Re: New GS compatible keyboard

[Greg Berigan <gberigan@cse.unl.edu>]

drissman@detroit.freenet.org (Avi Drissman) wrote:
>Brian D. Uhreen (bduhreen@spots.ab.ca) wrote:

>> We used those at the last school I worked with.  I also forget the name
>> but I'll check back with them.  I never tryied using them with a GS

>Ah, the AlphaSmart. I remember checking it out because the catalog said
>it was gs compatible and I was confused as to why.
>
>See http://www.alphasmart.com/ for details.

Looks nice.  One bit of information there gave me pause for thought:

| Data transfer is simple. You start up a word processor, disconnect the
| Macintosh or PC keyboard, plug the keyboard cable into AlphaSmart Pro,
| and press the send data key.

I thought disconnecting and connecting keyboards to a GS or Mac while
the power was on was a no-no.  (I've never experienced any problems
doing it though except from the fragility of the GS's keyboard's
ports.)

| Intelligent Peripheral Devices accepts no responsibility for
| consequential damages

Still, it sounds like a good keyboard.  I could use it for taking notes
without the expense of buying a laptop.  (Since no one has mentioned it,
the suggested retail price is $269.)

However, some keys look very small, such as control, escape, and
especially cursor and function keys.  While these may not be used much
during offline composing, I wouldn't want it as my normal desktop
keyboard.

-- 
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