Alphasmart Dana S
If you’re not familiar with the Alphasmart Neo, then check out this from David Kadavy, or this historical review on Hack Education. It’s a keyboard with a screen, and nothing else – a portable word processor that saves text files and cannot connect to the Internet.Alphasmart Neo (Photo credit:.I first discovered the Alphasmart Neo while looking for a cheaper alternative to the, which recently received funding on Kickstarter. I wanted a single-purpose writing device for those moments when I waste time on the Internet to avoid writing. I tend to write a lot of first drafts on paper with the computer shut off, but this can be inconvenient. Sometimes I want the convenience of typing without the distractions inherent on a laptop.I found out about the Alphasmart Neo and bought one on eBay for $14.
I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s dumb technology, but dumb for a reason.If you’re writing, you don’t need much more than a decent keyboard and a screen. This device has a full-size keyboard with a little LCD grayscale screen. Its only software includes a basic spell checker, calculator, find/replace and some “applets” teachers can use to make quizzes or create typing exercises (which I won’t use). It is a single-purpose device to an extreme. You can store up to 200 pages worth of writing in eight “files,” which you switch between using keys located where function keys go on a standard keyboard.It can connect to a computer via a USB cable, allowing you to send your text to the word processing software of your choice.
That makes it easy to move back to your computer when it’s time. It promises 700 hour battery life.Yes, 700. Seven hundred. Can a laptop, smartphone or tablet last that long on one charge?This thing is powered by 3 AA batteries, and nothing more. (You can use NiMh rechargeable batteries as well, but why bother?
AAs are cheap.)Some people online have reported using their Alphasmart Neo for more than a year without having to replace the batteries. They’ve written more than one novel on the device and still had battery life to spare.Being a single-purpose device has its benefits, for sure.
It only shows 3 to 6 lines of text on the screen at a time.Having such a limited screen means you can’t see a full page or more of text. This is beneficial when you’re drafting because it helps you avoid self-censorship and unnecessary editing. You have to go to the trouble of scrolling up the document to change text. It’s still possible to go back through your document if you need to because all of the keyboard shortcuts available on a computer keyboard work here. Find and replace works as well.The Alphasmart Neo is a first-draft machine. You wouldn’t want to do any heavy-duty revising or editing, but again, that’s not the point of using this, is it?
It’s super portable.It’s as light and about the size of the 11-inch Macbook Air. It’s not as portable as a tablet or a hybrid device like the Microsoft Surface, but it won’t be inconvenient to take it to a coffee shop or the library for some distraction-free writing. Why use a single-purpose device for writing?Writing, like most creative skills, requires focus. I can’t focus when I have notifications coming through or browser tabs open. And if you’re like me, you might pretend that you need access to the Internet to conduct “research,” but this research devolves into random Internet searching or social media lurking. I remember the times when I’ve been on deadline only to end up wasting hours on Wikipedia “researching” stuff I already knew. I wonder how much better my writing could have been if I’d used that time drafting and revising.
A process that works for me.I used to write brainstorming notes and a rough draft on paper then type it up on my computer and revise from there. I still do this on some projects. But now that I have my Alphasmart Neo, I hope to type out a rough draft on the Alphasmart and send the draft to my word processing app on my computer, revising and reorganizing from there.
This won’t work for every project, but it will be perfect for those moments when I need focus, simplicity and flexibility.There is something nice about having multiple writing options and not feeling tied to a computer. Maybe I will find my moment of writing zen with my Alphasmart Neo in hand.reposted under a CC license from. I paid about ten times that for each of my two. Yeah, I have two. One of ’em was a few thousand miles away, see, and I had this story to write.I do love the Neo. I’d rather it had a slightly larger keyboard (my hands are overlarge), but other than that it’s perfect for my needs. I got some extra fonts somewhere or other a few years ago, so I can actually fit eight lines of text on the screen–but the font I most often use is “Klingon.”Imagine my inner peace as I get weird looks in a coffee shop or fast-food place (yeah, I like free refills when I’m writing).
“What the hell is that guy doing? That’s not a real laptop. Why is he smiling? How come he’s staring off into space so much? Should I be worried? Is he carrying a gun?
Damnit, where’s that tinfoil?”Yeah. See, I can’t actually read the Klingon font at all. Helps keep me from looking at whatever it might be I’m typing. Or if I do look, I smile at the futility of all attempts at editing.I got through my first novel without one. The next two, I used the Neo for almost all of the first-draft work. I’m beginning to get better at dictation, but my fourth novel’s almost done, and once again the Neo is the first-draft champion.I’m actually typing this comment on the Neo, too, which I didn’t even notice until I was halfway done.
I have my laptop in front of me, but I’m looking at a larger monitor that I have plugged into it, which works better with an external keyboard and more distance between me and the laptop. So, since the Neo was already plugged in, I’m typing away on it. But mostly I use the Neo independently. Except, come to think of it, a couple of days I also used it to tell the TV what I wanted to watch on Netflix when my “air mouse” quit working. There was this USB port in back.
Alphasmart Dana Power Supply
Alphasmart Dana Apps
Alphasmart 2000
Who knew?Thanks for the post!.
As many of my frequent readers know, I have been using the Freewrite, designed by Astrohaus, for about a week now and, I must admit, I am in love with what I have come to term my new Best Friend.Since using it, I have seen my productivity go up quite a lot and, with that, my creativity has increased, as well.