Friday, January 4, 2013

The Neo is on sale

One of the most seminal writing devices in the world, Alphasmart Neo2, is now on sale for only $119. This is a good deal, it has the best keyboard I have tried on any portable device. It was designed for students/kids, but many writers use it and love it. It  doesn't do email or Words With Friends, it's just for typing, and many see that as a distinct advantage.

Some speculate a new model is on the way. I would love a Neo 3. My main wish would be an e-ink screen, front-lit like in the Kindle Paperwhite. The dark screen/low contrast is my biggest problem with the Neo (it may be my eyes, who knows), and it was also with the Kindle until the Paperwhite, that made a night/day difference for me, it made long-form reading much more accessible to me. (Since iPad year one I don't really like reading on paper anymore.)
Or anyway some display with higher contrast, an LCD/LED would be fine. Sure, it would cut down the famous battery life, but it's literally over 500 hours on four AA batteries, surely we could make do with less.


1 comment:

indigogarden said...

I don't agree. I LOVE the extra long battery life and hope that the Neo continues with it. What I long for is bluetooth connection so I can connect it as a keyboard to other devices. Otherwise, I love the Neo as it is.