Congratulations on (finally!) receiving your (fully functioning!) Freewrite. And just in time for Christmas! I hope you do a lot of great writing on it.
The Zerowriter Ink’s display looks really fast. It’s an open source hardware/software project, and the creator has been able to leverage code and advice from a number of other developers in the writerdeck community. This is particularly true when it comes to maximizing repsonsiveness of the e-ink display–he’s really been able to optimize it.
I suspect it’s faster than the Freewrite, but you’ll have to tell me. Check out the demo video at the top of his latest project update. Let me know what you think.
I suspect it’s a combination of the hardware limitations for a given e-ink display (the Zerowriter Ink uses the Inkplate 5) and how well the software designer works within those constraints to maximize performance. But I’m not a hardware guy, so just guessing.
Yeah, its case is nowhere near the luxury of the Freewrite Smart Typewriter’s aluminium body, but that’s by design. The Ink’s inspiration, same as the Freewrite Alpha, is the Alphasmart Neo. A light-weight, instant-on, distraction-free device you can toss in a bag and use anywhere. IMHO the Ink compares favorably to the Alpha, having a much better display and price. Its only flaw (for me) is lack of backlighting, but I can work around that.
Mine is supposed to ship early second quarter. I’ll let you know how I feel about it then!
Yes, I agree. But at that point, it would be a choice between the Freewrite Alpha and the Zeroink. The Alpha is instantaneous due to the LCD display’s refresh rate.
I think they realised the lack of backlighting was holding many people back, and they released other versions with the backlight — which for a portable device is a must in my opinion.
It is definitely good news for more competition — always welcome.
reMarkable 2 tablet with a Type Folio works great for me. I have tried the Freewrite typewriter and, while I love the look, I didn’t enjoy it. it has a small screen and I found it clunk in terms of how it sat on my body as I used it. also, with Type Folio, given a little practice, you can use bold and italics, though it takes a little pratice when it comes to remembering which keys to use.
If you check out some of the videos of the Zerowriter, the refresh rate looks way better than any Freewrite device I’ve seen in action. Not that I’m overly critical of the refresh rate on my gen 2 Freewrite. Some people do get a bit hung up on it.
I hope you do a lot of great writing on it.