Well, I didn’t get much done last night, work-wise. Most of my time was spent playing with my new toy-that’s-not-a-toy—my Dana. To say I’m impressed would be too simple a word, I think. I spent at least three hours last night fiddling, and while I haven’t figured out some things (how do you close a book in PalmReader?) I think I’ve got the gist of it all—and more.
The Dana (and yes, I named mine Ellery after Ellery Croen, Cullen’s little fairy friend in Absolutely Nothing) comes with the complete QuickOffice set of software (according to the QuickOffice website, a $49 value) as well as a host of other programs like PalmReader, AlphaWord, and more. Setup was a breeze, except for one thing: I had to go borrow a Windows 98 disk from Dad for some file or other, but thankfully it worked. I had very little trouble figuring out how to load everything on Ellery and hotsyncing between my admittedly middle-aged computer and my nice new tool.
Here’s a rundown:
--16mb of memory. At the moment, with all but two categories of my QuickWord files on Ellery, I have 9+mb empty. And this is with four or five 600+kb novels on it.
--AlphaWord has a wordcount feature! According to AlphaWord, BiS is 19k+. That’s probably more accurate than Word’s wordcount, since iirc, it said 17k with 21k if I counted the lines and multiplied by 10. So I think I’ll stick with that wordcount. AlphaWord also accepts formatting—as in, indentation, line spacing, and fonts. And the kicker is that with AlphaWord, you can work with .rtf files—and it will deposit them into your “My Documents” folder (or whatever folder you specify) when you hotsync. It took me a bit to figure that one out… I’m so used to using QuickWord and having the QuickWord desktop. There’s an AlphaWord desktop too, but it’s called AlphaWord Sync.
--The visuals are great. I love the wide screen, especially when reading. The shadows behind the applications (it’s all grayscale) were a bit hard to get past at first, but I managed to ignore them after a while.
--There’s a little light on the side that the manual fails to mention, which is the battery charging light. The nice part about it is that it’s amber when the battery is charging, and greenish when it’s charged.
--The keyboard will take a bit to get used to. My fingers are used to being in one certain position, and while the Dana’s keyboard is full sized, they’re a bit off-center and some of the keys (like the escape key) aren’t in the “right” place. The keys are also recessed, which makes it feel a bit odd on my fingers. But I have faith that I’ll get used to that.
--The on/off switch seemed a bit exposed, but we’ll see. I’m going to see how often it gets turned on in my bag.
--The stylus, compared to the one that came with my Visor, seems a bit cheap. It’s just plastic, which is fine, I guess, but it doesn’t seem to work as well as my Visor’s stylus. I’m going to experiment a bit, but I don’t think they can be interchanged.
--I successfully beamed most of my documents from my Visor to the Dana, just for the novelty of it. The only thing I haven’t been able to figure out is if it’s possible to move items between categories on the Dana or if you have to hotsync and use a computer. (I haven’t even looked to see if it’s possible yet.)
--While mostly self-explanatory, some of the keys are a bit hard to figure out. I can’t figure out what the one that has the twist means, but I’m going to do more exploring through the user manual and see if I can find out.
--Battery life is supposed to be 25-30 hours, which isn’t as good as the Visor, of course, but the good thing about the Dana is that if you can’t recharge the battery, you can swap it with three AA batteries. Of course, that means all the AAA batteries I bought a month or so ago will be sitting for a while, because I definitely won’t be using the Visor as much.
--It’s a bit larger than a piece of 8½ x 11” paper. It fits in my bag, thank goodness, but it’s close. I’m going to work a bit to see if I can get it in better, but I think I’ve done my best.
--Dana doesn’t come with a case, but you can buy one for it. I didn’t buy one, so last night I whipped up a case from a faux oriental rug placemat I picked up at T.J. Maxx. All I have to do is find a matching piece of fabric for the top, and I’ll have a very nice case for Ellery. Which opens up a whole new can of worms… I could make cases for Visors and/or Laptops/Danas and sell them at the craft show. I mean… isn’t anyone else tired of basic black? I got all sorts of cool ideas last night. I could really make this work! (Especially since the one I made was so simple. It took me less than ten minutes, once I got going.)
So here’s what AlphaSmart doesn’t tell you in their very informative Dana flyers…
Dana can be used as a keyboard for your desktop! My favorite high point of the QuickPad was its ability to be used as a wireless keyboard, and while Dana’s not wireless, this ability is still a very big plus, in my mind. That means less clutter on your desk, and if you don’t want anyone to use your computer while you’re away… it’s perfect!
The screen is very clear and easy to read. Also, I didn’t quite realize how small my Visor’s screen was until I saw the application screen on the Dana and compared the two (photos to come.) It’s also very light, but definitely top heavy. This only makes sense; all the hardware is in the top. I haven’t tried it yet, but I don’t foresee any problems balancing the Dana on my lap. It will definitely be sturdier than the Visor/keyboard combination.
The design is very elegant without being too snazzy. It’s not a toy. It doesn’t look like a toy. (Remember when I complained what QuickPad did to their product? Basic black is good for something, guys.)
All in all, a good product. I'm happy so far. I'll write up an official review later...
The Dana (and yes, I named mine Ellery after Ellery Croen, Cullen’s little fairy friend in Absolutely Nothing) comes with the complete QuickOffice set of software (according to the QuickOffice website, a $49 value) as well as a host of other programs like PalmReader, AlphaWord, and more. Setup was a breeze, except for one thing: I had to go borrow a Windows 98 disk from Dad for some file or other, but thankfully it worked. I had very little trouble figuring out how to load everything on Ellery and hotsyncing between my admittedly middle-aged computer and my nice new tool.
Here’s a rundown:
--16mb of memory. At the moment, with all but two categories of my QuickWord files on Ellery, I have 9+mb empty. And this is with four or five 600+kb novels on it.
--AlphaWord has a wordcount feature! According to AlphaWord, BiS is 19k+. That’s probably more accurate than Word’s wordcount, since iirc, it said 17k with 21k if I counted the lines and multiplied by 10. So I think I’ll stick with that wordcount. AlphaWord also accepts formatting—as in, indentation, line spacing, and fonts. And the kicker is that with AlphaWord, you can work with .rtf files—and it will deposit them into your “My Documents” folder (or whatever folder you specify) when you hotsync. It took me a bit to figure that one out… I’m so used to using QuickWord and having the QuickWord desktop. There’s an AlphaWord desktop too, but it’s called AlphaWord Sync.
--The visuals are great. I love the wide screen, especially when reading. The shadows behind the applications (it’s all grayscale) were a bit hard to get past at first, but I managed to ignore them after a while.
--There’s a little light on the side that the manual fails to mention, which is the battery charging light. The nice part about it is that it’s amber when the battery is charging, and greenish when it’s charged.
--The keyboard will take a bit to get used to. My fingers are used to being in one certain position, and while the Dana’s keyboard is full sized, they’re a bit off-center and some of the keys (like the escape key) aren’t in the “right” place. The keys are also recessed, which makes it feel a bit odd on my fingers. But I have faith that I’ll get used to that.
--The on/off switch seemed a bit exposed, but we’ll see. I’m going to see how often it gets turned on in my bag.
--The stylus, compared to the one that came with my Visor, seems a bit cheap. It’s just plastic, which is fine, I guess, but it doesn’t seem to work as well as my Visor’s stylus. I’m going to experiment a bit, but I don’t think they can be interchanged.
--I successfully beamed most of my documents from my Visor to the Dana, just for the novelty of it. The only thing I haven’t been able to figure out is if it’s possible to move items between categories on the Dana or if you have to hotsync and use a computer. (I haven’t even looked to see if it’s possible yet.)
--While mostly self-explanatory, some of the keys are a bit hard to figure out. I can’t figure out what the one that has the twist means, but I’m going to do more exploring through the user manual and see if I can find out.
--Battery life is supposed to be 25-30 hours, which isn’t as good as the Visor, of course, but the good thing about the Dana is that if you can’t recharge the battery, you can swap it with three AA batteries. Of course, that means all the AAA batteries I bought a month or so ago will be sitting for a while, because I definitely won’t be using the Visor as much.
--It’s a bit larger than a piece of 8½ x 11” paper. It fits in my bag, thank goodness, but it’s close. I’m going to work a bit to see if I can get it in better, but I think I’ve done my best.
--Dana doesn’t come with a case, but you can buy one for it. I didn’t buy one, so last night I whipped up a case from a faux oriental rug placemat I picked up at T.J. Maxx. All I have to do is find a matching piece of fabric for the top, and I’ll have a very nice case for Ellery. Which opens up a whole new can of worms… I could make cases for Visors and/or Laptops/Danas and sell them at the craft show. I mean… isn’t anyone else tired of basic black? I got all sorts of cool ideas last night. I could really make this work! (Especially since the one I made was so simple. It took me less than ten minutes, once I got going.)
So here’s what AlphaSmart doesn’t tell you in their very informative Dana flyers…
Dana can be used as a keyboard for your desktop! My favorite high point of the QuickPad was its ability to be used as a wireless keyboard, and while Dana’s not wireless, this ability is still a very big plus, in my mind. That means less clutter on your desk, and if you don’t want anyone to use your computer while you’re away… it’s perfect!
The screen is very clear and easy to read. Also, I didn’t quite realize how small my Visor’s screen was until I saw the application screen on the Dana and compared the two (photos to come.) It’s also very light, but definitely top heavy. This only makes sense; all the hardware is in the top. I haven’t tried it yet, but I don’t foresee any problems balancing the Dana on my lap. It will definitely be sturdier than the Visor/keyboard combination.
The design is very elegant without being too snazzy. It’s not a toy. It doesn’t look like a toy. (Remember when I complained what QuickPad did to their product? Basic black is good for something, guys.)
All in all, a good product. I'm happy so far. I'll write up an official review later...
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