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Picture the ideal laptop for you as a writer. Imagine the perfect writing tool. If you could get your hands on a laptop that's designed for writing, so light you won't even notice it on your lap, with a silky smooth full size keyboard, wouldn't you be in line to buy one today? What if you had a laptop computer that boots instantly, saves every keystroke automatically, remembers where you stopped last time, and gets out of your way while you write?

I'm writing the first draft for this article on my NEO by Alphasmart (www.alphasmart.com), sitting in my favorite comfy leather recliner, listening to jazz in the background, typing the words as they come to me. I've had my NEO for a year and a half and I'm only on my second set of batteries - still at 85 percent capacity. Hard to believe, but three AA batteries will last for 700 hours.

Ok, this has to be too good to be true. Well, my NEO won't check my email, doesn't have games and I can't stop in the middle of an article to check on the stock market or balance my budget. Sounds like a real plus to me. No more distractions while I write.

The NEO holds 512k of text files in 8 active files you can access at the touch of a key (there are eight clearly marked file keys at the top of the keyboard). Jump from one file to another instantly and you'll always land where you left off.

The NEO was designed to be rugged because it's intended for the school market. In fact, the only place you can buy a NEO is direct from the manufacturer. So many writers discovered this marvelous machine that Alphasmart offers it for sale from their online store.

Some writers have claimed to have written entire novels on their NEOs. The NEO has typical word processor functions; cut and paste, find and replace, spell check, a handy thesaurus and a built in calculator. They all work well, but you probably want to do your heavy editing on your desktop. It's an easy task to transfer files from NEO to your desktop via USB port and NEO will work equally well with Windows or a MAC.

So what's the catch? NEO has an easy to read, six line screen that's crisp and clear. It lacks a back light, but you don't need one. If you have enough light to read by, you can see your NEO screen clearly. Six lines is more than enough for writing draft and light editing.

NEO does one thing - writing - and it does it so well, your laptop seems like an extension of your mind rather than a heavy, clunky - did I remember to bring the charger - do everything (sort of) machine. I paid $249 for mine with no regrets, but the NEO's price has dropped to $219.

Did I mention that NEO is so light you'll forget it's on your lap (or in your bag)? It barely weighs two pounds. It is a true laptop designed for writing. Alphasmart refers to their NEO "The Perfect Writing Tool." I truly love my NEO. It's so easy to just write and write and write.

Learn more about this author, John McDevitt.
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