I’ve been using portable writing setups for a while. I started with an AlphaSmart Neo. This was great, but with the screen angle being fixed not as versatile as I had wanted. I wrote a novella on it (said novella would later be extended and become a #1 best-seller in Amazon’s Science Fiction Romance category!)

I then switched to a Pomera DM250. This was perfect in terms of size, overall form factor, and screen angle options. But the keyboard was a little too small and too squishy. I did get used to it. It was close to perfect. Definitely good enough to pop out a novella and full-length novel. This thing went with me to local coffee shops, Tenerife, and Athens.

Nevertheless, I kept my eyes peeled for that perfect thing:

• Portable package
• Long battery life
• Good keyboard

At this point feeling like Goldilocks with the Three Bears.

Then the 0nyx Boox Palma came out.

The device

The Boox Palma is an eink Android “phone” without the phone connectivity. Slightly less minimalistic than I’d have liked (what with having access to the entire Android app store), but with a seemingly great (adjustable) refresh rate, which is one of the most important things for me in an eink writing tool.

After confirming that it can be used with a USB-C or Bluetooth keyboad, I bit the bullet and got one. Here is the setup:

The keyboad

Since the main motivation for moving away from the Pomera DM250 was the keyboard, I knew I wanted to get a really nice typing experience with this new setup. That was the point! So I already knew I’d settle on mechanical. It did not need to be custom or fancy, it just needed to be small, feel nice, and be (optionally) wireless.

Enter Hexcore Anne Pro 2, which was conveniently on sale at MaxGaming. They had a version with Gateron Brown and Red switches. I went for the Reds. In reality my favorite switches to type on are clicky Blues, but this thing was never intended to be a portable acoustic weapon system.

The holder

Finally, I just needed a way to comfortably and flexibly position the thing. The whole point is that it is meant to be versatile enough to use anywhere.

The Desire2 tablet and phone holder did the trick.

The tablet holder comes with adjustable splayed feet for a stable standing position. It lets me vary the height and angle of the phone.

It also comes with a bracket that was intended to be mounted on a wall. Instead of a wall, I want to use it to removably mount it to the bottom of the keyboard. This way I can keep the phone in place if writing with the keyboard in my lap. My tentative plan right now is to attach some thin-profile velcro to the bottom of the keyboard and to the bracket, to make it removable. The bracket on its own is too bulky to stick to the bottom of the keyboard permanently.

The size

The whole setup is quite a bit larger than my Pomera DM250, but fits perfectly into this handbag:

The nice thing here is the flexibility. If I ever want something in an even smaller package, there are plenty of smaller Bluetooth keyboards I can use instead of the Anne Pro 2, including folding options. They won’t feel as good, but they’ll be small! There are also smaller holders available, like a simple frame that just takes your phone and holds it stable at one angle. Every component is replaceable for any occasion.

That’s it for now. I’m finishing up my next novel draft on this thing and so far it’s going really well, but I need to take it for a proper test drive at the local coffee shop soon.