Don't forget about Bluetooth; avoids the cable and USB<>serial adapter issues. ----- Original Message ----- From: Kurt McCullum To: Model 100 Discussion Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 12:10 PM Subject: Re: [M100] Model 100/102 vs Alphasmart
Robert, I have used Alphasmarts in the past. Great for doing a little note taking. Transfers are a simple matter of opening up a word processor on your PC, hooking up the USB cable and pressing send on the Alphasmart. It will 'type' every letter into your PC. If you want to transfer files back and fourth your need a special program that I think may still be on their website. You are limited to 8 files at a time of various sizes (depending on the model) Battery life at 700 hours per set of batteries is impressive. The model T computers have a keyboard that is a dream to use. The Alphasmarts are basically your run of the mill laptop keyboard. The display on the Model T is larger and much easier to see. I think the neo can adjust the font size but all previous models had a 4 x 40 display. In your case either will work. I think it depends on how comfortable you are getting the cables to connect a Model T. There is a usb to db25 Null modem serial cable available on ebay that works, though the Model 100 can't fit the housing without using a small adapter. The 102/200 are fine with the cable. If you have a laptop with a serial port (Hard to find now) then you just need the proper cable to tranfer the data back and forth. Kurt On Thursday, April 30, 2015 8:10 AM, mechanicalgenius <[email protected]> wrote: Howdy folks My name is Robert and this is my first post. I am going to be taking a trip this summer, aboard a 50ft sailboat, from Hawaii to Long Beach. I did this run couple years years ago. Best month of my life. During that journey, I shared my journal daily. We used a ham radio based email system called Sailmail to connect with the world. I would write on my tablet everyday and upload once a day. Everyone loved reading about the journey. I want to share it again. Last time, I ran into a couple issues with my Samsung tablet. Battery life wasn't that great, and daylight viewability was awful. If I wanted to write during the day I had to go below deck to do it. This time I want to be able to write anywhere and everywhere. I have a Model 100, and it seems like it could be quite nice for this trip, other than transferring files to the laptop we will be using for Sailmail. I won't likely have access to the laptop before the trip for testing. I don't have a NADSbox. Another option I ran across is an Alphasmart Neo. Not quite as cool, but rugged, USB built in, and I think it is backlit. I think it may have a limitation on the number of files it can store, and I will be creating at least one new file per day. So I come to you, oh knowledgeable ones of the Model T world. What wisdom can you share with this lowly sailor?
