Keeping a diary - Small electric WP
 

Is there a really small word processor or something similar that portable and power light that can be used to keep a journal/diary. I'm just thinking it'd be nice to type, then upload at a internet cafe to send home reports.

Any advice much appriciated.

I just bought a used HP Jornada 820 on ebay. This is a small "sub notebook". It runs Windows CE, and has no mechanical hard drive, which is why I decided to try one. I think a solid state device will hold up better on a motorcycle. I haven't had a chance to use it much, except to find out that CE doesn't include a picture viewer. Hopefully I can find one. All I want it to do is word processing and picture viewing, so I'll post again when I get into it more.

I would think that any keyboard smaller than a 'subnotebook' would be hard to use if entering large amounts of text over a long period. I have a Treo 600 pda/phone with a full qwerty keyboard, but entering anything longer than a text message becomes a pain as the keys are very small. Just a point worth considdering.

HTC, or in some places also marketed under the brand qtek, have really advanced smartphones/pda/pocket pcs like the one below

http://www.dinside.no/bilde_bransje/0/47860.jpg

It has a small querty keyboard built in, but you could add a larger foldable pocket size wireless one if you find it too small. You've got pretty much EVERYTHING in a pocket size gadget here, and I mean everything. With this you could leave your phone, pc, digital camera, cam corder, gps and mp3 player at home if you really wanted to travel light. It is a compromise of all, but it could do the trick if you really had to travel light.

It has quad band gsm, meaning you can pretty much place a phone call from any country, even China. It has the latest 3g technology, meaning you in some places have broad band internet access. It also has wireless WLAN technology, meaning you can use any "hot spot" for broad band internet access (often found in airports, hotel lobbies, etc). Where there is no regular internet connection, you can always use the built in gsm. It has a decent camera and a also second web camera (the last one enabeling you to send live images of your self over the internet or phone network). Add a gps receiver and you can even use it for navigation. With this you can surf the internet, snap photos and upload them, write your diary, navigate, check your e-mail, use it as a regular cellular phone, use it as a calculator to when trading currencies, use it as a mediaplayer to play your music and even movies, and so much more. The great thing is that they don't run on a rotating harddisk, meaning there are no movable parts that will break due to vibrations. Also, no rotating harddisk also means long battery hours. Further, they have a transflective screen, meaning it is viewable in broad daylight. They even have software so you can use it as a mirror!

Now how about that?

[This message has been edited by Wheelie (edited 09 November 2005).]

I came across this site recently www.handtops.com - very nerdy but info on the latest generation of ultra small but fully functional handheld computers - rather than PDAs.

I don't think you need to carry a CD drive these days - I would go for a USB memory stick and either burn CDs in a cafe, or upload those irreplaceable photos to a storage site - and it really is those pictures that are the most valuable things you will be carrying.

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Richb
http://www.postmaster.co.uk/~richardbeaumont/60684/

I used, and plan on keep using, a Psion 5MX PDA. It runs off AA batteries and the batteries last a long time. It's got a keyboard that's small, but works.

Here's a site that sells them after they make them more reliable. If you get one, please tell him I pointed you that way.

http://www.psionflexi.co.uk/

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Random attempts have
been made at RTW on
a '65 Ducati 250cc

Check dis out dude!


http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1803

Not cheap, but oh so sexy!

Maverick Bubble

[This message has been edited by Maverick Bubble (edited 23 December 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Maverick Bubble (edited 23 December 2005).]

A Palm IIIxe and a folding keyboard work great for me. A bit cheaper than the other (higher tech and oh so cool) alternatives. You can get a used IIIxe on e-Bay for $20 and since it uses standard AAA batteries you'll never be stranded.

A palm with USB lead and card export software has worked for me for 4 months brilliantly. Old model Tungsten T3 with folding keyboard - give the infa red or wi fi or whatever alternative a miss. You can get cheap on eBay, but two - incase one plays up. Save everything to cards, and use card backup. Its small, very easy to use, cheap, and has taken plenty of hammer so far, and lots of words, see here
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/davies
Also has scans of all ours docs on, Adobe versions of camera manuals and loads of others, no end of stuff. Wasn´t sure originally, am now.
Of curse there are better things on market now, but how much ? and how big ?

You can get a bluetooth keyboard as well. I have one that I use with a HTC Wizard (GSM Windows mobile smartphone). The keys are about as good as a thinkpad, and it folds up to the size of a pocket calculator. You can use with all manner of PocketPC's, smartphones, PDAs, etc. You can buy on Amazon, etc.

I bring this and my WM smartphone along on trips in the US. I can get email, make journal updates, and upload everything in "real time."

http://www.thinkoutside.com/products...t_product.html

Looks like a palmtop may be more practical to use than a laptop. Sorry but I'm not too familiar with palmtops but here goes:

Is it possible to use a palmtop to transfer digital photos from a camera to a hard disc such as an mp3 player via USB cable?

What is the disc space on palmtops? Can you have say Mapsource GPS software with map data on it and use it with your GPS device?

Thanks

Blimey, few questions there. I know you can use say a T3 with GPS (if you get a receiver of course). The 'hard drive' if you like varies by model. T3 56Mb, but cards up to 1Gb I think. Not sure of photos. Have a search on google and try
http://euro.palm.com/uk/
and
http://forum.brighthand.com/index.php
for more.
Be aware Palm use their own operating system - windows it ain't.

Toshiba Pocket PC
 

I can recommend you the Toshiba pocket pc e400!

After a year and a half of travelling. It never let me down. It has windows as operating systems. That means you have Word, Excel, Internet explorer, Windows Media Player. You can listen MP3, videos. A USB port, It accepts SD memory cards like my camera.


Patrick

Are you also able to use these small PDA'a for running say 'Frontpage' or 'NVU' etc to update a website or is it only possible to do text and photos for a 'Blogger' type webpage? Sorry, not much of an HTML programmer...

Trying to decide which way to go, thought the small PDA's sound pretty good and would save lugging a laptop about.

I don't think MS has come out with a Frontpage version for the PocketPC PDA platform. There might however be other eteting software made by other developers. Check sites like Tucows http://www.tucows.com

Never the less, if I was to do a lot of editing on the road, wether video, pictures, or web pages, I would certainly go for a laptop.

For basic HTML editing, sending e-mails, writing notes, checking a few web sites, etc, the PDA's are great. But anything serious of anything, the laptop PC is the way to go. But this is your vacation, right?

I am however a big fan of compact and simple living...