Customer Reviews

AlphaSmart Dana - Handheld - Palm OS 4.1 ( 560 x 160 )

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I purchased this Alphasmart Dana for my nine-year-old daughter to help her with her homework - and she absolutely loves it! She uses the built-in Alphaword (word processing) program which appears full-screen, and she prints via infrared to any one of several IR printers we have in our home (an HP 990, 995, 450 portable or Photosmart 1315, to be more specific). She saves all of her work to her own 32 MB SD memory card. The Alphasmart turns on immediately (unlike a PC which needs time to boot up); the batteries last for days (and she even knows where to plug in the recharger when they get low). The unit is easy to use and very durable. Everything she needs to word process is self-contained in the Alphasmart Dana; and she never needs to sync with a PC in order to use it! (The Alphasmart, incidentally, will also print via a USB cable - but that isn't nearly as much fun for my daughter as printing wirelessly.)

She composes her writing assignments while sitting in a chair or on a sofa. She uses a lapdesk (that we purchased from Levenger, a mail-order company) when she works on our bed. Needless to say, she loves the Alphasmart Dana because it allows her to use it just like "Daddy's laptop," which she easily prefers over sitting at a desk and typing on a standard PC.

I also use the Alphasmart Dana for my own word processing (to write product reviews such as this one) while I'm waiting for my daughter or her brother at their sports or music practices. I have my own SD memory card to keep my work separate. And I like how I can import the text into a MS Word document open on my computer simply by hooking up a USB cable and hitting the function key marked "send." (Any receiving PC can accept the data - and doesn't need to have the Alphasmart Palm desktop installed in order to do so.)

The standard dictionary and spell checker which comes with the Alphasmart Dana is fairly inadequate. I've downloaded the Noah Pro dictionary and thesaurus from PalmGear.com, and both are significantly better.

The formatting capabilities of the Alphaword program have been generally sufficient for most of my daughter's assignments. For those times when an extra level of "prettiness" is required, my wife will normally upload the text to a MS Word file, and format the document accordingly.

Neither my daughter nor I use the other Palm features (such as calendar, address book, to-do list, or memo) that's included. (I use my Palm 515 for those.) We use the Alphasmart strictly as a friendlier, more durable - and less expensive - version of a laptop computer. In this capacity, the Alphasmart Dana has performed wonderfully.

My daughter now loves to write - and does so without any prompting. The Alphasmart Dana has proven to be an excellent investment. I highly recommend it!

I am studying a course in Computer Systems at University, I have a desktop in my halls but I wanted a laptop to use in lectures as I have a learning disabilty. I was recommended the Dana by a friend, for the price I think that it is a great piece of kit. The full size keyboard is a joy to type on, and the product itself is ALMOST indestructible (I know this as it gets bashed around in my bag). The widescreen is great when using Alphaword, although in most Palm applications there is a Dana logo on the left of the screen as most applications haven't been converted to run in widescreen. I would recommend purchasing an SD card as you can only store 8 files in the internal memory, which can be a bot of a problem if you are away from your PC and cannot hotsync. Overall this is a well made, cost effective and portable alternative to a laptop for word processing. Therefore, I would recommend this product to anyone.

I like writing on the go -- in coffee shops, book stores, libraries(!), on my bed before I sleep... And my laptop didn't quite cut it because of power and size.

I was a little apprehensive before buying the Dana because of dimension (too big and I wouldn't carry it), keyboard (I wanted a laptop feel), and screen (too small would be a problem)
but I am quite satisfied with all of the above.

Dana is light and compact. It is large in form, but no larger than a sub-compact notebook, and certainly much thinner and lighter. I put it in my bag/sack without hesitation.
The keyboard is terrific (looks and feels like an Apple keyboard) and the screen is, while not outstanding, good enough, with a nice backlight. It could be a little bigger -- this is the reason I don't give it 5 stars -- but I guess the engineers needed to make a trade-off here.
The rechargeable battery lasts a long time, certainly more than enough for lugging around without its charger for a day (and I'm sure it lasts a lot longer than this -- just that I haven't tried it for more than a day).

I with the AlphaWord would let me change the default font (I like using Times New Roman and 20 points on the small screen). That would be my only complaint. With the supplied default font, however, I can use it without much difficulty so I am not too upset.

I haven't gotten around to using the Palm features, although I have a Palm Tungsten T so I doubt I ever will. I suspect my use is the sweet spot for the Dana -- light word processing on the go. The previous reviewer's comment suggests the same.

Dana's website says that there will be an 802.11b ready version out in the future. This would be a pretty cool addition to an already useful product. As it is, I highly recommend it for people who like writing anywhere.

...I find this portable word-processor a wonderful gadget. It's a lot tougher than most laptops, as well as lighter and less expensive. Also, the batteries last a lot longer. So I take it with me whenever I don't wish to lug my computer around. I also like the fact it can store up to eight documents, as well as upload the document to almost any word-processing programme on the computer.

The one drawback I find is that the machine only works with basic font. It does not have a footnote, italics, bold or underline function -- all of which would be handy. I also suggest you pay the extra and get the built-in rechargeable battery pack as well as the carrying case, since each of these makes the AlphaSmart much more convenient to travel with.

My husband bought this for me, because I do not like writing on laptops. I do agree with the other reviewers, that the Dana is very portable, and light: I also agree that it is handy and has alot of features for adults and kids alike for writing/etc.
But....there are also things I do not like about this product, one being...when you buy this product, it does not come with a memory card...so, the wireless part goes sooooooo slow...and be careful NOT to lose your work...bc if it isnt kept charged..you will.
Also, the screen is not the easiest to see. It is small and dark (but there is a backround light on it, so it helps). I find it hard to write, not being able to see my last paragraphs I wrote.
And, like I said...if your buying this for the 'wireless' piece, make sure you buy a memory card for it too, otherwise it's useless....it moves at a snails pace and loads almost no pages.
All in all, it's a useful tool, though I wouldn't say it's better than a laptop, but it does do the trick for basic writing/note-taking/and organizing.
Good Luck!

In General:

First I want to make a disclaimer. I sell a lot of these on Amazon Marketplace. I also use one on a daily basis. This review was written on my Dana. It is so light and portable that I bring my Dana with me almost everywhere, in my car, on my walks, in the subway, on my bicycle, and even on my skateboard. I have sold several to people whom I met in this or that cafe while I was typing away on my Dana.

In the summer of 2010 I decided to write a book. But I found my laptop to be too cumbersome and I was always worried that it would get stolen whenever I had it with me in public. So I set about finding a writing tool which was portable and inexpensive. After trying several devices I found my match in Dana.

Dana provides me with excellent basic word processing abilities without the distraction of email, facebook, photoshop, youtube, or the internet in general. I have gotten more actual writing done in the half year since I started using Dana than in the 5 years previous with my laptop.

Writing On The Go:

Dana provides excellent distraction free basic word processing capabiity in an extremely portable package. Dana saves files as Rich Text. You have the same functions found in programs like MS WordPad. You can indent, bold, italicize, and make bullet lists. The keyboard is one of the best I have ever used. It is like typing on silk. The keys are concave to fit the shape of your finger tips, they depress easily, and have gentle but firm return. You can save as many files as will fit in the 8MB or 16MB of memory. Dana also has an excellent built in screen-backlight in case you are typing in dim light, as I often do.

Dana is way more durable than a laptop and weighs only about 2 pounds and fits easily in most backpacks. I often type with Dana on my lap without any discomfort. It turns on in about one and half seconds and is usually ready to work before I am. Because Dana is so energy efficient I have never had the batteries drop dead on me. And since Dana can recharge through the USB port and I sync my Dana to my PC every day that I write they will probably never go dead on me. According to the manufacturer specs, Dana can run up to 25 hours on a single charge.

Cables & Software:

People often ask me about cables and getting information to their computer. With Dana this is very easy. The manufacturer provides free downloadable desktop software for Mac & PC which backs up and syncs all the data between Dana and you computer. The software is Palm OS based and includes all the features found on the old Palm Pilots. The calendar is an excellent stand-alone application.

Cables are not a problem. Even though there are several ports in the back of Dana, the only one you really need is the USB port. Dana takes a type-B USB cable. This is the same kind that goes to your USB printer. These can be purchased easily and cheaply. These are so common that you may already have an extra one. And odds are that even if you don't have one, your friend or neighbor does. Maybe if you ask they will give it to you.

Dana has a an additional USB printer port for direct printing. But I haven't tried it as I always print from my PC. Though it will power one of those twisty USB-powered LED lamps. Now I can type in the dark.

Batteries and Dana:

Beware of used Danas that "include" a rechargeable battery. These batteries may be, and frequently are, eight to ten years old. A Dana with an old battery will frequently crash and lose data, even if it's "backed-up" on the SD card. The solution: replace the battery. You can buy a new rechargeable battery pack for less than $20 from renlearn.com

Dana will run fine on normal AA batteries. But you must use alkalines. If you try to use store bought rechargeables , Dana will not turn on. You can make it work with store bought rechargeables by rewiring Dana's insides just a little. You snip two wires, wind them together. Then do it again to two different wires. I did that to mine. To do it well takes about 45 minutes and you have to be careful about the circuit boards. There are detailed instructions online. It's a lot easier than it looks at first. The best thing about this hack is that you can use your own batteries and recharge them by plugging Dana into a USB port, though you lose the ability to safely use alkaline batteries. I found this trade-off to be completely acceptable for myself. If you do a search for "Dana battery hack" you'll find the site by V. Fry where I learned to do this.

What You Should be Aware of When Buying A Used Dana

Some Danas are sold by individuals who are the first owner and used it for their own writing. Most, probably over 95%, were owned first by schools and sold off in large lots. These are often grimy and dirty beyond belief with old stickers and food stuck to them. These require a thorough cleaning. In my experience About 1 in 5 also often have other problems. Sometimes the system board is bad and the thing won't work (very bad.) There are a litany of problems that can occur with used Danas. Sometimes it can be lived with, other times it can be fixed with a reset, and other times it means you need to get a different Dana. Most work fine. Almost all of them have some scratches on the case or screen.


The Dana Stylus
You can actually get by without one. A ball point pen cap or a pinky fingernail works well enough. But it is nice to have a stylus on hand. There is a little slot in the side of the Dana into which the stylus clicks. The default stylus is black. You can also get a colored stylus in red, yellow, purple, blue, and green.

Is Dana Right For You?

If you are a writer looking for a tough, portable writing tool then almost certainly the answer is Yes! Dana should be synced every day or so that you write. If you are going to be near your computer most days but don't want to haul your laptop around with you, then Dana is an excellent choice. Dana is Palm OS 4 based. This means that if your batteries die, you lose all of your data. So if you plan to be away from a recharge point for more than a couple of days then you need something with more data stability. An AlphaSmart 3000 is an excellent choice for that because they are more durable than a Dana and won't experience data loss when main power fails. The 3000 however only saves files in plain text and has an 87 page limitation.

If you are looking for a device for your child then you should take into consideration the child's level of technical aptitude and motivation to write. Dana requires a level of mindfulness that many young children have not yet developed. Dana needs to be synced to the PC and recharged very regularly. A less challenging alternative would be the AlphaSmart 3000 mentioned above.

When I first started considering this product, my husband thought it was silly to buy something that was not-quite-a-laptop -- and gave me the whole "You [will] get what you pay for" speech. He was sure I'd be dissatisfied with something so cheap and limited in its capabilities. But that was two and a half years ago, and the fact is that the Alphasmart Dana was the perfect choice for me. I like to be able to do my writing anywhere -- library, coffee shop, train, car (if I'm a passenger) -- and the light weight of the Dana makes it so easy to just slip it in my handbag and take it along. The fact that it can store eight files means that I download my work as soon as I get back to my desktop computer, rather than storing it as I would with a laptop, which is a good habit security-wise. It's durable and bug-free: in 2.5 years, I've never had any technical difficulties. Do not assume, as my husband did, the the low price and limited capabilities mean you are getting an inferior product. If you want to be able to take your writing with you and don't need a whole lot of features beyond word-processing at hand, this product will absolutely meet your needs.

I bought a Dana two years ago to use on the go while writing a novel. I quickly learned that it is imperative to have an msd card in the slot at all times- because if this thing runs out of charge it will delete whatever you've written and you will never see it again. That problem solved, I thoroughly enjoyed my Dana until the night it wouldn't save what I was writing to the card- and promptly stated it had a fatal error and died. Yes, I had backed everything up to the card but it took half a day to even retrieve that info because the Dana, even after a hard restart, would only allow me to retrieve so much info before locking up again. The good news is I was able to retrieve everything but one scene- the one I had been writing the night it refused to save. The bad news is the warranty has expired, and since I don't trust this not to happen with another new one I have decided against purchasing another. Who knows, maybe I just got a bad one. I have no idea. It worked great for two years, and during that time I enjoyed being able to write in the dark in bed using the backlit screen while my husband slept, my most frequent habit as it seems my mind is at its most lucid and profound right before sleep. Anyway, great product BUT beware that you may lose data, it may have a two-year life, and no matter what make sure to use an msd card!

The Dana can be found used for a reasonable price, has decent built-in software for writing, and a good keyboard. As a general-purpose Palm powered device, it comes up a little short, but it is quite usable.

The software in ROM is Alphaword, a version of Wordsmith modified for Dana's keyboard and widescreen (3 1/2 times a Palm's 160-pixel width). I don't know what its limit is for text, but I've created documents running over 300 kilobytes. Each text character seems to occupy only one byte of memory, probably a bit more if you change text attributes alot. It does onscreen fonts, spell checking, thesaurus, and the basic cut-and-paste editing functions. You can get rid of onscreen menus to use the entire display height. 8 documents can be resident simultaneously, accessible via F-keys (not really function keys; document switching is all they do).
An annoying feature is Alphaword's text Find. It searches forward from the cursor unless you poke the check box to search from the start of the document. But if the search text is not found, and you search for it again it automatically performs the second search from the start of the document without checking the box. This inconsistency can confuse where the cursor has been relocated (scroll bar doesn't yield a precise indication in a complex document with many instances of the search string).
Another annoyance is switching between documents using the F-keys; the screen is reset from full-screen to the partial screen with the menu bar at bottom. You have to set full-screen all over again, each time, using Cmd-1 or menu.

It has IRDA port for beaming Alphaword files, Memos, or ToDos to a PC or PDA, or IRDA printer. USB port can Hotsync to PC with included Palm Desktop CDROM. Printboy is in ROM for printing via USB.
The standard suite of Palm OS apps is built in, modified for the widescreen. A nifty feature is the screen can be used in standard Landscape mode or turned 90 degrees for Portrait mode. It is something to behold your ToDos with 40 items visible onscreen! The only drawback is, of course, the keyboard is also rotated 90 degrees, so unless you do Grafitti, portrait mode is only useful for viewing data, not entering it. (Graffiti input area is presented at bottom of portrait screen. And it's even good old Graffiti One.)

The 16 MB Dana has two SDIO slots (8 MB Dana MMC/SD only). These slots only support SD cards up to one gigabyte; larger cards are not recognized. The computer geeks changed the storage format for cards over 1GB, making them incompatible.
The Palm OS software managing the SD slots seems a bit flaky. If I save an enlarged file to a card over a previous, smaller version of the same file, it seems the system reports a reduction in free space equal to the size of the new file. It seems the space occupied by the old version of the file is not being reused. I'll have to investigate this further. It may be that this is how Flash RAM is supposed to work; you're supposed to reformat the card when it fills up?? I just don't know enough here.
Unfortunately, there is no built-in backup/restore app, as there is on my Handera 330 and Clies. This makes it convenient if the PDA is left uncharged until the memory contents are completely lost; you can then restore your last backup from the card slot with a few taps. Dana cannot do this, and even if you install a third-party app, it goes into RAM and itself gets wiped out if you leave Dana uncharged for too long. If you can access your PC, you can always HotSync to restore your last backup, but the card slot is so much more convenient that you (especially I) are so much more likely to frequently keep on top of this most-important housekeeping task.
Like any Palm, if it doesn't come on when you hit the power button, if it's not been too long, the memory contents just might still be kept. Dana will keep memory contents for around one week even after the batteries are drained to the point where it won't power up.

If all you want to do is write text files, the 8 megabyte Dana is plenty big, likely more than you'll ever use. The 16 MB Dana is only necessary if you plan to install alot of third-party Palm OS apps. QuickOffice is a known memory hog that will not happily coexist with many other apps in the 8 MB Dana.
Speaking of third party Palm OS apps, there are a few that have been modified to use the Dana's big screen and keyboard. As far as I can tell, these are only available from Alphasmart; they're delivered on CD so you needn't download. I've got the Inspiration outliner and PowerOne Graph calculator apps. There's a version of QuickOffice Suite for Dana. If you buy your Dana from Alphasmart ($$$) you get Docs to Go, but the trial version (I think, the CD doesn't say and I've not yet tried it).

Now I must address Dana's biggest shortcoming: the LCD screen. It's good because with its 560-pixel widescreen AlphaWord can display 54-110 characters on each of 8-14 lines, depending on font. To frame the extremes, 14-point Times New Roman in bold gives 8 lines of 54 characters and 4-point Plain in bold gives 14 lines of 92 characters (110 across if unbold). Good BUT, the screen contrast is so dim it is only easily readable under optimum lighting conditions. That's why I quote my figures in bold -- big difference in readability (you will want to unbold your text before you send to the printer to save ink/toner) Unless you're using Dana in direct strong light, or in a darkened room with the backlight (hold down the On key), you could have a hard time with this screen if not using a big bold font. Without my glasses, I need Times Roman in 14-pt bold. With my glasses I can easily see Plain 4-pt bold -- in decent light. Another thing that helps is to use the Contrast dialog to set the screen darkness to about 60% or 65%. It's a decent but not excellent LCD -- if you're spoiled by a Clie's ultrabright screen you will have an adjustment to undergo with the Dana. I don't want to stress too much the relative low-contrast of this LCD, but I have to truthfully say under suboptimal lighting it could be uncomfortable.

Beside the dim contrast there are two more little glitches concerning the screen:
1) I don't know if this is just my personal Dana or a "feature" of them all, but tapping the screen along the edges or corners most of the time will just not register. I usually need to poke at it 4 or 5 times before it does. Works fine in middle of the screen, so it's not the digitizer. A real pain in the Inspiration outliner because you're constantly poking the screen edges. (note: this is my Dana brand-spanking-new from Alphasmart, $350. Wanted a new complete package) (note: just realized I have a screen protector on this machine. Will experiment with my other Danas, report back)
2) The screen cursor in Alphaword. It's the usual skinny vertical bar we all have on our computers. It would be fine if the Dana screen hadn't such poor contrast -- it is difficult to find the cursor if you move it around alot and don't keep your eyeballs right on it. If you look away from the screen for a few seconds, you will need a few more seconds to re-acquire the cursor. This is an annoyance if you're revising and mostly repositioning the cursor alot, or using Find Text. There's no way to change the cursor to another shape of your choice, as I can on my 1985 TRS-80 Model 4D.
You can, of course, just tap the screen to get the cursor back, but then you lose your old place. One redeeming quality of Dana is that you can move the cursor with Control-arrow to move by word, or Cmd-arrow to go ends of line, so that helps track the cursor position.

Life of the rechargeable battery pack is a good 20+ hours, about 2/3 of this with backlight. If it runs low you can replace with 3 AA disposables. If you have more than one Dana do as I do -- use the battery pack from spare Dana as your on-the-go replacement. You needn't get your charger from Alphasmart -- it's 7.5V center positive 500mA. You can find at Jameco.com. About $10 from either source.

The keyboard is not backlit so it's best to lower the lighting until you can just see the keyboard, for the best view of the screen if you can't arrange for strong light.
The keys on the keyboard are the typical flat shallow laptop keys we all have to put up with these days. No full-depth full-stroke thick plastic clicky keys as on the old IBM PC 5150 or Zenith SuperSport I still often use. Believe me, if you've not had the pleasure of using one of these old keyboards, you just don't know what you're missing! But Dana's keys are adequate and at least no worse than any laptop's.
One last thing on the keyboard is that the Palm OS apps and Alphawrite software is not fully integrated with the keyboard hardware. Alphasmart did integrate it somewhat -- you have keys for Menu, Shortcuts, App Launcher, and the Palm OS apps, and the arrow keys scroll you through the menus -- but you still need to touch the screen to do many things. They even put little holes on either side of the keyboard to stick your stylus into. Good thing because often you will need it handy.

Being a PalmOS device, Dana will run any third-party Palm 4 OS app. But I don't recommend it because the Dana LCD is so dim compared to even an old Palm Vx or Handera, and color Clies. Palm apps running on Dana run in a 160x160 window, ignoring the keyboard. This window seems even smaller than a handheld, and Dana's Grafitti response on this LCD I think is not as good. There's only one thing possible to gain running a Palm app on Dana: to paste its data into Alphaword. Even then, it might be best to beam your data over to Dana when you need this, otherwise keep that app's data on a handheld. Since PalmOS has no good built-in database, I find HanDBase indispensable. It's best to spring a few bucks for a cheap used Palm or Clie (the TH55 is best, also good are SJ33 & T665. see reviews) They also have keyboards for these but make sure to get the driver CD or download from Sony Clie website.

Aside from these many minor annoyances, Dana may still be a good buy for you. There is nothing else like it in the world of Palm. It's cheap, it's reliable, it's rugged, it does the job! Sometimes though, it can be a little frustrating.

If one thinks of a laptop as a shiny new M-4 carbine with chrome barrel, suppressor, laser sight, and telescoping stock, the Alphasmart Dana can be likened to a rusty old Kalishnikov with iron sights and wooden buttstock. Crude, yet deadly effective for what it was made.

As the M-4 can do many things the Kalishnikov can't, so can a laptop outperform the old Dana in many information processing tasks. But -- just as you would rather prefer an old AK-47 if your immediate task was to batter open a door -- the Dana will be appealing to many for its designed purpose -- on the go text processing in ordinary circumstances.

It's inexpensive, lightweight, great battery endurance, easy to use, and has the versatility of the Palm operating system. It also has its weaknesses, mainly that of requiring good lighting conditions for screen readability. However, within the bounds of this one limitation, it is an effective solution for text entry tasks.

Other apt comparisons might include those of the Dana to a laptop as a muddy old Jeep or Hummer compares to a Ferrari, or as a trusty old DC-3 compares to a sleek new Learjet. Naw...it won't get you to your destination in style or comfort, but will get you there with economy and reliability.

In some quarters the Dana has been criticized for its small screen size as compared with a full-blown laptop. This cannot be denied; however, what one sacrifices in this area, one gains in others. Contrary to modern corporate propaganda (advertising), one cannot have everything in a single device. At the cost of a big color screen, the Dana provides:
-- outstanding reliability (no hard drive to crash, no buggy OS)
-- more than twenty hours of battery life
-- multiple options for power supply:
recharge battery, AA battery, AC adapter, USB trickle charge
-- multiple options for data backup:
SD card, IRDA, Hotsync to Palm Desktop
-- weighs about 2.5 pounds
-- built-in Alphaword text editor; basic yet functional featureset
-- standard Palm OS apps (Memo,Todo,Addressbook,Datebook)
-- a used acquisition cost of around $100

And here is the most salient point concerning Dana: if one considers what one mostly needs a mobile device for -- mainly text entry, not editing -- a screen display of approx. 1000 characters is plenty. I hadn't thought of this until I read the most excellent "No Plot?, No Problem!" by Chris Baty. He quite correctly points out that when a writer is surging along in the creation phase of his project: the "rough draft" or as some say, the "discovery draft", the only thing the writer really needs to see of his work-in-progress is the current sentence, or at most the current paragraph, that he is crafting in the present moment. Being able to "self-edit" himself when trying to get down his thoughstream actually serves as a hindrance to the creative process. So the relatively small screen and basic editing features on the Dana is of little disadvantage for the creative writer working on his exploratory draft. And of course, Dana's other "shoot-from-the-hip" features make it a most complementary device for this use: its nearly instantaneous booting, its durability and ruggedness, and naturally most importantly for the aspiring starving artist, its low cost. Mr. Baty in this book actually recommends the earlier Alphasmart 3000 with its much smaller screen for work in the annual NaNoWriMo writing competition. If one reads his book and gets his workmanlike logic pertaining to all aspects of creative writing, this endorsement for the 3000 can only serve as a much stronger one for Dana!

Now, as for revising of text, admittedly a larger screen is more useful. HOWEVER, if one is really serious going about nitty-gritty fine-grained revision, the serious way to go is to do it on PAPER! PRINT IT double-spaced with generous margins, and then lean back in your easy chair and go at it with a red PENCIL so you can always go back and revise your revisions. There is no windowing technology that comes close to good old-fashioned paper! What of search-and-replace you say? Well I say that any writer worth his salt who's really into his craft should have little difficulty homing in on the particular passage he has in mind; and there's always the option of keeping the electronic version in use alongside the paper version. Revision on the computer is most gainfully employed in striking out the obvious trash sentences and paragraphs wholesale. But for detail work nothing touches paper.

What I like best of all about Dana is the convenience of the Palm OS. It literally takes less than two seconds to boot it after you hit the On key. How long does Windoze take??? Three minutes, methinks. No comparison. Sure, these new tablets coming out are as fast, but who wants to type on glass? They're only for twittering, not real typing. The netbooks are probably as fast also, but they cost $$$ and otherwise have all the cumbersome and wearisome features of the laptops.

What more could one want in such an inexpensive device? Like the AK-47, it's made mainly for one thing ( spewing bullets at short range / typing text ), but does other things as well. Crude, perhaps yes, but for what it's made, deadly effective.