AlphaSmart Dana Wireless

You don’t have to shell out for a laptop to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot and get your email, surf the web or chat via instant messengers

With the Wi-Fi revolution rolling ever onwards, you might be wondering about the best way to join the party. The Dana Wireless is one option – a laptop style case containing PDA functionality and everything you need to start surfing and communicating wherever you can find a Wi-Fi connection.

Features
The device is reminiscent of the portable word processors that Amstrad produced a few years ago, consisting of a full-sized keyboard and a monochrome screen running across the top. It uses Palm’s PDA operating system so will run any of the thousands of programs available for handheld Palm devices. With the built-in Wi-Fi connection you can walk into any Wi-Fi hotspot – whether it’s a hotel, coffee shop, school or your own home network – and get instant access to the internet.

Performance
Unfortunately, web browsing on the device is disappointing. The screen is wide but shallow, and quite unsuited to the way most web pages are designed. For keeping in touch, on the other hand, it’s impressive. The email software is quick and simple, and leaves your messages on the server by default, so you can still collect them on your home computer later on. The VeriChat software is even better, pulling all your instant messaging buddies into one place, whether they use software from ICQ, AIM, MSN or Yahoo. However, the installed software is only a trial version and the full service will cost an additional £12 per year.

Ease of use
We were pleasantly surprised at the speed and ease with which we got this hooked up to a wireless network. As long as you know all the settings you’ll need, it shouldn’t take longer than a few seconds and is very straightforward. Those used to a PDA may find the different shape of the screen a little confusing at first, as the Graffiti handwriting pad is put to one side and Palm programs that haven’t been designed with this screen in mind will run in small centred window. The included office and internet programs can all run wide screen though, and the screen can be rotated to make it like a long list.

Value for money
This isn’t particularly cheap, coming in at about the same price as a high end PDA. It’s significantly cheaper than a laptop computer though, and offers a useful if significantly less powerful alternative. However, you are stuck with a monochrome screen, which isn’t particularly suited to web browsing.