Alphasmart Neo 2 keyboard/word processer

[Lammie]

For the ones out there who like typewriters and keyboards:

I've found one of these Alphasmart Neo 2 word processers/keyboards.

Just what I needed!

[johndavis33]

I've got horrible handwriting, so my school gave me one of them in elementary school to use for classwork and tests and stuff. I remember it being loud, but I never looked under the keycaps. Is it mechanical?

[Lammie]

My NEO 2 will come next week. Will check it out for you then. Hope it is mechanical..

Alphasmart stopped producing these late 2013. USA and UK don't have stock (brand-new) anymore. However, I found a dealer here who still sells them brand-new unopenend in their boxes. So, by the way, if there are more GH'ers who want to own a brand new one (system 3.2 version for working with newer software like windows 7 and mac), just pm me. The Neo 2's are about $300.

[dante]

huh... I have absolutely no use for this but can't help wanting one...

[Lammie]

Besides writing and making notes. It is also usable as a normal external keyboard. Will try out the switch and see how it feels. The device is quite think...maybe mechanical...

[johndavis33]

How new is this one? The one I had still had the whole "translucent plastic means it's USB" thing that was going on when the imacs were popular. That puts it squarely in the timeframe of when both mechanical and rubber dome keyboards were standard.

[dorkvader]

The ones we had in elementry school to learn how to type on are rubberdomes

Also the cheap ones I see on eBay are also rubberdomes.

Please let us know if alphasmart made any mechanical ones when you find out for sure.

[davkol]

That doesn't seem to promote the best posture...

[brhfl]

I had (well, probably still have, somewhere) one of these... the 3000, I believe. Was freaking amazing for taking on the go and writing. Battery life was a non-issue, the 'old school' LCD handled tricky lighting situations, didn't have to worry about boot times or any of that... Just a pure writing machine. Other cool thing was that you didn't need any fancy sync software or anything - you just fired up whatever text editor on your computer, plugged the Alphasmart into a keyboard port, and it would send the keystrokes of whatever you had typed. Beautifully simple machine. Though, the switches had nothing on the M I was using at the time...

[Lammie]

The alphasmart appears to use scissor switches. Is this good or bad news?

Have to compare it to the greater scissor switches though. Like Thinkpads, Logitech Perfectstroke and new Microsoft Bluetooth line.

Anyone want to buy a brand new one in original package, just let me know.

[Lammie]

Got some use yesterday on the Alphasmart Neo 2. And I truly LOVE it! It is very thin, small and light. But yet sturdy. Have long been searching for a writing tool on the go. And this is it. The keys strike well, nice feedback. Good kb layout.
Really recommend one of these for writers and journalists!

[vrf]

I've always loved my Neo and Dana AlphaSmart devices. Lately I've been thinking of converting one to a mechanical board, cutting a new case on a CNC router. (might look something similar to this:
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/building-a-custom-keyboard-from-the-ground-up-t5761.html .... except a little taller to accommodate the screen.)

Has anyone ever converted a scissor switch type laptop board to mechanical? I suppose it would take a matrix hack, since I need to actually use the keyboard ribbon cable to hook into the motherboard. Or maybe I could build a custom board and wire the switches to the plastic membrane PCB? Hmm...