extreme-typing-test

You would think that a computer with a full QWERTY keyboard, even one with tiny keys like the Asus Eee PC 701, would allow you to type faster and more accurately than an iPhone with its touchscreen virtual keyboard. But then you’ve obviously never tried typing while in the back of a rally car racing around a track at full speed.

Crave’s Rory Reid decided to give both devices a try while whooshing around a track, and he found it nearly impossible to hit the correct keys on the Eee PC (It looks like an Eee PC 701, but I can’t tell for certain from the video). But the handheld iPhone was easier to use, especially since it features some auto-correct features.

Long story short, I would expect slightly different results if you were sitting at a quiet desk, or even if you were trying to tap out a complete system. But if you happen to be trying to send short text messages or emails when driving, flying, or skydiving at ridiculous speeds, it looks like you might be better off with a cellphone than a netbook.

You can check out the video after the break.

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9 replies on “iPhone bests Eee PC in a rather unusual typing test”

  1. The problem here is that despite it being a joke some people just skim articles and what they remember two months later isn’t “that joke article” but rather that in some test iPhone as better at typing.

    This is just hash-noise in what should be a clear channel of information, and that is why this is just misplaced BS that should not get linked to and from everywhere.

  2. It doesn’t count until he does it from the second seat of a formula GT car during a race.

  3. Oh do chill, people. It was obviously just a bit of fun and an unashamed excuse to have a ride in a cool car. Anyone who reads Crave regularly (as I do) would know what the conclusion was going to be anyway, just a fun way of getting there!

  4. Like comparing an apple to a roast dinner! Yes, while running an apple is easier to eat!

    Sensationalist crap reporting, he just wanted to get a free ride in a rally car and this was his lazy arse way of doing it.

    Fun test? He could have at the very least, left the iphone out of the car instead of holding it while typing. I bet he would be that slow on any normal keyboard!

    I bet any teenager would be faster and more accurate with a nokia and T9!

    1. Yes, fun – but shame the camera angle stopped us seeing most of the typing. I suspect a huge part of the Eee’s problem was keeping the heavier keyboard steady, whereas the phone obviously moves exactly with Rory’s hands. This is perhaps something that needs to be addressed by the netbook manufacturers – rather than consider their devices to be mini notebooks and simply put them through a shrinking machine, design them from the ground up as ultra-mobile devices, meant to operate well when hand-held in unfavourable environments. One recent netbook had its mouse substitute at the top right of the keyboard and people rather laughed at it, but it’s that kind of lateral usability thinking that’s spot on.

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