Re: Soliciting writing appliance recommendations

["Chuck Martin" <cmartin -at- serena -dot- com>]

"Mark Dempsey" <mxd2 -at- osi -dot- com> wrote in message news:33191 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 
> I'd like to write in bed, using a keyboard on some kind of electronic
> note taker. I don't want to spend $1,000's on a laptop (I have a very
> nice desktop, thanks), and don't need fancy software to do the
> writing--Wordpad or even Notepad would do. I suppose I could find a used
> laptop that's got an old, character-based interface, but would prefer
> something simpler still.

>
> Is there such a thing as a "palm-top" with a large enough keyboard to
> type on comfortably? It wouldn't even have to have a hard drive--just
> enough flash memory to hold a couple of hundred pages, and a USB or
> other connection to download it to my desktop. It'd also be nice if it
> had a 25-line by 80-column screen, and ran on AA batteries.
>
> Does such a thing exist? How much is it, and where would I find it?
>

There's a "toy" that I've been drooling over for some time that would not
only fit you blll, but would be compatible with your other equipment. The
only drawback: price. It's the Sony Vaio Picturebook, model number PCG-C1X.

It's NOT a WindowsCE machine. It's a full-fledged Windows 98 computer in a
miniature package, with a keyboard that's decent enough to type on. It
sports a 266MHz processor with 64MB of memory and an internal 4GB hard
drive. (The floppy and CD are external and the CD is extra though.) The
screen is 8.9" diagonal with a resolution of 1024 x 480. It's about 1.5"
thick and just 2.5 lb. It used a lithium-ion battery that is rated for about
3 hours of use. Total dimensions are 1.45" x 5.51" x 9.45".

But the list price is $1799.

There's one thing that keeps this from being the perfect companion to my
desktop and 15" notebook: an internal CD drive. If they could figure out a
way to give it a CD slot like in a car stereo, even if the size and weight
bulk up a bit, I think this would be the perfect small portable machine.

In the top of the lid, there's a small swivel camera that you can use to
take still pictures or short videos. It adds to the "cool" factor of this
machine.

If you do a search for Picturebook on some sites, you'll also get a link to
a store that sells a more powerful model, one that is only sold at retail in
Japan. This particular company will ship it overseas though, but it's
significantly more expensive.

Because it's not a CE machine, there are no issues of docuemnt conversion if
you want to move them back and forth beteen this and your desktop.


--
Chuck Martin
Sr. Technical Writer, Serena Software

Facts are irrefutable, opinions are mine. Is there a difference? You tell
me...  :)