AlphaSmart Dana
www.alphasmart.com
$429 USD

System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later; Universal binary (PPC G3, G4 and G5);
256 MB RAM; 50 MB Hard Drive Space;
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM.

We reviewed the AlphaSmart Neo in February, so now we take the Dana for a test drive.

Strengths: The large screen and keyboard, Palm OS and Palm applications support, Documents to Go, touch sensitive screen that works with the Palm stylus, wireless support, and the rechargeable batteries good for 25 hours. The AlphaWord word processor is very good and has an adequate set of features. The screen backlight is adequate and does not drain the batteries as fast as WiFi.

Weaknesses: AlphaWord does not check spelling as you type. You can Hotsync RTF documents on both Mac and Windows platforms, however you can’t Hotsync MS Word documents unless you are using Windows. The FineType Converter software – used to add new fonts to AlphaWord – is only available for Windows PCs. Current battery charge level only available at Apps screen, some SD expansion card video options do not display properly.

Previous Reviews: None in macCompanion.

Introduction
Alphasmart sells an inexpensive laptop replacement called the Dana. This lightweight writer’s tool is handy, effective and inexpensive, making it the ideal tool to take on a short holiday or on a two week dream vacation. And the Dana runs the Palm OS, so it supports the Palm applications and SD expansion cards I already own and use with my Palm T|X and LifeDrive.

I ordered the Dana and when it arrived it was apparent that the small footprint, light weight (around 2 Lbs), nice keyboard and easy-to-read screen make it ideal for travel writing, for keeping a journal or for taking notes in school. I charged the batteries with the AC adapter, turned it on and started testing it.

Getting Started
The screen is wider than the Palm LifeDrive – over twice as wide as the LifeDrive in Landscape mode. And the Dana screen is as tall as the LifeDrive screen in Landscape mode, so it displays 8 lines of text while in the built-in word processor – not great, but acceptable. The Dana has a backlight – off by default – although the batteries drain faster when the backlight is on (just like a Palm Pilot). I didn’t use the backlight except in the evenings, as the screen was easy to read with ambient lighting during the day. And the Dana screen works like Palm screens: use the included stylus to select text or options or launch programs.

Using the Product
The Dana has the built-in AlphaWord word processor. It’s not MS Word, but does support multiple fonts, formatting, word count, spell checking and has a thesaurus. I wrote an article using plain text and brought that over to Word on the iMac and only needed to highlight and change the font to Times New Roman to match the content already written on the iMac. Then I wrote an article with the font set to Times New Roman and brought it over to a Word on the iMac and no reformatting was necessary. Nice and simple. If you’re worried about losing data because you forget to recharge the Dana, don’t worry. Documents can be saved to the Dana or to an SD memory card plugged into one of the expansion slots at the back of the unit.

Getting the words off the Dana and into a Word document on the iMac is easy. After installing the Dana software, I connected the Dana via USB cable, opened the Word document on the iMac, opened the appropriate document on the Dana and pressed the ‘send’ button on the Dana. Simple. If your Mac is wireless, the Dana is too and you can transmit documents that way instead of using a USB cable.

Documents written on the Dana can be transferred to a Mac for printing, or directly to a print using the printer port on the back of the unit. It isn’t difficult to install printer drivers as long as you’ve installed drivers on a computer in the past.

Product Features Overview
Standard features – the nice tactile feel of the full-sized keyboard means your hands won’t be cramped after a few hours of typing on the Dana. The screen is wider than the one on the Neo – about 104 plain 12 Pt (or 89 Times New Roman 12 Pt) characters fit across the 160x560 pixel screen in the AlphaWord word processor.

Wireless – The Dana supports 802.11b wireless technology, allowing access to a wireless network and the Internet. Only consider the screen is monochrome, so how many websites are going to look good rendered that way? I believe the best reason to use the wireless option is send email or to transfer content to a server or PC, not browse websites.

Palm OS – already in wide use with 50+ million Palm owners, the Dana runs the 20,000+ Palm applications including: Contacts, Calendar, Memos and To Dos. The user manual instructions for using Palm Calendar, Memo, Contacts, To Do List and Hot syncing are very good.

AlphaWord – supports multiple fonts, so you write What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). I wrote this review using Times New Roman, one I prefer and the standard font for macCompanion magazine. I looked at text using Arial, Garamond and Courier fonts, but just prefer the look of Times New Roman. I would like to add other fonts, but AlphaSmart’s software for adding new fonts does not work on Macs.

Expandability – the Dana has 16 MB built-in RAM, and it has 2 expansion ports for SD memory cards. I have several SD memory cards laying around, so I created a new document in the Dana and saved it to the SD card and was able to take it to my iMac using a card reader. Very nice! I tried the external Dictionary/Thesaurus (on SD) I use in my Palm in the Dana SD expansion slot – I could look up information, however the graphic-based option icons normally at the top of the screen were distorted and unusable.

Conclusion
I really enjoyed using the Dana to write two product reviews and a fiction short story. The unit weighs so little compared to many laptops, so it didn’t feel like a boat anchor in my lap nor when I carried it around the house, and the full sized keyboard met my needs for easy data entry.

The rechargeable batteries had decent battery life between recharging, and the batteries are recharged by the AC adapter or when connected to a computer via USB cable. The wide screen, Palm OS and Documents to Go support, and wireless capability make up for the $170 price difference with little brother Neo.

The only caveat I have is regarding wireless use. When enabled, wireless really pulls down the batteries. I’d suggest enabling wireless only when accessing email, then turn it off unless you have access to a wall outlet.

Recommendation
If you want a laptop but $1,099 for the low end MacBook is more than your budget can handle, stop by www.alphasmart.com and look at the product specs for the Dana. At $429, the Dana is getting close to discounted PC laptop pricing, but people looking for a lightweight laptop with good battery life will view the Dana as a great purchase. Highly recommended.