2014-11-20 12:04:33

Hello everyone,
So, a few days ago, my braille display stopped working and After I send it to the company who produced it, they told me that it is unreparable and that I need a new one.
Now I am searching for a new display, but I dont know witch one to choose. Maybe you people can help me.
It should have bluetooth support, so I can connect to my phone or tablet.
The second thing is, that it should have an intigrated notetaker, so that I can quickly write down something, or copy files if I need them on the move.
Is there such a display available? And if so, would you recoment it?
Greetings Moritz

Hail the unholy church of Satan, go share it's greatness.

2014-11-20 21:06:43

I'm sorry but I have to ask, if you have a tablet and smartphone do you really need the display to act as a notetaker? As for copying things, USB stick?

I'm not trying to criticise you, I just feel traditional thinking regarding these kinds of devices needs some poking to make sure we're all using the best option for our individual needs. In fact I'd go so far as to say that smartphones and tablets have overtaken most of the purposes of a notetaker, making them pretty much obsolete.

These things are very, very expensive so it never hurts to take another look at exactly what you need and want from them. You'll likely be stuck with it for a number of years so making sure it is the best fit for your requirements is important.

cx2
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To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2014-11-20 21:17:30

Hi, I still need a braille display, due to the fact that in our school, we sometimes change rooms for different lessons and sometimes, I need to bring some documents with me.
I think it is much more comfortable to bring a display with you. Sadly I cant use my phone in school for notetaking, cause or school is a bit strange in the habit of phones in the school, even if it is just for taking notes or texts with you.

Hail the unholy church of Satan, go share it's greatness.

2014-11-20 22:22:05

Hmmm. What you do ask is a little tricky. If you can put up with having a laptop, then carrying a laptop and display may be your best, but if I am reading your post right, that will not really work. Anyway, do you just need to write something down or do you need a full word processer with spell check in the like? If I am remembering right, the braille edge has basic note taking built in to it and it can load some documents from a SD card. Sounds like what you are looking for, but we will need more info to say for sure. HTH.

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.
DropBox Referral

2014-11-21 02:42:25 (edited by CAE_Jones 2014-11-21 02:42:44)

I wish DSB would actually get back to me about this so I could have information for you.
I tried looking up and comparing all the different option out there a few months back. I can't find my notes at the moment, though. I'll post if they show up.

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2014-11-21 02:52:02

Here it is (prices are in US dollars):

http://www.applevis.com/reviews/accesso … le-devices
Here's the quick notes I took on them:

Esys (1495 for 12, has internal notetaking abilities. Catches: really small, and made in
France.)
Focus 14 (1295; price of the 40 wasn't included, but is probably at
freedomscientific.com. No apps. I think these will work with both Windows and iOS.)
Braille Sense ($3995. Included just because people seem to like it.)
Refreshabraille 18 (Routing buttons and joystick, contraction problems, price not given.
I think it's specifically for the iOS devices. The Perkins review hints that it's
probably around $1595. I think the contraction problems are due to Apple's braille
programs and not the display itself.)
Perkins Mini (mentioned as ~$50 more expensive than the focus14, and ~$250 cheaper than
the Refreshabraille. Reviewer complained about the keyboard.)
Brailliant 32 (Price not given, reviewer complained of sluggishness and the spacebar
being weirdly positioned)
Braille Edge (price not given, but was ~$250 more than the Focus 40. Carrying case sucks
and I think this means I should learn how to make my own. Don't remember off hand if it
sounded particularly nice, but since the Focus40 is doubtless 2-3 times the price of the
Focus14, it must have had something cool for me to include it.)


----------------------------------------

I wound up leaning toward the Focus Blue, Refreshibraille, and Esys, in that order. I could never remember enough about the Braille Edge to decide how to place it (I can't remember anything other than the comment on the carrying case... yikes ).

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2014-11-21 17:42:12

Simba, I didn't dispute your need for a braille display so much as your need for the display to function as a notetaker. If you already have a tablet could you not use it with that? Of course if I misunderstood and you don't already have a tablet then disregard what I just said.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2014-11-21 19:13:27

Depends on the definition of a notetaker. If it just reads and writes files with or without translation, and especially if it supports brf and/or plain text, then I personally would consider (and do consider) the notetaker feature valuable. Smartphones/tablets are all very wonderful, but if you can't do a lot of bulk reading and writing on them, that will probably always be true.

Having said that, my BrailleNote Apex is no longer fit for purpose as anything more than notetaker, braille terminal and Z-Code game player (caveats apply), as well as clock and dictionary, so if even those functions could be delegated to an external device I'd do away with even that and get just the display with input.

It's up to the user, of course, I just don't think we should be too quick to banish what works, either.

Just myself, as usual.

2014-11-25 21:48:33

Get the Baum Vario ultra, it is hands down the best new braille display out on the market. It has features like (and surpassing) the braille edge, but those wonderful Baum braille cells. I found that the cells on the braille edge are too sharp and I have to stop reading every half hour or so. (finger fatigue) But, I can read my Baum pocket vario for hours before stopping.