It was something Ashley Ladd mentioned on March’s Radio Free Bliss podcast. (shameless plug!) She said she didn’t take a laptop anywhere to write unless she could be assured of a constant power supply. Man, does that eat me up too. I find I can’t write longhand/script anymore. After more than 20 years typing things, writing cramps the muslces in my hand if I attempt to write more than a paragraph. But there are times, usually when I’m waiting somewhere for the rest of the family to turn up, when I’d like to write something, maybe a scene that won’t leave me alone, or an outline for an upcoming story. What’s a geekgirl to do?

I have a nice little Toshiba laptop that weighs in at 1kg but the battery only lasts 2 hours, max. And I’ve been tyre-kicking the Asus Eee in the shops, but the keyboard isn’t made for a touch typist, much less a touch typist with long fingernails. I had two wonderful, full size portable keyboards for my Palm IIIx, but both of the Palms are now bricked. Still, the thought cropped up and nagged me, and that got me coming back full circle.

Here’s my personal opinion. If you need something to write on, with the way current laptop technology is going (or not, as the case may be), you’re really best off with a PDA and portable keyboard. The PDA’s battery life cannot be beaten, esp. when compared to a laptop. And there are all kinds of portable keyboards you can get for them according to your personal preference (and I am waaaay picky about keyboards), from physical links to infra-red to Bluetooth to projection. The money you spend on a PDA+keyboard is a fraction of what you would spend on a small laptop, and equivalent to what you’d spend on an Alpha Smart.

I don’t mean to demean Alpha Smarts. As I said in the podcast, many authors swear by them, and Ashley absolutely raves about hers. But if you’re after something in colour, and with a smaller form factor, I think the PDA set stacks up pretty well. The Alpha Smart Dana (which would be the only one I’d consider) starts from $350. You can get a decent colour PDA for less than $250 and keyboard from $20 to $250. I have an IR keyboard that I originally bought for my Palm m515 (battery life ~ several days). With a new AAA battery, and a driver download, I find I can use that same keyboard on my iPaq (battery life ~4 hrs; hmmmm. Still, it’s better and lighter than a laptop). So that’s what I’ll be using from now on when I’m waiting for the family to join me for lunch. It’s nice finding a new use for something I bought years ago. Long live technology … as long as it works!