me to actually try it though!
One of the coolest thing about this is you could do whatever button layout you wanted! You could even carry a few with different layouts for different games.
Heres a question for you all:
I finally received a new body to make a final gamepad, but I have a question for all you gamers- is a simple four-way directional button layout better than eight different directional buttons? Experience in games so far don't seem to show much need for diagonal buttons if pressing the the two buttons it combines is just as good. The credit card hack has only the four directions, so in designing my final, what you you think is better in terms of gameplay? SNES is my favorite emulator, so answers partial to that are preferred!
Bump. Is that allowed? Just posted new prototype...
Here's my super low-rent, quick and dirty (literally) version so far. This is the prototype before i make the better one.
I've only done the d-pad, I'm playing around to see which buttons I want to use for a b x y or whatever.
It actually works REALLY well.
Once I finish this one, I'm gonna cut up another card, but this time cut a section out of the right side of the card (if you've holding it horizontally) so it wraps around the "chin" of the phone to stay in place better.
Nice!
Yes, these designs work REALLY well...
Think I will try to do a credit card one, the plastic is more flexible that the CD case plastic. I want to keep the piece in my wallet, and I know a credit card can take the pressure and flex. Not sure about the cd case plastic yet...
cheap source of plastic for these mods....
Grocery stores.
Alot of them have the area for phone cards and prepaid cards.
None of those cards have any value until they are activated.
They have some that are thinner plastic and some that are thicker. Most are paper with a plastic coating.
I grabbed a bunch when I did my phone stand prototypes.
(Which reminds me...I never posted that.)
your #4 seems to be really nice. i like the color and design. it seems to hook around the g1, which im pretty sure you were aiming for. how exactly does it work in terms of force for the keys?
and if ur gunna go for a credit card, if u put a thin layer of take over both sides, and leave the button in a "hole," it works pretty nice.
im gunna try some new ideas in my #2, thought ide share them in case you want to take them
for the buttons, ill take apart my old gameboy, or SP ( i remember those days ) and use them, if they fit. for force in the actual keyboard, i was thinking of actually using springs, not sure exactly how it would work ... maybe cut a small one from a pen up. for stability, it just popped into my mind.. idk about you but i can easily slide a piece of paper through my g1s screen. not a credit card, but deff. at least movie stud thickness. what im getting at is, you could probably make a "hook" thats straight, and once it pops under the screen, you can bend it, or maybe its meant to pop (i like this word) to hook onto something, like a hairclip. a spring might work here too. hell, when you open the screen and it moves out, theres definitely room to slip a thin wire through. just tie a "knot" on the end of the wire, slip it through, and when its closed, the wire cant come out. just have to make sure its a tight fit. then, if the plastic can curl around on the other side, you'd be good to go.
just giving my 2 cents. ill prob try this stuff sometime over the weekend, maybe sooner.
also, you can set the camera button to something, not really sure if thats helpful, but you could prob make it start, and have room for other stuff.
also, on my dpad thing, i noticed that lets say if i set an UP+LEFT key, it only goes up, if i have two different keys for up and left, and press them at teh same time, it still only goes up. anyone else having this problem? gets annoying after a while
EDIT: improvising on myself, i came up with how it could work. might need more plastic than there is on a credit card :/. anyone know that type of material, but in a bigger...card? doesnt need to be exactly the same, just close enough.
Has anyone attempted this?
I saw this thread and was wondering if anyone has tried installing wminput or lswm to get a wii remote working with bluetooth under Debian or Ubuntu? I just started playing with it myself.
Can anyone enlighten me on the performance of the screen digitizer.
I have been testing several note taking applications on my TFP. Although I have lousy handwriting the TFP makes it even worse. At first I blamed myself and the rather clumsy big tipped stylus and to improve the results I downloaded Touchscreen Tuner. A nice application but minimal improvement.
Then I also noticed it is impossible to draw accurate on the TFP.
A straight horizontal or vertical line is possible but when you try to draw a straight diagonal line it becomes a wave line. Now I really got worried. Maybe my drinking habits had given me this unsteady hand. So I got out a ruler and drew a diagonal line along it. I was relieved that I could continue drinking but what a shock to see the result. Again the diagonal line turned out as a wave line. (See the screen shot)
It turns out the grid of the digitizer is much too widely spaced. I estimate the distance between grid points at about 5 millimeters. And apparently the algorithm to interpolate between the grid points is so insufficient that a contact on the digitizer between two grid points is regarded as a contact with the nearest grid point. The algorithm doesn’t calculate a point in between.
Another way to see this is when you pick up an icon on the home screen and slowly drag it diagonally across the screen. It will not follow your finger or stylus smoothly but it will sway from left to right and stay behind a bit and then catch up again.
A big plus for the TFP for me was the possibility to accurately draw and take notes while working in the field.
As it is advertized and showed by Asus in promotional videos.
That is also what the Notes application was designed for.
Again I am afraid that Asus has (next to GPS, Wifi/BT issues, performance and screen faults) promised us to much goodies to be true.
Does anyone have a solution to this shortcoming or maybe can test if they can reproduce my findings. Maybe it is a malfunction in my TFP.
Please let me know your solutions or findings.
By the way. I also tested a HTC Sensation, a HTC HD and an Ipad 2. On these devices it is perfectly possible to draw a perfectly straight diagonal line.
Seems the behavior is the same on my TFP, except that I tried drawing the diagonal with my finger and it came out a lot straighter than your screenshot. Not nearly as straight as horizontal and vertical lines though, but less waves that what you're showing.
I used a Belkin stylus.
To draw the line I used the edge of a magazin.
I tried to apply equal presure and speed while drawing.
The issue is best seen in a diagonal line under 45 degrees.
There is an app on the market to tune the touchscreen for this and Galaxy Tab, it helps a ton. Touchscreen Tune I think its called.
It is $5 though but with the app, good freewriting application and a decent pen, handwriting is a lot easier.
agentdr8 said:
Seems the behavior is the same on my TFP, except that I tried drawing the diagonal with my finger and it came out a lot straighter than your screenshot. Not nearly as straight as horizontal and vertical lines though, but less waves that what you're showing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It largely depends on the speed you draw it. If you go really fast its pretty straight. Go really slow and its wavy as hell
Maybe I am drunk....
The finer the stylus the wavier the line. Used my finger, no waves.
Use the application mentioned above....
I had a jot pro with a similar problem, except my writing varied greatly based on pressure. If I pressed down hard enough it would write like you would expect, but otherwise it did some crazy stuff. Might just be that particular stylus though
oblomov said:
There is an app on the market to tune the touchscreen for this and Galaxy Tab, it helps a ton. Touchscreen Tune I think its called.
It is $5 though but with the app, good freewriting application and a decent pen, handwriting is a lot easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Striatum_bdr said:
Use the application mentioned above....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP mentioned he tried this, no edit to original thread
redandblack1287 said:
I had a jot pro with a similar problem, except my writing varied greatly based on pressure. If I pressed down hard enough it would write like you would expect, but otherwise it did some crazy stuff. Might just be that particular stylus though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got the same experience with the Wacom Bamboo Stylus.
I've had no trouble writing in supernote or 7notes (the keyboard part), ditto for Sketchbook Pro except I naturally draw crappy. My handwriting with the Jot is fine though.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Spidey01 said:
I've had no trouble writing in supernote or 7notes (the keyboard part), ditto for Sketchbook Pro except I naturally draw crappy. My handwriting with the Jot is fine though.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not asking if people have proper handwriting.
I think the grid spacing is to wide.
But maybe it's my Prime.
Can you post a screenshot of a perfect diagonal line made in Supernote.
This is a well known and well documented issue. It is present on loads of devices. There have been a few threads about this already.
Here is an image from a test that was done quite some time ago.
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"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
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I realize that it's an old picture and really this should have been eliminated by now, but unfortunately it is what it is.
I see what you mean in supernote, tried uploading both an export from supernote and Sketchbook Pro but Tapatalk isn't quite working for it :/
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
I have the same issue and have logged a call with Asus support. I suggest anyone who has this issue also does the same.
I have two primes and they both do this. 32gb champagne gold, both C series serial numbers.
Wow, a bunch of newbies giving advice to each other. Here's what my regular notes look like. Tf101 with adonit jot. Tf101 and 201 have same screen.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/38673648/pictures/writepad_stylus_sample.pdf
If you don't know how to adapt, then don't try.
That was rude.
goodintentions said:
Tf101 and 201 have same screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are wrong on this. Touchscreen definitely has different chip in TF201 (Atmel)!
Also isn't your handwriting done while zoomed in?
So obviously you don't have a TF201.
And obviously the hardware (and also the screen) is totally different.
But if you are willing to help us out and explain to us what we are doing wrong we would be gratefull.
If not then i think you should get back to the TF101 forum.
It is of no use posting an image of what you can do on your TF101.
I can post multiple pictures of the complicated things I can do with pen and papier.
;-)
But that is not the reason why we bought a TF201.
I hope there is someone out there that can help.
dingdonggggg said:
So obviously you don't have a TF201.
And obviously the hardware (and also the screen) is totally different.
But if you are willing to help us out and explain to us what we are doing wrong we would be gratefull.
If not then i think you should get back to the TF101 forum.
It is of no use posting an image of what you can do on your TF101.
I can post multiple pictures of the complicated things I can do with pen and papier.
;-)
But that is not the reason why we bought a TF201.
I hope there is someone out there that can help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are doing wrong is you're not adapting. You're trying to use it like pen and paper. When the tf101 first came out, there were many whiners who came to FDA whining that the tf doesn't feel like a laptop.
Imagine people trying to use pen and paper like chisel and hammer on stones. Or imagine people trying to use the desktop like a typewriter.
The jot on tf doesn't feel like pen on paper. Why? Because its not pen on paper. Adapt or move on. Imagine flying an airplane like driving a car. Complain about that.
Added by edit.
The point I was trying to make is this. Yeah, I zoom in when I write. So? It gives me the freedom to draw out more details than I can with pen on paper. I can also change colors at will. Don't have to carry around all the notebooks and stuff. It took me may be 2 note taking sessions to get use to it. I don't even think about it anymore. And I can just print out the pdf of my notes whenever I want.
Stop trying to use this like pen and paper. Zoom in, do whatever you need to to adapt. Our ancestors adapted from chisel and hammer to pen and paper. And now you're trying to use a stylus on tablet like pen and paper? Why not complain that a car doesn't ride like a horse? Or a train doesn't ride like a horse pulled ferry?
Do what you need to to adapt. If you can't adapt, move on. No need to get stressed out by it.
goodintentions said:
What you are doing wrong is you're not adapting. You're trying to use it like pen and paper. When the tf101 first came out, there were many whiners who came to FDA whining that the tf doesn't feel like a laptop.
Imagine people trying to use pen and paper like chisel and hammer on stones. Or imagine people trying to use the desktop like a typewriter.
The jot on tf doesn't feel like pen on paper. Why? Because its not pen on paper. Adapt or move on. Imagine flying an airplane like driving a car. Complain about that.
Added by edit.
The point I was trying to make is this. Yeah, I zoom in when I write. So? It gives me the freedom to draw out more details than I can with pen on paper. I can also change colors at will. Don't have to carry around all the notebooks and stuff. It took me may be 2 note taking sessions to get use to it. I don't even think about it anymore. And I can just print out the pdf of my notes whenever I want.
Stop trying to use this like pen and paper. Zoom in, do whatever you need to to adapt. Our ancestors adapted from chisel and hammer to pen and paper. And now you're trying to use a stylus on tablet like pen and paper? Why not complain that a car doesn't ride like a horse? Or a train doesn't ride like a horse pulled ferry?
Do what you need to to adapt. If you can't adapt, move on. No need to get stressed out by it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your notes look good, would you mind giving some tips or maybe starting another thread with some tips on how to take notes using a stylus and what not. For example, are you writing in portrait mode or landscape? It looks like portrait but I don't know of that's due to formatting. Any tips would be appreciated. I'd like to be able to use mine for notes on occasion even though my livescribe pen handles notes just fine.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Anyone else having this issue? My spen will launch an app or type characters on the keyboard even when its 1/2 inch away from the screen.. Getting pretty frustrating. I see there's no ability to calibrate the spen either.
There is a way to calibrate the S-Pen over on the international note forum, haven't heard of anyone trying it here. Check it out n let us know if it works, I would but I can't have a note for another 3 months :c
International forum? I heard those guys are pretty rough.. Lol thanks for the tip!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA App
The spen "phantom" triggers the bottom right of my screen when using it while I'm lying on my back. It irritates the hell out of me.
I think it has to do with the combination of a faulty spen (the nib pushes on the pressure sensor when the pen is inverted) and a poorly calibrated screen.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA App
Personally, mine doesn't trigger easily enough for my taste. I have to push harder than I'd like to get it to register. Not "hard" per se, but hard enough that the pen almost wants to 'skip' instead of 'slide' across the screen when trying to navigate around. (Talking about the minimum pressure needed to engage swiping and touching, etc). Still completely usable, just wish that it was a wee bit more sensitive so I could just 'glide' the pen around lightly vs pushing it down while moving around.
I'm having the same problem. I just noticed it last night. I was using the s-pen and would get about 1/4" to the screen and it would select apps/options whatever. Kinda annoying
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA App
Yes, I reported the same issue yesterday... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1511230
After exchanging my first Note, the second has the same problem, but over a smaller area. Unfortunately the area affected this time includes part of the keyboard and the bottom row of the launcher screen, so it makes life difficult when using the S Pen. I'll be exchanging this one too.
Anyone interested can check their device with the S Memo app. Just open a new memo and start waving the S pen over the screen surface about 1/4" above the screen. If you get brush marks on the screen without touching it I'd say there's a problem. And by doing this over the entire screen you can map the areas affected.
If you search YouTube for 'samsung galaxy note s pen problem' you'll find at least 4 international users who've posted videos on this problem.
I'm no expert, but I've experimented with other Wacom pens (I have two older tablet PCs), and neither of those pens exhibit this issue when used on the Note. It seems they only transmit when the pen nib is depressed. The S Pens transmit all the time... there doesn't seem to be a switch depressed by the nib. This system actually provides more sensitivity, such as scrolling screens with less pressure than required with the legacy Wacom pens. However, this increased sensitivity requires a perfectly calibrated digitizer over the entire screen to sense when the pen makes contact with the screen and I'm guessing that's where my problems are coming from. Hopefully the third time's the charm for me.
SteveD01 said:
Anyone interested can check their device with the S Memo app. Just open a new memo and start waving the S pen over the screen surface about 1/4" above the screen. If you get brush marks on the screen without touching it I'd say there's a problem. And by doing this over the entire screen you can map the areas affected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the nub touching the screen, but applying no pressure, I moved it all around a new memo and didn't get any brush strokes. Is that a good test?
Yes, that's sounds good to me. That's the way my Note works with my older Wacom pens.
pj_rage said:
Personally, mine doesn't trigger easily enough for my taste. I have to push harder than I'd like to get it to register. Not "hard" per se, but hard enough that the pen almost wants to 'skip' instead of 'slide' across the screen when trying to navigate around. (Talking about the minimum pressure needed to engage swiping and touching, etc). Still completely usable, just wish that it was a wee bit more sensitive so I could just 'glide' the pen around lightly vs pushing it down while moving around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm kind of with ya on this, I wish mine was a little more sensitive. Although mine doesn't sound quite as bad as yours.
Truaim said:
Anyone else having this issue? My spen will launch an app or type characters on the keyboard even when its 1/2 inch away from the screen.. Getting pretty frustrating. I see there's no ability to calibrate the spen either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think OP's pen is defective. When I press the tip of the pen inward (toward the pen) with my finger and hover over the screen, I get the behavior described - I can be 1/2" away from the screen and tap/draw. But if I don't press the tip of the pen, I have to touch the screen to register a tap. There is a very tiny amount of movement in the white nib, and it should be on a slight spring. Mine doesn't activate upside down either. Maybe someone jammed your pen into something and broke it?
hausman said:
... When I press the tip of the pen inward (toward the pen) with my finger and hover over the screen, I get the behavior described - I can be 1/2" away from the screen and tap/draw. But if I don't press the tip of the pen, I have to touch the screen to register a tap. There is a very tiny amount of movement in the white nib, and it should be on a slight spring. Mine doesn't activate upside down either. Maybe someone jammed your pen into something and broke it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right... I get the same behavior by pressing the nib anywhere over the screen. However, on these defective devices the S Pen still activates the screen in certain areas even without pressing the nib. So I think the pens are probably working okay and it's the digitizer that has problems.
That's my point - the nib is probably broken in a permanently "pressed-in" state. I would suspect the tiny moving-part spring action of the pen before I'd suspect the solid-state digitizer.
AT&T has the spare pen and larger holder for $30, which is a deal considering they offer the spare pen alone for the same price, and Samsung sells the combo for $60. Or you could take it to a store and test the store pen (though based on my experience that would be more likely to be broken or stolen).
hausman said:
That's my point - the nib is probably broken in a permanently "pressed-in" state. I would suspect the tiny moving-part spring action of the pen before I'd suspect the solid-state digitizer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe this picture of a test memo will clarify the issue with my second Note. The S Pen never was close to the screen, at least 1/4" away. But the area of the defect is limited to just a small portion of the screen. So in this case it's not likely to be a permanently depressed nib, but a bad portion of the screen. I can't say what the OP's issue might be. (On my first Note, the bad area was larger and near the top of the screen.)
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Edit: I suspect there's probably some of both out there (bad pens and bad screens)... either way it makes the device difficult to use with the pen and worthy of an exchange.
SteveD01 said:
Maybe this picture of a test memo will clarify the issue with my second Note. The S Pen never was close to the screen, at least 1/4" away. But the area of the defect is limited to just a small portion of the screen. So in this case it's not likely to be a permanently depressed nib, but a bad portion of the screen. I can't say what the OP's issue might be. (On my first Note, the bad area was larger and near the top of the screen.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, sorry, I misunderstood your issue. Got it!
camaroz28 said:
I'm kind of with ya on this, I wish mine was a little more sensitive. Although mine doesn't sound quite as bad as yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I exaggerated it a bit. What I would *like* is if the pressure of the pen's own weight was enough to make it work, and I didn't have to physically press down at all to help it. That way I could very lightly glide it around without pressing much if at all. Basically like your fingers -- you really don't need to press down at all and I want to use the pen as a more accurate finger. But I just need to press a bit. Enough that sometimes I don't press enough and get frustrated that I need to re-swipe or re-tap, and it makes me not really want to keep using it lol. I don't need to like lean on it or anything... it requires about as much as you'd need to make a bic pen start to write on paper.
Well, just back from Best Buy. I was lucky because they had just received another shipment of Notes. I did another exchange and my third Note is working great! No problems with the pen/digitizer combination at all (so far).
While at BB I tried the new pen on my old device and found some improvement, but could still get some spurious screen actions in the lower right corner where the digitizer needs calibration. As other posters have noted, it seems worse if you hold the device upside down (maybe due to the pen nib switch), but was still wonky at any angle.
So it looks to me like this issue may sometimes be due to a miscalibrated or defective S Pen, sometimes a miscalibrated or defective digitizer screen, and sometimes a combination of both. I'm just happy to now have a working device.
pj_rage said:
Maybe I exaggerated it a bit. What I would *like* is if the pressure of the pen's own weight was enough to make it work, and I didn't have to physically press down at all to help it. That way I could very lightly glide it around without pressing much if at all. Basically like your fingers -- you really don't need to press down at all and I want to use the pen as a more accurate finger. But I just need to press a bit. Enough that sometimes I don't press enough and get frustrated that I need to re-swipe or re-tap, and it makes me not really want to keep using it lol. I don't need to like lean on it or anything... it requires about as much as you'd need to make a bic pen start to write on paper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same issue...I have to press harder then I'd like. We cannot be the only ones that think like this right? I would like the pen to work under its own weight.
So the question is. How sensitive is your spen guys? I'd like to make sure there is no problem with my phone or spen.
SteveD01 said:
Well, just back from Best Buy. I was lucky because they had just received another shipment of Notes. I did another exchange and my third Note is working great! No problems with the pen/digitizer combination at all (so far).
While at BB I tried the new pen on my old device and found some improvement, but could still get some spurious screen actions in the lower right corner where the digitizer needs calibration. As other posters have noted, it seems worse if you hold the device upside down (maybe due to the pen nib switch), but was still wonky at any angle.
So it looks to me like this issue may sometimes be due to a miscalibrated or defective S Pen, sometimes a miscalibrated or defective digitizer screen, and sometimes a combination of both. I'm just happy to now have a working device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear that BB is working with you. My phone and pens (the pen that came with the phone, as well as the pen that came with the "s pen holder" accessory) both display the same symptoms while I'm using the pen at an upwards angle. My s memo test was much worse, as the screen starts acknowledging the s pen well above the picture above. It's super frustrating, and I'm glad to hear that not all phones are like this. I'll definitely be exchanging my phone when I have a few hours of free time.
bdeitemeyer said:
... It's super frustrating, and I'm glad to hear that not all phones are like this. I'll definitely be exchanging my phone when I have a few hours of free time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I guess I should have updated this thread. My third Note started exhibiting the same issue after about six hours of use, although it was still better than my first two. I also checked the display models at my AT&T store and they showed the same issue, so all five Notes I've had contact with all have shown the same defect.
My solution was found in another thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1517411
In post #22 of that thread was my final fix, which is still working great for me at this point.
I bought the Tab S4 yesterday August 10th at Best Buy in Chicago (or its suburb to be more precise) and bought the Keyboard Cover since they have a deal on it for $80 with the 64GB tablet purchase.
Review:
Having just recently purchased the Tab S3 (I have a tech obsession problem) with its companion keyboard cover, I can compare them. For whatever reason, the Tab S3 keyboard cover is better all around, from attachment method to way you use it. This one is just terrible on every front.
Pros:
-Activates Dex mode
-The keys are responsive.
Cons:
-The way the tablet fits into this cover via snapping into a holder. I liked the magnetic setup of the Tab S3's type cover
-While it is clearly a slightly larger cover than the Tab S3, it feels 50% to 100% heavier. When the tablet itself is only about 10% heavier than the Tab S3's Tablet.
-The wrist rest terminates into a hard rounded ridge, so it feels like you're typing in a well. Where on the Tab S3 there is about an inch of rest there.
-Given the black color, and wider border on the sides of the keyboard, it makes it feel more cramped than the Tab S3 though they're the exact same size.
-Just like with the Tab S3, I wished there were secondary functions and a FN key, instead we get a lang and keyboard key.
-Because this doesn't have a home button and there isn't a shortcut I found to act as a home key, you have to swipe up on the screen to hit home (if you hide your navigation keys). Not the best.
-The texture on the case itself feels gross, cheap, and rubbery. So YAY, it won't slide around, but the soft touch feel of the Tab S3 cover feels better and more premium.
-There's a cutout for the camera, the Tab S3 covers its up. Living in a dusty environment, it just means its a nice new well for dust to get trapped in.
Conclusion:
They could have done better. I'd get rid of the ridge in the front since it hits the fat of your hand at a sharp and awkward angle, and I bet that would make this infinitely better.
appreciate the review.
in addition to all your points, i wish it also had more than a single angle.
Is it a good every day case? I have a Tab S2 (8") and the official case (the one that snaps into the holes on the back of the tablet).
Most if the time I'll be using the tablet out of Dex mode. When folded behind the tablet does the keyboard get in the way? Should I buy another non keyboard case for every day use?
Slave1 said:
Is it a good every day case? I have a Tab S2 (8") and the official case (the one that snaps into the holes on the back of the tablet).
Most if the time I'll be using the tablet out of Dex mode. When folded behind the tablet does the keyboard get in the way? Should I buy another non keyboard case for every day use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you do have a good point, but there are lighter options out there. Being able to literally compare both the Tab S4's keyboard case and the Tab S3's side to side is what made me annoyed with this years take on the keyboard case, especially since they really hit it out of the park with last year's.
I wish the keyboard case had an easy way to open and just lay flat. It appears it will lay flat but have the keyboard exposed on the bottom, or you can rotate slightly to lay flat with the keyboard protected under the tablet but several rows of keys are still exposed. I liked the way the S3 cover had several angles including one that had the device lay flat for reading.
Glad I'm Getting mine free through Samsung. Doesn't sound worth the price
The keyboard cover sucks IMO. I ordered an $8 magnet case and will be using my faithful old Logitech K480 for my typing needs.
without a touchpad this is a non starter for me.
I wrote a critical review on the Samsung store website. I wonder if it will make it past moderation.
rickyray9 said:
I wrote a critical review on the Samsung store website. I wonder if it will make it past moderation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pen snaps into the holder if you put it in tip first, if it doesn't click it will fall out, but it extremely safe when snapped in. Dont have keyboard version, but same holder on book cover(nice case btw)
gottahavit said:
The pen snaps into the holder if you put it in tip first, if it doesn't click it will fall out, but it extremely safe when snapped in. Dont have keyboard version, but same holder on book cover(nice case btw)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's weird. My pen clicks in on the keyboard cover. Yes, it requires some pressure but then it just makes a nice audible "click" and I doubt it will just fall out by itself.
Yes exactly. That's what I'm saying
Thanks for the review OP. I was thinking of getting the samsung keyboard cover. but after spending a $1000 for my tab s4 256 lte Korean version. I checked my old gadgets box and I found my foldable bluetooth keyboard+trackpad. It worked just fine! easy to carry. works with Dex too!
dcoke said:
Yeah, you do have a good point, but there are lighter options out there. Being able to literally compare both the Tab S4's keyboard case and the Tab S3's side to side is what made me annoyed with this years take on the keyboard case, especially since they really hit it out of the park with last year's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope I like the Tab S4's keyboard cover when it arrives more than you do.
I have a Tab S3 with keyboard cover and, although its keyboard has great action, it also has many shortcomings: no camera cut-out in the moulding, no proper place for the pen, no closed cover detection by the tablet, and so on.
Samsung has yet to "hit it out of the park" with these covers. Even if they had designed it perfectly, the accompanying price tag is absurd. The only way the keyboard cover made sense on the Tab S3 and now again on the Tab S4 is as a freebie with a pre-ordered tablet, which is how I've done it both times. As much as I like the keyboard in use, I certainly wouldn't dream of paying €150 for it.
dcoke said:
-Because this doesn't have a home button and there isn't a shortcut I found to act as a home key, you have to swipe up on the screen to hit home (if you hide your navigation keys). Not the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a quick note here - there is a shortcut for home. It's listed as Meta + Enter in the settings. It took me quite a while to figure out that Meta is the search key right next to Ctrl on keyboard cover, but it works like a charm. There's couple other shortcuts (for back, for displaying notifications), and there's a shortcut for displaying shortcuts, Meta + / (otherwise, the list is buried deep in the settings under physical keyboard). Note that this is context sensitive - the shortcut list is a bit different in Dex mode and it also shows applications shortcuts in certain applications like Chrome.
The only thing I am missing is the ability to change the shortcuts mappings/create my own.
Have the free keyboards started to arrive in the UK?
pdes said:
Have the free keyboards started to arrive in the UK?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still waiting for mine but it has now moved up to processed
Sold mine, pretty useless for a $150 cover esp. since it doesn't wake the tablet or have a touchpad for true dex mode. Got a K480 and bluetooth mouse combo for $20 that works way better for DeX.
jup007 said:
Just a quick note here - there is a shortcut for home. It's listed as Meta + Enter in the settings. It took me quite a while to figure out that Meta is the search key right next to Ctrl on keyboard cover, but it works like a charm. There's couple other shortcuts (for back, for displaying notifications), and there's a shortcut for displaying shortcuts, Meta + / (otherwise, the list is buried deep in the settings under physical keyboard). Note that this is context sensitive - the shortcut list is a bit different in Dex mode and it also shows applications shortcuts in certain applications like Chrome.
The only thing I am missing is the ability to change the shortcuts mappings/create my own.
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I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to use the keyboard (not in Dex mode). For example, If I try to type a question mark, it should be Shift+6 I would think, but I get a ^ like a regular keyboard. I've tried every combination of shift, control, search key (Meta), alt, Alt Gr etc with 6 but there is no way I can produce a ?. Some of the other keys work with the shift key but some do not.
I haven't been able to find any explanations or instructions other than the small pop-up screen in the keyboard settings. I'd appreciate any pointers as to where I can find the instructions.
khocking said:
I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to use the keyboard (not in Dex mode). For example, If I try to type a question mark, it should be Shift+6 I would think, but I get a ^ like a regular keyboard. I've tried every combination of shift, control, search key (Meta), alt, Alt Gr etc with 6 but there is no way I can produce a ?. Some of the other keys work with the shift key but some do not.
I haven't been able to find any explanations or instructions other than the small pop-up screen in the keyboard settings. I'd appreciate any pointers as to where I can find the instructions.
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Why would Shift+6 be question mark? It's '^' on mine. Did you somehow managed get French version of the keyboard or something? Mine has standard US layout as seen in the attachment here:
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And yes, using different keyboard layout is kind of tricky - you first have to have it add it for on-screen keyboard (General Management -> On-screen keyboard -> Samunsung Keyboard -> Manage Input Languages) and then you can configure it for keyboard cover (General Management -> Physical Keyboard -> (choose your language) -> (choose layout) . Plus it's very limited, I'd like to use different layout for my 2nd language keyboard but can't do that.
Going on a trip to Peru and taking this bad boy with me... will be flying all day spending a week in Peru. I'll be off the charger most of that week. Lets see how far i make it.
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I think I would rather carry a battery pack. But to each their own.
What does that do, double the weight? Lol. The S23 Ultra is already a brick.
I've rather carry nothing but a phone...but some unique situation requires alternative charging options. I weighed out the positives and negative of each I'm giving the charging case a try
For short term it's probably OK to use but on a regular basis it's likely to cause battery degradation. Lithium ion batteries should not be kept at 100 for long periods of time and definitely not on a regular basis. Lfp batteries will hopefully make it into production soon. Those are meant to be charged up to 100 regularly and are able to be kept at 100 without impacting battery health. Same rules apply to my Tesla battery. New ones are cobalt free lfp and are much better.
For short term it's probably OK to use but on a regular basis it's likely to cause battery degradation. Lithium ion batteries should not be kept at 100 for long periods of time and definitely not on a regular basis. Lfp batteries will hopefully make it into production soon. Those are meant to be charged up to 100 regularly and are able to be kept at 100 without impacting battery health. Same rules apply to my Tesla battery. New ones are cobalt free lfp and are much better.
Negan said:
For short term it's probably OK to use but on a regular basis it's likely to cause battery degradation. Lithium ion batteries should not be kept at 100 for long periods of time and definitely not on a regular basis. Lfp batteries will hopefully make it into production soon. Those are meant to be charged up to 100 regularly and are able to be kept at 100 without impacting battery health. Same rules apply to my Tesla battery. New ones are cobalt free lfp and are much better.
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Just set the phone to stop charging at 85% and you'll minimize the damage.
shook187 said:
Going on a trip to Peru and taking this bad boy with me... will be flying all day spending a week in Peru. I'll be off the charger most of that week. Lets see how far i make it. View attachment 5858227
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Please dont forget to write your experiences with it...
I don't understand what is the pro of having this brick around instead of bringing a cheaper more flexible power bank
Fl1nt91 said:
I don't understand what is the pro of having this brick around instead of bringing a cheaper more flexible power bank
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There are different instances when this comes in handy instead of a charging brick.
I will be doing my own Mini review soon enough but this video kind of sums up some of its benefits and features
EtherealRemnant said:
What does that do, double the weight? Lol. The S23 Ultra is already a brick.
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Double the weight, double the SAR
Apparently these can make the radios work harder. So hotter antenna, hotter phone.
Fl1nt91 said:
I don't understand what is the pro of having this brick around instead of bringing a cheaper more flexible power bank
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Well, it's up to people's choice at some point. I'd prefer to use a slimmer case and have a power bank on the side (especially since the S23U's battery life is crazy good compared to it S22U counterpart, so you could easily avoid the need to charge it during the day).
You get used to the size and weight immediately I love it. But mine has a fault it seems to be shorting and crackling so watch out for that.
I've the same seats. swapped in my audi avant. they are fine, but meh for the price. 9/10 for the look tho.
oh back to the topic, eheh. Last time I use zerolemon was for swappable batteries, miss those time !
This product can damage the charging port of the phone. I would never get something like this.
I would instead get one of the Chinese phones that support superfast charging (over 100 W) and use it for all activities, except camera. The S23U will be used like a camera. A 20,000 mAh power bank will remain in the bag on standby.
TheMystic said:
This product can damage the charging port of the phone. I would never get something like this.
I would instead get one of the Chinese phones that support superfast charging (over 100 W) and use it for all activities, except camera. The S23U will be used like a camera. A 20,000 mAh power bank will remain in the bag on standby.
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Why would this portable charger damage the phone? There are tons of them out there on the market. They just have to support the charging protocol your device uses, such as USB-PD PPS.
It's unlikely that a charger would actually cause damage unless it experienced a fault. I had an Anker PowerCore that I used when I was working on cell towers because I often had to take photos and video of our work. I managed to drop it 150 feet onto an ice bridge, which damaged one of the cells. I pried the damaged cell out as it was overheating and used electrical tape to wrap the shell back together. Still worked great although with slightly lower capacity
V0latyle said:
Why would this portable charger damage the phone? There are tons of them out there on the market. They just have to support the charging protocol your device uses, such as USB-PD PPS.
It's unlikely that a charger would actually cause damage unless it experienced a fault. I had an Anker PowerCore that I used when I was working on cell towers because I often had to take photos and video of our work. I managed to drop it 150 feet onto an ice bridge, which damaged one of the cells. I pried the damaged cell out as it was overheating and used electrical tape to wrap the shell back together. Still worked great although with slightly lower capacity
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The Type-C connector is plugged in 24x7 and if the phone is dropped or mishandled, there are chances that it breaks something internally. Plus keep it connected to a power source 24x7 is a bad idea. And on top in everything, this is just too big for any pocket and too bulky for comfortable use.
The costs (in terms of convenience of is use, carrying around, potential for damages, etc.) far outweigh the benefits of keeping the battery charged. There are much better alternatives to this that are much safer and convenient too.
TheMystic said:
The Type-C connector is plugged in 24x7 and if the phone is dropped or mishandled, there are chances that it breaks something internally. Plus keep it connected to a power source 24x7 is a bad idea. And on top in everything, this is just too big for any pocket and too bulky for comfortable use.
The costs (in terms of convenience of is use, carrying around, potential for damages, etc.) far outweigh the benefits of keeping the battery charged. There are much better alternatives to this that are much safer and convenient too.
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Valid points, keeping a lithium battery at 100% SoC tends to shorten its life. This has a power button though, so it only charges the device while it's on. The USB connector is integral with the power bank, though, and because this is a protective case, it's not too likely that an accidental drop or something would cause damage.
So much false information on here!! Imagine being Zero Lemon and making a product that would damage phones?
V0latyle said:
Valid points, keeping a lithium battery at 100% SoC tends to shorten its life. This has a power button though, so it only charges the device while it's on. The USB connector is integral with the power bank, though, and because this is a protective case, it's not too likely that an accidental drop or something would cause damage.
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Damages are only a potential outcome. But the biggest disadvantage is how much bulky the already big phone becomes. It doesn't matter how big the user's hands are. This product causes more inconvenience for the benefits it provides.
shook187 said:
So much false information on here!! Imagine being Zero Lemon and making a product that would damage phones?
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For the price of this case, you could get 3 or 4 powerbanks of 10,000 mAh each. You can keep one in the pocket if you want . It would be far more convenient that way.
But to each his own.