Compact NotePad - Does Such a Thing Exist?

[Leslie]

I do a lot of typing and writing, and reading texts. I'd love a small machine that I could transfer text files from my computer to it for reading (I'm thinking, like, entire books) and also type summaries and edit the texts I download, preferably in a plain text/Notepad format, but with the ability to type capital letters and small letters. I'd also want it to have real keys, not an on-screen display of a picture of keys that you tap with a stylus. And then I'd need to upload that text back to my computer. I'll bet I could get by with as little as 5MB of space.

I want to be able to take my work to bed or sit in a lounge chair in the backyard.

I'm looking at this one:
NEC MobilePro 780 Pocket PC
http://www.epinions.com/content_148977389188

And I saw someone using what looked like a palmOne Tungsten W Handheld, but it didn't have a phone, and it looked nice, plus it was small enough to stick in my purse.
http://www.epinions.com/Palm_Tungsten_W_PDAs

It seems like a lot of the PDA's are overkill. I don't need spreadsheets, I doubt I'd ever want to download email, and I don't want to keep a calendar and address book. I don't want it to be a phone. I don't really want to have to convert Word files back to .txt files after transferring them back to computer, but I need to be able to type small letters and capital letters.

Is there any such thing as a portable Notepad that lets you transfer plain text Notepad files back and forth between it and your computer? That's what I need.

[AmyDoll]

Leslie - I asked my dh, he said he'd think about it and get back to me :poke me if I don't post by tomorrow.
(Oh, my dh is an IT guy)
Amy

[Leslie]

Thanks, Amy!

I dug out a six-year-old Palm IIIC that a friend passed down to me a couple years ago, and I got it working. I discovered that I'm able to use the graffitti feature just fine, and I'm able to successfully transfer to Notepad using copy/paste from the Sync thing. I do want to upgrade, but now that I've actually used one of these things, I think I have a better idea of my needs - I can get by without a keyboard, and I could probably just get a bottom-of-the-line Zire or something. I like a 'less is more' approach, I'd rather get something that does less, and does just what I need and not much more.

[Senta]

you could get a compact keyboard to add to the pda or whatever that you have already...i have a friend who did that... i just use the picture on the screen keyboard myself though too lazy to go through the junk of buying stuff to add on :P

[Punkie]

I have a Palm Tungsten E, and I really love it. I've had this one for about a year and a half and I have had other Palms in the past...

I have a compact keyboard to go with it, although I am just as fast with graffiti now. It just took a little time to get used to it. I've been using it for about 6 years now, so that probably helps...

[Leslie]

I found a limitation with my Palm IIIC, its MemoPad will only hold 4000 characters per memo. The mom I saw who had a handheld had eight ENTIRE BOOKS on hers. I want books on mine, too! :hissyfit I could probably break up books into 4000-character bits, but what a hassle!

Is it pretty much routine now for handhelds to be able to fit large documents of text, or is that a special feature I need to look for when shopping for my upgrade?

[boonpnutsmom]

My Axim hold much, but it is a very OLD Dell Axim by today standards and it's not even two years old. If I want it to hold more I just increase the storage size.