# BrailleNote Having Issues

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Saturday, 11-May-2013 17:18:25

Hi all. I am now having an odd problem with my Apex where i get the following error. Aplication keysoft.exe has encountered a serious error and must be shut down. And every time I reboot the system, it never goes away. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

## Post 2 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Sunday, 12-May-2013 8:28:38

I did see that message when I was using an Apex. Have you tried doing a hard reset or whatever they call it where you press and hold the reset button for longer than five seconds? What about removing the battery? They do the same thing if I am not wrong. There is another reset that clears settings but I am not very sure how you do that, either press reset with dots 1-2-3 or 4-5-6, I can remember which. for the BT, not quite sure about the QT. I never knew why the message appeared though. Quite long since I last used an Apex... Hope this helps.

## Post 3 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Sunday, 12-May-2013 19:17:35

None of the resets are working at present. I ran the battery dead, pulled it out, and got no good results.

## Post 4 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Tuesday, 14-May-2013 2:05:29

Hmmm... Interesting. I never encountered that or met anyone who did...

## Post 5 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 14-May-2013 6:46:27

It was bad enough that I had to send it in for service and repair. Ah well, I hope it doesn't happen again.

## Post 6 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Tuesday, 14-May-2013 13:27:40

Hi
If I had to name all the problems that I'm having with my bn, I'd run out of characters. Anyway, email the bn list. Subscribe by sending an email with she body suscribe at braillenote-request@freelists.org
Then email braillenote@freelists.org
hth

## Post 7 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Wednesday, 15-May-2013 7:59:31

By the way, just asking, did you buy the Braillenote on your own or did somebody else like a school or organisation bought it for you?

## Post 8 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Wednesday, 15-May-2013 8:43:25

I got it by way of my school. I have gone through three BrailleNotes: one never restarted ever again, one had an iisue with the charger, and the last one crashed.

## Post 9 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Wednesday, 15-May-2013 12:50:16

Oh wow. Too bad. Wonder if BrailleSense are better. I heard they are quite good. I had a chance to try one of those but it was only for a very short time.

## Post 10 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Wednesday, 15-May-2013 15:07:01

I would take one of those over an Apex ,at this point in time.

## Post 11 by chaman_1167 (Generic Zoner) on Thursday, 16-May-2013 19:09:57

Although braillenotes have a stable interface Humanware over the years have degraded on their customer service not to mention taking advantage of their customer's trust. There have been many things that have previously been promised with regards to the braille notes, but most have not been met. We are now in 2013 yet the braille note cannot do many of the things that a standard PDA costing about £30 would be able to do.
My trusting of Humanware stopped when I heard that the batteries used in older models of the braille note such as mPower are 6AA batteries. These batteries can be purchased for no more than £15, however Humanware like to claim "we use a special battery which you cannot purchase outside." Anyway, they charge about £200 to replace these AA batteries when the batteries themselves cost no more than £15. This in my opinion is a very cheap and shaimful way for humanware to be making money off their customers. I know many people including myself have challenged Humanware about these batteries being AA, which they eventually admit to, but still insist on charging £200. The braille sense line of notetakers seem to be very much updated on the latest features.

## Post 12 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Friday, 17-May-2013 8:13:37

I want a BrailleSense, because it will hook into my Google talk and give me all the features of it. I would, however, like to see the BrailleNote be scrapped as a whole, redone, or dropped altogether. If any reps from HumanWare are on here: Get your heads out of your asses and do shit, will ya? I'm sick and tired of going through Apex after Apex, and quite frankly, the Apex sucks as a whole. No proper XMPP support, no Skype support, no Twitter integration, etc.

## Post 13 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Monday, 20-May-2013 10:53:45

Thank goodness the Apex I was using didn't died on me. I got it when it was brand new and use it for about four months. Before that, I was using MPowers for about three years. The BrailleSense seems to be a lot more up to date compared to the Braillenotes. Not to mention that you can update the software of BrailleSense without additional costs or uses of SMA. The only thing I am happy with about the Apex is its thinness and compactness. The BrailleSense has a much better keyboard or maybe that's just personal preference.

## Post 14 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Monday, 20-May-2013 11:05:03

I agree about the BrailleSense. Though I really don't need these devices, I'll get a BrailleSense just to see how it runs. It'll be a good device for when I can't bring my iPod or studeo laptop.

## Post 15 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Monday, 20-May-2013 11:24:22

Hi
Let me just say that the bn is a great tool and if hw would only get their act together, they could really make it quite amaazing! I personally think that since the bn is "a tool targeted for students, teachers, and professionals" that hw should integrate docx support. First things first, the work stuff. Also, please explain how they would do skype? Your basically asking to make the bn a phone. I being a totally blind person would rather use a phone, whats the point of video chatting? I can see the overseas thing. I'd just use gtalk. Also, a feature I would find very useful would be an rss feed reader, and support for more media features (such as ogg). I'm not going to start up the flash decision because I don't think they would be able to handle it. I have had in mPower and an apex to work with and the apex, while still being outdated, is way more advanced. But, yes, I've heard a lot of great things about hims and their braille note takers, and I would like to have some experence with this.
Thank you

## Post 16 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Tuesday, 21-May-2013 10:08:08

Just read about the latest firmware update for the Braillesense. Seems that they are bringing Dropbox integration and MS Excel viewer to them too amongst other things. For the latest Braillesense, the braillesense U2, they will even be a Youtube application. While this might not seems to be much for some, it is still a great step forward. I am surprised by the application for youtube especially. Dropbox and an excel viewer would be great too. Wish I have one of this; will definitely be useful in many ways, in school or at home.

## Post 17 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 21-May-2013 10:28:55

Holy shit! A notetaker having YouTube and Dropbox? Wow! Now I really want one.

## Post 18 by Runner229 (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Tuesday, 21-May-2013 10:59:18

I have had countless issues with my BrailleNote at the least convenient times. One day I had to reset it six or seven times which put me at a great disadvantage when I was trying to take notes. Now that being the case, dalekood, explain to me why you think it would be a sufficient tool for a student. Just look at all of the complaints displayed here, and I'm sure there are even more on other topics created for similar purposes as this one.

## Post 19 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Tuesday, 21-May-2013 13:38:42

Hi
Forst gump, pay attention, why do you think I put it in quotes. This is not my belief (I being a student, I would know, this is hw's advertising). Sorry if I mde it seem this way. I personally do not believe though, that flash will come to keysoft. I mean, they have bookshare messed 'up, how are they supposed to do flash? My thinking is that in order to do that, they would have to make a new model. Which if they did, they should update the browser (hims has accomplished this without a different model). I can barely do my anagrams without it freezing or just being stupid. Dropbox and excel would be very useful on the bn. Oh, and once, I was copying off notes, and I had to reset because it froze while I was writing, lost my hole document!!! Isn't that great. Had to recopy everything. I've had that happen a lot.

## Post 20 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 21-May-2013 17:12:15

Yeah. HumanWare, like I've said a thousand times, either needs to stop, or get their shit together.

## Post 21 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Wednesday, 22-May-2013 10:34:38

The Apex has rather good hardware for a Braille Note take PDA kind of machine. The problem is that they are not using this hardware to it fullest extent and I am not talking about keyboards and braille displays. The scroll wheel is a good addition to the BrailleNotes and adding additional USB ports is good. However, th BrailleSense Plus was released about the same time as the Apex. The Apex has double the amount of RAM and a superior processor and even a new Operating System in the form of Windows Embedded CE 6.0. However, its applications in Keysoft is definitely lacking. Comparing it to the BrailleSense Plus running an OS that is a little older [windows CE 5.0], half the amount of RAM of the Apex and a processor that is slightly inferior, the BrailleNote Apex is seriously behind as the BrailleSense is running much superior functions in more applications. How many of you guys have the annoyed and exasperated feeling when a Braillenote just crashes when you are taking important notes in a new file? I experienced this several times and lost several sets of important notes by that in class. BrailleNotes are not totally horrible but they must be improved. Much, much improved. They would hopefully come up with a new device this year as the Apex is getting outdated.

## Post 22 by starfly (99956) on Wednesday, 22-May-2013 13:15:23

I am going to get shot here but why bother with any of the blindness related tech? Seriously, windows c 6.0 dead on arival "nexis7" tablit with a keyboard and braille display a heck a lot better.

## Post 23 by starfly (99956) on Wednesday, 22-May-2013 13:17:28

I for got you can go even cheeper then a nexis7 by a Ipod touch 5th gen, BT keyboard and a braille display, pare both to the Ipod and bam, so much cheeper and better then the braille note or sense.

## Post 24 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Wednesday, 22-May-2013 18:03:51

This is true. But since this is school, they frown on iPods and the like.

## Post 25 by starfly (99956) on Wednesday, 22-May-2013 20:16:44

thanks, for bringing that up on this board.

## Post 26 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 8:37:00

What do you maan thanks for bringing that up on this board? Is that ment to be a frowned comment?

## Post 27 by Brooke (I just keep on posting!) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 10:00:02

There's also the convenience of having everything in one device, as lpposed to having to carry around 3 separate devices. If you've got an iPod, a BT keyboard, and a Braille display, you have to make sure all are charged, everything's paired... in many cases it's just easier, if at all possible, to go with a unit that has everything built in. Granted, it isn't always possible because of the price.

## Post 28 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 10:10:37

This is true. You would also have to have big pockets to hold all of it. But that's not the point of this topic. I am sick and tired of my damn Apex crashing! Can't wait for school to end, so I don't have to deal with it until September.

## Post 29 by rat (star trek rules!) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 11:55:45

I've used braillenotes for years, and I do not see how people seem to have so many problems with them. It has always puzzled me, to listen to some the bn is the worse made device, where as it's never failed for me, and it was the primary way I did everything in school. Tests, worksheets, papers, you name it it was with a BN

## Post 30 by Runner229 (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 12:49:07

It's like a previous poster said. The hardware has not been kept up to date. I agree with you though, the older BrailleNotes seemed to have less issues as the new ones do. I'm guessing you haven't used an apex.

## Post 31 by GreenTurtle (Music is life. Love. Vitality.) on Thursday, 23-May-2013 14:53:18

I agree with Ratt. I have never had as many problems with any of the Braille Notes I've used as some people claim they're having. I disagree, though, that the Apex is less stable. I can attest to the fact that using the internet on it makes you want to rip your hair out, but for reading books and word processing, it's never failed me. the MPower I had previously, on the other hand, froze all the time and had to be reset constantly. When I was in school, though, I used to take advantage of that. I was terrible at math, so since I went to a school for the blind, everyone knew how much my MPower would act up. My math teacher used to just take a cursory look at the Braille displays of the people who had them, and mark whether the homework had been done or not. So on the nights I didn't understand what we were learning, I had an easy out. I would go into class and pretend the Braille Note froze, reset it, and in the interim, she would be distracted and move onto something else. She trusted me, so she believed me when I said it was done. So, if I bombed tests, I still passed the class, and I never had to deal with my parents' wrath. I know it was wrong to take advantage of someone like that, looking back on it, but unless I start building houses or something, I don't see why I need complex algebra or geometry.

## Post 32 by Hongsen (Zone BBS Addict) on Friday, 24-May-2013 10:16:09

While a BrailleNote has helped many of us during school, it nevertheless is not a perfect piece of equipment. I am guessing why people are pointing out the bad points of the BrailleNotes are due to the reason of the posts. I do admit that there are good things to the BrailleNotes as well; the convenience of it, the good battery life compared to laptops and ultrabooks and tablets. About the previous posts about having a tablet pairing up with a braille display and a braille keyboard will be cheaper, it will not work as seamlessly compared to a braille notetaker like the BrailleNotes and BrailleSenses that are built specially for the blind. Not to mention the fact you can use the notetaker as a braille display and the functions that you can use with the braille keyboard and displays such as calculators.

## Post 33 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Friday, 24-May-2013 13:50:29

hmm, your just lucky that she was not vary cautious and made you either do your math on the brailler or do it with keyview hooked up.
You know, another thing that is really annoying me ise that my bookshare daisy thing won't work. Now, I don't know if its just my apex, but every time I try to read a book from bookshare and its daisy, it will do a bunch of new lines and it will keep doing that when I hit the advanced thumb key. ,i thought, hmm, well maybe the book has a butch of new lines. To prove my theory, I pressed the back thumb key, and guess what? The braillenote made the book go to the end. I tried this several times, even attempting a reset to see. I've had to download my books on brb, which I really hate doing, because they take a hell of a long time to load and not very quick for navigation in my opinion. I mean, daisy takes a while to load and even my mPower did it faster but still, daisy has more nvigational things.

## Post 34 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Friday, 24-May-2013 13:59:31

I did my math on a Brailler and then had to type it all out on a typewriter which is a real bitch for exponents and things. So let me tell ya, son, it don't make you tough to sit behind the keyboard and claim to have got away with something like that. You oughta have pulled off an exploit worth bragging about first. Well you probably have, haven't we all?, but still, just a bit of perspective from a older guy.

## Post 35 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 24-May-2013 15:05:12

the turtle is feamale leo...

## Post 36 by GreenTurtle (Music is life. Love. Vitality.) on Friday, 24-May-2013 20:48:04

I didn't say I was proud of it. I said that at least I passed, which, in my family, counted for a hell of a lot. All they cared about was that I got A's and B's. Anything below that and I would never hear the end of it. They say that now kids can use calculators in school. When i was growing up, that was considered cheating. Times are changing, so although I'm not guilt-ridden over getting away with that, nor should I be, I'm not bragging either. I was just stating facts.

## Post 37 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Friday, 24-May-2013 21:38:30

Fair enough, to the last couple posters. I'll eat my words.

## Post 38 by Lisa's Girl forever (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Sunday, 26-May-2013 5:28:50

hello everyone. i have used my mpower. i reseaved it in 2004. and it still runs the same batery. but i will get it serviced and new batery. soon.. and i used a apex for a few hours. and i like it. but still desideing if i will traied in my 10 year old mpower for a apex. i am hearing good vews about it and bad vews about the notetaker. and i also used a voice sence. as well. i like better. though. i'll looking in to buying a braille sence. it has good things. and they upgrade there souftwre a lot offen.. it better.

## Post 39 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Sunday, 26-May-2013 12:14:26

Hmm, well, a difficult situation. But, like everything, there is good and a bad to everything. The apex can download bigger files (but at a slower place. However, the mPower freezes when finished downloading. Also, the daisy thing on the mPower is better than the apex one. Just a few examples.

## Post 40 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 28-May-2013 9:11:13

I have an mPower which is about to make seven years of hard use, and the same battery. And it runs like a charm. I use the Apex because of the built-in WIFI receiver, which is the only good thing about it.

## Post 41 by dalekood (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 06-Jun-2013 8:24:05

onoects to wifi better
But be careful, I've also heard that hims devices tend to work better with some rouders than others.

## Post 42 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 06-Jun-2013 22:56:13

onoects? say what?

## Post 43 by Siriusly Severus (The ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w7 The Taskmaste) on Sunday, 28-Jul-2013 6:47:53

not a fan either. I unfortunately have one for schoolwork. admittedly I haven't had all these issues brought up here, and I am lucky to have a smooth sale all the way through so far. though it's very helpful when reading thicker materials, I am not really a fan at all of any of it.
I agree with full integration, myself, I find it using it less and less. and I use the mainstream stuff a lot more, it remains off until it's needed for a small note, otherwise it is just for schoolwork. So, I don't really run it. so I guess I don't give it much of a chance to crash or give me errors.

## Post 44 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Friday, 20-Sep-2013 12:42:07

KeySoft one kind of patched some of the wholes, they finally fixed the Kookshare issues, and the download manager finally works. Now we can get BARD books, which is now a bit of a late gift, as we have ! Bard iOS app to use. All in all, the BrailleNote is tearing itself apart. That's all it boils down to. And it will always be ! resolution, the BrailleNote's haydays are done.