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The difference (the lack of) a touch screen makes

6 replies · 2,600 views · Started 24 October 2006

slitchfield 24 Oct 2006, 21:36

Steve Litchfield explores an attribute that's rarely covered in the smartphone world - how useable is each device in sunlight? Is yours crystal clear or does it resemble a mirror? The answer's probably related to the presence or lack of a touch-screen layer.

Read on in the full article.

krisse 24 Oct 2006, 22:44

A very interesting twist on the whole touchscreen-vs-normal screen debate, obviously in some situations touchscreens can be a real pain.

However, I do wish Nokia and other S60 manufacturers would at least give us some models with a touchscreen so we'd have the option of using one (isn't support for touchscreens an optional part of the 3rd Edition specs?).

Surfing the net is so much easier with a stylus, as is editing a word document or spreadsheet, and the Nintendo DS has shown that gaming can also greatly benefit from touchscreens.

martinharnevie 25 Oct 2006, 02:39

The touchscreen of a Psion 5mx is excellent in sunlight (though if you're using it on a hot beach you might have to cool it down in the icebox on occasion). This proves that touchscreens can work well. I don't have any major issue with my P900 or my GF's P990 either....and nowadays I live in a region where the sun is relentless with average temperatures between 35-40 Celsius.

Lack of touchscreen is the reason I've stayed out of the Nokias, even though I still use a 9210 as a second phone.

slitchfield 25 Oct 2006, 07:59

No, no, I wish I hadn't even mentioned the Psions now - the monochrome screens were a totally different technology!

[note to other commenters - the word Psion is banned from here downwards!]

Steve

martinharnevie 25 Oct 2006, 10:46

slitchfield wrote:No, no, I wish I hadn't even mentioned the Psions now - the monochrome screens were a totally different technology!

First, LCD monochrome is not that different from LCD colour. You're fundamentally wrong. Basic properties are the same. You might be confusing it with OLED, which is a completely different technology.
Second, the XY-layer on a 5mx is not that different from the XY-layer on a P900 or any other touchscreen device. And it's the XY-layer we're talking about. So the comparison is relevant, banned or not.

note to other commenters - the word Psion is banned from here downwards!

Haha...ok.......Teklogix' netPad outdoor screen is pretty good too. And it's colour.

Bassey 25 Oct 2006, 12:39

Obviously all things are relative, and I don't have a Nokia Series 60 device to hand to compare. However, I use a touch-screen based O2 MiniS as a navigational aid when I'm out walking in the Hills (bluetooth GPS unit and Memory Map software). I've never had a problem with viewing the screen out doors and I was out walking around Ullswater in July on the hottest (sunniest) day since records began.

And it isn't just me. I know of at least two mountain search and rescue organisations in the British Isles that use touch-screen devices with GPS units and mapping software. I hardly think they'd bother if such devices couldn't be viewed outdoors.

As I say, I don't have any to compare, so I'll accept your word that plain screens are better in direct light than touchscreens, but I've always found touchscreen devices perfectly useable and you'd struggle to find someone with a more outdoors lifestyle than I!