![]() It had a nice wide display (but it wasn't backlit), a decent keyboard (for being a 1/3rd size keyboard), a pen interface (for drawing a picture in your notes), and my favorite part is that it was a clamshell design so you could just fold-and-go. The Psion Revo/Diamond Mako was pretty close. sort of a sub-$100 electronic notepad w/ a decent keyboard. I've always wanted some cheap portable device designed for taking notes, hacking etc. I keep hearing rumors that Nokia may be releasing an upgraded Revo-style handheld (NOT a cell phone), but I think I'm just grasping at straws there. If I have a choice (I probably won't), EPOC/Symbian handhelds with a keyboard will be the only handhelds I will ever buy. I got bit by both hinge problems (Series 5 and original Revo), and I ended up with a Diamond Mako. These were incremental upgrades to the originals that had solutions for some hinge problems the first versions had. If you do decide to go the Psion route, go for the 5mx or the Revo Plus (also sold as the Diamond Mako in the US). So the fact that these machines are 5+ years old shouldn't be a real problem. There are two companies (first for North America, the second for elsewhere), that will provide service for the Psion handhelds (your biggest concern will be batteries for the Revo/Mako models). I was going to say the exact same thing (good thing I read the comments first), but I have two things to add. The only other cheap option is to get a used PDA." ![]() Electronic organizers are going for under $20, but they are woefully limited machines. Does Slashdot have any thoughts on what might fill these gap, or is there really no product that tries to be small, cheap and low-powered like what I'm looking for?" "When I got home, I did a search for any such devices, and came up with two choices: bulky 1980s machines with outdated connectivity options, found on eBay for pennies - some of these are actually programmable too, interestingly enough and overpriced 'educational' machines which are almost equivalent to the 80s machines (over $200 or even $300). The only major difference would be in the software, and with some attention given to expansibility it might even be a decent device for homebrews. It doesn't seem like an infeasable product - consider the price that all-in-one 8-bit game machines like the C64 DTV go for, add that to the price that the cheap organizers go for, and you get a retail value under $50. An anonymous reader asks: "Last evening I was waiting for a bus and realized that it would be very nice to have a little portable word processor not a fancy PDA, but something with a bare minimum of processing power, small screen, and a cheap mini-keyboard, so that it could fit in a jacket pocket. ![]()
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