AlphaSmart Dana - Review

AlphaSmart Dana is a battery-operated keyboard with screen word processor manufactured by NEO Direct, Inc. (formerly Alphasmart, Inc.). It weighs a hefty 2 lbs. and features a full-sized keyboard.

When it was first released in 2002, the Dana was a pioneering device in its category. It featured a Palm OS operating system, a a back-lit (can be switched on and off) touchscreen with stylus, 8 megabytes of internal storage (plus 2 SD card slots). It could sync with personal computers and laptops. And it could connect directly to printers.

Today, these specs may seem frivolous. The production of the Dana has, in fact, been discontinued by its manufacturers. However, demand for this, and other similar devices, has experienced a revival as budding and professional writers search for new avenues toward writing without distractions.

I discovered the AlphaSmart Dana during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Participants from the Philippines were discussing what devices they used for writing. There was the usual PC or laptop. There were those who used tablets with folding keyboards. And there was one writer who used the Dana.

From the moment I saw the device, I knew I wanted one for myself. I didn't want a writing software that made the writing process more complicated. I wanted a no-frills device that simplified the writing process. So I asked by brother studying in Washington to order me a pre-owned Dana from Amazon. He ordered one from Amazon merchant larylibooks, who has a 4.8-star rating.

Review:

My pre-owned AlphaSmart Dana came in a Tyvek envelope, packed in a rectangular box, stuffed with Styrofoam balls. In the package was the Dana, a USB cord, and a CD containing various software and user's guides. I took a good look at the device, and found a couple of scratches, mostly at the back. This was fine with me, as long as the device worked well.

The next thing I did was to press the "on" button, and a blank word document immediately appeared on screen. No loading time whatsoever. I typed a draft blog entry, to test the keyboard, and saw there was a problem with the "Y" key. I had the press the key really hard, before it registered my command. This was a bit distracting, but not a deal breaker.

One thing I liked was the screen size, and how numerous lines of text are shown on screen at the same time. It was also convenient using the stylus. The screen responded to it quite well. Unfortunately, the stylus stopped working completely after a few days, so now I have to operate the device solely using the keyboard. Scratch that it works again.

I hope this is because the device is low on battery. Speaking of batteries, I went through the ordeal of replacing the 3 AAA batteries on my device, which involved unscrewing a latch that just refused to be unscrewed. Unfortunately, replacing the batteries also meant all the data saved in the device got erased.

Meanwhile, the device's back light works well until now. 

The AlphaSmart Dana is an old device, and I had difficulty getting it to sync with my Windows 7 laptop. After plenty of Google searches and trial-and-error attempts, I finally got the device to sync with my laptop. But it only worked once. Hopefully, I can properly install SD cards on the device. If I can't transfer files, then the Dana is useless.

For me the best thing about the Dana is how it encourages me to write. Just looking at it, typing on it, makes me feel more like a writer. Despite all the problems the device has, it still manages to fulfill its primary purpose, which is to help me write. It's a no-frills device, and that's exactly what I wanted. I still have to use the device more, to better know how it works, but for now, it works fine.

My Rating: