Owner`s manual

500–cycle lifetime if fully discharged and charged, but have
over a 1,000–cycle lifetime if the discharge/charge cycles are
less than 50% of capacity.) The memory effect will also be
avoided if the length of the discharges is somewhat random.
Complete charging of a discharged battery pack takes 16
hours. The best charging strategy is to recharge the NiCad
pack overnight after 8–15 hours (1–3 days) of use. A fully
charged NiCad pack will power the AlphaSmart for 20–50
hours, depending on use.
Conditioning
New NiCad batteries require 3–5 charge/discharge cycles
before reaching their full rated capacity. For the longest
run time, charge and fully discharge your new battery
pack three times to achieve the full rated capacity.
Fully discharge your NiCad battery pack by leaving the
AlphaSmart turned on until the screen is so dim you can’t
read it anymore. Do not leave the AlphaSmart turned on
past this point, as it may damage the NiCad cells.
Re-conditioning
After about 30 charge/discharge cycles, fully discharge your
NiCad battery pack before charging to avoid the ugly memo-
ry effect.
Storage
NiCad batteries which are not used over time lose their
charge and should be recharged before use. Always fully
charge your battery before you use it after it has been stored
for more than one week at a time.
Lifetime
Don’t expect rechargeable batteries to last forever. Well
maintained NiCad batteries last about 500 charges or about 3
years. If your battery used to last 40 hours but now only lasts
1 hour, it’s time for a new battery.
Note: If your batteries are dead and you have no AC adapter, you
can still send your data to your Macintosh or PC. Simply attach the
AlphaSmart to the Macintosh or PC and turn it on. The keyboard
cable supplies power to run the AlphaSmart while attached. You
can’t do any editing, but you can transfer the data in your files.
AlphaSmart Pro 29
for a second, and then you will return to the file which you
were editing. (Passwords are all lowercase; pressing shift or
caps lock has no effect.)
When password protection is enabled, anytime you change
files you will be asked for that file’s password before being
allowed to edit that file. All individual file passwords can be
overridden by typing the master password.
If, when turning on the AlphaSmart, you are prompted for
the password for a file that isn’t yours, simply press the
appropriate file number to get your own file and enter the
password.
Note: This password system was designed to protect against acci-
dental or casual mischievous data loss and to provide a minimum
level of data privacy. It is NOT designed to prevent concerted
malicious efforts at data destruction. All security systems have
ways of being “broken” if you try hard enough. As the old saying
goes, “Locks are to keep honest people honest.”
■ BATTERIES AND POWER REQUIREMENTS
Batteries
The AlphaSmart runs on two AA batteries of the same type
(alkaline, carbon, or NiCad). The longest battery life will be
achieved with alkaline batteries. Good quality AA alkaline
batteries will power the AlphaSmart for 80–200 hours.
(When the AlphaSmart is turned off, no power from the AA
batteries is used.)
Rechargeable NiCad Battery Pack
For convenience, you may purchase an AlphaSmart recharge-
able NiCad battery pack (see the AlphaSmart Accessories sec-
tion for a complete description). When the rechargeable
NiCad battery pack is installed into your AlphaSmart, it is
automatically recharged whenever the AC adapter is plugged
in, or when your AlphaSmart is attached to a Macintosh or
PC. The NiCad battery pack is charged regardless of whether
the AlphaSmart is turned on or off.
You will get the longest life from your NiCad battery pack if
you do shallow discharge/charge cycles. (NiCad cells have a
28 AlphaSmart Pro