AlphaSmart Neo

Reviewed by Mike Hubbartt

Laptops. Not cheap, whether they run Mac OS X or less intuitive operating systems. Years ago I bought a Radio Shack laptop that had a tiny LED screen, just for writing. It was fairly light, but the screen was only large enough for 2 rows of text and it was difficult to transfer the contents to my other computers. I gave up on that laptop after a year, deciding to wait until I could afford one of the $2000 to $3000 laptops at the store. Over time equipment prices fell and now Mac OS laptops are available starting at $1099, but that is still quite pricy for a lot of people.

My laptop issue was a result of events that unfolded in August of 2006. My wife and I took a short vacation to England and Wales and returned on August 10th, one day before we learned terrorists planned to explode bombs in a number of planes headed to the US from London Heathrow. We planned to visit Scotland in October to take pictures and gather material to start my career in travel writing, and decided against buying a laptop when learning of the new airline security restrictions.

For the Scotland trip, I brought a Palm LifeDrive – an Excellent PDA with 4GB storage – and the optional external keyboard. The LifeDrive screen is small, but rotates between portrait and landscape orientation so more screen is available. I liked the compact LifeDrive, but the small keys on the external keyboard made note entry a laborious process.

Upon returning from Scotland, I looked for a better solution and found AlphaSmart’s website, where I saw the Neo. The AlphaSmart Neo is a compact laptop replacement, ideal for budget conscious schools or travelers. The Neo has a full size keyboard and includes the AlphaWord Plus built-in word processor. The small screen holds four to six lines of text – easy to read even in the early morning hours.

I contacted AlphaSmart and ordered a Neo and started using it the day it arrived. Talk about an intuitive product! To start, press the on/off button then press one of the eight file keys and start typing. Each file holds one document, and no need to worry about saving content – each document is saved as you type.

The default screen setting is set to 4 lines, which is great, but I prefer more on lines per screen, so I went to the applets and changed the settings. Other screen settings range from two to six lines, so I chose 6 lines and was pleased with the results.

The Alpha Word Plus word processor supports standard word processing features like find and find-and-replace, has a thesaurus, and provides spell checking and word count. The Neo can print documents directly to printers with an IR port (mine doesn’t) or you can wait to print after moving the content to a desktop computer (I did).

The AlphaSmart Manager software is easy to install, but should not be running when moving content to the computer. And, you can move content from the computer back to the Neo, keeping revisions on the computer synced with the content on the Neo.

I worked on several articles, including this review, then moved the content to my iMac. There are two ways to move content from the Neo to a computer: via the supplied USB cable or by beaming the content via IR. On the iMac, I launched Word and opened the review document already created for this review, then pressed the send key on the Neo and that was it. Easy.

Conclusion:

I like the Neo. It is easy to use, the keyboard has a great tactile feel, and the screen is easy to read in the day or night. The great battery life (700 hrs) plus the lightweight makes it a natural for travelers or students, and the $249 price tag is reasonable for most budgets.

The Neo comes with a well written printed manual, USB cable, quick start letter and software CD. A built-in calculator is included, and add-on applets and hardware are available from AlphaSmart.

The only one negative remark I have regarding the Neo is the screen size. The Neo is fine for composing initial drafts, however I prefer to see the entire page when editing a letter or article, somewhat difficult when only viewing two to six lines of content at once. But, considering the screen size of a Palm Pilot, I can live with the Neo screen.

Recommendation:

If you’re looking for a low cost laptop solution, look no farther. The Neo is easy to use and is worth the money for people needing to write while away from their desktop computers.

Next Month: We review the AlphaSmart Dana.