You're welcome Linda. It's a great thing to have when you're in an airport where desktops are conspicuous by their absence for customers. You just put it on your lap, and you can type or read your EMails at your heart's content nice and comfortably.
Marta----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Gehres" <ljgehres@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 9:45 AMSubject: [icon-discuss] Re: Question for all Braille,Plus ownersbbal getting some window-shopping time with the BraillePlus
Marta, this lap desk sort of thing sounds really terrific! Thanks for the info!Linda----- Original Message ----- From: "Yerba Bruja" <yerbabruja@xxxxxxxx>To: <icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 5:01 AMSubject: [icon-discuss] Re: Question for all Braille,Plus ownersbbal getting some window-shopping time with the BraillePlusHi Linda, Jeremiah and all:I also prefer hard surfaces for brailling on the Braille Plus, but the point that I'm going to make here is that if one is in a position of not having a table or desk in front of one to use this unit on, there are these portable desktop surfaces that one can put on one's lap, and they are precisely made to put laptops or keyboards that one wants to work with. I've used this desktop with the braille plus unit, and it works well. The portable desktop is about as long as a regular fullsized keyboard, and a little wider, as it simulates a small table top. It has handles to carry it with, and the back of it has a sort of cushion surface so that it fits well on one's lap. I find in fact that it works better with the braille plus than a heavier laptop. Found it at IKeeah when I visited Boston last monthMarta----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Gehres" <ljgehres@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 6:34 AMSubject: [icon-discuss] Re: Question for all Braille,Plus ownersbbal getting some window-shopping time with the BraillePlusHi Jeremiah,Like Richard, I use my Braille+ for brailling quite a bit, generally with the case on it and often on my lap. I do have the key echo set to characters so that I can more quickly catch mistakes I do make. I also do find that I make fewer mistakes when I have the unit on a hard surface.----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Turner" <richard@xxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 9:46 PMSubject: [icon-discuss] Re: Question for all Braille,Plus ownersbbal getting some window-shopping time with the BraillePlusHi,I regularly braille, on the braille plus on my lap, on my stomach, on a desk, wherever I need to. I also use it in the case or not, depending on what I am doing. I don't find the case all that problematic. Yes it slightly impinges on the dot sixkey, but it isn't that bad.I certainly am not a perfect braillist, but I don't make that many mistakes. I certainly don't make any more mistakes on this than on a braille note, or VoiceSense. But, everyone has there own preferences for writing. Richard On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:46:18 -0400, Jeremiah Z. Rogers wrote:Hi again Rob and listers. Given the overwhelming number, and tone, of the responses to my message a couple weeks back about my experiencing difficulty, and relative dissatisfaction with, brailling on the Braille+, I spent some time attempting to better my results and/or determine where and what my problems inputting braille into the device really were. I have determined that my difficulties entering braille into the device stem largely from entering braille in the most mobile or non-traditional brailling situations, for example on my lap or while lying in bed. I find that I make lots of errors brailling when the device is on my lap that do not occur when the device is on a table or other flat surface. I can much more efficiently produce documents in the word processor, email, planner entries, and addresses when I'm able to use a table. I also took the device out of its case for several days and found that, though roughly the same difference in accuracy between data entered on hard and soft surfaces still existed, I felt like I had a better grasp of when characters might've been missed or improperly formed when the device was out of its case. As a result of my paying attention to some of these variables, I'd alter my original commentary to Rob by saying that I trust data entry on the device much less on softer surfaces than when brailling on hard ones, and would love to know from the list whether those of you who so emphatically asserted that you found braille input on the device to be satisfactory use your cases or primarily keep your devices naked. Hope this information is of some use to you Rob or others, and I'll of course be glad to read commentary spurred on by this post. Very gratefully, Jeremiah Z. Rogers -----Original Message----- From: Jeremiah Z: Rogers [mailto:jeremiahzrogers@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, April 16 10:27 To: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [icon-discuss] Question for all BraillePLUS owners;also getting some window-shopping time with the BraillePlus Hi Rob. I happily use the Braille+ for many personal and professional tasks, but I do find interacting with the device bothersome in several ways. I find the braille keys on the device to be a bit cramped, and I find that I make many more brailling errors with the device than I do when using any other device which allowed for braille input. I've struggled to put my finger on why that is, but I think it has to do with the device not accepting some keystrokes I attempt or the keys not always being pressed when I think they are. I feel it necessary to proofread much more carefully, and have to find and correct many more errors, using this device than others. I also find the telephone keypad on the device less comfortable than I'd hoped it would be in terms of the ability to push the buttons for a long period of time. The braille and telephone keypad keys, and for that matter all of the keys on the device, are noisy when pressed, and the telephone keys feel almost pointed after using them for ten minutes or so. I've never seen the Icon, and am incredibly curious about the physical differences between it and the Braille+. I hear that it is rounded on the bottom instead of the right angles on the bottom of the Braille+, so I wonder if it wouldn't feel better in a pocket than the Braille+. I'm also very curious about the feel, action, and noise of the Braille+telephone keys on the Icon. I'd like to try thumb braille on the Icon and use that as my comparrison to life with the Braille+. I use thumb braille on occasion with the Braille+, and it Braille+works fine but I think it would be much more desirable with a larger keypad perhaps like that found on the Icon. Hope all this babble is of some use, and I look forward to reading further discussion on the list. Jeremiah On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:48:59 -0700, Rob Lambert wrote:I have seen some pictures of the Plus (I use a very powerful magnifier on my MacBook) and the keyboard looks cramped. I've still got a 15 year old Braille 'n Speak and I know what cramped keyboards are like because of it. LOL I have not updated in 15 years, and I really am looking at a new device, but i'm at...well...6 forks in the road. LOL. I'm looking very closely at the Braille Plus as one of the devices I'd like to get. So yeah is the keyboard on the BraillePlus cramped? Also, a good friend of mine told me that where she is if she needs to look at something such as the BraillePlus or Icon, that she can (in the sense of equipment loans for review purposes). I'm from Nevada and I'm not sure what we have here besides Easter Seals (which I heard on the news last week will be closing due to funding issues I think) and the NFB and I'm not sure if they have a tech lab or not. I know the local Blind Center only has the BrailleNote and PACmate (last I looked). What I'd like to do is to actually make a hard look at the device, but I can't make it to the conventions this summer due to my need to take the Praxis for my bachelors in special ed. Get in touch in an instant. Get Windows Live Messenger now.Icon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to: icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visit the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG.Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.4/1395 - Release Date: 4/24/2008 7:24 AMIcon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discussTo unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to:icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxFor answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visitthe LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.4/1313 - Release Date: 3/5/2008 9:50 AMIcon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discussTo unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to:icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxFor answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visitthe LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html -- No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.4/1395 - Release Date: 4/24/2008 7:24 AMIcon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discussTo unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to:icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxFor answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visitthe LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html
Icon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to: icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visit the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html
