[GLLUG] Mystery tech -- laptop

[Bill Bartilson]

They used those at Waverly schools about ten years ago.  The idea was  
that a kid without a computer at home could check one of these out,  
type a paper, and transfer it back at school the next day for printing.

If any of the same IT folks are still there, they might have some  
expertise to lend.  Maybe the Eaton ISD would?

I'm pretty confident that if you found one at a garage sale around  
here, Waverly is likely where it began life.  I was a K-12 tech  
director back then, and I know of no one else around here who used them.

Regards,
Bill


On May 17, 2008, at 12:01 PM, Michael Rudas wrote:

> Garage sales can be wondrous things -- I just purchased what looks to
> be a fascinating bit of older technology.  I'm still researching it.
>
> I purchased (for US$12.50) what looks to be something between a PDA
> and a low-end laptop -- it appears to be an early attempt at an
> OLPC-like student-oriented PC.  Called a "DreamWriter I.T" and built
> about 9 years ago, it features a stripped-down but full-sized keyboard
> with touchpad, a roughly 9-inch 640x480 256-color LCD touchscreen
> display, and nearly all the standard I/O ports, including a PCMCIA
> slot (unfortunately, no USB).  It appears to have 16 MB of flash RAM
> and (according to what I've found so far) runs an 80 MHz Hitachi SH-3
> processor.  It's currently loaded with WinCE 2.11 and Pocket Office 97
> -- but I may try to find a way to put Linux on it.
>
> Of course the manufacturer and its successor-in-interest are LONG gone
> -- NTS Computer Systems, Ltd. and Brainium Technologies were both
> based in Canada and have disappeared without a ripple -- but, hey,
> worst case I've got a decent 12V/2.5A switching power supply and a
> cool NiMH battery pack...
>
> Does anyone know anything about this unit?
>
> ~~ Mikey
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