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Re:USB Typewriter by delish on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @09:08PM (#9181907)
I'm glad that device convergence and device divergence are happening at the same time.

I've said this here before, but I cannot recommend highly enough Alphasmart's Neo. 700 hour battery life, sunlight readable display (!), made in America, no moving parts 'cept for the keyboard (i.e. durable), plug-and-play USB, thirty US bucks on eBay[0]. Check out the Dana for a bigger screen and Palm apps (!).

[0] ebay search for alphasmart: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m5...

Re:USB Typewriter by julian_t on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @01:34AM (#9182752)
I've got an old Psion Series 5 that someone gave me... fantastic for taking notes, and one of the best keyboards I have ever encountered on a pocket-size device.
Re:USB Typewriter by joakinen on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @08:30AM (#9183690)
I regularly use one of those Psion 5mx machines for taking notes. You can even exchange documents with MS Office and print through your PC. Sadly the PC component (PsiWin) barely works on 64-bit Windows so I have a Windows XP machine for this. Also you must replace the flexi ribbon cable on your Psion 5 after some years of use, but if you do, you have an almost indestructible pocket computer.
Re:USB Typewriter by rootbear on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @09:23AM (#9183894)
I have one of those that I use as a portable serial terminal. I've connected it, for example, to RAID units that refuse to talk over the network for some reason. Sadly, the tip of my stylus broke and it won't stay latched in its slot, but other than that, it's in great shape.
Re:USB Typewriter by sanoli on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @09:34AM (#9183947)
I still use my Alphasmart Dana. I'd use the Neo, but they never released a model with a localized keyboard for my country. They used to do it with the previous models, so I have a model 2000 and a 3000 with portuguese keyboards. I still use the 3000 sometimes, but the keyboard on the Dana/Neo is just awesome to type on. Anyway, for a writer, the Neo is great. You take it on a trip and never have to worry about charging it. The keyboard is, like I said, one of the best you'll find, very durable (made for schoolchildren). Plus, not as ugly or as expensive as the Hemingwrite (man, that thing is ugly!)
Re:USB Typewriter by joshuapants on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @09:42PM (#9182030)
Interesting. Way back when in one of my classes someone was using one of these to take notes. Now I know what it was, thanks.