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by tyw 4670 days ago
I still haven't joined the smartphone revolution and this appeals to me in some respects, but I wish they'd have opted for a full physical keyboard. I avoid sending texts whenever possible because T9 is such a pain in the ass compared to QWERTY.
5 comments

I think Asha 210 is the phone you are looking for; featurephone with qwerty keypad:

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_asha_210-5417.php

To each their own, I love the minimalistic "candy bar" approach to phones.
Really? With the properly configured dictionary, T9 can be a treat. I regularly type 2 or 3 page texts in under a minute using T9.
T9 is really a great input if the dictionary is configured correctly, as you mentioned, and you are aware of certain words where you need the second or third choice ('font' and 'dont' were a problem for me until I forced myself to use the ' in don't.)

Touchscreen displays are great but with a lack of tactile feedback nor physical key positioning awareness (touch typing, fingers on home row, etc) I have to constantly monitor the output to ensure it is correct. The same goes, albeit less so, with Swype (or equivalent.)

Full size keyboards work well enough but you have to master typing on a small qwerty keyboard with just your thumbs which can also be problematic.

With T9 I can consistently generate my desired outcome without looking at the screen, watching my fingers make the movements, or any other silly nonsense.

Furthermore if the phone had a directional pad, as most do for menus, editing the few typos or changing the message is such a joy compared to trying to tap a small letter on a smart screen or getting the zoom to pop up for precision positioning. This could be applied to full screen keyboards as well, of course, so this point is not a gripe about them.

I held off on a smart phone for so long it became a running joke in my circle of friends, I loved T9 on that nokia 6100.
I have a co-worker who saw my dumb phone and thought it was some new cutting edge device since it was so tiny.

Good laugh for all the devs in the office.

Have you considered a BlackBerry Q10?
Read: Have a you considered a dead corpse?