Alphasmart Manager for Dana User manual

Getting Started
with Dana
AlphaSmart, Inc.
www.alphasmart.com

ii
AlphaSmart Sales and Technical Support
For AlphaSmart Sales and Technical Support contact information
please see page 83.
Nothing in this manual may be reproduced in any manner, either
wholly or in part, for any purpose whatsoever without written
permission from AlphaSmart, Inc.
Be sure to make backup copies of all important data on other media to protect
against data loss. Important: Please read the End User Software License Agreement
with this product before using the accompanying software program(s). Using any
part of the software indicates that you accept the terms of the End User Software
License Agreement.
AlphaSmart, Dana by AlphaSmart, AlphaSmart 3000, and Renaissance Learning are
trademarks of Renaissance Learning, Inc., and its subsidiaries, registered, common
law, or pending registration in the United States and other countries. Microsoft
Word and Excel are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. Macintosh
is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Palm OS is a registered trademark,
and Palm, the Palm and the Palm Powered logos are trademarks of Palm, Inc. or its
subsidiaries. Third-party products and brand names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Copyright 2007, Renaissance Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Contents
Chapter 1 - A Dana Tour
Utilizing Dana’s wide screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Preparing to use Dana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Charging Dana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Dana first time set up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
WritePad basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Using the screen’s backlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Adjusting the LCD contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Upgrading from a Palm OS handheld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Installing desktop software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Connecting Dana to a computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Synchronizing data using HotSync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Chapter 2 - AlphaWord
AlphaWord Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Creating an AlphaWord document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Using Spell Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Using Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Connecting to your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Send versus HotSync. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
HotSync a new AlphaWord document to your computer . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Sending text to your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
HotSync a desktop document to AlphaWord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
AlphaWord In-depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
AlphaWord controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Deleting a document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Installing additional fonts on Dana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Setting a file password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 3 - Onboard Applications
Launching Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Using Address Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Creating an Address Book entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Viewing and changing an Address Book entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Deleting an Address Book entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Using Date Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Creating an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Creating an untimed event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

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Creating a repeating or continuous event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Rescheduling an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Changing the calendar view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Deleting an event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Using To Do List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Creating a To Do List item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Changing a To Do List item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Marking a To Do List item complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Deleting a To Do List item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using Memo Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Creating a memo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Reviewing and changing a memo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Deleting a memo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Printing from Date Book, Address Book, To Do List or Memo Pad . . . . . . 44
Preferences and other settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Changing the Applications Launcher display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Setting Date and Time preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Setting General preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Changing Formats preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Customizing keyboard settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 4 - Dana In-Depth
Beaming information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Beaming data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Beaming applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Receiving beamed information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Beaming your business card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Installing applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Resetting Dana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Performing a soft reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Performing a hard reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Installing alkaline batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using expansion cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Inserting an expansion card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Removing an expansion card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Online Help and additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Appendix A - Keyboard Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Appendix B - International and Special Characters . . . . . . . . 75
Appendix C - Warranty and Guarantee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Appendix D - Contact Information and Return Procedures . . . 83

Getting Started with Dana 1
CHAPTER 1 A Dana Tour
Dana™ by AlphaSmart® is the versatile laptop alternative for students,
researchers and professionals on the go. It combines the convenience and
affordability of a Palm-Powered™ device with the ergonomics of a lightweight
laptop. Dana is easy to use, rugged and has exceptional battery life to keep you
working while away from your computer. Use your new electronic notebook to
do the following:
•Compose documents in AlphaWord, a full-featured word processor.
•Enter your schedule in Date Book, and set alarms to remind you of
important meetings.
•Keep contact names, addresses, and phone numbers in Address Book.
•Prioritize and assign your tasks a due date in To Do List.
•Synchronize your data with Palm™ Desktop software on a Windows or
Macintosh computer so you always have a copy.
•Insert Secure Digital (SD) or MultiMedia Card (MMC) expansion cards to
add additional software applications or hardware, or to back up data.
•Beam information to another Dana or Palm OS ® handheld that has an
IrDA (infrared) port; beam printable files to an IrDA-equipped printer.
This guide Getting Started with Dana, provides information about performing
basic tasks on Dana and with Palm Desktop software. The guide generally
gives the keyboard commands for a task, but you can also tap on Dana’s screen
with your stylus to perform most tasks. For information about performing
more advanced tasks, refer to the Dana User’s Guide. To open that guide,
double-click DanaUsersGuide.pdf located in the DanaInfo folder inside the
Palm folder on your computer.
Documentation Note: In this document keyboard keys will be
shown in bold. Also any “two-key” key commands (i.e. function-
calc) are executed by pressing the indicated keys simultaneously.

Getting Started with Dana 3
Utilizing Dana’s wide screen
Dana utilizes all the power and efficiency of the Palm operating system,
and expands its capabilities with a larger screen, the inclusion of the
AlphaWord word-processing application and many other features.
AlphaWord functions at the full Dana screen resolution of 160x560
pixels, and most of the standard Palm applications like Address Book,
To Do List, Memo Pad and Date Book have also been updated to take
advantage of the larger screen.
However, other Palm programs might not have been revised to run on
Dana's larger screen. The functionality of the Palm program won't be
restricted in any way, but the program will run in narrow mode
(centered in the middle of the Dana screen).
Preparing to use Dana
Before you begin using Dana and the Palm desktop software, you must
complete a few easy installation steps.

4 Dana Tour
Important: The version of Palm Desktop Software
that comes with Dana must be installed before
connecting Dana to a computer.
Charging Dana
Dana comes with a rechargeable battery that recharges whenever it
is connected to its AC Adapter or to the computer via a USB cable
(charging will only occur while the computer is on). You can also
use standard AA alkaline batteries (not included).
You will need to connect Dana to the AC adapter for four hours or
the computer for eight hours to get a full charge. Use the AC
adapter that comes with Dana, or one that meets the following
specification: Input: AC 120v 60Hz 9W Output: DC 7.5V 500
mA. A fully charged Dana should run for over 25 hours.
Using the AC adapter
1. Connect the AC adapter to the Dana AC port.
2. Plug the AC adapter into any AC current outlet.
Dana first time set up
1. Press the on/off key to turn on Dana.
2. Follow the on screen instructions to calibrate the Dana screen
and set the current date and time.
Note: If Dana does not turn on, see “Frequently
Asked Questions” on page 64 for troubleshooting
suggestions.
Important: For users outside the United States,
choose the same language for Dana and Palm
Desktop software. Choosing a language that does
not match the Palm Desktop software is not

Getting Started with Dana 5
recommended or supported, and may result in data loss.
If you need to reselect a language on Dana, you must
perform a hard reset. See “Resetting Dana” on page 60
for details.
WritePad basics
The WritePad provides a quick means to access applications, their
menus and some special functions. The illustration below gives a
functional overview of WritePad features.
Note: WritePad is only displayed for applications running
in narrow mode (including those on a rotated screen).
Entering data
The most obvious way of entering data on Dana is using its full-size
keyboard. For applications running in narrow mode, you can also
enter data using the onscreen keyboard or Graffiti® 2 writing on the
WritePad. To find out more information, launch the Graffiti
application. You can also accept beamed data from another Dana or
Palm OS handheld that has an infrared port. See “Beaming
information” on page 53 for details.
Adjusting the WritePad
You can select the side of the screen where the WritePad displays by
clicking on the right or left arrow at the bottom of the WritePad screen.
Home – displays
Applications
Launcher
Menus – displays
command menus for
active application
Calculator –
displays onscreen
calculator
Find – displays Find
dialog

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You can also minimize the WritePad by clicking on the single
arrow at the top of the WritePad screen.
Using the screen’s backlight
Warning: Using the backlight feature significantly
reduces battery life.
1. Press the on/off key to turn Dana on.
2. Press the on/off key again and hold for about two seconds.
Release the key when the backlight turns on.
3. Press the on/off key and hold for about two seconds to turn off
the backlight.
Click on the left arrow to move the WritePad to the left of the screen
Click on the down arrow to minimize the WritePad
Click up arrow to restore the WritePad to its normal size