Where are all the decent handheld scribbling tools?

Handheld scribbling tools

I got an iPad myself. Great little toy.

But horrible to work on if you need to bang out some documentation etc. I tried it, it just doesn't work. You either have to put the fondleslab on a table, or on your knees/lap and risk said fondleslab sliding off your lap and breaking its precious screen...

And a laptop, as said, take ages to get up to speed (waking up, etc), and in between there's horrible WindowsUpdates waiting to catch you unawares when you want to do a shutdown... Also, screen breakage is a problem. Happened to me. Sad.

The screen on a cellphone (or mobile) is just too small for reading emails comfortably.

So, therefore I agree with most of the points as stated in this column. Make it a hi-res LCD display though (so that it's able to display the most basic word formatting, such as bold, strikeout, underlining etc). And with today's technology, battery life should be well in excess of a week.

LCD displays should be really cheap to replace.

Just one note : add a VGA adapter as well, so that you can plug in an external monitor. Or, failing that, an USB monitor (if such a thing exists).

And a lovely, proper keyboard with proper spacing. Not a dinky Crackberry keyboard though. Or an unresponsive fondleslab keyboard.

Bonus points for making it waterproof, dustproof and, in general, poo-proof.

Connectivity via USB, Bluetooth, Wifi, 3g etc.

And memory slots for quick and easy expansion.

I will stop here.

Thank you for listening.

Psion

Series 3, Series 5 or indeed Series 7 / NetBook.

Galaxy Note?

Pen input may be on it's way back with this sort of thing and I personally still like actual scribbling for note taking on the move.

"notebooks are ...

... expensive, fragile things that scorch your lap and last a day if they're doing exceptionally well"

Buy one with more pages, and stop setting fire to them. Sorted.

(probably not first with this)

Z88 - so near...

I used a Z88 when they were new, and bought myself one a few years back with a view to having something I could use for typing and notes. Long battery life, famously quiet keyboard to type on, lovely bit of kit. I used it about twice, because it was huge in comparison with my Libretto (whose hinge never, thankfully, broke) and therefore never got taken anywhere to justify the inconvenience of transferring content.

One of the tablet/keyboard combos might be a better modern equivalent, although swype is actually almost decent enough on a mobile that you really need to be writing something big for it to be worth something with a full keyboard. I've yet to try the bluetooth keyboard route (they were horrible under Windows Mobile), but I'm certainly going to.

It doesn't solve the "I want a battery that'll last me going on a writers' retreat in the woods" problem, but you could get a lot of spare battery (or solar charger) alongside a mobile without getting to the bulk of a z88.

There was a time when I was involved in a long chat about the "Psion FX" - something in the Psion 5 form factor, but with an Atom in it. I think this got killed by the (x86) netbook fad, which the discussion predated, although a netbook is really not the same thing.

Cheap enough and small enough (but how do you make a keyboard and screen small without having a hinge and ending up with a Vaio P?) and I'd still find the idea tempting today.

Kindle with a better keyboard

I like this plan. Oddly enough I think the old Kindle is a step in the right direction. The E Ink screen gives it a long battery life. The "Whispernet" 3G wireless sync means you could type up a document on the train, get to work, and have it automatically appear on your desktop, no fiddling around with memory cards or USB cables. All we need is a decent keyboard, and of course good software. There's no Angry Birds to distract you.

However I disagree with the laptop lid issue. When the keyboard is flat on a table, you need the screen to be tilted towards you. Otherwise you end up hunched forward like an old lady. Short of having a fully detachable keyboard and screen (think iPad + Bluetooth keyboard), the best way to implement this is with a hinge.

Dare I say Apple emate?

There - I did.

And while we're at it...

I really don't like this touch screen phone nonsense either.

TRS80 Model 100, yes...

I had one of these some years ago, and it was indeed a fine machine, light in weight and with a pleasant, properly-spaced keyboard whose principal faults were a US layout and a total absence of rake. A set of AA-size batteries lasted days.

The interesting feature not mentioned in the article is that the display, although fairly low-resolution and cobweb-growingly slow, was pixel-oriented rather than character-cell oriented - the BASIC included commands for drawing lines and circles.

I used to use it to type out random stuff, and then feed it to my PC via the serial port.

@Andy 97

I just wish you could get a mobile with the screen and thickness of an SGSII and a keyboard. All the phones with keyboards either seemed to have too smaller screens (Nokia E72 and most Blackberries) or had a foldout keyboard and where then too thick (HTC something or other)

Loving the typo.

[quote]They're lovely but sadly not quite up to snuff in 2011[/quote]

Has El Reg been out killing tramps again :)

Husky Hunter

I have used them quite rugged but still able to be broken

all U need is a Dictaphone and a secretary back at the office

the try and tested method for years:

a Dictaphone+a secretary

never fail ...

Transformer

No, not a robot in disguise!

Asus, with detachable keyboard, a tablet when you want it, a laptop when you want a keyboard, and with the keyboard, excellent battery life.

My solution(s) and requirements

My Ben Nanonote never leaves my pocket, very portable but the keys lack travel for comfy typing (does fine for a quick note or an on-the-go Quake or Nethack game though). Whenever I carry a bag, I tuck my 9' EEEPC 900 in. The keyboard is just about decent and the display large enough for most on-the-go tasks. I've been trying to replace that with a more current machine but everything is 11' these days, and that's much too big.

Ideally I'd like a cheap, light 7' clamshell machine, passive cooling (no need for a powerhouse anyway, a 800MHz ARM should do just fine), a SSD (16GB would be more than enough), some RAM (1GB would be plenty), SD (2) and USB (3?) slots, and a physically switchable wireless adaptor (no need for n either, b/g will do).

Any of you spotted such a thing?

An enlarged version of the Nokia E series, with a decent sized keyboard, slightly bigger screen and with the built-in Quickoffice app sounds like it would do the trick.

The problem is convincing the likes of Nokia to build such a beast.

MS want them to target the iPhone-wannabie owners, and are unlikely to build a sub-tablet/super-mobile device for specialised uses such as note-taking, journalists, network device terminals etc.