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A Cheap and Portable Word Processor?

Posted by Cliff on from the writing-on-the-run dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "Last evening I was waiting for a bus and realized that it would be very nice to have a little portable word processor; not a fancy PDA, but something with a bare minimum of processing power, small screen, and a cheap mini-keyboard, so that it could fit in a jacket pocket. It doesn't seem like an infeasable product - consider the price that all-in-one 8-bit game machines like the C64 DTV go for, add that to the price that the cheap organizers go for, and you get a retail value under $50. The only major difference would be in the software, and with some attention given to expansibility it might even be a decent device for homebrews. Does Slashdot have any thoughts on what might fill these gap, or is there really no product that tries to be small, cheap and low-powered like what I'm looking for?" "When I got home, I did a search for any such devices, and came up with two choices: bulky 1980s machines with outdated connectivity options, found on eBay for pennies - some of these are actually programmable too, interestingly enough; and overpriced 'educational' machines which are almost equivalent to the 80s machines (over $200 or even $300). Electronic organizers are going for under $20, but they are woefully limited machines. The only other cheap option is to get a used PDA."

2 of 428 comments (clear)

  1. Google?? by l810c · · Score: 5, Informative
    I took your exact article title and put it in Google

    The very first hit led me to these two devices which seem to fit the bill exactly.

    Alphasmart
    Quickpad

  2. Re:Pencil/Paper by jhoger · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'd say the difference is the input and output requirement.

    You need a good keyboard, and you need a good display.

    Here's the short list of true-portable laptops to check out:

    Tandy WP-2
    TRS-80 Model 100
    Tandy 102
    Tandy 200
    Cambridge Z88
    Amstrad NC100 or NC200'

    All of these are 8-bit CPUs. Last for between 10 and 20 hours on battery (!!!). Available for between $10 and $50 on Ebay. Doesn't get cheaper than that.

    Or the Alphasmart Dana which is basically a Palm V with a bigger screen. USB, IR, and memory slot.

    Except for Dana, The interface for downloading to PC is serial port. You may need a $10 adapter if you only have USB on your machine.

    -- John.