Jennifer Fritschi
Delta3 Project Coordinator
Alabama State Dept of Education
Birmingham, Alabama
Fritschi@mindspring.com

Avid AlphaSmart fans and Neo newbies alike, you'll love the sleek new design and innovative features of the new Neo by AlphaSmart. Like it's predecessor, the AlphaSmart 3000, the Neo is a simple, portable, and affordable computer companion.  Its full sized keyboard, enlarged screen (50% larger than the AlphaSmart 3000), durability and portability (2lbs.) afford students access to writing in almost any environment.

The Neo can store hundreds of pages of text (2x the amount of an AlphaSmart 3000). The screen displays between two lines of text in Big Font mode or up to six lines of text for more text per screen. It uses either a USB cable or infrared to transfer text to Macs, PCs, irDA-enabled and selected USB printers as well as other Neos, Danas, or other Palm� OS devices. (Requires Beamer SmartApplet to enable transfer to Neos, Danas, or other Palm� OS devices)

 

The Neo builds on one of the AlphaSmart 3000's most appealing features which is its simplicity, ensuring that students can devote more time to writing and less time trying to figure out how to operate a complex device. The Neo's instant on/off and autosave features reduces startup time and prevents accidental loss of data. Neo extends the battery life of an AlphaSmart 3000 and provides 700 hrs. of use on 3 AAA batteries or 200 hrs. on a charge.

Support for students with disabilities:

Students with disabilities needing additional support will appreciate the Neo: a portable word processor with spell check and a thesaurus, built-in calculator, simple printing, instant file transfer, enlarged text, alternate keyboard layouts, slow keys, and sticky keys.  Students with writing difficulties, learning disabilities, organizational problems, or with spelling/vocabulary struggles can benefit from the Neo's simplicity and built-in supports. Neo's affordability and unobtrusive nature position it as a practical tool that can realistically appear in the hands of more learners.

Increase functionality with SmartApplets:

Neos become even more versatile with the addition of SmartApplets. For example, teachers can use SmartApplets that provide keyboarding instruction, classroom quizzing or outlining. SmartApplets range in price from $29-$39 per Neo but with multiple user licenses or when purchased with the SmartOption bundle can be as low as $2 per Neo. The following SmartApplets are available:

Features of AlphaWord Plus (Built-in word processor)

Neo includes:

 Pricing information:

For more information: http://www.alphasmart.com