updated 5/23/2025
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Hi! I'm a writer who uses the name "Hook" on the internet (sometimes "Hookmt" or "H0ok" when "Hook" is not available on a forum).
I said this is a site devoted to Writer Decks. I should start by giving my answer to the question "What is a Writer Deck?" A Writer Deck is a digital typewriter where, ideally, both hardware and software are writing focused, offering a minimum of alternatives to writing in their capabilities. Right now I am focusing on Writer Decks that have been built for you, but there are DIY Writer Decks you can buy parts for and assemble yourself. There are also ways to use old tech lying around the house to cobble together a Writer Deck very inexpensively and requiring little technical skill. I plan a future page dedicated to the latter.
The following is how I view and evaluate Writer Decks, which will help you decide how likely you are to agree with what I say about these Writer Decks. The central idea (in my opinion)is that it needs 1) a keyboard that is comfortable to type on for extended periods of time, 2) a way to get your writing files from the Writer Deck to your computer, 3) good battery life (so you aren't having anxiety about how long you have while typing in a café) and 4)The ability to be fully functional offline. The use of the network for backing up files is fine, but it should not be capable of using the web or social media. I'm really not looking for sophisticated editing capability in a Writer Deck, just going back a paragraph or two to review, and local changes because I changed my mind in real time while drafting. Anything beyond that has diminishing returns on a small screen device.
This is a very common question. Commercially available Writer Decks cost from $200 to $500 or more. Even used Alphasmarts are getting pricier. For that kind of money you can get a decently specced laptop or chromebook that can let you do everything. Why pay that kind of money for something that does, at the extreme, only one thing.
The answer deserves a longer treatment, which I will be doing in the future. But for now, my answer is to say that "writing" involves 4 differnt kinds of tasks: story development, writing, editing, formatting. Of these, writing is the most difficult and all of the other three are capable of derailing the writing. A full computer is fine for the other three, but wriiting requires being able to block out the world and write! Writer Decks are tools designed for one job and that makes the investment worth it. In my opinion. I will have a lot more to say about this when I give the topic a full treatment.
My very first Writer Deck was an Alphasmart Neo 2 in 2007, when I bought it new shortly after its release by Renaissance Learning. It revolutionized my writing experience, giving me a great deal of focus. It allowed me to draft 5 novels and a large collection of short stories. It was, and still is, a remarkable Writer Deck more than 10 years since it was discontinued.
I wouldn't have found the Alphasmarts without the helpful people on the Alphasmart-Writing Tools Community on Flikr. It started with someone who came over to the long gone Brighthand PDA forum I frequented to talk about the Dana, and that sent me to the Flikr community. They answered all my questions and more and were so helpful with both the tech and the writing over the years. The community still thrives, and this is another way to pay forward all the help I have . I can help others with what I have learned.
More recently, there has been an eruption of new Writer Decks being produced. While I still have my Neos, I have fallen in love with the Micro Journals created by Un Kyu Lee. There is also the Pomera 250 which has just been released in the US but has existed in a Japanese version for years. There are also two others that are still forthcoming: the Zero Writer, and the BYOK, both of which I have backed. Finally, there are the various Astrohaus smart typewriters (I have the Alpha, but in general I don't like Astrohaus for reasons I will get around to explaining). I'm not trying to be a completest (Haha-- really), but if I am really drawn to a Writer Deck, I want to put my support behind the folks trying to serve this niche. So I will have pages here for any device I own and have experience with. I may post about other devices, but will make it very clear when I don't own them and don't have direct experience with them.
This is a new site. The Neo and Dana help pages have been around for a few years as separate pages on another domain I have, but have now been placed here and updated. Everything else is new and all of it is evolving, so I'm not sure what all I will end up doing here and there may be lots of fluidity while I figure it out.
I am not anyone special. I write. I love to write. I have been published some, but not a lot. I have self published, but it hasn't ever paid the bills. I am lucky enough to be retired and write because I want to, not because I need it to take care of my mortgage. I am not a great technical expert, neither for software nor hardware, though I have experience with both and learn things as I go. I'm just a Writer Deck and keyboard enthusiast and writer of stories. The point is, there is nothing special about my opinions or evaluations of any of these devices. I am not an "influencer." There is no compelling reason to listen to me. But I hope you enjoy what I have to say. I'm trying to be helpful, not clever.
It is probably useful for you to know I am an old guy. I didn't become digital until I was turning 30 (I missed Atari and Tandy before I noticed there were personal computers). I still like analog ways of interacting with digital (physical buttons and mechanical keyboards). I understand that if you grew up digital and grew up using a phone as if it was a full computer (which it is) that you may have a different perspective. I respect that. The purpose of my "reviews" are not to tell you what is best for you, but to describe and provide information for you to make your own decision, while also making clear what works and doesn't work for me.
I hope this site proves useful. It is a site for me to share information. It is not a discussion site as maintaining and moderating conversations is more work than I have time for, but you are welcome to contact me either on the Flickr Alphasmart forum I linked above or send me email at Hook I enjoy conversations over email.
