I have a Neo (and an old Alphasmart Pro, bought when it was new, and a 'regular' Alphasmart as well as a Dana - yes, I am a tech junkie). The Neo's big pluses are its instant-on (and instant save) and that it's silent. There's no set up, just pull it out of its neoprene case and go. (And its batteries last nearly forever.)

What I've found though is that I when I get into full writing mode, I much prefer the automatic word rearranging that I have with my macro-modified Word. I used to take my Neo out because I didn't like hauling my Powerbook around (too "precious" ;) ), but I bought a used 12" iBook last year and find that that's what I reach for most, especially when I'm going out and about. I don't have a lot loaded on it, and I back up onto a flashdrive as soon as I'm done, but the best thing is that it's not precious.

The Neo is the 'word-processor' of choice for a lot of writers and I think that if my writing habits had've formed after the early days of word-processing I would probably reach for it first like many writers do.

(What I want is WordStar back. Yeah, it's hard to get more anachronistic than that, but -man- I could fly with it. I do have one ancient "portable" (in quotes because it weighs as much as a desktop - an NEC plasma screen has-to-be-plugged-in DOS machine) that I've put WordStar on, but it's so loud that it's like writing while sitting on a runway at SFO.)