Hi Daveed,
Robert
Sorry, Robert, but still confused. I thought one can save as a .brf file--is that what you mean by .brl?
I was talking about instances when a computer braille symbol should be reteained, if you didn't want to transltate that, but still keep most of your file in Grade Two. Can you direct the Braille Sense not to translate a particular symbol or group of characters into Grade Two?
Also, what about being able to save a file as .doc? That is very important, but as I understand it, not available on the Braille Sense. I thik the manual needs to explain the automatic braille translation features of the unit in greater detail. It only discusses braille output, not braille input.
Re battery life, what about using only braille? Any idea of the battery life? NO one seems to know. I find this rather surprising and disappointing; surely GW Micro and HIMS should be able to give the answer, which they cannot. SoI would appreciate someone figuring this out and providing an estimated battery life of the unit using just braille.
--Thanks so much.--
--Daveed--At 04:43 AM 9/24/2006, you wrote:
Hi Daveed,
This is Robert from Easy Talk, I'll try to answer your questions.
By default the BS uses a file format called HBL. which allows you to type in
grade 2 Braille. On the Braille Sense you can change from grade 1, grade 2,
or ASCII on the fly by using space-g cord. In essents regardless of what
file format you save the document, you can input grade 2 Braille but unless
you save the file in .brl format the document will look fine if you send it
to a sighted person. If you save the file in .brl format you can not
backward translate so you would only want to save the file in .brl format if
you were sending it to some one else using a notetaker or wanted to copy the
file directly to a Braille embosser. If you have your unit set for grade 2
and open a txt file, the Braille Sense will say reading file, which in esents
it is translating the file to grade 2, but when you exit the file it isn't
saved in grade 2. This is also the case if you are sending a email message,
you can type in grade 2 and the file will look fine for sighted folks. As
far as changing the translation if you don't like the way the unit does it,
I would think you would have to save the file in .brl format and then do
your editing. The Braille translation is very good.
I am not sure of the status of RTF but I know they are working on that. It
can handle .doc files and you can set your default file format under the
options menu, meaning if you want .txt or .brl to be the default you can
choose your choice under the options menu.
As far as battery life, I always get at least 10 hours using both Braille and speech. When the unit gets down to 15 percent, It will prompt you to charge it.
I am also a distributor for GW and can give you a good deal if you are interested.
Robert
----- Original Message ----- From: "Daveed Mandell" <daveedm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <braille-sense@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 3:28 PM
Subject: [braille-sense] Automatic Braille Grade Two Translation, File
Importing/Exporting, and Estimated Battery Life
I have a few questions re the Braille Sense, which I am planning to buy very soon.
1. In some notetakers, one has to make it clear that one is typing in Grade Two braille. Otherwise, when typing on the keyboard, you get jibberish ASCII braille! Is this the case also with the Braille Sense? The manual talks about grade two braille output on the display, but it does not mention inputting Grade Two. What if there is a sign or symbol you don't want translated to Grade Two, because it wouldn't make sense? Can one deal with such situations?
2. I must produce radio scripts of news stories and documentaries and then turn them over to sighted colleagues. At other times, sighted colleagues do the same to me--that is, they send me their material to edit, and I must then send it back to them. I understand that while MS Word documents can be read on the Braile Sense, one cannot save braille files as MS Word documents. I also understand that RTF files can neither be imported nor exported. I consider these rather serious shortcomings when interacting with sighted people. My colleagues vastly prefer Word files, or RTF files as well, over .txt files.
3. One more query: How long does the battery last per charge, approximately, when only using the braille display--without speech or the visual display? Thanks.
I would very much appreciate clarification of the above two questions. Thanks so much.
--Daveed--
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