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DISCLAIMER:
Whilst all care is taken to provide accurate information with respect to the item described, the Independent Living Centre (ILC) is not involved in product design or manufacture, and therefore not in a position to guarantee the accuracy of the information provided. Selection of equipment, which is both suitable and appropriate for individual needs remains the responsibility of the person(s) considering requisition, and no responsibility is taken by the ILC for any loss or injury caused through use of the equipment or alleged to have arisen through reliance upon information provided. As information is subject to change any enquiries should be directed to the manufacturer.

Item Details

Dana

ILC Reference NO 62:27:007
Item sourced from ILC TAS database

Dana

Short Description
The Dana is an A4 sized note taker with a laptop sized keyboard and a built in touch screen. It has a Palm OS operating system and provides word processing and organiser functions. The screen can display approximately 80 characters of 14 point sized over 6 lines. The Dana is lightweight and portable. It can be connected directly to a printer or data can be transferred to a Windows or Macintosh computer.

Features
Access
Applications and menus can be operated using the laptop size keyboard, or by using the integrated touch screen with the stylus provided. Text can also be added using the Palm handwriting recognition program - by writing on the screen with the stylus that is provided. It is possible to change keyboard layout to a left or right one handed DVORAK keyboard layout.

Keyboard Accessibility Options
Sticky Keys allows you to press modifier keys (SHIFT, CTRL and ALT) one after another, rather than pressing them at once
Auto Repeat turns off the repeat feature so that multiple letters do not appear when a key is held down
Slow Keys reduces sensitivity of the keyboard so that accidental presses of a key are ignored. The key will have to be pressed longer to make it work. A delay of up to 3 seconds can be set.

Memory
The Dana has 8MB of memory. It has 2 expansion slots which can be used to add memory.

Word processing
Word processing files are saved automatically in 8 separate files, and can also be named and saved (just like MS Word). Files can be opened immediately by pressing the F1 to F8 keys, or by selecting the name of the file from a list. Spell checker and thesaurus are included.

Screen
The wide screen (3.5 times larger than a Palm PDA screen) can display eight lines of text (of 80 characters) in 10pt font. Larger or smaller fonts can be loaded as required. This allows for high contrast and easy reading if a large size font is chosen. The screen display can be rotated to display text vertically - like using a clipboard.
An optional back light can be turned so it is easy to see the Dana screen in dim light.

Power Source
The Dana has a rechargeable battery and AC power adapter. It runs for about 25 hours on rechargeable batteries. It can also operate using 3 AA batteries for up to 30 hours.

Compatibility/System requirements
The Palm Desktop software is compatible with the Dana

PC with Windows 98/ ME/ XP
30MB free hard disk space
One available USB port
CD-ROM

Macintosh with PowerPC processor
Mac OS 8.5 through Mac OS X
15MB hard disk space
5 MB of available RAM
One available USB port
CD - ROM

Software
The Dana is supplied with Palm Desktop software, additional applications and trial software. It is loaded with a range of Palm technology based applications, including
Address Book
Date Book
To Do List
Memo Pad
AlphaWord word processor compatible with Microsoft Word File Format
Palm e Book Reader
Quick Office, providing integration with Microsoft Office
Aileron Mail for email.

Other applications written for Palm OS software can be loaded onto Dana. This provides a choice of thousands of applications, some of which can be downloaded free.

Interfaces/ports
USB ports for connection to printer and computer.
Infrared port for sharing data and software with other Dana or Palm powered devices.

Accessories
Bag
USB cable
Software

Materials/durability
The casing is made of dark blue poly carbonate ABS plastic

Models / Styles
Dana
Dana Wireless

Dimensions
Overall Width..............314mm
Overall (min) Height........48mm
Overall Depth..............235mm
Weight (Overall)............0.91kg

Factors to Consider
Fonts in menus and labelling applications are very small which could make reading Window and button labels difficult for people with impaired vision.
The screen can be difficult to read in low light or with high reflection from other sources.
The on screen keyboard has approximately 8 point characters which can be difficult to see for people with a vision impairment and difficult to target for people with limited coordination.
Menu navigation using the stylus can be difficult for people with coordination difficulties or a vision impairment.
Menu navigation using keyboard commands requires learning of many commands that do not correspond with standard computer application commands. This could be difficult for people with memory or learning problems.
Sticky key function is an advantage for users who have difficulty depressing two or more keys simultaneously.
The ability to turn off the repeat key function is an advantage for people who have difficulty releasing the key following key depression.

Supplier Information - click to supplier for contacts details
ABILITY TECHNOLOGY,   SEAFORTH , NSW
BATTERY POWERED COMPUTERS,   CHATHAM, NSW
NOVITATECH,   REGENCY PARK, SA
SPECTRONICS,   ROCHEDALE, QLD

Additional /images
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