Over the past couple years I’ve written several pieces and a few reviews of laptop alternatives — essentially portable keyboards with small LCD displays, memory and USB/serial ports such as the AlphaSmart 3000. I haven’t written anything in awhile about such devices, however, and I get a surprising amount of e-mail asking for information/opinions about the current set of laptop alternatives.
First, I should make it clear that I no longer use any of the laptop alternatives I’ve used in the past — I’ve got my Alphasmart and Quickpad boxed up somewhere in the basement. They both certainly did what their respective manufacturers advertised, but at some point what was lost in not having a laptop was just not worth it for me anymore. Part of the problem is the form factor — you still need a keyboard-sized bag or backpack to carry these things around in. So if I’m going to be carrying around a bag that size, why not throw a laptop in it anyway?
I would have used these more if I had an application where a) weight and b) battery life were serious issues. If I were a student spending 6 hours on campus, for example, I would have found the laptop alternatives much more useful.
As for products out there today, I know a number of people who swear by their Alphasmart Dana which uses the Palm OS (and there’s even an 802.11b version at a slight premium). It certainly is a creative solution to some of the limitations of the Alphasmart 3000.
To be honest, though, I’d just go with a PDA-oriented solution. The Dana Wireless is $429. You can buy a very nice PDA for that price and add a portable keyboard. Yes the screen size is smaller, but for my money that is more than offset by the bright color LCDs of today’s PDAs as opposed to the monochrome screen you’re stuck with on something like the Dana.