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I did the same thing last week. Same results.

Try that contest again, instead use middle aged large fellows with fat fingers and poor eyesight.

Touch typing will rule the day.

Apr 29, 09 - 04:59 pm Comment from: ron

Yeah, but fat guys wouldn't fit in the race car.

Tryii thadt agzaain wiitthh preductme tsdyt offfffff\

Sorry, I'm typing from the space shuttle, during takeoff.

Try that again, with predictive text off.

Bullshit! I own an iPhone, an iPod Touch, and an Eee PC. Only a complete idiotic fanboy would believe this nonsense. The Asus has a keyboard. If I type that I'm ill on it, It doesn't say that I'm "I'll".. and so on............ It's fine for quick notes or emails but to compare it to a real keyboard (although smaller than my Macbook) is stupid..

The iPhone is an amazing deice - But this fanboy nonsense "It's really a handheld Mac" has got to go. The Eee PC is not Junk, it's not Junky, or any other characterization Apple and the fanboys want to give Netbooks...

It's too bad Apple doesn't know how to make a netbook under $500 that is not junk because the rest of the industry seems to be having no problem... And my Eee PC running OS X 10.5.5 is a good example....

Hey, Alx... complain to Crave. It was their test, not ours.

Apr 29, 09 - 05:17 pm Comment from: Jubei

@ Alx

You must be typing on a Eee PC because you have a typo. YOU FAILED! AHAHAHA

Apr 29, 09 - 05:22 pm Comment from: Crabs

@Alx

You may have all of those things, but have you ever tried to use one in a world-class rally car?

PS, why on earth do you own an iPhone and an iPod touch?

I did the same thing but I was naked and drinking a spot of tea in my test....don't ask.

Where do we sign up to do these test? I don't really care who the winner is, it just sounds like fun.

Apr 29, 09 - 05:45 pm Comment from: LateRegistrant

In this comparison, the use of the iPhone is more accurate largely because the reporter is operating it with one outstretched hand. So iPhone, hand, and thumb tend to move together.

The netbook is more difficult to use because it's sitting on the reporter's knees. The jostling sends netbook and typing hands in uncoordinated directions.

Apr 29, 09 - 05:45 pm Comment from: Jubei

I bet no one, I mean no one can type correctly during sex with Megan Fox, even with the iPhone. Yes the iPhone will spell it correctly, but the sentence you type won't make any sense. DEMO:

"The lazy fox jump and what umm it kinda oh wait, ran and oh my...

Hey, Alx, Apple already makes a netbook under $500 that isn't junk. It's called the iPhone.

It's just that unlike everybody else who entered the market, they didn't envision the netbook concept as being a crippled, miniature laptop with a desktop OS shoehorned into it.

I have noticed that iPhone can tell what I write, even if every single letter is offset by one key. For example iPhone sees "eodj" as the word "wish"

I endorse this conclusion. In the beginning it was hard to get used to the iphone soft keyboard. With small training and with the iphone laid over a table, I can type very fast, faster than on My kid's Intel classmate-like computer. Sometimes, when I'm out in the field, i write with the iphone over my leg. I can write long messages or even some long text files (over 20 lines), very easy. As someone told before, with age, fatness and less accurate vision, this can become more difficult. By now, in my late thirty's, the iphone it's great typing experience. The technology is so great that works flawlessly in my mother language (portuguese), which has lots of accentuated characters. I'm using beta 3.0 and all I can say is that you all will love it!!!

Apr 29, 09 - 06:15 pm Comment from: HMCIV

A more realistic test would have involved typing: "I'm in a million dollar racing car and you're not. SO SUCK ON IT!" to everyone in their inbox.

Apr 29, 09 - 06:17 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

I think I bruised a kidney watching that video. I didn't realize they still made Citroens. Wonder what kinda gas mileage that thing gets.

Apr 29, 09 - 06:37 pm Comment from: Cubert

SixnaHalfFeet?!?!?

Who is that?!?!? I think only people who have actually posted here should be given the nod by MDN for a heads up.

@ Major Tom

LOL Now take your protein pill. and keep that helmet on.

Go Apple!

Peace out.

Apr 29, 09 - 06:42 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

Cubert,

Maybe they do post under a different name. Be nice.

Apr 29, 09 - 06:43 pm Comment from: Cubert

Sir Gill Bates,
"Wonder what kinda gas mileage that thing gets."

It's so bad it's referred to as gas footage.

Apr 29, 09 - 06:48 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

Cubert,

I had a bad case of gas footage once. Quite painful and unpleasant. What do you prescribe for it?

Apr 29, 09 - 07:00 pm Comment from: Anonymous©

Amputation.

Apr 29, 09 - 07:25 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

"Amputation."

I was kinda thinkin' more along the lines of an anti-biotic, but I guess that's a viable option.

Any suggestions for this end-of-life-as-we-know-it pandemic called 'swine flu'? The world awaits.

Apr 29, 09 - 07:35 pm Comment from: 84 Mac Guy

Next time the guy should take a Dell inside the rally car. By the end of one round around the track the Dell's hinges would probably be falling off.

Any suggestions for this end-of-life-as-we-know-it pandemic called 'swine flu'? The world awaits.


The only way to prevent getting this disease is by having relations with a pig.

Steve Ballmer doesn't count.

But Count Dracula can.

"One million, one million, deaths"

Apr 29, 09 - 07:49 pm Comment from: Big Al

@ Sir Gill Bates,

The trick is to get out there in a fast car and pass the gas.

Apr 29, 09 - 07:56 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

"The trick is to get out there in a fast car and pass the gas."

I would'a been passing more than just gas if I had been riding in that rally car!

Alx,

Did you type your name on an EE PC. It looks like the "e" key is broken. LOL!

Apr 29, 09 - 08:17 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

"The only way to prevent getting this disease is by having relations with a pig."

I have an aunt with an African gray parrot and a nephew with a couple of hamsters, but no one in the family has any pigs.

Apr 29, 09 - 08:21 pm Comment from: GregoriusM

Still, although I am an Apple fan boy to a great degree, using the auto-correct feature on the iPhone is not a fair comparison to typing on a regular keyboard.

Do I like the iPhone? Yes. Do I think the comparison to a regular or netbook-sized keyboard is ludicrous? Yes.

Without the auto-correct feature, few, if any, can approach the typing speed of a touch typist.

Greg

Apr 29, 09 - 08:27 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

"... few, if any, can approach the typing speed of a touch typist."

Ahhh, but, put the touch typist in that Citroen C4 and see how well they do.

So.....

The point is, if you ever need to text from the back of a speeding rally car, the iPhone is the device to have?

This is the kind of stunt I'd expect from Microsoft.

the test is done by CNET, not Apple, in the first place.

Second, CNET or the persons executing the test probably thought that a tough environment would be a good place to truly see which keyboard is easier to use, and can deal with shakes and bumps.

"It's just that unlike everybody else who entered the market, they didn't envision the netbook concept as being a crippled, miniature laptop with a desktop OS shoehorned into it."

They don't envision it having copy & paste, multitasking or document editing either.

Hang on it's not a netbook, it's a phone !!!! Now I understand.

I was at a conference not long ago when I found myself in need of a pen to take notes. I was looking around for one when I realized that I had my iPhone with me, and figured, I could perhaps note some of the highlights with my iPhone. So I pulled my iPhone and started to two-finger type ...woha! Unimpeded by having to formulate my own thoughts and just typing, I was typing faster that I could ever imagined I could, I was skating on ice - typing faster than others were writing.

It was an epiphany. think about it, skating on ice is harder and slower than walking on sand, or even rock, when you first begin to skate - just as typing on the iPhone is more difficult than typing on a keyboard is at the beginning. But as you get to type on the iPhone over time, your finger muscles adjust, developing control and speed on their own. Because there is little friction, an ice skater will always move faster on ice than someone moving on rocks. The same is true with the iPhone. Turn off the audio feedback and just glide on the iPhone ice screen. There is nothing like the iPhone for typing.

Apr 29, 09 - 10:53 pm Comment from: YoYo

That iPhone beat EeePC is not surprising to me. Yesterday I was iChatting with my friend, in the end he said: "You know, I really don't like to type on this keyboard, I wish it was like your Mac keyboard". I told him I've been typing on iPhone, and he had to call me to believe I was actually in a crowded metro train. He was typing faster than me, with some mistakes, but didn't believe that I was typing pretty much at the same speed as on my regular keyboard. As a musician, I'm pretty fast for such an old man.

@ all complainers:

People who are resistant to change and difference, will always fail when making attempts at it. Preconceived notions only lead to bias, which in turn leads to a false sense of pride and accomplishment.

People who actually make some effort at changing, are usually in fact successful. Resilience comes from desire and/or necessity.

The tactile sensation of physical keyboards can never be replaced by a touch screen. Most people who prefer a physical keyboard do so out of familiarity. There were studies done back in the 80's about perceived productivity versus actual. The study compared which was quicker, entering keyboard commands or selecting commands from a menu using a mouse. Turns out, most people were quicker at using the mouse than the keyboard, even though most of them felt that they performed the function quicker with the keyboard. This was because they were familiar with the keyboard and therefore, out of bias, assumed it was quicker.

I've had my iPhone for 18 months now and just a couple of weeks discovered that if I hold it in one hand and use my thumb to type, I can also use the index finger on my other hand to two-finger-type much more quickly and accurately. Previous attempts to use both thumbs always felt too awkward and by accident I discovered using my index finger worked much better.

Ya, because this is my average day.

These types of unrealistic tests do nothing showcase the real features of the iPhone. It just gives the 'haters' more fodder to complain against iPhone snobs.

Apr 30, 09 - 03:01 am Comment from: SKY LARK

Cnet get it wrong ... the plonkers

At the end of the story they add a correction "We stated in the video that Kenneth Hansen is Swedish. He's actually from Denmark. Our båd."

But in fact their Kenneth is Swedish, they must have been thinking about Kenneth Kruse Hansen who is Danish but is a motorcycle speedway rider.

-
For those who have never seen it before, here is a youtube link to the ultimate racing clip EVER - Ari Vatanen's record-breaking run at the 1988 annual Pike's Peak Hill Climb, Colorado, also known as The Race to the Clouds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-K1B4sTX4o

Amazing driving.
Magnificent film production values.
Excellent score.
...

Breathtaking.
...

2009 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be held on July 19, 2009 - Be there.

Apr 30, 09 - 04:43 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

SKY LARK,

That's insane! I almost snapped my iBook in half watching that. Those guys have got to be out of their freakin' minds.

That makes NASCAR look like a bunch of old women.

your arm absorbs the bounces a lot more than your lap, its a stupid test.

My wife bought this after we did lots of research. The ASUS seemed to have everything she wanted; tipping points in its favor were the new Atom processor, the 160G hard drive,installed Windows XP, 92% keyboard and the promise of 8-9 hours of battery life. She bought it in preparation for our upcoming trip to Europe. We didn't want to lug around a laptop. This little puppy fits inside her purse and weighs a tad over 2 lbs.
After playing with it for a few weeks, and taking it on a trip to Canada, she could not be happier. Everone who sees it wants one. She liked the blue color, so that's what she got. It works straight out of the box and has behaved flawlessly.
A very sweet unit indeed. You can also buy one at http://getasus.com