I've had experience with the AlphaSmart and the Dana. The AlphaSmart
will go 2+ years on one set of ordinary alkaline batteries. It's
practically indestructible; a friend of a friend backed her car over
one, and it still worked, although one key had to be replaced. The
downside: when you're typing, you can only see one or two sentences
as you write, because the screen is so small. That's fine for taking
notes, but for serious writing, that just won't cut it for most
users. Also, the AlphaSmart gives you eight moderate-length files
for text, period. This is great if you are writing a couple of
letters on the bus on the way home; not so good if you're trying to
write a long article or a novel.
The Dana is more sophisticated and versatile. It takes a charge of 4
to 8 hours on a built-in rechargeable battery, and the screen shows a
paragraph or so of text, which makes it much more viable for serious
writing. It's durable and light (2 pounds or so--about the same as
the Dana). The latest models come with Word to Go, which is a not-
quite-full-service word processing program. The downside: the model
I had has another mini-word processing program that I couldn't use,
and even when I bought and installed Word to Go, there were still
severe compatibility problems with my Mac. The Dana has the same
eight permanent files for text as the AlphaSmart; the permanent files
did work OK with my Mac, but having only 8 files limited the amount
of stuff I could carry on the Dana to work on. The instruction book,
BTW, is almost indecipherable, which makes the extra functions of the
Dana hard to access.
The Neo is similar to the Dana but with a smaller screen.
With both the Dana and the AlphaSmart, it's fairly easy to get text
OUT of the machines, but not at all practical to get text BACK IN.
Which means you work on the text on the bus or the train, download it
and work on it on your main machine at night, and then--if you want
to work on the same project the next day--you print out what you've
done and carry it with you the next day so you can start a new file
where the old one left off. This is a lot less convenient than
working on a project on a full-service laptop or even a netbook.
That having been said, the AlphaSmart and the Dana are cheap, light-
weight, durable, and easy to use. And you don't have to worry about
your $1600 top-of-the-line laptop crashing to the floor, with
unfortunate results, if the bus makes a sudden stop.
--Constance Warner
On Sep 23, 2009, at 3:11 PM, J. Hoverman Stanley wrote:
Constance --
[... hoping for a portable word processor I could use on the subway
or in a car . . . Recommendations, anyone?]
Several companies offer portable word processors (sometimes called
portable keyboards) with full-size keyboards. (The designs aren't
as beautiful, but for functionality and portability, these are to
laptops kinda what Olivetti Letteras were to IBM Selectrics. Or
something like that .) I used the AlphaSmart 2000 for writing
lengthy queries when I edited on hard copy; it's also great for
taking notes in meetings and while on the phone. Folks I know have
used the AlphaSmart to work on novels or school papers.
These devices are primarily marketed for use in schools, but are
great for writing on the go. They typically have small text-only
displays, which means l-o-n-g battery life (many use AAA
batteries); power up quickly; weigh in the 2 lb. range; are far
less fragile than laptops or netbooks; and can easily transfer text
files to and from Macs and PCs. (Some of these companies also offer
devices that go beyond word processing, such as the StudentMate --
color touch screen, WiFi.)
Older and discontinued models are often available on eBay and other
online auction/sales sites.
www.neo-direct.com -- Dana, Neo (company used to be called
AlphaSmart -- old models are AlphaSmart 2000 and 3000)
www.quickpad.com -- QuickPad Pro
www.calcuscribe.com -- Calcuscribe
www.perfectsolutions.com -- Laser PC6, Ultra Win-98 Notebook
www.writerlearning.com -- Fusion, The Writer
www.one2onemate.com -- StudentMate
Cheers,
Jan
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Jan Hoverman Stanley
Writing, Proofreading, Editing
janstan...@earthlink.net
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