I’m off to uni soon and desperately looking for a way to work mainly in ASCII. I need a way to generate text in lectures but firstly I’m not sure if I’m allowed a laptop in lectures. Secondly I would prefer getting a desktop. I’ve bought a Wacom graphire and found it isn’t suitable for handwriting recognition. I’ve had some other ideas:
-The Logitech IO Pen.
-Using a scanner.
I’ve some to the conclusion that the software isn’t ready for handwriting recognition yet and these solutions are cumbersome and innacurate.
I’ve just had an inspired thought. Are there standalone keyboards with independant memory?. It makes sense as the keyboard is the usual way of generating ASCII and after all these years I can type pretty well. Normal keyboards are seen as input devices to complete computer systems but has no one made a keyboard which is a stand alone keystroke logger? I’m talking about a keyboard with a memory, power supply and USB port (or similar). After lectures it could be then plugged in to USB and all my notes would be ready for the wonders of wordprocessing.
I’ve looked on the internet but can’t find anything about such a device. Does anyone here know if such a keyboard exists? Ideally, of course, it would also be foldable.
If no one has come up with this idea…I’ll patent it and make a lot of money (I wish… ).
Koba
P.S> I suppose you are all going to suggest getting a PDA with a foldable keyboard. Which I admit is an idea (though a little costly).
there are keybords with a memory. i havent looked yet how much they cost but ive seen one in a magazine. if you buy a pda you dont have to buy a foldable keybord. ive seen them with tutch screens where you can write letters with a pencil tool. also you can see better what you wrote. so if you type very fast you should look for a keybord with memory. if you have the money id buy a pda.
You’d probably like an alphasmart but they’re pretty expensive. Maybe you could find another kind of portable author? They get like 700 hours of battery life so way better for class than a laptop.
I did find a keyboard with memory etc here…AlphaSmart.
I did find a cheaper model for $200-and-something but it is still pretty expensive. It has a lot of features which I wouldn’t need so I may be more interested in a simpler version without all those PDA utilities.
Even then it isn’t foldable.
Actually, a PDA and foldable keyboard may be cheaper. The cheapest Palm is $99 (Zire 21) and a foldable keyboard is about $65. That comes to about $170 for something that is pretty portable. The PDA may be useful in its own right (even though it is a simple model). All I’m wondering is how good the Palm is at transferring ASCII data to a PC for processing. Does anyone have a Palm Zire 21?
I have a Palm Zire (original version). It doesn’t support a keyboard, but the handwriting recognition works well. I’ve been using a program called Smart Doc for writing on it, and then I use AbiWord to open the Palm Doc files it produces. A clunky system, but it works.
When you say it doesn’t support a keyboard…do you mean it can’t use an external keyboard either? Here is a palm product which says it supports Zire 21: Keyboard
I have looked up AbiWord: the good news is it is opensource. Is it not possible to transfer ASCII files straight to a PC instead of using intermediate software? I was hoping I could use M$ Word for wordprocessing directly after the transfer (I would use OpenOffice but I am too used to Word ).
I am generally ignorant of portable devices but why doesn’t Palm use normal ASCII that can be opened in notepad??
IMHO spending all the time in the lecture frantically copying down every thing the lecturer said is not a good idea! you spend all the lecture doing that and not actually thinking about what he’s saying.
Best bet is to listen to the lecture and make brief notes.
Nothing wrong with good old fashioned pencil and paper. Worst that can go wrong is that you break a pencil lead. But with a electronic keyboard lecture recorder doohickey it could break down just as the lecturer is telling you an important theory about the meaning of life.
I think the Alphasmart is what you are looking for.
My wife has the Alphasmart 3000. It looks like the current price is $199. You can get them cheaper through Ebay. It runs on 2 AA batteries and lasts a long time. Not sure about 700 hours, but it should be close to that. The screen is ok. It works for taking notes. The keyboard is pretty decent. A lot better than most laptops. There is no boot or shutdown time. Everything is saved as soon as you type it. You get 8 or 10 memory locations. They can be used individually, or you type and when 1 fills up, it automatically goes to the next one. Transferring to a computer is easy. You don’t need ANY software. Just plug the USB adapter cable to your computer and press send. You open a word processing application (or even Notepad) and the ‘sending’ acts like the words are being typed by a keyboard.
A lot of authors are using the AlphaSmart because it can go anywhere, is rugged, and has long battery life.
I agree. Also, if you take a laptop or PDA to uni lectures (which is allowed BTW), people will think you’re some spoiled rich brat and they’ll just avoid you.
If you want a quick way to transfer writing to ascii, write it on paper, then get a cheap scanner and use an OCR program to convert the writing. That way, even if the computer gadgets fail, you still have the paper copy.
I assume you’ve never been to lectures before. If so, you may not realise that lectures can rarely be written in ascii alone. Often little diagrams, arrows, emphases, mathematical symbols and colour are required. Because of this, most of my lecturers had electronic versions of their slides that they put on the internet.
Also, if you use pen and paper, you’re more likely to get hot chicks to flirt with you by asking if they can borrow a pen, which they ‘forgot’ (unless you’re ugly in which case it doesn’t matter). Can’t do that with a keyboard. Also, lecture halls have juice & gum lying around so any expensive equipment could easily be damaged.
Pen and paper has been used for ages and I suspect it will for many years to come because it just works and it’s the cheapest thing you’ll get.
Oh, if you insist on going digital, I had an old psion palmtop and it was fine for text and had a built-in keyboard:
IMHO spending all the time in the lecture frantically copying down every thing the lecturer said is not a good idea! you spend all the lecture doing that and not actually thinking about what he’s saying.
Agreed. There is no point coming out of a lecture clueless with a load of cyptic notes. I’m just thinking it may be nice to have the notes I do take in digital form so I can integrate it into any assignments etc. Perhaps I won’t have the same volume of notes I had in the past so I can stick to pen and paper.
Just experiance from the past two years has made me dislike paper intensely: I had 45 kilos of paper by the end of the year and most of it I had only reread once! I estimate I must have gone through about 100 kilos of paper over the two years and all of it went to waste.
blenderanim:
I think the Alphasmart is what you are looking for.
It does sound very good (especially the straighforward transfer). The only thing I’m not so sure about is the size of the thing.
osxrules:
Also, if you take a laptop or PDA to uni lectures (which is allowed BTW), people will think you’re some spoiled rich brat and they’ll just avoid you.
Well…it wouldn’t take long for anyone to realise I don’t fit in that category (I’ve already got my student loan hanging over my head). Undoubtably there will be some rich students where I am going. If I made a purchase it would be only because I would hope it is useful to me and certainlt not to make a statement (I mean this is coming out of my savings for heaven’s sake).
Also, if you use pen and paper, you’re more likely to get hot chicks to flirt with you by asking if they can borrow a pen, which they ‘forgot’ (unless you’re ugly in which case it doesn’t matter).
Interesting prospects.
I have decided to play it by ear. I’m not going to buy anything until I have been through a couple of lectures to get used to the new style of teaching. Then I’ll make a decision. I just think it is best to get yourself informed of the options early.
i dont know if its allowed but if it is you could always try a memo recorder. then you have a complete story you can work out later. but pen and paper is a good solution if you can write well. (i have trouble reading my own notes and homework . a pda would be a good solution if i go to study next year)
(I wish… 
).
. a pda would be a good solution if i go to study next year)