Alphasmart – Less is More

My Alphasmart 3000 is a life saver, or a word saver to get technical. It’s a focused word producing muse master. If I had to choose between my computer or my Alphasmart for raw text production, I would take the Alphasmart, hands down. It’s low tech machine that helps to generate high volume. It’s great for writers on the go. When you have a few space minutes, you can instantly start writing – no wait.

The alphasmart is essentially a keyboard with a small display. It saves keystrokes that can be downloaded to the computer when finished. It has 8 different files storage areas and saves as you go.

I bought my Alphasmart on Ebay for $30. Yes, it is an older technology – at least 10 years, but I love it.

Why the Alphasmart is great for writers:
-4 AA batteries last well over 700 hours
-Great portability
-8 file storage areas
-No distraction from Internet
-No distraction from computer games
-Instant on/off – no waiting for a boot up
-The do not get hot on your lap
-Lightweight
-Great to carry around to get in a few extra pages per day
-Easy to download files to computer

I just have to write the story without worrying about word count, formatting, how it looks on the page. I just need to write. I can worry about the little things later. Since I bought mine, my word output has increased and the words just seem to flow better. It was a small investment for the convenience of another way to get the words down.

There are updated versions that have email capability, but I prefer to be disconnected when I am writing. If you are looking for a way to get more writing done, think about going low tech.