I ordered this AlphaSmart 2000 to loan out at write-ins. It was cheaply because it'd suffered classroom abuse, but I knew what I was getting into when I ordered it.

I'm digging the colors painted on the keys, but the rest of the unit is pretty haggard. Here's my $1 "makeover." (Thanks, Dollar Tree contact paper!)

Did I mention that I really like these colors?

Clearly a half-assed job, but I'm liking it anyway. 

It happened: I broke My Precious.

But don't worry: I fixed it. That is, I fixed it after I broke the crap out of it in its somewhat "less-broken" state. This is a dramatic retelling of what happened.

Space bar fell off;
Tried to jam it back in;
Broke one prong;
Tried to jam it in again;
Broke other prong;
Realized prongs were essential to space bar functionality;
Superglued prongs;
Prongs said "LOL WUT NO WE AIN'T GONNA FIT YO";
Cried;
Epiphany, grabbed duct tape;
Duct taped that sucker;
Magic.

Basically, there's a big ] shaped wire held in place by two prongs on the space bar, which in turn allows the bar to be depressed and released evenly. By breaking off the prongs, there was nothing attaching the wire to the bar, resulting in a useless AlphaSmart 3000. (I mean, whowantstowritelikethisandhavetoedititlater?) With the prongs broken beyond repair, I superglued small pieces of duct tape to loosely secure the wire to the underside of the bar without inhibiting its ability to move. It's an odd fix, but it gets the job done.

Source

(Do you see where the metal lines up against the underside of the space bar? That's where you'd need to put your tape if you, like me, accidentally KO'd those two prongs holding it in place.)

Well, I've got to say - I'm impressed. Super, super impressed. The keys are light and bouncy, and the light clacking sound they make as I type makes me feel like a bona fide writer. Ladies and Gents, I present...

As you may have guessed, I received my AlphaSmart 3000 in the mail today (and YES, this post was composed with it!). It looks even cooler and spiffier than I imagined. It's very reminiscent of the old-school iMac computers (I still have mine) in its color scheme and somewhat see-through shell. I was worried that typing on a little screen like this wouldn't have the practicality and ease of a traditional computer, but lo and behold, I have been proven wrong. In fact, the smaller screen size is a plus! (You know, less text to see and therefore less fretting to do regarding editing.)

Now, it's impossible to order electronics without something going wrong. As awesome as this thing is to write on, there is a design flaw that makes the battery chamber sensitive to movement and pressure. Therefore, the unit kept shutting down unexpectedly (but saved my data, which I of course appreciated). A Google search revealed that reinforcing the battery with folded-up paper should eliminate—and did eliminate—the problem. Huzzah! 

As of right now, I'm unsure about using my new writing contraption next month. Will I be able to type as quickly as usual? Will it continue to put undue strain on my wrists? Will it crash and lose several thousand words worth of writing? I'm totally digging this thing and its novel-writing potential, so fingers crossed that the AlphaSmart 3000 helps me rather than hurts me during this year's NaNoWriMo madness!

Oh, and guess what? I named the 'thing' My Precious. #hashtagworthy #willbementionedagain #authormemepotential #hashtagsarequiteuselessinblogger

Well, I did it. I ordered a gadget that is going to have most of you scratching your heads, but hear me out.

The AlphaSmart 3000 is a devoted word processor with 700 hours of battery life and no internet access. AlphaSmart word processors had their hey day in the early 2000's, and are still popular for use in academic settings (particularly with younger children and special needs students). Of course, the distraction-free environment the AlphaSmart word processors offer is rapidly attracting writers even today.

I've seen the NEO (AlphaSmart's newer model) at National Novel Writing Month write-ins before, and never understood exactly what I was looking at. I briefly attended the NaNoWriMo meet and greet in Santa Fe yesterday, and my long-standing question was answered: one of the former MLs revealed the story behind the NEO and why it's a writer's best friend. Long battery life, no distractions, tough as a Nokia phone; essentially, a no-excuse writing machine. (A note about how it works: The AlphaSmart records your key-taps, so once you connect the keyboard to your computer via USB cable or infrared sensor and open a Word document/email/Notepad/etc., it'll regurgitate whatever you wrote as if you were typing it then and there. Pretty cool, right?)

Suffice it to say that within eight hours of seeing and hearing about it, I ordered a AlphaSmart 3000 from eBay for $29.95. I'm stoked to try it out!

Of course, I now realize that purchasing the new-and-improved NEO would have been wise given its sleek black look and improved features. Although I'm sure the AS3K will be just fine, I might order a NEO and loan out the AS3K at the NaNoWriMo write-ins I'll be leading in November!