Cheap device for song lyric display?

May 16, 2008 10:58 AM

I'm looking to use some kind of tablet device, pocket pc, or possibly even e-book reader to display lyrics and chords for me while playing guitar. Criteria: cheap, readable, hackable, in that order.

Budget - cheaper is better, $100 is ok, for $200 it should be stellar.

It needs to be able to display text files, and that's about it. It would be great if the screen was big enough to display a whole page, but I usually condense lyrics and chords, so it's not essential.

It would also be great if I could hook up some kind of device to scroll up and down and change songs. Could be a keyboard input, whatever.

I figure that you hardware hacker types must know something about discontinued devices that can be had on eBay. Thanks!

posted by rhys to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 comments total)

IIRC, Fujitsu has a pretty big following and they've been in the tablet business long enough to find some old Pentiums in the low $100s. You might find some hacks at tabletpcbuzz.com for Fujitsu. Motions are great tablets but people know this and the price reflects it.

I used to have an NEC Litepad. I don't recommend it even though I loved the form factor. I have a TC1100 now but I don't know if you'll find that less than $500 or so. I also have a UMPC (Q1) but the screen size won't meet your needs at all.

I really don't know how you'll get it to scroll with an accessory.

I would keep an eye on eBay. You'll find people dumping their old tablets all the time.
posted by timmins at 11:08 AM on May 16, 2008

The (older) Nokia N770 or N800 internet tablets might be something to look into. Linux based, immensely hackable, and they support bluetooth keyboards.

Rereading the question, you definitely want the 770 based on it's price point, which was dramatically reduced when the 800 came out. More info in this thread, as well.
posted by cgg at 11:19 AM on May 16, 2008

I do that with Powerpoint on an old laptop and hacked an old mouse as a footswitch.
(But I already had an old laptop and Powerpoint, so it was cheap.)
posted by MtDewd at 1:51 PM on May 16, 2008

Thank you! I just snagged a 770 on ebay with a 2 GB memory card for $135 shipped. You saved me a ton of forum reading and research time.
posted by rhys at 4:56 PM on May 16, 2008