The **AlphaSmart Neo2 **is a portable word processor that was released nearly two decades ago as a device that provides a distraction-free writing experience without all the extra stuff that comes with a full-fledged laptop computer. With a small greyscale LCD display, a full-sized keyboard, and compact design, it continues to have fans.

But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved. WriterDeck designer Un Kyu Lee has designed a “Desktop Typewriter Transform Kit” for the Neo2 that could make typing more comfortable. It also makes the AlphaSmart Neo2 look less like a toy and more like a retrofuturistic portable typewriter.

You can purchase a kit from Un Kyu Lee’s Tindie store or download the design files if you want to 3D print your own (or modify the open source design).

BTW, if that name sounds familiar, that’s because the AlphaSmart Neo2 Transform Kit comes from the designer behind the Micro Journal line of writerDeck devices. He turned his attention to the Neo2 when the original case on his broke.

This kit features a new 3D printed chassis and battery holder plus a bunch of screws. It does *not *include the screen, keyboard, or printed circuit board – it repurposes those from the Neo2 itself. So you’ll either need to have your own AlphaSmart Neo2 or know where to pick up a used one.

You’ll also need to assemble the new system yourself. That involves tearing the screen, keyboard, and PCB out of the Neo2 and putting them into the new kit. But the only tool required is a screwdriver – there’s no soldering involved.

The end result is a system with a more comfortable keyboard tilt, a display that’s angled so that it should be a little easier to view, and a color scheme that makes the system look like a computer or typewriter from the 1980s (although you could obviously modify the colors if you 3D print your own case). There’s also a space to clip a book light (since neither the display nor keyboard are backlit).

Before settling on the current design, Un Kyu Lee also considered creating a clamshell case that would allow you to open and close the lid the way you would with a laptop computer. But the existing Alphasmart Neo2 keyboard and display cables made that difficult to do without designing new cables, which led to the typewriter-like design.

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