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Alphasmart 2000 portable word processor apple pc mac
AlphaSmart 2000 Portable Word Processor Apple PC MAC
AlphaSmart measures 12.4" wide, 9.3" deep, and is only 1.9" thick. Weights approximately the two pounds.
Stores up to 64 pages of text in up to 8 documents.
Easy navigation with arrow, home, end, and find keys.
Extended character set with accents, copyright symbols, and more.
Built in 4 x 40 LCD (4 lines, 40 characters per line).
Long running time on only 3 AA batteries. (120-300 hours).
Imagine something smaller, lighter, and far less expensive than an iBook.
Imagine writing on a keyboard with no Mac attached.
That's one way of looking at the AlphaSmart 2000, the device I'm writing this review on.
The AlphaSmart has a full-sized keyboard, eight memory partitions to store your writing (so you can have up to 8 different projects handy at all times), and runs for weeks (120-300 hours of writing) on three AA batteries.
Unlike PowerBooks and most portable computers, there's no hinged screen. If you remember the Tandy 100, you have some idea what the AlphaSmart looks like.
But it's a lot lighter and far less costly than that old journalist's workhorse. It's a friendly blue, shaped to fit the lap comfortably, and has a four line, 40 character display.
The key action is quite comfortable, and using the AlphaSmart is a breeze. When you're done writing, you can connect it to your Mac's ADB port (or a PC's keyboard port), open your file, press the send button, and watch it type your text into your favorite word processor or page design program.
If you have an infrared port on your computer (e.g., Bondi iMacs), the AlphaSmart 2000IR lets you beam files without wires.
Not much wider then the standard typing keys on your keyboard, the AlphaSmart measures 12.4" wide, 9.3" deep, and is only 1.9" thick. The two pound keyboard is rugged, so you won't feel uncomfortable toting it around.
The function keys across the top of the keyboard save files 1-8, print, and even spell check. The arrow keys aid navigation, as do home and end keys.
In fact, you can connect the AlphaSmart to a Mac and use it like a regular keyboard, although you'd probably miss the numeric keypad and other special keys.
The supertwist LCD display is not backlit, displaying dark blue text on a green-gray background. It's quite legible in even modest lighting.
The text is composed of monospaced characters 7 pixels tall. If you're an old timer, you'll know that means some compromises in text display - characters with descenders (y, g, j, p, q) appear higher than they should.
It's not as attractive as the Mac's nicely formed characters, but for basic text entry, it suffices.
*THIS ITEM HAS BEEN TESTED & WORKS*
*BATTERIES (3 AA) ARE NOT INCLUDED*