AlphaSmart Neo

You don't get much of a laptop for the bargain-basement price of $249. But cash-strapped school administrators and students can get a decent mobile word processor with amazing battery life if they pick up AlphaSmart's Neo.

AlphaSmart has been making specialized portable keyboard devices for the educational market for quite a while, although they appeal to professionals of all stripes. The Dana ($379), which features the versatile Palm operating system, has become a favorite among journalists and others who want to combine word processing with PDA functionality. The company has also added a model with built-in Wi-Fi ($429) for those looking to surf the Web or check e-mail on the go.

The latest model, the Neo, is AlphaSmart's most stripped-down offering. It's about the same size (12.4 x 9.8 x 1.8 inches) and weight (2 pounds) as its Palm OS and Wi-Fi-capable siblings, but it's primarily designed for word processing. A monochrome 5.8 x 1.5-inch LCD tilts slightly for easier viewing, and can be configured to show between two and six lines of text. At the six-line setting, we found the text somewhat hard to read; many users will prefer the four- or five-line setting. Unlike many PDAs or laptops, the Neo does not have a backlight, which limits its use in dark environments.

All of the Neo's applications are stored in system memory, which is maintained by a lithium battery when the unit is turned off or when the three AA batteries have been run down. An optional set of NiMH rechargeable batteries is available from AlphaSmart. With a battery life estimated at 700 hours, the rechargeables are hardly necessary. On the other hand, it's a good idea to carry a spare set of AAs, as it is very easy to inadvertently turn the system on. The optional soft carrying case helps a bit, however.

The Neo has several Smart Applets available that let a teacher or manager control the unit in a classroom or training setting. You can also perform basic calculator functions. AlphaWord Plus, however, is the real meat-and-potatoes application that justifies the Neo's price. While it doesn't begin to approach the functionality of Microsoft Word, AlphaWord Plus is a surprisingly competent word processor, that includes an integrated spell check, a thesaurus, and a user dictionary. You can even perform Spanish-English word lookup, a handy feature if you write for a bilingual audience. Unfortunately, the Neo doesn't support any type of formatting, something the AlphaSmart Dana does handle because it comes with the much more robust Documents to Go program.

Up to eight files can be saved and retrieved using a set of File keys located where the function keys are generally found on a standard keyboard. The Neo has 2MB of internal memory, so the AlphaWord files can be fairly lengthy. If you need more than eight files, you'll have to offload some files to a PC or notebook and delete them from the Neo's memory. Downloading is easy since the Neo comes with a USB cable and IrDA port.

Once you've established a connection with a laptop or desktop running Windows or the Mac OS, simply open up your word processor and hit the Send key on the Neo. The file is automatically transferred to your computer's word processor. At that point you can perform any necessary formatting. You can print directly from the Neo's USB printer port or, if you have an Infrared-enabled printer, from the IrDA port.

The Neo is sort of a one-trick pony: It really is good only for writing or editing on the go. If you need spreadsheet or presentation graphics capability, you should upgrade to one of the Dana models. For $249, though, the Neo is a very affordable and portable word processor.