Fw: [TSE-Chat] Has anyone else seen this story?
- From: "Deb and Cori" <debsoundandscent@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 23:47:07 -0500
Hello-
I am a blind college student from Northeastern Pennsylvania. I am having
problems with assistive technology thus I am posting this message to as many
places online as possible. This message is quite long so please feel free to
disregard it if you would like. However, if you or anyone can help me in
this matter, feel free to contact me. If possible, please also send this
message to any mailing lists or individuals whom you think may be able to
help.
My story involves the pacmate PDA by freedom scientific I own and the many
many problems I've had with it, both hardware and software but mostly
hardware.
I owned a Braille lite during my high school years and it served me well
until it unfortunately started to function strangely around the middle of
2004. I was in college at the time and needed something to take notes with,
luckily my local Blindness and Visual services agency were willing to
purchase a note taker for me. I have always used Jaws for windows as my
screen reader so it was logical that I would gravitate towards the Pacmate.
What also lead me towards this product was the ability to install third
party applications such as aol instant messenger, audio recorders, drivers
for using wireless and Ethernet compact flash cards etc. For example, I used
the linksys wcf54g card which supported W p a security which was the setting
my network was set to. Back to the pacmate, things started going wrong even
before the order went through for the unit. A computer consultant met with
me, showed me a unit then I went on the FS website and told them what I
wanted. For example, they recommended a modem, I told them I wouldn't be
needing it, figured it would save them some money you know? So they end up
going ahead, ignoring all of my requests/recommendations and going with what
the consultant wanted to order. I even ended up receiving an e-mail with her
order recommendation, to which I responded with my own recommendations, this
was right before the order was finalized and as I said above, I was ignored.
I luckily saved the last e-mail I sent, so here are the specifications with
my comments in parentheses--
Note taker: PacMate BX 420 note taker
To include Software and Hardware Product Maintenance Agreement
(I received this and this agreement runs out in September and as it stands
now, I will not renew it.)
10 MPS Ethernet Card
(Received it, package did not include all hardware in order to use card even
though package was sealed when received.)
Spare Battery
(The battery is for older pacmate units, I advised people of this many many
times, I did not receive the battery but it was paid for.)
Mobile Planet 56K Modem with Bluetooth
(Received a modem which came in a bubble rapped package with no cd or any
info on how to use it. I think it was by socket communications)
SanDisk 1GB compact flash storage card
(Received it, will explain below)
Carry Case
(Received laptop style case which came with unit, had to eventually purchase
separate case in order to use unit when it was inside case)
Software
(All software was paid for but only software included with pacmate was
received such as pacmate documentation cd, pocket pc cd etc. The following
was not received)
PocketPrint CE
SyncExpress
Resco Audio Recorder
Pocket Backup
Items were received in late 2004.
I contacted the consultant after all of this was discovered as well as
talking with my BVS case worker. The consultant never responded to my
e-mails or calls and my contact at BVS basically told me there was nothing
she could do since everything was already paid for. At the time, I was
finishing my undergraduate degree and did not have much more time to keep
e-mailing and calling and to speak frankly, begging it seemed to me, for
them to help me.
When I first started out, the pacmate seemed to work fine. The Ethernet card
was by socket communications and included a strange cable with internet jack
at one end and a strange connector at the other. It also included a laptop
PCMCIA adapter and that's it. The instructions didn't really tell how to
insert what I thought at the time was the card. The cable seemed the right
size for the cf slot and it did actually fit but the pacmate didn't
recognize it or anything. Please keep in mind this was my first experience
with anything like this, I've always been a desktop/Braille lite user. After
a while, the first compact flash slot stopped recognizing the sandisk 1gig
card. In calling freedom scientific tech support, they told me the Ethernet
package was to include a cable, the laptop adapter and also a small cf card
to fit between the cable and pacmate. I told them it did not include such a
card and they kept insisting I should search for it. Now this happened a few
months after I received everything, my original box and packaging were put
away in a closet in my dorm room the evening I received the unit and barely
touched, only used to extract the cds, manuals etc. Needless to say, the
tech support person and I almost got in to an argument about the non
existent cf card. Finally I changed the subject to something else, which was
the right most advance button on the Braille display and the whiz wheel. The
right button would move the display but I wouldn't get the physical click
feedback that I would get with the other buttons and the right whizwheel
took a few pressings of it up/down in order for it to move the display. The
display worked fine for a while when it was received, this happened soon
after. Also the unit was acting strangely, it froze/crashed every so often
when turned on, requiring a hard reset and reinstalling of programs and
changing default settings etc, which takes time. When resetting the unit, it
would sometimes reset fine, sometimes I would have to disconnect the display
in order for it to reset. The display also, after a time of use, would
freeze and stop following the speech. Or sometimes, it would not come up at
all when the unit was turned on and it had to be disconnected then
reconnected. I sent the units back to FS after spending time filling out
support forms and getting material authorization numbers. I also sent back
all of my cards. They contacted me and told me it would cost in the $200
range to get some bent pins in the cf slots fixed, since it wasn't covered
under my agreement for some reason. I paid it, I had no choice. Now if you
remember, this was all thanks to me not having the proper parts for that
Ethernet card. I would still like to know why on earth it seems like tech
support did not believe me, that card was not included in the package. And
in case you are wondering, yes, I did have sighted assistance throughout
this, looking for the card, sending everything back etc. I received the
units back a while later, the braille display was not fixed. So I sent the
braille display out again. It got fixed. Now the pm worked fine for I'd say
4 or 5 months or so. In october/november of last year, the same problems
started to happen. Now I would like to tell you right up front, I take good
care of all of the equipment I own, keep them clean, keep them in their
cases etc etc. I never miss use computer equipment. These problems started
happening with the first slot, even though the units were kept in the case I
purchased. Oh and also when i received the unit back the first time,freedom
scientific advised that I throw away my cards, the modem, parts of the
Ethernet card, the 1 gig sandisk card. I did so and had to buy new cards. I
purchased a 4gig flash card to use. I also purchased the linksys wcf54g
wireless card as well as the socket communications EA2912 Ethernet card. The
linksys stopped detecting my network in the first slot for no reason
whatsoever after a while so I then used the second slot. Last month, I
upgraded to pacmate 4.0 firmware. The unit kept freezing even more then
usual, for example when leaving the unit off for up to a day or even a few
hours, turn it on, hear the start up click then it would freeze. Sunday
evening (may 14th), I was trying to backup files to my flash card from the
unit, suddenly the second slot stopped recognizing cards. Now since the unit
kept freezing, I did not restore a backup from the sprite backup program I
had installed, left the unit at default settings. I fiddled with the switch
on the cf card to switch partitions, nothing was recognized. The Braille
display started then displaying random 6 dot Braille sells, even in the
middle of a hard reset.
(A quick note here, I never have forced cards in to the cf slots, I'd put
them in until they clicked in to place and remove them gently etc. Some I
left in for a few days at a time, wireless card for example and some I would
remove after use, the memory card. I read all manuals and followed all
directions in using the cards)
I called freedom scientific Monday (may 15th). I gave them a piece of my
mind, though in a nice way. I told them what was going on, how frustrated I
was and even that I would be willing to downgrade to a Braille lite or other
machine, I'd rather have a working unit for taking notes in classes even if
I couldn't transfer files to the pc. They sort of dodged around what I was
telling them, made me fill out the forms needed to send back the units and
that was that. I asked if they would at least consider replacing the unit,
they said they would try to fix this one. Again. What if I perhaps have the
1 in 10 thousandth badly built units?
I am predicting that when I receive the pacmate and display back, they will
tell me to throw out all of my cards, just like they did last time. Then I
will have to buy new ones again. Then perhaps in a while, this may happen
again.
At this point, it seems no one will listen to me. Not freedom scientific
when all I am asking for is a unit to be replaced and not blindness and
visual services since they are slowly now helping me out with grad school
preparation and my case worker told me over the phone the other day that she
didn't want to hear about it. What are my options? I'm not really sure.
I was thinking of buying a laptop in the next few months, somehow
transferring programs over to it from my desktop because someone told me it
could be done and using that. I type faster in Braille then I do on a pc
keyboard for taking notes in classes or from a reader so I'd have to
purchase a blue tooth Braille keyboard that I found some info about online
that is suppose to let you type in grade 1/2 in windows. I don't know much
about this keyboard since there seems to be limited information online about
it but it may be able to solve my problem of having a reliable machine with
storage and other capabilities that will last, not break down and let me
type using the braille language.
Now is it worth it, trying to find a laptop, one with features that let you
turn off the screen/mouse/wireless, or a normal one and buy an extra high
capacity battery in order to get a decent amount of time from it? I don't
know. In doing that, I will also probably not have any access to a Braille
display and in taking notes, I usually have speech turned off and use
Braille to keep track of where I am in a document.
I am moving to Pittsburgh for grad school in mid august so either before
then or during august, I'd like to get a hold of a working machine that will
let me take notes in classes or from someone reading me something. Other
features like internet would be nice but if I can backup my documents to pc,
that would be ok with me.
As I said, I'm not sure if I want to do the laptop thing because it seems
quite complicated. In fact, when I receive the pacmate back, I don't even
know if I will use it, I may just sell it, who knows. As you can see, I am
at my wits end. I am frustrated and confused. I am saddened by how I've been
treated by these so called people who are suppose to help me.
In terms of computer usage,i'd say I am an advanced, if not a power user, I
have been using both dos and windows systems for around 10 years now. I love
jaws for windows and use it on a daily basis, it's a great product. Frankly,
I did not expect these problems with the pacmate to happen. In talking to a
few other blind individuals who own a pacmate, they told me they have no
problems at all which i find sort of hard to believe.
Well that is my story. I apologize for the length and wordy quality of the
above information, however I think it hopefully summorizes my unfortunate
experiences.
If there is anything anyone can think of, even if it's the smallest bit of
information, please get in touch with me. My contact information is below in
my signature and if anyone would like to speak to me over the phone or you
know someone who may want to speak to me about this situation, let me know
and I will provide my cell phone number.
I thank you sincerely for reading this and have a good day.
Regards
Jay Pellis
Mike&Glore
email: mrtownsend@xxxxxxxxxxx
Arlington, Virginia
Home phone: (571) 431-6280
Cellular Phone: (732) 718-9480
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