I voted for the keypad entry. The only thing which annoys me on the N810 tho, is that the d-pad is on the keyboard and I need to slide it out every time I want to use a d-pad (which is way more often than I need the actual keyboard).
Difficult to vote because I like both. Finger when only needing a few input keys. Keypad for the tough work. What I like most is not having to use either because of the good UI. Then I prefer finger as input device.
However shell wih fullscreen terminal + keypad is quite an overview compared to touchscreen input, and much quicker. Besides, my error rate is then less than any form of touchscreen input.
Localisation issues should be fixed by getting a localized keyboard layout (at least software-wise; perhaps also hardware-wise). I know in Germany the N810 sold has QWERTZ layout.
I've turned off the on-screen keyboard. Over time, I've adapted to (a) sliding out the keyboard to unlock my N810, (b) heavily using the predictive/suggested text on the screen. I find the keys to the small size, but rarely have problems -- but use a "thumb" style of typing, which easily accommodates a left-hand "pivot" for the on-screen suggested word completion.
Outside of Canola, there are few (too few) applications that are finger-friendly.... So I've typically got the stylus in-hand, and thumbing on the keyboard ... (boy, I really wish there was a gmail thumb-compatible client....)
If the touch screen entry would be upgraded to something like swype it would make it a strong contender at least in my eyes. I'm already quite fast at typing on the virtual keyboard, and I'm confident that with a system like swype I could write a lot faster than with a HW thumb keyboard. Of course I also have a separate BT keyboard for the heavy duty writing.
I've turned off the on-screen keyboard. Over time, I've adapted to (a) sliding out the keyboard to unlock my N810, (b) heavily using the predictive/suggested text on the screen. I find the keys to the small size, but rarely have problems -- but use a "thumb" style of typing, which easily accommodates a left-hand "pivot" for the on-screen suggested word completion.
That's almost exactly my usage pattern, too. Also, I must note that, with practice, you can type mighty fast on the keyboard (esp if you need to cerrect and not use numbers much). It's not as effortless as stylus-pecking, not as quick as my all time favourite palmtop keyboard of the HP95LX, but still quite quick. Stylus has an easier speed improvement curve, but I'm not sure at all it can beat the keyboard in an average email/console scenario.
