Thread by @AlexandraErin

So I was very lucky to be gifted one of these dealies and it is the answer to a prayer I've had since smartphones deprecated onboard physical keyboards: a handheld device with computer, screen, and keyboard all in one package.

https://twitter.com/CaseyExplosion/status/1336499438039281669

When I'm writing and I'm 100% in the zone, I like a full-sized keyboard because I can basically let the words pour out of my fingers at the speed of thought.

But when I have to stop and think about what I'm writing, my own typing speed trips me up because I feel like molasses.

If I've got a physical keyboard I can thumb-type on, I can still type at a decent speed (faster than most people with any keyboard) but slow enough that it matches the rate at which I can get my thoughts in order.

And more than that, I think the fact that it takes slightly more deliberate thought to thumb-type helps me figure out what I'm trying to say it, as I say it.

The GPD Win 2 is a *little* heavier than I'd like and that impacts how long/often I can write on it, but having a full Windows computer that I can pull out and start clacking out words on in basically any place is something I've often wished for.

People who followed me back in the Before-Times, when we all used to go places and do things, may have seen pictures of me with my wearable computer rig (PC stick plus Vufine monitor plus a Bluetooth handheld mouse/keyboard) and that was awesome, but also takes set-up.

The GPD is intended to be a gaming device, hence the gamepad. I haven't tried it much for that purpose because that will require me to sit down and install games on it. And then figure out how to play them with a gamepad.

But yesterday (the day it arrived) I got about a thousand words of journaling done to learn the keyboard, then wrote about that much of the next chapter for Ash, the City, and Summer.

So I've now played Hades and tried Borderlands and Dishonored on my GPD. Hades runs and plays really well! I went with Borderlands and Dishonored because they're both pretty old and they ran well, but I don't love the gamepad control schemes.

Also in both cases the default gamepad control scheme wants to put sprinting on the left analog stick button, but the GPD doesn't have button press functionality on the analog sticks.