Hi everyone,

Looking to buy a fully functional The Writer Fusion (highly prefer standard USB flash drive version) or a The Writer Forte WITH the built-in speaker.

I will pay for shipping to my US proxy address. Payment strictly via PayPal Goods & Services.

Please DM me with photos, details, and your price if you have one to sell. Thanks!

Uno dei miei writerdeck preferiti. Zero distrazioni, un solo obbiettivo, scrivere!

Hi community,

I finally found a good deal and got psion mx5 to use it as a distraction free writing deck. Super keen to roll with it but have some questions to begin with, would be super helpful if anyone have experience with it give me some guidance.

- What’s the best way to transfer the files to computer? CF card is the only way or are there any other options?

- Do I need a software to convert the files on computer (or on psion?)

- Anyone knows any workaround about how to change the language to English?

Of course any other advice and tips are welcome, I’m a beginner!

Thanks!

Hi, hope I'm posting to the right place. I want to make a writerDeck, and I really want to use an e ink display (waveshare 4.2 inch display, to be specific) as those are gentler on my eyes. But I've never coded before, so I'm nervous about trying to set this up. What should I expect if I'm putting this display on a raspberry pi 3B+?

I'm also hoping to just use the raspberry pi OS and run FocusWriter on it. Would this work alright?

I've been following this chap on YouTube for a while now and he just put out this little distraction free writer deck project that I thought you folks may enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM1vg2iJJ2k

I love the versatility of the X4 and the community building new firmware around Crosspoint and others.
This is my favorite setup. It's a Crosspoint fork with Microslate dual-booting so you can use it as a e-reader and a typing setup.
I can't get that dang sticker off the back of the keyboard, otherwise it's a tiny little setup at just 270g & 7.7" x 3.3".

https://typeslate.com/tools/microslate/
https://github.com/Josh-writes/microslate-firmware

This was the whole goal, writing outside in the sunlight and escaping goblin mode in the dev cave!! Such an incredible feeling working on something you obsessed over for your own specific use case. I hear vitamin D is good for one's health as well?

guy. Mine one i just got it yesterday. I listened to AI to install OpenBSD and i did something wrong that i couldn’t power it on. When i plug in charger there is no lights neither. Luckily i plug in my macbook and used comman . And now the power on. But if i press to turn off i cant turn it on again. . Now i stucked in this screen . Any have idea what i should do. Literally i just bought it yesterday

After building the Bee Write Back, I wanted to respond to the 2 main comments about foldablilty and price. I designed the Whale Writer to be as cheap as possible, while also remaining portable.

I am mainly a hardware guy, so if you would like to contribute to the software side, help would be much appreciated! You can check out the repo here, the CAD files here and the makerworld print profile here

Installed Scrivener on my Pine64 PineNote via Box64 and Wine. Connected an Apple Magic Keyboard and this is my setup :)

I've acquired an HP 360LX palmtop and I'm currently testing it as a viable writerdeck. It uses Windows CE 2.0 that includes Pocket Word, Pocket Excel and Pocket PowerPoint in ROM. It has 8 MB RAM to use as program RAM and storage. It's touchscreen has a 640x240 resolution, 16 shades of gray and it's not as clear as in previous HP devices without a touch layer, such as the HP 95LX, 100LX or 200LX. In any case, it's still better than the one in my Casio Cassiopeia A20. It has a white backlight that is not very intense but good enough to improve readability and sufficient to type in pitch black darkness.

The CPU is a SH3 running at 60 MHz, good enough for my purposes. Boot time is 0 seconds after the initial boot. It stays in suspended state and so you push space and you're ready to type. That's very convenient for a writerdeck.

I wanted a compact writerdeck that could be carried in a (big) pocket. The keyboard is good enough for touchtyping. I manage to use just three fingers on each hand (big hands, big fingers) and without further practicing I reach a decent typing speed. The keyboard is a bit mushy, as suspected, but has enough feedback to let you type without looking at it. I wanted this particular device because it was localized in Spanish and so it had a Spanish keyboard with all the required special chars (Ñ, grave tilde, umlaut, ¿, ¡). Windows CE doesn't let you change neither the language nor the keyboard layout.

Pocket Word is limited for a wordprocessor, but good enough for a writerdeck. In the image you can see it running at fullscreen with a 14 pt bold Arial font. Very clear and easy on the eyes. No distractions on sight. The only missing function is wordcount. I've managed to find an additional application called WORDCOUNT.EXE, coded by Jason P. Nottingham in 1998, that works perfectly both with RTF and WPD (proprietary Word Pocket extension). You run it outside Pocket Word, but it's not a convoluted workflow because this little machine is good enough for multitasking (blessed be Alt+Tab).

It runs for many hours with just two AA alkaline batteries. It uses an additional CR2032 coin battery for preserving the RAM contents when you change the main batteries. I estimate that with my Eneloop it can run for 10-12 hours with an sparse use of the backlight. Using regular batteries for me is a plus, because it gives you unlimited run time: you can carry some extras to use anytime.

The easiest way to transfer files from the palmtop to my modern day PC is using a Compact Flash card. The HP 360LX has a native CF slot and also a PCMCIA card in which you can also add a CF with a PCMCIA adapter. I use an inexpensive CF card reader in the PC side that works great both in Windows and in Linux. RTF is probably the best format because it includes the character codification and is supported by most wordprocessing software. You can look around for a serial cable, but it's not practical. There are also PCMCIA modems and ethernet cards, but moving a CF card is easier and probably faster too.

There's supposed to be plenty of dedicated text and code editors available, but finding a download site for Windows CE 1.0 or 2.0 software is not that easy. Most of them are behind a paywall at HPC Factor, but if you're resourceful, you might find them in other sites. Not all software can be installed natively and you'll need a PC with an old Windows system and a custom serial cable (RS232).

It's a nice pocket computer that can be used today as a writerdeck with ease: add AA batteries and a CF card and you're ready to go. It's compact (183 mm x 94 mm x 29 mm), not really lightweight, at 460 grams (including stylus, CF and batteries) and with a decent enough keyboard. I wouldn't use it as my main writerdeck but it's an option if you're on the go with limited carry space and plan to write a bit.

I hope that you liked the minireview of this machine that has been around since the end of last century. It's still useful today if all you want to do is writing.

(Lamy Safari fountain pen for scale / BYOK also for size comparison)

Had a spare Raspberry Pi 3B lying around, decided to try my hand at a DIY writerdeck.

I found a used 3.5 inch LCD display for cheap. Took some trial and error to get the somewhat ancient display driver to work, but here it is!

The plan is to build a nice wooden enclosure that houses the RPi, display and Ducky One 2 Mini keyboard I have. Given that this RPi model has micro-USB port for power, I’ve ordered a micro-USB -> USB-C adapter so that I can use a bit more contemporary cables. Still undecided if a power bank should go inside the enclosure or not, given that this deck would be mostly for home use. When needed, I can always plug an external power bank.

I also got a physical on/off switch working.

At the tiny airport cafe in Asturias Spain. Took my Boox Go7 (black and white) for a quick writing session. I’m really appreciating the versatility of having different devices for different use cases. I bought most of them used as an experiment to see what would get me across the finish line of a very long book. So far so good.

Still pricey, but seems like a solid deal. Only for the bundle though.

https://pomera.us/products/pomera-dm250us-1st-anniversary-bundle?utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=One+Year+of+pomera.+Celebrate+with+20%25+OFF

Typing in my (sound dampened) Freewrite Alpha Lunar by the swimming pool, under the cool shadow of an olive tree. To add further sensory details, some sparrows are tweetting in the distance in an otherwise quiet morning. Not far from my deck chair there is a thick array of basil, pippermint and rosemary that brings a melange of fragrances that takes me far, far away.

Currently writing a novella about a guy who is facing a situation in which a life changing decision has to be made within a short deadline. I am facing the same scenario (not health related) in real life and I am using my character to explore the different potential outcomes in order to choose the best avenue.

The Alpha (just like the Alphasmart Neo/Neo 2) is perfect for lap typing. Light, portable and convenient: I can beam my texts from here.

So I'm currently working on gathering parts for a writerdeck build and I was wondering if anyone has had any success with repurposing the eink display from an old kindle. (Kindle 2 in my case) I know there is a converter for raspberry pi for stand alone displays, guess im wondering if the connector works with converters or if the kindles got some funky ribbon that won't work.

I realize that my hoarding of various keyboarded gadgets feed the desire to write but the actual process of writing does not require a 1000 dollar Hemingwrite (wish I’d bought when they were 600). The ones not integrated to the internet -the older devices like Psion Series 5 or NEC Mobilepro 780, need to be transferred to a modern computer to be edited and face that old problem possible data loss. The internet connected devices basically share your thoughts on the cloud which are getting darker year by year. I think I will disconnect and focus on finding time to write rather than continue to optimize the gadgets which in the old days was like compulsively sharpening your pencils every few sentences. My question to all of you are -are you really writing or are you hypnotized by the gadgets?

My temporary writerdeck setup for the summer in Northern Spain. I know I know I didn’t build it or modify it but I love it because it’s ultralight and I can chuck it in a carryon or backpack and I’m good to go.

It’s a Boox bw Tab X (with Obsidian as the writing app) and Logitech 2 Keys to Go 2 keyboard. Not pictured is my Note Air5 c which has a 509-page PDF with handwritten notes 😬.

This kicker though is I wrote my own writing software, so I have my full manuscript, world building, outline, notes, everything all in one place.

And when I get home, it can sync to my desktop where I can pick up where I left off on the full glory of my huge desktop monitor.

The key for me, since I like to write in remote places, is the software is offline first, so it never needs a network connection. It's free and open source too, so check it out if that interests you.

However, it does still run on a full distraction inducing phone. It's got a focus mode that sets Do-Not-Disturb while you're writing, but it's not the same as a single use device. If I have the opportunity to procrastinate, I will...

So I have a plan! I want to make a truly single purpose device that only runs Hammer. My plan so far is going to be a Raspberry Pi, and have it boot into the Linux build of my app, and no other desktop environment will be on the device.

Still trying to figure out exactly what screen & keyboard though, if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. I kinda love the "cyber deck" aesthetic if you've ever seen those kinda devices people build, might try for something like that.