As the Freewrite typewriter is sponsored by Literature and Latte, and as it is quite of an appealing tool for those who enjoy the typing experience and the freewriting experience; in other words, getting lost in the train of thought while typing away, letting words out, building worlds, and so on, while avoiding going back to adjust the grammar, read proofing, and going back and editing along.
I find this approach enlightening. It reminds me of when I used to write on paper, being in the groove and getting lost in the discovery of the narrative.
I ordered a Freewrite smart typewrite --like new (ÂŁ480) last month, and after a long debate I decided to treat myself with it. It is a manufacturer curated used model, where they check, replace and make sure the device is without visual wears and defects and it functions as new (for whom is wondering).
I was wondering if anyone else has purchased one.
I did not have a great experience so far â to be honest; after 20 days from its purchase the typrwriter arrived and the keyboard did not work, as if it was not connected to the motherboard or something. I was extremely frustrated and disappointed with the whole experience and I wonât hide it ruined my day and nearly the whole expectation for the future (hoping) functioning device. I found this utterly unacceptable, having waited for 20 days and for almost ÂŁ500.
Thanks for sharing your experience so far. I hope the situation improves for you!
The Freewrite has intriqued me since it was released, but ultimately I never aquired one. Sticking points being:
The steep price tag
Being forced to use Astrohausâ cloud for acessing certain device settings and interfacing with other cloud services (what happens if this tiny company & their cloud service goes away?)
Reviews stating that Customer Support seems to be very hit and miss (unfortunately, so far, your experience seems to be on the âmissâ end )
Ultimately, I compromised by writing an AutoHotKey script for Scrivener that kinda sorta replicates the Freewriteâs âgo forward onlyâ approach. The script is activated via F10; all it does is disable most keys required for editing.
Thank you Jim!
Your message has really improved my mood.
Yes Freewrite customer service isnât impeccable: do not get me wrong, they have been generally responsive and nice but only via email. I tried to phone them (reinstalled SKYPE after 5 years for the occasion) but never picked up. I must have tried 20 times.
In one of my emails I was very disappointed, when I was told (this long delivery and almost 20 days) to send the device back, I mean I was fuming. It felt lazy, as they didnât check the device before shipping it. I could have been wrong. I will leave it to my disappointment and hazy mind.
In return I was repeated twice that they would make an exception for me and send the replacement device as soon as they saw the tracking information confirming the return package was on its way.
Now: two things: one we all know this is not an exception, second I sent the parcel back last Friday and on their email they said that they will be preparing the package which can take up to one week due to holiday busy schedule. Really? You do not prioritise a disappointed customer who has paid for a device (not a cheap one) last month and yet to use their premium product ? Wow they have a long way to go to reach the standards of a self declared premium brand.
And to conclude: I asked âhow do review their products, since I want to â once this is over â express my thoughts to well inform other potential customers; and guess what? They told me they are the ones sending me an email which allow the customer to write and publish a review. wow
As you can tell still feel scammed and cheated and brokenly disappointed. I hope â hope that this will vanish away when I have a functioning machine that I can use.
Astrohaus do sell their products through Amazon, so you could alway write a review there.
One other thing you can do, to further simulate the Freewrite experience while using Scrivener: in Composition Mode, reduce the Paper Width and Paper Height settings to mimic the Freewriteâs small screen. The idea being, the less you can see of your prior words, the less they can tempt you to edit them, thereby less to distract you from moving forward.
Vince, for what itâs worth, I think your being perfectly reasonable. I just looked up the Amazon listing for that author-toy and at US$670 it had better work properly when it arrives.
It looks like something that could be a lot of fun to use, but it also looks like something that has a lot of frustration baked into how few features there are available.
It reminds me more than a little bit of me staring into the middle-distance through a 11 inch monochrome greenscreen monitor at a black page of a word processor with the only sign of life that curse-or mocking my inability to funnel thoughts through the keyboard. But that was in the late 80âs and Iâve gotten better as have the tools I use.
Frankly, this is the use case for why I use my iPad with Scrivener, a lightweight, can-go-anywhere solution for writing when I get the chance.
That all said, donât take my opinions to heart. I hope it works out well for you when you get the replacement.
Iâm sorry to hear youâve had such a bad experience, @VinceNardelli. I hope they resolve this for you very soon.
Just to be clear, we donât sponsor Freewrite. What happened is that Freewrite approached us and asked if weâd like to be part of a cross-promotion for their 10th anniversary, which also coincided with Black Friday. As I own a Freewrite myself and rather like it, we were happy to say yes. So it was a one-off cross-promotion where we offered discounts on each otherâs products.
Weâre going to bring this thread to their marketing managerâs attention, because obviously we donât want our users left feeling frustrated by a promotion in which we have participated.
Kier, I hope I did not cause havoc to the marketing team.
I am terribly sorry if I did.
In fact, I think this typewriter would work amazingly with Scrivener. You type away to have work stored in Scrivener and continue with the editing. It is almost a perfect marriage.
I just happened to be having an absolutely --ÂŁ500 worth nightmare so far.
I am still waiting for them to dispatch me the exchange item, while my return package will be delivered to them this coming Monday.
I think â HOPE, I am in the absolute minority in this level of experience. But, hey it is this level of money and it is only fair we demand a better degree of professionalism. They would too.
Sorry for your bad experience with Astrohaus. I donât think theyâre the best when it comes to customer service. Iâve had a Freewrite for a few years now and use it a lot, but Iâve been itching to move away from being forced to use their cloud service. They do a lot right but they also do a lot wrong, and like a lot of these tech companies, seem affronted when receiving legitimate criticism.
@November_Sierra has already linked to the writerdeck subreddit. And whilst I agree with you, some of the devices have a Frankenstein feel to them, there are a few devices that have risen to the top of the pile for me. The Zerowriter Ink is a good example.
You can change the case, the keys, the key switches etc. to whatever your preferences are. And best of all, no cloud service. You can build them yourself, but theyâre now on preorder, if you want a ready built one.
Thank you for your reply. I am glad you are using it a lot. Despite it all, I am looking forward to the Freewrite typewriter. It is still to be delivered and it was dispatched last Sunday.
I understand your concern about being tied to a cloud service. However, if my understanding is correct, the draft is still saved locally on the device and in .txt format â making it free to be uploaded anywhere via USB.
Another thing is that what I like about Postbox from Freewrite is that it encourages people to feel part of a growing community, where peopleâs stats are uploaded in real time and feels quite collaborative in the spirit of all writing together.
Of course, it is linked to a Freewrite account, and while using the Sprinter page/app or/and on the Freewrite device.
I have a generation 2 Freewrite, black metal with white keycaps. Whilst itâs possible to get files off the machine via USB, you canât delete them. They can only deleted via their Postbox cloud service. Not sure if this has changed with the generation 3 firmware. I donât think it has.
Thank you. I am still waiting for the exchange package to be leaving the great US, it was dispatched 8 days ago, for the records. I will check those documents once I set it up.
It would be interesting to see if the refresh rate will be on par with the Freewrite counterpart.
I finally received a functioning device (Freewrite - Smart Typewriter), and I must admit I am having a lot of fun with it.
I would admit the only thing I need to get used to is the delay between what I type and what appears on the e-ink paper. I mitigated this by deleting the whole word when I mis-type it, rather than going back letter by letter. I found this way quicker.
But the machine feels solid, well built, and it does what it is asked to.
I still have to test the battery life, but I do not care excessively about it.
Thank you for the contribution with this Zerowriter Ink.
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wow
