Firstly, apologies for the hugely generic subject, I couldn't think of a better one.
Primarily a question for Wendell and his HP 100LX
I have a disability which means my speech is hard to understand when people aren't used to it, and is almost impossible to understand when in noisy environments such as out socialising in pubs.
Therefore I tend to have to resort to typing things out on my phone in order to participate in the active conversation, but doing so means I have to be able to type extremely fast in order to keep up with the conversation - or rather, not hold it up for too long. My disability also affects my fine motor control so typing fast is relatively difficult for me as well.
I currently have a HTC ChaCha (yes, the lame facebook branded one) as it was one of the only android phones available (at the time) with a QWERTY keyboard in the UK - and the keyboard on it isn't particularly great, it requires quite a lot of pressure to register key presses and there's no real click sensation which confirms the action, not helped by it beginning to wear out. Slightly bigger keys would be great as well.
Watching the latest INBOX.EXE I noticed Wendell mention he liked the HP 100LX and it looks like the kind of thing that would be quite good at the job, if it had a backlit screen.
So this is probably a question for Wendell mainly, but am open to help / advice / ideas from anyone. Off hand do you know of any similar devices to the HP 100LX which may do the job - i.e. has a backlit screen, decent tactile keyboard and has a hackable OS as if there isn't a notepad type app I can always code one up.
Or does anyone know of any current phones with decent hardware keyboards, there seems to be a lack of them with current android releases on. I did get to try out a BB Q10 and the keyboard felt really good, however with the state BB is currently in I'm not sure forking out for a Q10 is the best idea in the world.
I realise there are a few phones out there with QWERTY keyboards which slide out, however these are difficult for me to use as they involve holding the device with both hands and typing with the thumbs, and on small keyboards I primarily type with one finger and hold the device with the other. I also can't rest them on the table to type as where the keyboard slides out, the bottom of the phone is no longer flat so unless the keyboard has the bulk of the weight in it the phone is unstable. Hence why the 100LX caught my eye as its basically a tiny laptop so could rest on a desk without issue, meaning I could use both hands to type far quicker.
There's bound to be a device out there which is perfect for this situation lol.