Keyboards or Touchscreens: Which Is Best for You?

When you're deciding which smartphone to get, there's an important decision you need to make, do you want a device that has a touchscreen, a numberpad, or a full keyboard.

I can give you some general pointers on this, but I can't tell you which is best, because that varies from person to person. It's like asking which is best, coffee or chocolate? The answer depends entirely on who you ask.

No matter which you go with, your choice of touchscreen or non-touchscreen will help determine which type of smartphone you'll use, and vice versa. For example, if you want an iPhone, you're getting a device with a touchscreen and no keyboard or numberpad. And the other side of the coin is that if you really like the idea of a touchscreen, you've eliminated all BlackBerry and Symbian S60 devices, because, at this point anyway, there are no models running these operating systems with touchscreens.

The choice isn't absolute, though. There are versions of Windows Mobile for both types of screen, and Palm OS smartphones have touchscreens but are esy to use without ever touching them.

Touchscreen

Many people like touchscreens because they like the idea of just reaching out and touching whatever it is they want to select on a screen. Others dislike the whole concept, though. These are often people who have been using standard mobile phones for years where you never touch the screen.

The best peice of advice I can give you is that phones with touchscreens sometimes require two hands to use. You'll hold the device in one hand and poke at the screen with the other. Non-touchscreen models have been designed to be controlled with a single hand, as you'll be holding the device in your palm and controlling it with your thumb on a Directional Pad (think of it like a flat joystick).

If you go for a touchscreen, in most cases you'll be entering numbers and text onto virtual numberpads and keyboards on the display. There's no feedback when you do this -- the key doesn't move when you touch it -- so some people aren't fond of this setup.

Numberpad

At it's heart, a smartphone is a phone (it's right there in the name) and many people expect their phone to have a dedicated numberpad.

One thing to keep in mind is that many of the models that have numberpads expect you to use them for text entry. If you have a standard phone now and are accustomed to writing texts with T-9 then this won't be an issue for you. Otherwise I'll warn you there's steep learning curve in becoming good at entering letters on a numberpad.

Keyboard

Some of the most successful smartphones have a built-in keyboard. BlackBerries and Treos are good examples. These generally have the same arrangement of keys as a laptop or desktop's keyboard, but much, much smaller.

A dedicated keyboard is generally the easiest and fastest way to enter text, but smartphones that include one are almost always larger than their competitors. There's a limit to how small you can make a keyboard and still have it be usable.

All of the Above

If you can't decide which of these is best for you, there are devices that combine two of these input options, and a few that even have all three.

For example, you can find models that have a touchscreen, but also have a dedicated keyboard or numberpad. These devices are usually refered to as "sliders," as their screen slide aside to reveal the keyboard or numberpad.

Most of the devices that combine input methods run Windows Mobile or Palm OS.