![]() ![]() This is a sensible enough decision given the fact that most people will probably be opening them up in Microsoft Word but it’s a bit annoying to those of us who use markdown and would prefer them to be just plain. ![]() Your files are stored in plain text but by some odd quirk marked as docx when downloaded. #Freewrite postbox passwordIf you choose new, the Freewrite scans the local networks, you choose one, type in the password if needed and you’re good to go. On the right side of the Freewrite is a three position switch. Once this is set up, all you need to do is connect to the Internet and you’re good to go.Ĭonnecting to the net is a doddle. You should basically get one when you order your Freewrite. In order for this to work you need an Astrohaus Postbox account. You can use Dropbox, Evernote or Gdrive for this. The other big selling point of the Freewrite is that it connects to the cloud and saves your writing there. The Freewrite as far as I can tell lacks a battery indicator, which is an oversight, I think. I’ll let you know whether it’s a true amount after I have tested it. ![]() Still even 10 hours is a goodly amount for the purposes the Freewrite will be used for. Why not just say that? Oh yes, it sounds way less impressive. By my non-marketing department calculations, that means a battery life of 10 to 14 hours. It will last for those 3-4 weeks if you write for half an hour a day. Unfortunately, this is calculated using the same weasel marketing-speak logic that Amazon uses for the Kindle. Battery LifeĪstrohaus claims a battery life of about 3 to 4 weeks between charges. You switch between these using the special button on the keyboard. There’s a smaller area fenced off below where various other bits and bobs of information can appear such as your word count, a clock or a timer. The writing area is about the size of a large smartphone screen where your text appears. It updates a little slowly, particularly when you reach the end of a screenful of text but this is what I would have expected. This is a backlit e-ink screen of the sort any user of Amazon’s Kindle will be used to. In some ways, it takes me back to the days of my youth, when machines like the Commodore 64 had proper keyboards that were a joy to type on. The only modern laptops that can compare to it are a few very high end, very heavy gaming rigs. It’s a Cherry Keyboard with actual switches underneath each key instead of the modern pressure pad arrangement. The Freewrite is obviously going to live or die by its keyboard. I am not sure I would like to carry it around by the built-in carrying handle simply because I would prefer not to expose it to the elements but I certainly could. It’s not as light as a modern ultrabook but it’s not heavy and it feels solid. It’s made of rugged plastic and metal– aluminum I think. People keep coming up to me in the coffee shop and asking what the Freewrite is.) (The strikingness of the design has just been confirmed by the way. Buck Rogers probably typed his reports on something similar. The other is for connecting to the internet. One of these controls the folder your work will be saved to. It’s basically a keyboard in a metal case with a big red power button and a couple of dials. The designers have gone for a retro-futurist look that makes me think of 50s motor cars– all metal and fins. The Freewrite is striking looking rather than beautiful. It’s what I am doing now, in my local Costa. With the Freeewrite, all I can do is carry it somewhere and just write. The world of internet jiggery-pokery was merely a button switch away.I could always reconnect if I wanted to. I’ve tried various modes of distraction-free writing in the past but they all suffered from the fact that I was using them on a laptop. It’s just you, a keyboard and your words. The basic idea is that you can get down to writing with no distractions. This machine connects to the cloud and stores your writing there. #Freewrite postbox manualIt reminds me of an old-fashioned manual typewriter, albeit one with a modern twist. The Freewrite, as it is now called , is basically a keyboard and a small e-ink screen inside a rugged metal chassis. I set about unpacking it with considerable excitement. This weekend I got back from London to find that it had arrived. #Freewrite postbox freeAbout 18 months ago I backed a Kickstarter for the Hemingwrite, a distraction free electronic typewriter. ![]()
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