Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Product Review: NEO 2

    The NEO 2 is a keyboard with a small display screen. (see http://www.renlearn.com/neo2/). According to the company website, the NEO 2 can run up to 700 hours on three AA batteries. The NEO 2 reminds me of a big calculator, is very portable, and seems durable. It costs about $100.
    Because I have Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), I can only use a computer keyboard for a couple of hours per day. I purchased the NEO 2 with the hope that I would be able to use it more than I can use my standard USB keyboard. The NEO does seem to emit significantly less electromagnetic radiation than a typical computer setup with a monitor, tower, keyboard, etc.
    To distance my hands from the keys, I fashioned a keyboard for my NEO 2 so that I could depress a plunger (of a few inches in length) for each key. I attached the USB cable included with the unit to a long USB extension cable so that I could transfer text files from the NEO 2 to my computer from a significant distance.
    As far as I can tell, the NEO 2 cannot browse the Internet. The dana model has quite a bit more functionality as far as software but at a significantly higher price ($350). (http://www.neo-direct.com/Dana/default.aspx).
    I also have chemical sensitivity, and the NEO 2 did not cause problems for me in that regard. In sum, the NEO 2 may be a good option to try for someone with EHS. However, I do not want to overstate the case—I still am quite limited in how long I can type on the NEO 2.

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