Gadget Advice Requested - note taking device with a keyboard

[andrewducker]

star_tourmaline wants a note taking device, with a keyboard, which isn't a phone. Something small enough to carry about, as if it was a phone, but without the expense of a phone (and the distractions that come with one).

Any suggestions?

Edit: When I say "keyboard" I do not mean "a simulation thereof".

Comments

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Looks like eBay is full of cheap Alphasmart devices. Nowhere near as small as a phone, but would fit in a handbag/backpack.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

I thought of those, or something similar.

Aren't they hopelessly obsolete now though? Last I heard of them being vaguely 'current' was around 2004, and even then, what was the point when you could get a laptop and look at a proper screen instead of two piddly lines?

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Yeah, personally I'd go for a tiny netbook or a Blackberry over one of these. But it's a cheap option, and one of the few ways to get a proper keyboard. *shrug*

(they still seem to be being made, though, targeted at the special needs market)