Nice article.

Is it an international draw? I don't have that email, and I'm sure I'm on Humanware's list, in the UK.

I entered as well. I still can read braille, would probably use it more if i had a braille display, i guess we will see.

Hmmm, the number of people that will enter? Several hundred. the number of people who create 20 different email addresses with various services just so that their name is more likely to get picked? Well... Do I have to come out and say it? (think)

I really shouldn't be on a high horse about this, considering that I entered my name into the drawing, but it does seem rather odd to me that they didn't perform any kind of screening in order to filter out spambots, at the very least, y'know?

LOL. You must not had looked back at post 3 when I made that comment about cheating. That is one easy way of doing it. Also, you know that line about the visually impaired thing? How do they know if you are or not. Just saying. I am thinking about how you get other people to enter for you too. Do I need to go on? ROFL. Just a thought you know. We shall see how this turns out. To my exact point, I agree with post 8 when it comes to the point that it  is odd that they did not do anything to make sure that the email address was valid at the very least. They cannot defeat all cheating, but they can prevent some.

I put my name in when I created this topic. My PACmate is sort of showing its' own age. I think it may be a bit on the pricy side to keep it going. Matter of fact, I am surprised it is still working as well as it is. True, I do not think I will win, but why not give it a shot. It cost nothing to enter and I could, just maybe, wind something nice. Of course I do not think I will, but it is worth a try. The odds are stack against us here on this form, but still...

I understand that. Every now and then, I must write something down on something that works so that I can remember later. Sometimes, I use my audio recorder, sometimes my mac book or PC, other times my PACMate. It mostly depend on rather or not I need speed over braille per say. If I need speed, my audio recorder works. On the other hand, if I need it to be saved in braille, my PACmate mostly works. Of course, most of the time I just jot stuff down on the nearest computer because of me being too lazy to drag out something else to write on. LOL. My flash drive makes the perfect small storage device until it is lost right? Deep down, a wireless display for my phone will suit me just fine, but I would not say no to the BrailleNote touch. LOL. May someone be lucky enough to win (I hope it is me). ROFL.

Did not know that that was a problem. When i use voice dream reader, I usually have it read to me. Not having a display that works with my phone has something to do with that for sure. Do not get me wrong, having something that works both as a note taker and as a display for my phone would be a major plus for me. We will know next month who wins.

Now that, I can understand. Is it just the reading part you miss? If so there some slitely cheep things out there. I think I saw where the Braille edge would open up BRF files, but you still would run into the price problem. I, myself would also like a wireless display on my desk with the extra features that a notetaker would have, but even so, I will move on if I do not win. I am thinking that who ever wins, it will most likely not be anyone on this form.

Now, the Orbit Reader looks like a good reading device from what I understand, but I personally would like to see it in action before I buy. Grant it, the price does look right for that use if I heard the price right. They were thinking around $500 right? I have heard somewhere that that was the price. I think that there is at least two of us that is not thinking about selling if either one is won, but yes most would sell just to get a little extra cash. I cannot blame people for wanting extra cash, but why would they not want to use the device a little bit first?

The primary reason I'm not big on the BrailleNote Touch as opposed to the Apex is simply that the Apex, with its totally obsolete productivity suite, is still the better choice for actually reading and writing braille and text files, of the kind I'd expect to use for free-form writing. The Touch is an Android tablet, but its appeal to the mainstream has effectively crippled its core functionality.

So, I am going to return this Apex. If I can't get it back in full working order, then I'll give serious thought to a braille display. But I'll be very sad to lose the few core apps, like game-playing, dictionary and clock, as well as complete support for text and braille files, that this Apex has. I'm sad Humanware did not release an SDK for this, and I'm sad that it will probably never get further support now that the Touch is out there, but having read about (and heard) the touch I am fairly sure that the Apex's biggest curse was having Humanware for a mentor. If I win anything, it'll be icing on the cake, but I'm not betting on it.

Out of those, the processor cannot be fixed. Yes it looks like a step in the right direction, but I do not know if it would work for them. I still remember how the PACmate with the windows mobile  OS and how it looked well for a few years until MS went to windows phone seven leaving FS with no path for upgrade that made sense for that device. My fear for the BrailleNote Touch is that there is a point where it cannot be upgraded. Add to that, the fact that humanware is using a version of android that is sort of known for being hacked in some ways. does anyone remember the stage fright bug in android? I personally am wondering if the version of android on the BrailleNote will get upgraded any time soon. On the other hand, it has a few features I would like to play with to some degree.