Earlier, I started a discussion on the Literature & Latte forum about using an AlphaSmart as a writer’s tool.
https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/inexpensive-laptop-substitute/3418/1
An AlphaSmart isn’t really a computer. It’s more like a recording keyboard with a small LCD screen. Since it doesn’t work well for as-you-write editing, I use mine to take notes as I read books. For that it’s perfect: it works in bright sunlight, the AA batteries last 50 hours or more, it’s easier to hold than a laptop, and it’s easy to export text to Scrivener.
Recently, I’ve been looking for something more like a laptop, something I could take places I’d never take my MacBook. That meant something cheap enough I could leave unguarded at a part-time job without worrying. I was also hoping to find something smaller and more rugged than a MacBook.
Thinking the answer might be the eMate 300 that Apple sold for about a year just before Steve Jobs returned, I set my browser up to display all Craigslist ads in Seattle for an eMate in the set of webpages I look at three times a day. Few eMates came up for sale, but about three weeks ago, one did. It was part of a must-sell package: an early 1990s Mac Duo 320, the eMate, and what the seller called an HP Jornado 820 PDA, all for $30 total or $10 each.
It was good deal. Probably the only reason I got it before anyone else was that the seller had listed it as “Computer Stuff,” which usually means worthless junk. If it hadn’t come up in my eMate search, I’d never have looked at the ad. Also, the seller was a 45-minute drive from Seattle, which may have discouraged competition.
Since eMates tend to go for $50 and up, I decided to take that long drive. I’d give the Mac Duo to a friend in need. I’d donate the PDA to Goodwill, and I’d see if the eMate was useful. If I didn’t like the eMate, I could still sell it for at least what I’d paid for all three.
What follows is my evaluation of each as a writing-only laptop. By that I mean an older laptop that still works fine for writing but isn’t in much demand today because it lacks the connectivity for email and the power for good web browsing. If you can find one in good condition, they’re likely to be cheap. You may even get one for free.
Of course, these old laptops also have a down side.
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The batteries may be old and cost more than the laptop is worth to replace.
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New (meaning old) software may be hard to find. That means that the software that comes with it must fit your needs. Fortunately most come with something for writing.
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Connectivity is a big issue. It does no good to write the Greatest Novel Ever Written, if you can’t move it on to you Mac for editing in Scrivener. And while today either a USB flash drive or an ethernet/Internet connection makes moving files about easy, computers made before 2000 often don’t have a USB or ethernet port. They usually come with an IR port and perhaps a built-in modem.
Since the three laptops I got in that package deal cover almost all the options for writing only laptops, here’s my evaluation of each. Feel free to follow up my posting with your own suggestions.
Mac Powerbook Duo 320
Around 1992, people happily paid up to $2600 for these light and compact laptops. Apple saved weight by leaving off the floppy drive, but mine came with an adapter and an external floppy drive. It had been well-cared for and seemed to work fine, running an antique but serviceable OS 7.1. Since I have an external USB floppy drive for my iMac, file transfer wasn’t an issue. It also came with Word 5.1a (the last good version), Excel and a few other programs. The only negative was the battery life. If you lost power, it gave you just enough time to save your files, but little more.
The Duo is a good illustration of what a 1990s Mac laptop would do as a writing only laptop. You’d still have a Mac interface and, with an external floppy drive on your current Mac, file transfers are easy. And for writing, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with one. I ghosted about half a history book (Presidential Scandals, CQ Press, 1999), on an even older PowerBook 160.
But in the end, the age and potential for sudden death bothered me too much. I contacted a friend and found out that her 11-year-old son was eager for his own laptop. I tossed in all my floppies filled with Classic Mac software, and he was one happy boy.
eMate 300
In the world of small sailboats, there’s a type of boat that’s called a ‘character boat.’ Most small sailboats fit with what most sailors want and are a lot alike. A character boat stresses something different, making it a bit odd. If you need what’s different about it, you love it. If you don’t, it’s weird and frustrating.
The eMate 300 is a character laptop. About 1997, Apple took the operating system they had developed for their Newton PDA and packaged it into a rugged laptop for elementary school kids. At that time, its $800 price was considered a bargain. Eventually, they began to sell them to the public, but most on today’s used market are school surplus. When Steve Jobs took control of Apple, he killed off the Newton and the eMate just as PDAs took off.
Google “eMate” and you’ll find that they’re still popular and software is available. You can even find a driver that let you run WiFi from its PCMIA slot. The battery life is about 15-20 hours, and the screen can be illuminated (unlike the AlphaSmart). It also beats the ‘can’t justify buying a new battery’ problem. There are instructions online that describe how to convert it to use cheap AA NiMh rechargeable batteries. It also comes with built-in software that’s adequate for writing and time management. Just remember that it was designed to survive 4th-graders, so it isn’t small or light. It’s about the same size and weight as a MacBook.
I’m still trying to make sense of that user interface. If for some reason you need a touchscreen computer to take notes and make sketches while standing, you might like it. The Newton’s initially poor handwriting recognition had improved quite a bit by the time the eMate came out, and it has a draw program that’s amazingly clever. Create the crude equivalent of a square or a circle and it will transform your doodle into a perfect one that you can reposition. And its form factor is far better than most of today’s touch screen laptops. The handle is perfectly positioned to hold in your left hand with the bottom of the case against the bend at your elbow. You can then write or draw on the screen with your right hand (or vice-versa). It’s the perfect clipboard replacement.
Unfortunately, my klutzing around has yet to come up with a cheap and easy way to get text off it. Certain PCMIA cards may work with it, with ethernet, WiFi or CompactFlash as a transfer medium. But what works or doesn’t is vague and you may need a driver that you can’t load without the transfer ability you don’t have. It was intended to talk with Macs through the serial input once used for modems and keyboards. But no Mac in about 7 years has one of those and a gadget that adapts two serial ports to USB sells for around $70. That and my general inability to make sense of the quirky interface have put my idea to use an eMate on hold. Maybe I’ll keep it. Maybe I’ll sell it. If you have an older Mac with that serial port, an eMate might be just what you need.
Jornada 820
This proved to be the pleasant surprise of my purchase. HP marketed it with their family of late 1990s PDA, which is why the seller called it a PDA. But it’s actually what today we’d call a 9-in netbook running Windows CE with a 90% of normal keyboard and no touchscreen. Judging by comments I’ve read online, since it retailed for $1000, it’s better built than today’s $300 netbooks. I’d been lamenting the fact that my budget wouldn’t justify a netbook, and now I have one for $10. It’s even a bit smaller than most of today’s netbooks, being about the size of a typical hardback book.
The Jornada 820 is a good example of a line of mini laptops and microcomputers that were being sold for Windows users about 10 years ago. It has a keyboard that can be touch-typed. Smaller models had keyboards you’d need to use your thumb for typing. Many run Windows CE and, like this one, come with stripped down versions of Word and Excel.The user interface is enough like a Mac, that I’ve had little trouble learning my way around. It isn’t that rugged, but it’s small enough, it fits in the sort of carry-about cases people use for books. Put it in a sturdy one inside a backpack, and it should survive a drop.
Most important of all, it’s proved very easy to get this little netbook to exchange files with my Macs. I’d wondered why many of these small laptops include a CompactFlash slot. Now I know. It makes a handy way to transfer files to a larger computer. For $1, I picked up a used CompactFlash USB drive at Goodwill and for $7 I picked up a 1 gig CompactFlash card. I’d been a bit worried that the Jornado would not handle a flash drive that big, since the standard at the time it came out was a mere 16 meg, but it works fine. Transferring files from the Jornada to Mac could hardly be easier, and the CompactFlash installs as a 1 gig drive on which I can store files. For writing on the go, it can’t be beat. You could roam the world with this little critter in your backpack.
I’ve yet to test how long the Jornada’s battery will last. New, it shipped with a battery that lasted about 10 hours and HP offered an extended life battery with 15 hours. As I began to like the idea of using it, I checked around for a replacement battery. Most websites are wrongly trying to sell batteries intended for HP PDAs for the 820, but one web store offers to refill an existing Jornada battery pack with one that could last over 15 hours for $69.
That’s reassuring, but even better was the discovery that they also offer an extended life repacking of an original MacBook battery for $79. I’ve not used them, so I can’t vouch for their service, but they offer rebuilds for most Mac laptop batteries sold in the last decade or so. If you have a Mac of the PowerBook to iBook vintage, you might check them out.
batteryrefill.com/laptops/apple/
That’s my experience looking for a laptop I can carry with me anywhere almost worry-free. Free free to add your comments and experiences, including experiences with older Mac laptops that’ll still run Scrivener.
