Portable Word Processors?

paulcole asks: "I am currently an English major and short story writer, who is in the market for a word processor. My laptop is a good enough tool, but I feel that it isn't quite what I need for a portable writing tool. Namely, I want something smaller, more portable, and easier to use. Right now, I am looking at the QuickPad Pro and the AlphaSmart Dana. Any insight on either of these products, or any others out there, would be very helpful." Do these 'smaller and more portable' devices necessarily justify the trade-offs in power and flexibility that a laptop with a full fledged word processor would provide?

Comments

Re:I'd opt for the Dana

[innosent]

The only problem I see with the PDA approach is the keyboard size. If you're going to do serious writing, I would think that you would want a standard size keyboard, which puts you back in the realm of 12" notebooks. Personally, I would prefer something like an IBM Thinkpad X series, since you get extremely light weight (as low as 2.6 pounds I believe), and long battery life (up to 8 hours on main battery, probably more like 6 with heavy writing). Older models can be found cheaply on eBay, and you still have all the power of a laptop, just in a thin, lightweight package. I haven't used the 12" Powerbooks, but if you're an Apple person, that would be the obvious choice, though the battery won't last as long. IANAW, but I've done 8 hours of programming work on my old Thinkpad T23 (with an extra ultrabay battery) before, and even the T series is light enough that carrying it around is no burden.