In an age of smart phones, iPads and Google Docs, there doesn’t seem to be much of a place for an old-style word processor. Unless, of course, you happen to be a writer. Nothing’s worse than struggling to write a heart-wrenching scene of your next Great American Novel on a cramped keyboard, only to watch your battery dwindle and die. Then, ergonomics and battery life take on life-or-death death urgency.
Enter the glorious AlphaSmart Neo. (Cue applause here.)
Take a laptop and subtract everything not absolutely necessary to writing text. That’s an AlphaSmart. I own several of them, of different generations, and they all do exactly what they’re supposed to: enable you to write quickly and trouble-free, anywhere, anytime.
The keyboard is, in a word, perfect. The battery life is unbelievable: 700 hours. Or more. Just minutes ago, I replaced the three double-A batteries in my Neo for the FIRST TIME. I’ve already written two complete novel manuscripts on this thing, plus emails, letters, and yes, even this blog. All of that, out of three ordinary batteries. Freakin’ outstanding.
If you’re a writer, and you want a simple, durable writing tool, check out the AlphaSmart Neo. Got questions? Ask me. I’ll be happy to tell you about my experiences. In fact, you might not be able to shut me up.
After all, I’ve got another 699.9 hours to go.
I had no idea such a thing existed! Now I do…thanks for the tip.
You can occasionally find them cheap on eBay. I once bought a box of six used AlphaSmarts from a school auction, kept one, and resold the rest for a profit. Which I suppose proves that I'm cheap, entrepreneurial AND obsessed!