Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

A new edition of the cheapest computer in the store finds a small tablet and keyboard for $80. Slow, but sufficient.

Want to write a book? Can’t afford a MacBook Pro or Surface Pro or someone-else’s-pro? Here is a writing system for $80. It comprises an Amazon Fire 7″ $50 tablet and a $30 bluetooth keyboard and case.

The Fire tablet with Fintie keyboard

I include a few photos here. Click on a photo to enlarge and see the correct orientation.

The Fintie keyboard next to an Apple MacBook AIr full-sized keyboard

The display on the tablet is small and not the state-of-the-art. Nevertheless, it is functional. The $50 Fire connects the writer to the Internet. It will run Google Docs and Microsoft Word online version. I prefer to keep it simple and use the basic notepad app and email my writing to myself for use elsewhere.

This keyboard is small, but, again, functional. One of the photos shows how small and close the keys are together compared to a “full-size” keyboard on an Apple MacBook Air. Using the Air, I typed about 60 words per minute using an online testing site. After five minutes of practice, I types about 50 words per minute on the little tablet keyboard. That is sufficient. Also, I find that when I type slower I write better.

The entire writing package compared to a standard Moleskine notebook

The entire package comes with a carrying case. The final photo shows that this package is about the same size of the basic Moleskine notebook.

Workable? Yes. Luxurious? No. You can carry this package with you and write when the mood hits you. I guess there is some luxury in that.