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

Tablet PC

[CaptainPinko]

I knwo you said you didn't want a laptop, but have you looked at a TabletPC? I know you are stuck with Microsoft but it's quite the interesting gadget. They are usually smaller than most laptops and quite light (no floppy-disk or CD/DVD drive in it) and when you want you can convert it into a regular laptop! They are a bit pricey but Windows Journal is a great app. You can write by hand and then use it's great handwriting converter to change it into text so it's as if you typed it! And it is quite accurate since it works well for me and sometimes I can't read my own writing! Also you can "Print to Journal" so that you can 'print' regular files into Journals and then correct Journals by hand using the highlighter and pen tools. I use this when I'm doing research and I find an online source. I doodle and makes notes and arrows on the document itself. There is a free download from the Microsoft Update Centre for a Journal viewer in XP so that you can send you writings to friends and they can view it on their desktops. Just shop around since they charge a premium and some of them are insanley expensive. Disclaimer: I'm not affliated with Microsoft in anyway neither is anyone I know, I'm just a happy owner of a Acer TravelMate C100.