Psion 3a

I had a Psion 3a - it fit in my back pocket and was strong enough it didn't break when I sat on it. I carried it everywhere and used it as my main device for taking notes in meetings - the combination of form factor and a usable keyboard was great. Then I lost it and got a Psion 5 as a replacement. Despite the keyboard and software being way better, it was just that little bit larger and heavier so that I didn't carry it everywhere. It lived in my bag, not my pocket, so in the end I used it less. So I switched to a Palm V, which was a wonderful light form factor and looked fabulous, but I found I didn't really use it at all, except as an address book. The lack of a physical keyboard made it basically useless for my main purpose. In the end, I ended up with an ultra-lightweight Sony Vaio PCG-505 laptop, ran FreeBSD on it, added a Ricochet radio modem, and never looked back. Even 27 years later, I still think the PCG-505 form factor looks good, and at 1.3kg it weighed the same as today's lightest Macbook Air.

Interesting. No, I haven't noticed that. Maybe if one particular unit's keyboard works well, you don't have to hit the keys so hard, so it doesn't push down on the hinge mechanism. Psion's own hinge mech was far better, but PlanComp only licensed the keyboard, not the case. I proposed a fatter "pro" model with a bigger battery that was the same size, shape and form factor as the original, so it'd fit in original cases. I still have several. I was shouted down by Americans whose internal airlines apparently have or had some stupid limit on the size of battery you can carry on board. In Europe any battery over a certain limit has to be carried in the cabin, so if it fails the crew can extinguish it.

I started on the Psion 3a, then 5mx, Nokia E90, Nokia N900. And then sadly I ran out of good options. Nothing beats a good keyboard (though it does also need to be a good one). I would love another clamshell design, maybe with an e-ink display, running debian like my N900. EDIT: I do have a beady eye on Planet Computing's machines: https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/devices