The Alphasmart Neo is a mini-word processor that looks like it comes straight from the ’80s but don’t be fooled as this is one of the most useful pieces of kit for a writer to own. Why do I love it so much? Read on and you’ll see why.
My super Neo
Speed
Switch on the NEO and you’re ready to start typing in three seconds max. That means no waiting for your PC or laptop to lurch into life. The NEO simply opens up at the last file you typed, and in the exact spot where you left your cursor. How great is that for leaping back on yesterday’s train of thought?
Portability
The NEO runs on 3 AAA batteries with at least 700 hours of battery life, according to the manufacturers – I’m sure it’s even more. Compare that with my HP laptop which claims to have 4-6 hours but is more like 37 minutes. The NEO is light too. I weighed it on my kitchen scales just now and it comes in at around 800g. That’s about as heavy as two tins of tomatoes, so it’s easy to take on the bus/train or to your local coffee house.
Okay, so it doesn’t win any style awards but its chunkiness has a certain retro charm, don’t you think? And check out Vance Fry’s customisation of his NEO. I want this so badly it almost hurts.
No distractions
Go on, admit it. You were so much more efficient before Twitter, Facebook and all those other social timewasting networking activities tore gaping holes in your writing schedule. All those Friends to keep up with, tinyurls to investigate and DMs to reply to. I’ll just check who’s retweeted my last post. It was really quite witty. This might sound alarming but the NEO doesn’t have an internet connection, leaving you with no option but to type. Cruel maybe, but if you’re a writer you’ll come to see it as a blessing.
It does one thing only – brilliantly
I won’t lie to you – a NEO can’t serve all your writing needs. It isn’t a tool to use at the editing/revising stage of the writing process, despite its spellcheck facility. But for blasting out that ugly first draft of a novel or short story, or writing your morning pages? There’s nothing better. And when you’re ready to revise and polish your piece you simply connect a USB cable from the NEO to your computer, press the ‘Send’ button and then you can save and print the text from your PC. (You can also send text from your NEO straight to the printer, but I haven’t tried this.)
Any more questions? Any NEO fans out there? Let me know what you think.
Fiona Joseph
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Fiona, the Neo sounds like a good piece of equipment for us writers who spend hours ont he internet when they should be writing their first book! Thanks for sharing! Tina
Hi Fiona, I’m impressed! The Neo could well be just what I need to set me into action. You could certainly take it anywhere and then type away to your hearts content!! Brill, love Kas.
This is lovely. Well done you! Happy writing… Brenda xxxxxxxxx
Looks great! I’m jealous of your great big readable typeface and mix of sizes. How do you do it?! Also your very customized header.
The Neo sounds interesting too. Send this on to them and see if they’ll link to your site!
Hi! I’m wasting valuable writing time looking at your website but found it all worthwhile! Might look into the Neo – was it expensive?
Hi everyone. Thank you for stopping by – it’s great to have you here!
A few people have asked me about the cost of the Neo. My model (now called Neo 1) is about £170 in the UK and the Neo 2 is around £230. They’re cheaper – like most things – in the US.
Kathleen, I’ll do a post (or three!) for emerging writers on how to build a simple website, so watch this space.
Aha, so we have it in writing, Fiona: twitter, facebook, wafflebutt, wordyurls and chaTterCrap might, on occasions, waste a writer’s time…
I still prefer the olde methods (sharpening one’s pencils, making another cup of tea) because they remain unwitnessed.
But this site is a thing of beauty, well done! And I’ll be watching out for the advice on setting one up. The NEO sounds really good – how much of the preceding text can you see when you’re writing? Now, I’ll just make another cup of tea and then get on.
This is a very good point Andrew. When you’ve sent 20 tweets in a single day, you aren’t networking – you’re just telling the world that you haven’t done a stroke of work! Bring back the washing up and cleaning out the fridge: good old-fashioned displacement activities that earn you brownie points too.
Yes, I’ll definitely do some posts on setting up a website, but my next topic will be what prose fiction writers can learn from watching Holby City.
See you soon. x
Hi Fiona,
This NEO sounds great! I’d never heard of it before!
It’s true about slow computer (and me) start-ups and distractions by being online while writing. I, like Andrew above, enjoy using the now ‘antique’ pen-to-paper style, though I can see how marvellous this NEO thing could be to me and others alike – to carry around (in my bag) ready for that bolt of inspiration.
Thanks for telling us all …… I’m off to look into it further…..
Chris
Hi, can you get the Neo only on the internet? I can’t seem to be able to find it, unless of course I’m looking in the wrong place, thanks karen.