Amstrad Notepad NC100
Amstrad released the NC100 in 1992, but it remains a useful tool for anyone seeking a writing device that operates without the distraction of the Internet. The monochrome LCD screen is limited, of course — 80 x 8 characters — but it can be read in all but the weakest light (no backlight, alas). The machine runs off four AA batteries, and for a long time too, I’ve found, but there’s an optional AC adaptor if you can find one. A CR2032 coin cell protects RAM contents when the main cells are changed.
The Amstrad NC100 notepad computer
RAM content protection? Yes, the NC100 has no storage, just 64KB of RAM, of which approximately 16KB is reserved for the display memory and sections of the 256KB ROM which are paged into the machine’s Z80 processor’s 64KB addressable memory space as required. RAM operates as memory and as storage.
Fortunately, the NC100 has built-in comms software — alongside its very usable word processor and BBC Basic implementation — so it’s straightforward to back up files to a modern computer or (as I do) for final editing before being posted to a blog or other website.
The NC100 can also accept PCMCIA/PC Card battery-backed SRAM cards of up to 1MB in size. Flash is not supported, apparently, but I have not confirmed this. With an SRAM card in place, the NC100 uses that for document storage in preference to RAM. You should be aware that suitable cards are not only rare but very expensive.