Freewrite Traveler evaluation: I hate how a lot I prefer it

Greatest Costs At present: Freewrite Traveler

I actually just like the Freewrite Traveler. And I type of hate that I prefer it.

As I stated in a evaluation for the same machine, the KingJim Pomera DM250, I’ve been on the lookout for a small, travel-friendly, devoted writing gadget (a “author deck,” if you’ll) for a very long time. And I’ve been conscious of the Astrohaus Freewrite gadgets for a very long time, too, and thought of the Traveler as a perfect kind issue for this admittedly area of interest class. However numerous facets of it rubbed me the unsuitable approach.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The Freewrite advertising and marketing has at all times smacked of “hipster” to me. It’s the identical type of smarmy, condescending tone that appears to pervade Moleskine notebooks. Whereas I can perceive its hyper-focused method — that’s type of the entire level — its deliberate lack of utility rankled in opposition to my instincts as a tech nerd. And given these limitations, Astrohaus’s costs for its numerous gadgets appear ridiculous to me. The Traveler, for instance, has specs that may disgrace an entry-level Chromebook or Kindle, but prices $550, and hasn’t seen an replace in years.

(As regards to value: I purchased this explicit mannequin secondhand, therefore the assorted dings within the plastic, and with my very own cash. My editor Brad may slap me if I attempted to expense one thing like this.)

Freewrite Traveler: Have a look at me! I’m writing!

Even the aesthetics of the machine are smarmy. Whereas the Pomera DM250 went with an understated soft-touch plastic with no exterior logos in any respect, the Freewrite Traveler has a MASSIVE, engraved steel emblem on its shiny lid, the type of branding that may make even Apple cringe. The inside is attention-grabbing white with purple and chrome accents. It’s loud, which is sort of ironic for one thing that’s presupposed to be small and devoted to writing.

Michael Crider/Foundry

It makes use of a non-backlit, membrane keyboard. Its small e-ink display screen additionally has no backlight, which presents a critical obstacle if you wish to use the machine in something however a well-lit room (or add on a guide mild prefer it’s 1995). Between the processing energy that may be bested by an historic graphing calculator and the 5.5-inch e-ink display screen, the refresh price is so sluggish that I’m continually two or three phrases forward as I sort this very evaluation.

The Freewrite Traveler is overpriced, underpowered, and incessantly happy with itself. And dammit, I’ve to confess that it’s fairly darn good.

Freewrite Traveler: Minimalism to the max

For the distraction-free writing purist, most of those drawbacks are in truth positives, with the potential exception of the worth. The dearth of superior capabilities, together with any type of critical enhancing chops or spell test, means there’s nothing to do however churn out phrases. (And plenty of spelling errors.) Astrohaus software program lacks even fundamental copy and paste performance, so there’s nothing to do however write, write, write in a type of stream of consciousness circulation. You get a number of paperwork to work in and three totally different folders, that’s it.

Michael Crider/Foundry

When it’s time to get your phrases onto one thing with extra digital oomph than a Palm Pilot, the simplest approach to take action is the Ship button. This robotically syncs by way of Wi-Fi with the Astrohaus Postbox cloud platform, which might additionally robotically ship textual content paperwork to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Evernote by way of linked accounts. That is characteristically clunky — once I linked the service to Google I immediately began getting e-mail alerts as a result of it simply despatched me an e-mail with the related textual content. However it’s extremely quick and straightforward, actually one button.

Alternately you’ll be able to scorn any type of wi-fi connection altogether, plug the factor instantly right into a PC, pill or telephone, and easily copy off your phrases as textual content recordsdata in a easy storage machine.

The Postbox net interface can also be the place you’ll be able to alter a few settings. You’ll be able to select between three, three entire font sizes and nil precise fonts, and add a lockscreen for a little bit of privateness in case your Traveler will get misplaced or stolen. You may as well change between keyboard layouts (although the bodily format is available in something you need, as long as you need US-focused ANSI). You’ll be able to select between extraordinarily pretentious e-ink screensavers of well-known literary figures, (once more, shades of Moleskine) or much more Freewrite branding that’s barely much less annoying. Aaaaaand… that’s all.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The machine itself affords barely the rest when it comes to customization or instruments. The tiny, superfluous strip of a display screen beneath the 5.5-inch major show can present a clock or date, phrase rely, a timer, or just be left clean. You’ll be able to transfer or delete drafts within the three folders. You’ll be able to hook up with new Wi-Fi networks. And that’s about it. We’re taking minimalism to an excessive right here — even the obsessively targeted Pomera DM250 had at the very least as a lot perform as, say, a digital organizer from the Nineties.

As limiting as I discover the Freewrite Traveler, I prefer it much more than the Pomera. The primary purpose is the one which soured me on the latter with none hope of forgiveness: the keyboard. The Traveler’s keyboard isn’t wonderful, however it is strong. Roughly the identical as a high quality laptop computer keyboard, although less than the excessive requirements of, say, a ThinkPad laptop computer. It’s sufficient to blow the cramped, non-standard-sized keyboard of the Pomera out of the water. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The typing expertise of that machine was about the identical as an inexpensive pill keyboard, whereas the Freewrite seems like one thing that’s designed with typing in thoughts. Maybe the truth that Freewrite’s flagship Good Typewriter/Hemingwrite machine (ugh) makes use of a standard-sized mechanical keyboard ought to have clued me into the way in which this firm is way extra targeted on the expertise of typing, not simply the purposeful enter of textual content. And since I’m mentioning that, I’ll say that those that have smaller palms (I’m a 5’10” cis male, for reference) may discover the Pomera’s smaller keyboard extra forgiving.

(Slight apart: the Freewrite Alpha can also be price a point out as a transportable design, with a greater, totally mechanical keyboard, a lower cost… and sadly an excellent smaller display screen, although that is likely to be a extra purposeful LCD. It additionally lacks a hinge, one of many issues I needed for laptop-style typing that I couldn’t accomplish with only a Bluetooth keyboard and a telephone or pill.) 

Michael Crider/Foundry

You’ll be able to see this philosophy in one other distinction between the gadgets. The Pomera permits you to hook up with a telephone or pill over Bluetooth, to successfully flip that gadget right into a Bluetooth keyboard. Which is one thing I by no means needed to do, due to the aforementioned poor keyboard high quality. The Freewrite Traveler doesn’t have Bluetooth in any respect, and actually it goes in the wrong way. You’ll be able to plug in any USB-based keyboard into the Traveler’s USB-C port, in case you wish to use a higher keyboard on this stripped-down, targeted interface.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Different design choices present this dedication to pure writing or drafting. There are not any devoted cursor keys, you’ll be able to transfer the cursor with the purple “New” keys and WASD. This appears a bit awkward at first, however after a number of hundred phrases it turns into second nature to navigate via phrases, traces, and paragraphs, because of good selections made in how the system handles instructions and inputs.

Michael Crider/Foundry

After every week with the Traveler I’ve already used it excess of the Pomera, largely as a result of it’s extra snug. However I’ve to confess that, regardless of appreciating the way more succesful and even smart working system from the Japanese KingJim design, the Freewrite setup is simply extra conducive to truly getting phrases down. Even the syncing system, although far much less versatile and highly effective, is extra satisfying — I press a button and my draft seems in Gmail.

The Pomera DM250 has a greater, backlit display screen, way more visible choices, and it’s much less pretentious. However between the keyboard and the singular focus, the Traveler is the higher machine, at the very least for me. My techie spendthrift soul cringes at a $550 price ticket (thanks, Trump tariffs!) for one thing so threadbare when it comes to precise {hardware}. However my author soul says “simply shut up and use it, you’re reaching in direction of 5000 phrases right this moment and also you don’t really feel drained in any respect.”

Michael Crider/Foundry

The Freewrite Traveler does every little thing I needed the Pomera to do, even when it’s doing loads much less. It’s a lot smaller and extra transportable than a laptop computer, it lasts far longer on a cost, it refuses to supply any distractions, and it’s truly participating to make use of as a writing machine. That is an costly device, even when it makes me really feel like an costly device for liking it.

Michael Crider/Foundry

I want I may rip the keyboard off the Freewrite Traveler and graft it onto the Pomera DM250, and one way or the other carry its immediate Wi-Fi syncing together with it. However till some designer makes that occur, I’ll have to hold with the hipsters. And within the meantime, I’ll promote the Pomera… as a result of neither of these items is wherever near an excellent worth.