I used an N900 for a few years (got one with the early adopter discount when it was released). While the keyboard was miles ahead of all the on-screen stuff at the time I don't think I want to go back to that keyboard from a current decent touch-screen phone. The keys were a bit too small for fast typing...
I wonder how it compared to the keyboard on the N97. Though it was a symbian based phone, the putty client allowed you to connect to a server and attach to a screen or tmux session, which worked okay with that keyboard and a few on-screen buttons.
Re:The Nokia N900: the future that wasn’t
by seba_dos1 on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @11:24PM
(#26499427)
The key size is alright, I'm able to type on it much faster than on a touchscreen - provided that I don't need to use anything else than regular letters. The most painful thing on that keyboard is lack of 4th row of keys.
When this was out I was using the OG Motorola Droid. I wanted one of these but they were not available on my carrier so I stayed on the Droid line. The hot-dog slide keyboard was amazing. I had full terminal control from these.
Nowadays I actually still rock a 2017 iphone SE; dimensions wise I don't want anything bigger in width or height, but i would gladly add some thickness to get a full tactile keyboard again.