Calling all geeks! Recommendations for handheld devices wanted!

[annathepiper]

So, like, solarbird and I are actually going to get a tax refund this year--shock of it all. This is a direct result of having had so HUGE a pile of medical bills last year that we had absolutely no taxable income. This means, accordingly, that I may well be finally able to get a more current handheld device that I can carry around in my backpack and use for writing purposes. What I need from y'all out there: recommendations on what to get.

What I want:

1) Something with its own keyboard. It should either be a clamshell-style device, or else it should have a keyboard you can get to by sliding a cover down off the device, or pulling it open, or some such. I don't want to have to carry around a keyboard that's way bigger than the actual device is.

2) Something with an OS on it that'll come with some sort of app that'll let me save out files in a format that I can then load into Microsoft Word on my laptop, with (ideally) no or (less ideally, but I'll deal with it) minimal reformatting. Since I am writing in an actual word processor these days, I need to be able to run something on this hypothetical handheld that'll save out into a format that Word can talk to. This should probably therefore either be a Pocket PC type frob, or else a Linux type frob that runs something that can save out into (I dunno? I am unfamiliar with what sorts of word processors Linux frobs might run) RTF format.

3) Color.

4) Good battery life.

Let me know your thoughts, people!

Comments

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

Personally, I like Clies. Mine is a pretty low end model though. You can run "Word to Go" and other similar programs that let you edit word docs on Palm OS systems.

You might want to look into the Palm Titaniums or whatever they are called. One of the programmers at my work had one, and it had a keyboard and the screen opened up to have the grafitti area (I think).

Maybe research the reviews on CNET?

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Keith has a Sony Clie UX50, which opens like a little tiny laptop and has a cute keyboard and runs Documents to Go and is in color and has a decent battery of its own and an auxiliary battery too. He says to say a keyboard, any keyboard, is better than Graffiti! It was pretty damn expensive for a handheld, but a lot cheaper than a laptop....
Cathy

[avram]

Tungsten. The Tungstens are the high-end Palms, the Zire the low-end. (I’m looking at buying the highest-end Zire for myself sometime soon.)

For about $70 Palm sells a cool folding keyboard.

Zaurus.

[murson.livejournal.com]

I have an (aging) SL-5500, and HancomWord saves OK as RTF. The keyboard ain't great (more of a thumb-board), but better than handwriting recognition.

I'm looking at getting one of the new C860 Zaurus beasts sometime, but am aware that they're Japanese Market Only, so you're looking at a hefty price for an import/conversion-to-English procedure from a specialised dealer - shirtpocket (http://www.shirtpocket.co.uk/) in the UK, I believe Dynamism (http://www.dynamism.com/) in the US can do this for you.

Note that they're really quite expensive for a PDA, but this geek thinks running Linux on a PDA with a 64K colour, 640x480 screen is worth it...

(Disclaimers: I don't know if the Word Processor on the C-series can save as RTF - you'd be better checking. Also, I have no connection with either of the companies mentioned, even as a customer! Best to look about and see what others say about them... I know I plan to!)

Of course, if money were no object, I'd be wishing Sony were still selling the PictureBook Vaio (C1-MHP [note: model number may vary by country!] was the one I saw)... micro-laptop, running WinXP, built-in camera, very cute indeed. Mind you, even a couple of years ago it was 1300 quid, and THAT was in Malaysia! Still, I came within a hairs-breadth of getting one. It'd never play any newer games (Crusoe processor, low-end graphics), but you could write on it, and it had a hardware MPEG unit for video/DVD playback... and, damnit, it was CUTE!

[apel.livejournal.com]

I have its predecessor the TG50 and I agree that any keyboard is better than graffiti. My only quibble is that it can't multitask so I can't listen to mp3s at the same time as I'm writing LJ entries. OTOH if I had to use graffiti to write those LJ entries, I'd be listening to mp3s...

[mnemozine.livejournal.com]

I have a Palm M515 with a full-sized foldable keyboard (and now they are selling the cases again that you can carry both in one neat little package, but I do not own one yet. I use DataViz's Documents to Go which will save your documents as either text or Word and I've never had problems syncing the documents. The keyboard doesn't pull much power and I have used it for hours with no problem (the battery runs down faster when I'm playing a game, for example). I also have a retractible USB-Palm syncing cord. If I had a bigger purse I could carry it all, but I don't, so I use a small carryall bag. ;) Convenience with the no-biggee factor. Hope that helps?

[annathepiper]

I'm specifically not interested in a folding keyboard--just because how I usually tend to play with my computing devices, e.g., flopped over on the couch typing, or in the seat of an airplane or at an airport, or at a convention, seems to me to make using one of those folding keyboards awkward. I'd much rather have a clamshell-type device, or at least a palm device that has its own built-in keyboard.

Thanks for the tip about the Tungstens, though. :)

[annathepiper]

Well, I'm specifically not interested in a full-size foldable keyboard--just because I think it would be awkward for me to try to use it, given how I usually tend to use my computing devices. I would specifically prefer a clamshell-style device if I can get one, and if not that, then a device that comes with its own built-in keyboard.

Duly noted about the rest, though. Thanks. :)

[annathepiper]

I don't really need a device that can play mp3's--that's what I've got the iPod for. ;)

And yeah, given that my primary use for this hypothetical device will in fact be writing stories (usually when I take it to science fiction conventions and the like), a keyboard is pretty much required. Even if I just have to poke at it with my thumbs, I can get semi-decent typing speed, and that'll suffice!

Thanks!

Re: Zaurus.

[annathepiper]

I'd be really tempted by the C860--if the durned thing wasn't pricy enough to be kind of out of our budget. I am tempted by Zaurus' SL-5600, though, the one with the keyboard; tinlail had one as I recall, and I played with it a bit at a recent Norwescon.

Thanks for the pointers, though!

[annathepiper]

I looked at the Clie UX50, on this recommendation, and am a bit daunted by it! It has a lot of extra bells and whistles that I don't really need--I've got the iPod for MP3's, and while the digital camera sounds amusing, I'm not at all sure if I'd actually use it, since I rather suck at taking pictures. :)

Thanks for the recommendation, though!

[annathepiper]

Thanks for the tips, hon! I'll see what I can find out. :)

Re: Zaurus.

[murson.livejournal.com]

No problem - I did say it was pricy (said the geek hoping for a big birthday present - again, as the SL-5500 was itself a present!).

From memory the 5600 is the same form factor as my 5500, so the keyboard is more a thumb-board, but still quite usable. Nice to be able to use both CF and SD cards, too - although I have to admit that the WiFi CF card I have does hit the battery a bit much! Still - browsing using my cable modem and house WLAN from the couch has a certain cool-factor, and saves me lugging the laptop downstairs! :-)

Re: Zaurus.

[annathepiper]

What are SD and CF cards?

I keep my laptop in the living room anyway, just because I like to be able to play with it while hanging out with others in the living room and/or watching TV or what have you; there's no good room upstairs to compute in, anyway. But I am deeply amused by having a handheld on the house LAN, too. ;) We have spare IP addies for it!

And yeah, a thumb-board kind of keyboard would be fine for me. When I played with tinlail's frob, as I recall I was able to get semi-credible typing out of it, and given that I don't necessarily get the prose too quickly out of my brain anyway, slow typing on it won't necessarily be a hindrance. But when I'm typing with all TEN fingers, I get to over 100 wpm anyway, so even when I type slowly, I type pretty well. :)

Re: Zaurus.

[tinlail.livejournal.com]

Smart Digital and Compact Flash.
SD I have only seen for storage, CF are a mini pccard basicly, and you can get memory, hard drive and networking cards to fit in it. The Zaurus are coming down in price I think 5500 can be found for aound 200$ and the 5600 for around 400-500$ I use SD to store my data on and the CF to get my wireless connection. My 5500 battery life is pretty poor in that configuration, but I don't use it enough in a day for that to be a problem for me.

Re: Zaurus.

[annathepiper]

Ah, okay. Thanks for the info, Joe!

Re: Zaurus.

[murson.livejournal.com]

Just an aside, here: you can get SD cards that handle I/O as opposed to storage - unfortunately, the Zaurus doesn't have the right [hard|firm]ware to handle this, so it can only use storage SD cards...

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Oh, are you committed to handheld size? Carl bought a Sony Vaio Picture Book, which is like a half-size laptop so it has a full keyboard but short screen, just as a word processor so his writing would be portable. It used to be expensive, but a used one or older model might not be out of line.

If you don't have his email, write me and I'll pass it along.
Cathy

[annathepiper]

I'm not absolutely wedded to handheld/clamshell size, it's just what I'm used to after having used my old Velo 500, and a keyboard of that size is something I can still type very quickly on. I'll take a palm-size type frob if it has a keyboard that's built in. What's mostly important to me right now is that it should have some kind of keyboard built in, and it should not be too terribly expensive. I am ballparking maybe $500 for this. :)

Re: Zaurus.

[annathepiper]

Okay, duly noted. :) Right now I think that the Zaurus SL-5600 is one of my top contenders, but we'll see what happens. I was also looking at the HP Jornada 720 at one point, but I'm not sure if HP is making those anymore.