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Resistive vs Capacitive: the invisible tech war in which both opponents can win?

65 replies · 165,863 views · Started 19 March 2009

Just to shake things up a little... I found this thread because I was looking for an answer to a dilemma concerning touchscreens(not symbian related).

I'm in the process of buying a new digital camera and found the Samsung ST5000 which I decided on because of it's features including a 3.5" capacitive touchscreen.
so right before I went out and bought it I found out that there also is a model ST5500 with bluetooth, wi-fi and a 3.7" touchscreen. Only it's resistive.

I have had trouble with resistive screens in the past, but it was a couple of years ago. So my question is; Are resistive screens still that bad that it outweighs the added features?

Having bluetooth and wi-fi on my camera would be great but I don't want to have to fight with the phone whenever I want to open a menu.

hey this may be a bit late but.... 😊

Unregistered wrote:Just to shake things up a little... I found this thread because I was looking for an answer to a dilemma concerning touchscreens(not symbian related)

The point to remember about any touchscreen, is that it is not JUST a hardware problem!!! when the 5800 first came out, the screen was not that sensitive... a good few software updates have now made it much better!!!

Also, if you do search you will find many replacement touchscreens available... now dont be a fool, and get one hoping to fit it into a *different* phone - about the same as buying a land-rover door for your mini!

Hey it may fit, might even close, but next time it rains, you go over a bump.... never mind when you want to sell the car... :P

So I've never had a touch screen phone (latest: 2 Pantech c3b). For the last 2 years I've enjoyed the touch screens on my GPSs (first a Navigon, now the top-of-the line Garmin). I always, always use my acrylic fingernails for all touch-screen navigation (actually rather short nails, but they make great styluses). I never really knew about capacitive vs. resistive, I just knew I had no trouble adapting to using those screens.

So the other day I'm in the AT&T Mobility store shopping for a new phone, I'm open to touch screens, but I discover that half of them feel like they DON'T WORK. Fortunately I got a knowledgeable salesperson (only one out of the 4 I've spoken to) who mentioned the words. A little more fiddling with the phones on display showed me that yes, there is no way I'm going to settle for capacitive. Yes, I said "settle", because I would be miserable with capacitive. So de gustibus and all that, I'm not going to try to convince anyone that they should prefer resistive, but don't tell me that I "really want" capacitive if it weren't for the price.

I will only get resistive, and I'm now in the process of painstakingly researching which phones have resistive screens (along with all the other features I want). So far no one seems to think it worth mentioning in their descriptions. I just hope the phone I finally decide I like best is one that is available to actually try out in the AT&T showroom.

Unregistered wrote:I will only get resistive, and I'm now in the process of painstakingly researching which phones have resistive screens (along with all the other features I want). So far no one seems to think it worth mentioning in their descriptions. I just hope the phone I finally decide I like best is one that is available to actually try out in the AT&T showroom.

I would recommend you check out www.gsmarena.com to to find out what type of touch screen a particular phone has.

Ok here is MY take, I am not a Fanboy, I just LOVE tech and gadgets! First Off, I don't even OWN ANY Smartphones, I couldn't care less about the price of the phones, it's the recurring monthly charges that turn me off. i have OOMA at home(I Love it) along with Net10 deals I do at Fatwallet.com i get mobile prepaid minutes for a song. Anyway, I do LOVE GPS's I got TONS mostly handheld units, ALL Garmin(They are the BEST in GPS) anyway RECENTLY I just bought a NEW toy, the Garmin 295W from Amazon, what a MONSTER... it packs in a GPS, Mp3 player, Wifi Web broswer(Ok it somewhat sucks,due to screen size and speed) and Geo-capture Camera for Geocashe. anyway it has a Resistance Touch screen that works REAL well, my FAVORITE part is the Precision, with the MINUTE Web pages, being able to Precisely click on say a Google hyperlink or data field to enter a new search is invaluable. I use the cap from a paper-mate pen as a stylus when I want precision. The Biggest things going for Cap. Touch is multi-touch, and lighter(Slightly) touch if they can do that with Resistance we have a winner.