#navbar-iframe { display: none !important;} The Naked Page: Long Time No Blog

The Naked Page

Author Jamie Sobrato's Diary

9.10.2005

Long Time No Blog

I will venture to say that I'm back from the silent void. I've witnessed the appearance of Super Productive Girl. She doesn't come around often, but when she does, look out! With the help of a little caffeine, Super Productive Girl can edit entire manuscripts in the blink of an eye, she can whip out chapters a day, she can plot her way over tall buildings and...

Well anyway, I've got a book deadline at the beginning of October. Super Productive Girl must stay and help me out here.

In other news, I've been using my new Alphasmart Dana for a few weeks now, and, well, how should I say this... I find myself wondering if it's wrong to lick an electronic device. This little word processor is so sweet, I just can't stand it. I want to kiss it, lick it, hug it close, and never let it out of my greedy little paws. It's a blessing to writers everywhere.

What's good about it: the keyboard is to die for! I hear the Alphasmart Neo has the same keyboard, if you're on a budget, but I haven't been able to compare them in person to say for sure. The keyboard is so easy on the fingers, it's like you barely have to do any work. One particularly inspired day, I wrote 10 pages in an hour and a half. It usually takes me at least two hours to write that much if I have the whole scene in my head already--but more often it takes 4-5 hours. An hour and a half! Totally because the Dana's keyboard is so easy to type on.

I also like that it's got a large enough screen that I can edit on it, and the stylus makes editing easy. The screen is plenty big enough for me, and the backlight is a great feature to have too. I wish the text was crisper on the screen, but that's my only small gripe about this otherwise perfect device.

Side note: I got my Dana with no wireless, so it doesn't do email or internet. This is key to productivity, for me anyway. I also bought it used for $200, so it was easy on the budget, but if I hadn't found such a good deal on the used model, I would have bought a Neo instead. Every writer I know who has one loves it. I had an Alphasmart 3000 for years before buying the Dana, and wow, what a difference. It's very clear the 3000 is made for kids, while the Dana is a totally grown-up, refined piece of equipment. I LOVE IT.

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