Product Review: Neo by AlphaSmart
December 01, 2006 by
A Nifty Gadget for Writers
As a professional writer, I do quite a bit of my writing on my living room sofa. This allows me to be in the same room with my family - instead of tucked away in my home office - as they watch TV or play games. However, I found the heat of theOn the advice of a fellow writing friend I purchased the Neo by AlphaSmart. It changed my writing life.
About the product
Although the Neo by AlphaSmart was originally designed for academic settings, many professional - and amateur - writers find them an indispensable tool. They were created to be a portable note-taking system, but writers often use them as a word processor.
It's extremely lightweight, weighing approximately 2 pounds (which is significantly lighter than my laptop). It's rugged and sturdy. Although I've never tried it, I imagine the Neo would survive a drop or two off the edge of a table.
It has a plastic body that's deep green in color, and is approximately 12"X10". The display is reminiscent of old electronic word processors, and is an LCD screen. You can choose how much text to display - two to six lines.
Eight different files are available for storage, allowing you to write multiple projects at once. According to the AlphaSmart website, the Neo can store hundreds of pages of text.
The Neo uses three AAA batteries for power, and the AlphaSmart website claims those three batteries will provide up to 700 hours of use.
Using the product
Turning the Neo on and off is simply a matter of hitting a key. The Neo powers up quickly - no waiting time like you have with a laptop computer.
The screen isn't ideal. It's a bit small. If you use reading glasses, you may have to enlarge the text so you only see three or four lines at a time. This creates problems when you go back to edit text. I prefer it, however, as constant editing sometimes slows down my writing. The Neo almost forces me to think forward instead of looking backwards.
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- The Neo has about 700 hours of life from 3 AA batteries.
- It's lightweight and sturdy.
- There are no bells and whistles.
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