I've been loving all of these PDA posts. The search for the perfect writing machine is very close to my heart, and I feel like I've been looking off an on for a long time.
I had some Palm devices way back in the early- to mid-2000s, including a Tungsten T2 and a Lifedrive (I think I had an m100 salvaged from a dorm give/take box), and with a good keyboard they were perfectly fine to write on. I wish I remembered more about them, but I do know my aims were different at the time, and wireless connectivity was a must. I've long since sold those devices, and I kind of wish I hadn't.
I also had a Newton 2000 message pad, and I adored that thing. I did a fair amount of writing on that, and I'm honestly kicking myself for ever getting rid of it. I think I needed the money at the time, but it was a cool piece of technology. Looking at them now on ebay... the kind of money they go for now is better put into a new computer fund.
If I really want to go full offline, though, I do have a trusty Alphasmart Neo that a friend bought for me. It's a completely dependable little device, and incredibly simple. Batteries last for something like 700 hours, it turns on in seconds, and can hold around 10k words, which is more than enough for a day or two without internet. Plus, connecting it up to a computer and sending the files over is fun. There's a file manager out there somewhere, but the real magic is hitting the send key and watching the Alphasmart teletype on to your text editor of choice. Having it go for 3000 words, one letter at a time, is kind of a treat.
I can't wait to see what everyone does with their PDAs. It's nice to see people keeping them alive.
-donut