I’m looking for something that’s a bit more powerful than the handheld organisers but not a full-fledged (full-priced) laptop. Something to use for word processing away from my PC (therefore has to be able to transfer back to Word), but nothing I have to use a stylus to tap keys with - I want a keyboard, dammit. Examples of the type of thing I want would be the AlphaSmart Dana, the eMate, or (the shame) something that looks like the little fold-up thing the techie-guy in the Resident Evil movie had strapped to his arm while shutting down the main computer.
Is the Dana any good? Can anyone recommend anything else?
The Picturebook is a full-featured PC with a full-featured price.
One option is to buy an old HP Jornada 820 or IBM WorkPad z50. You can probably get one on eBay for under $300. They both have color VGA displays, good keyboards (especially the IBM - far better than the Sony, IMHO) and weigh less than 3lb. They run WindowsCE which is not compatible with Windows (i.e. you can’t run regular Windows software), but you can still edit a document and later import it onto a desktop PC. The best part is that the battery lasts for over 8 hours. I used to use a Jornada 820 to take notes on all-day meetings. It was great not to have to worry about finding an AC outlet. I’d still use it if I had a need for something like that.
However these models have been discontinued for 2 or 3 years now. I don’t know how well they work with the latest versions of Windows and Office. Do a Google search and get some recent information before buying.