[hammyhavoc]

The classic TRS-80 Model 100, Cambridge Z88, QuickPad Pro, AlphaSmart Dana. There's a bunch more too. I'm somewhat of an enthusiast for this form-factor, this and typewriters are a hobby for the missus and I.

Douglas Adams used a Cambridge Z88 for writing! Prior to laptop batteries becoming decent once swappable batteries became less common, serious journos frequently used to turn to the slabtop even a decade ago.

There's something very human and intimate in the usage of it, despite modern clamshells obviously having better viewing angles and giving you a better posture. They feel very natural and intuitive, in the same way a pen and paper does.

The older ones are also frequently very easy to read in the sunshine, and the batteries can last a long time.

The AlphaSmart Neo 2 gets 700h of battery life, but is more of a word processor with extras like applets.

Also huge nerds for ThinkPads, but that's another, non-slabtop story.

[ryukafalz]

> There's something very human and intimate in the usage of it, despite modern clamshells obviously having better viewing angles and giving you a better posture. They feel very natural and intuitive, in the same way a pen and paper does.

There's also something more social about it, if you're using it to take notes while around other people. A screen pointed towards you is a private space; a screen visible to the room is more public (and less prone to distraction as a result because it's obvious to those around you if you're fooling around).

I use a TRS-80 Model 100 as a notetaking device for that reason. (Well, also because it's nearly incapable of doing anything that could distract me on the go!)

[hammyhavoc]

Eloquent! Had never thought about that before, but yes, you're absolutely right.

[whartung]

I’ve raved about the Model 100 before. Even with a 40 column screen it was perfectly usable for messaging on remote systems.

One of the clever things it had was two holes in the back. They were (by design or happenstance) perfectly sized for regular pencils. You cut the pencils to your desired length, shove them in the holes and use the erasers for rubber feet. Perfect to get the angle just right.

M100 had one of the best keyboards I ever used.

And to be fair, the 40 column display is much more reasonable for this form factor. 80 columns gets pretty small, pretty fast. Nice thing about text based web pages and word processing documents is that they wrap just fine to 40 characters.

[criddell]

Are there any slabtop’s still being made? All of those that you listed are discontinued.

I do like the idea of having a very small, limited OS. I’ve often thought I’d love an updated Psion 5. With modern batteries and displays, you should be able to get months out of a set of batteries or battery charge.

[hammyhavoc]

The READY Model 100 is the most recent commercial one to my knowledge, that was crowdfunded initially and then sold via their online store, but is currently unavailable to buy further units of.

There's other things like the Freewrite if you just want a word processor, but I'd recommend the much cheaper (albeit discontinued) AlphaSmart Neo 2 over that, especially for the battery life.

Everything else these days is largely hobbyist DIY projects who occasionally make a PCB or chassis/case available.

I'd love for the segment to grow again. It's admittedly niche, so that's quite unlikely.

Loved and love Psion!

[wlesieutre]

Clockwork makes several

https://www.clockworkpi.com/shop

https://www.abortretry.fail/p/review-of-the-clockwork-pi-dev...

R-01 is particular interesting for having a RISC-V processor

[hammyhavoc]

I was so sold on the Clockwork stuff until I realized how small it is. They're more of a handheld thumb board!

If they scaled it up, I'd love one, especially a RISC-V SKU.

[1MachineElf]

I ordered the CM4 Lite uConsole kit almost immediately after opening that first link.

That's a great price for a 4GB RAM CM4 given what they currently sell for on Amazon/eBay.

I currently own an A06 DevTerm but have been unsatisfied with it. Clockwork OS feels lacking, I wish there was a stand for it, and the keyboard isn't great. The uConsole CM4 can theoretically run Raspbian, has a built-in stand, and features a more compact keyboard. Better overall IMO.

If I end up liking it then I will go for the RISC-V option. Of the available RISC-V options I know of, it appears to be one of the best.

[criddell]

Thanks for linking the review.

That machine sounds great except the battery life. 6 hours? Why can’t it be 600 or even 6000 hours? The Model 100 came out 40 years ago and could go 20 hours on smaller batteries!

[zokier]

I suspect that display is one of the biggest bottlenecks if attempting to build a more power-optimized device.

There are still some low-power cyberdecks around, like https://hackaday.io/project/184340-potatop

[drBonkers]

Do you know of any with normal sized keys?

[wlesieutre]

I don't

[xwdv]

There was a demo of a Linux OS that simply boots to vim and that’s the only thing you could do on that machine. It would be perfect for this use case.

[criddell]

Linux is pretty heavy compared to something like EPOC that the Psion used. That machine would run 20 hours on a pair of AA batteries.

We’ve come a long way since then. Surely a month on a pair of AA batteries should be possible?

[xwdv]

But we have lithium now.

[criddell]

Sure. As long as they are a standard battery that will still be around 25 years from now.

In the year 2050 you can probably take your Psion 5 from 1998, insert AA batteries, and start writing.