In the days before netbooks, the marketplace for affordable, portable computing was small and bleak.  One of the few bright spots was AlphaSmart, which made a few devices which were basically new-age typewriters.  Read on to find out about the Neo and the Palm OS-powered Dana.

The Dana is a particularly interesting relic of the gadget.  Somehow it still soldiers on, not unlike the coelacanth.  The Dana is actually a classic Palm OS handheld (a la Handspring Visor or Palm III) with a triple-wide grayscale touchscreen and an almost full-sized keyboard.  The device has 16MB and dual SD card slots.  There is even a a version of the Dana with Wi-Fi.

The point of the Dana is to give students, frequent travelers, journalists and the like a portable device with a good keyboard and amazing battery life (measured in weeks and not hours).  The Dana has the added advantage of supporting the whole library of Palm OS apps, although most applications cannot take advantage of the extra-wide screen.

For these reasons, there still exists a small number of diehard AlphaSmart Dana fans.  In fact, you can still buy a Dana for $350 (or $429 for the Wi-Fi version).  However, at those prices, it is tough to argue for the Dana over a netbook unless you absolutely need the prodigious battery life.

The AlphaSmart Neo has the same basic motivation as the Dana, but it cuts corners by using a smaller monochrome screen (no touch) and a proprietary operating system.  However, it still gives you the monumental battery life, solid word processor and ability to transfer files to your Mac or PC.

The Neo is also still available for just $219 (or $242 for a rechargeable version).

These two devices will never gain wide-spread popularity, but for certain people, it might be just what they are looking for.

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