[access-uk] Re: Braille PDA's
- From: "Ari" <aridamoulakis@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:47:13 +0200
Hi all,
Just to give some of my thoughts to Ian about braille pdas, as I struggled
with the question of which one to buy last year.
Here in South Africa, we can only get the braillenote and pac mate. I was
thinking of importing an ELba, but the things that put me off was that, even
though it's a linux-based, flexible pda, it is much heavier and you don't
get source code with it, i.e Papenmeier didn't release it. Reading the
manual and posts to the ELba lists, it seemed also as if it was tricky to
get the ELba to do some everyday tasks, and there haven't been hardware
upgrades for ages. The ELba was OK for its time, but probably now is
outdated.
I chose the Pac Mate instead of the Braillenote, firstly because I liked the
design, and secondly because you could also install other applications onto
it, although, since I never was able to get a propper "test-drive" of the
braillenote, I sometimes wonder about my decision for the following reasons:
I am a student at university who uses the Pac Mate for taking notes and
organising my calendar. My two main problems are these:
In the braille keyboard model of the PM, calendar entries can't be entered
in contracted braille.
I also had problems with the word processor, where I can't, for example, do
assignments, since you can't create tables, and I don't think it has many
formatting options. A major problem with the PM (don't know if it's like
that with other notetakers) is that if you don't use it for a long time you
have to keep it charging. I made the unfortunate mistake when I had holidays
to just leave the PM uncharged for about a week or two, imagine my surprise
when I found that I'd lost all my work, installed files, basically
everything. For me the PM definitely can't even replace my computer for
doing work and assignments.
I don't know much about the Braille Sense as we don't have it here, but if
anyone wants, I have a text mannual of the ELba.
It might be the best solution to really think about a pda with a mobile
screenreader and a braille display, but, if like me you enjoy typing in
braille, you'd have to probably get a braille keyboard for it.
Ari
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 6:04 AM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Braille PDA's
Hi Graham,
All phones running Talks have the possibility of using Braille. I myself
drive an N70 with a Braillino, using Braille input, and it is great. N70 in
your pocket, Braillino round your neck, and you're good to go.
All the best
--
Computer Room Services: the long cane for blind computer users.
Telephone Low-call: 08452 606 277
International: +44(0)1438 742286,
Fax: +44(0)1438 759589
mobile: +44(0)7956 334938,
Email: mailto:Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web site: http://www.comproom.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Graham Page
Sent: 29 November 2006 22:41
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Braille PDA's
Hi Ian.
While I accept that loads of messages to the list saying the same thing
could cause a serious upsurge in traffic, I think the general question and
particularly its findings may be of interest. So will you be in a position
to send details of what you find to the list?
Secondly, you have mentioned the main UK contenders in Braillelite, Pacmate,
Braillenote/voicenote and the braille sense. I know there were products
like the Elba which looked interesting too but don't think that ever got off
the ground, certainly in the UK.
Are you also counting Mainstream PDAs with Braille displays or Braille
keyboards? there are a number of solutions in this field though I think
most would work better with QWERTY keyboards, Braille displays can also be
attached.
There's the Hal screenreader with a PDA such as the Dell Axim and also the
Maestro software which can be bundled with Trekker. I don't know if Maestro
has Braille dribers yet though. Humanware would.
TALKS can, in theory, be used with a Braille display though I don't know of
anything but the communicator being used in this way.
It would certainly be interesting to know which poortable Braille solution
is most popular however.
Regards
graham
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Beverley" <iancbev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <brailleuk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 9:38 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Braille PDA's
Hi guys
I have some questions that I hope as many of you as possible could help
me with. Now this is not part of any scientific research, but is really
a plea for thoughts and opinions. Unless, anybody feels that this would
be of more general interest, could you reply to me off-list by using the
details given at the bottom of this E-mail. Furthermore, I'll put my
work E-mail address on there too, so it does at least give options.
For the purposes of this, I'm counting a Braille PDA as counting
anything from the BrailleNote to PacMate, BrailleSense to the Braille
Lite and anything around this area.
1. For those who have one, what type of Braille PDA do you use? Is
this for study, work or private use?
2. Do you import information onto your PDA and if so, in what
format? i.e. MS word, RTF, etc.
3. What would you say are the most commonly used Braille PDA's
within the UK?
This should start things off. I hope that as many of you as possible
can respond to this. This is work related, but I can assure you that
everything that you say does not get passed on to anybody else and full
confidentiality is respected.
Thanks in advance
Ian.
iancbev@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:iancbev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
MSN <mailto:ianbev72@xxxxxxxxxxx> ianbev72@xxxxxxxxxxx
Skype bevers01
ib@xxxxxxxxxx
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