# brailleNote

Category: accessible Devices

## Post 1 by slim shady (Generic Zoner) on Tuesday, 08-Aug-2006 19:21:05

Do you have a BrailleNote? Tell me about it. How long have you been using it. What is your favorite thing to do on there? Good luck.

## Post 2 by motifated (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Tuesday, 08-Aug-2006 19:24:36

Well, I use mine primarily for a notetaker. I actually have the voicenote with the braille keyboard. I transfer notes between a PC and the braillenote. I use the calculator. I have to generate reports at work. I have templates of them translated into braille format. I can write the report on the template in grade two braile, and easily translate it into a word document. The result is nearly perfect, and if I took a little time, I bet I could figure out where the mistakes come in. It has one of the best owner's manuals I've ever seen.
Lou

## Post 3 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Tuesday, 08-Aug-2006 21:06:41

I do have one, but it is so old that it is not much good for any thing but word prossing and keeping address. I can not do e-mail on it because I do not have an isp that offers dialup access and even if I did I would not want to tie up the phone liine with it. I does not have the flash card slot in the back. I got it when keysoft 3.06 was out and now they have keysoft 7.0 man it is old. LOL! Just my thoughts.

## Post 4 by JerseyGirl1989 (Zone BBS is my Life) on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2006 2:24:00

Hi! I have a braillenote! I hate it! (I've had it since 2002) and (well of course I get it upgraded) but it's dying!! (I've callaberated the battery gage and everything!) I much perfure the Pacmate over the BrailleNote, because I am a Windows user, and the only thing I do on the braillenote is take notes for school. (but even then I hate it!!). Enteresting topic!
Amber

## Post 5 by rdfreak (THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE-BLUE KANGA-KICKIN AUSIE) on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2006 19:57:17

Hi, ditto to Billy's girl. I've got a brillenote and i got it in 2001 but it hasn't had any upgrades performed on it and it is certainly dying. It's now got no case for it and the braille display is stuffed. some of the cells won't go down so it makes things impossible to read. I'm hoping to send it in and get an upgrade to an M-power.
Idealy I'd love a pacmate though! :)

## Post 6 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2006 20:50:42

Wow! gee! Hmmm, should I even post here? Okay! I don't have any of the above mensioned products but teach them all. Durring my evaluations of clients those who are users of Windows and Jaws find it easier to move to a pacmate since commands are similar and the Pacmate mirrors the windows interface. This is because the pacmate is a PDA in a big box. Some have even roomered that it's an HP somethinkg or other in a big box. Guess that's the PDA they might have mirrored it from . I use Maestro/trekker and also a Dell x51V with mobile speak pocket. Now. the reason for my post was simply to offer the following thoughts. If you are looking for a device that can teach you how to use it the humanware products winh hands down. I have never seen and probably will never see a better help system on a notetaker. It has excellent context help so you know exactly what to do where ever you are. it has a manuall that is easy to navigate by contents or index. If you are a windows user and like the windows feel along with the jaws commands pacmate is for you. Also, (lou is going to kill me for this) you don't have to use that silly little key sync program. Active sync works out of the box. Don't know why humanware can't adopt regular sync since they are running on windows Ce. Hey, to really spark some contriversy, anyone using the Braille sense? It's best feature is the replaceable battery and over the Internet updates. Okay! I'll go away now... Woo'f'f'f.

## Post 7 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Thursday, 10-Aug-2006 0:37:30

Ok, now that Woof is bringing all this stuff up, I feel it's time for me to comment since I've used all 3 of the aformentioned products on an evaluation basis and have also tought them to students. What I like about the braille note is that the m-power, at any rate, seems much more stable and reliable than the classic and definatly more stable than the pac mate and braille sense. The braille sense seems quite stable as well, but in my experience, it gets less stable with the more data you put on the flashdisk. This also seemed to be the case with the m-power, but since it's flashdisk holds twice the amount of memory, its instability seemed to be less. Also, the braille sense lacks GPS capability, witch some people may love, but you could just use both the braille sense and a trecker to overcome that problem. The other draw-back to the braille sense is that the daisy player doesn't syncronize the braille display with the audio output, although I've been told by the US product manager that this issue will be resolved in the next OS upgrade. The other bad thing is that if you want to use the braille sense as a remote display, you have to use JFW 7.1, or window eyes 5.5. Window eyes 5.5 seems fine to me, but jfw 7.1 is still giving me nightmears several weeks after its uninstalation. The nice tihing about the braille sense though is that, for now anyway, upgrades are free. Also, I prefer the feel of the braille display over both the pac mate and braillenote. Although I like the idea of the pac mate, version 4.0 of the firmware is really a few steps in the wrong direction. I recall having to hit do a warm reset at least once daily. I hope someone out there felt this message helpful.

## Post 8 by motifated (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 10-Aug-2006 4:33:54

John and kc8pnl, thanks for your posts. John, I'm letting you live another day, because in this day and age, I don't understand why Humanware continues to be so proprietary in that little program either. I must fess up here though; I generally use a card reader to transfer files. I've seen both active sync a nd Keysync backfire because people just weren't paying attention. Yeah, I know its the slower and more cumbersome way, but I'm more paranoid than the people following me think I am. LOL. Lou

## Post 9 by motifated (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 10-Aug-2006 7:27:56

Follow-up to my last. I find the Pacmate an excelent device for the computer-savvy user. If you understand windows, andknow the importance of backing up your data and do it regularly, its a fine piece of gear. It doesn't seem to be as easy on batteries as other products. I also like the detachable braille display option.
Lou

## Post 10 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 10-Aug-2006 12:22:40

Woof is very thankful to be alive once again. Interesting thoughts. Actually the card reader is what I recommend to my clients as well. the safest way to transfer data in my opinion. Also, I find it interesteing that the it is thought the Braille note MPower is more stable then the pacmate although with revision 4 you might be right. 4 is definately sorta like jaws 7.1, bad. really bad....

## Post 11 by Twinklestar09 (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Thursday, 10-Aug-2006 14:29:41

Just posting since I'm another user of the BrailleNote. It's been working pretty good for me, although the battery for that runs down faster than the Braille 'n Speak I have, even though I rarely use the speech on the BrailleNote. But yeah, I usually just use it to put phone numbers in so that I can copy them later to something else, or I use it as a Braille display for my computer. But when I get a card, I'll also be copying the files I've already created to the card, and I'll feel more comfortable typing in documents on the BraileNote since I know I'll be able to take them out and transfer them to a more accessible storage thing, as the ActiveSync thing doesn't seem to work when I've tried it.

## Post 12 by Philippa (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 17-Aug-2006 16:08:17

heya. just writing to say, I use a braille note, and I love it. its purfict for taking my notes in school, i don't really use address book and counculator, but thats coz i've got a talking phone. anyway, i like the media player too, and use a flash card and a card reader to transfur files or just print them from an infra rred printer or braille embosser. the battery recalibration is a trial, but the planner is great with the alarms and stuf! the braille display is much clearer than braillelite m20 that i used before. well that's just my opinion. just a word of advice, never ever ever spill coffee over them! or get serial numbers mixed up when doing upgrades so u get someone elses and it crashes lol! but seriously, the help is great, and the manual and the staff at humanware are great too. have fun what ever your using! and i use jaws and windows, but never try and connect the bn directly the comp. call me optomistic, but something might go bang knowing me! lol!
phil x

## Post 13 by Juliet (move over school!) on Thursday, 17-Aug-2006 20:31:33

Oh yeah, that happened with a friend of mine who got one not long after they came out. She got one to use for school, and told me one day someone threw a water balloon and it ended up hitting it and as a result she lost all her work.
I'm kind of curious though, why shouldn't you hook them directly up to the computer? I thought that was the whole point of trying to sync the 2 of them with each other.

## Post 14 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 17-Aug-2006 20:54:20

Well, you should be able to do that. I have done it for a few clients and now there is this thinkg called key sync that aparently helps with syncing the contacts and calendar. if anyone has used keysync I would like to hear about it good and bad and how it interacts with active sync.

## Post 15 by Philippa (Veteran Zoner) on Friday, 18-Aug-2006 14:58:45

i know its possible i've just never tried. while i use my compact flash card, i sort of have an idea of what i'm doing, and if it ent broke, don't fix it! he he!

## Post 16 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Saturday, 26-Aug-2006 23:04:50

I used the braille note before the M Power came out. MMy state baught me a PAC Mate now aand I am a lot happier. I don't need step-by-step instructions on how to use a notetaker. If that's what you need, and you want pra-pri-iterry (I can't spell that word) softwhere, then the braille note is for you. If you are comfortable with windows, nd the jaws camonds, and prefer elliquence speech package, then the PAC Mate is for you. Also the other thing I like about the PAC Mate is that you can download mainstream Pocket windows CE softwhere just as you could download any softwhere package and try it on your computer. But with the braille note, I was never happy that I had to wait around to human where decided to come uout with something that is acessible and works with there keysoft product line. Just my $0.02 worth.

## Post 17 by smudge (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Sunday, 27-Aug-2006 15:34:11

i use a braillenote pk, and it does the job. its very small, and very easy to use in meeting-office. The up and coming keysoft release will completely change the filing system, making more like windows and far easier to locate files.

## Post 18 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Sunday, 27-Aug-2006 21:33:26

Hi I have beebn using keysoft and I prefer windows over keysoft and would love to get a pac mate but I just can not aford it rite now.

## Post 19 by bermuda-triangulese (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Monday, 28-Aug-2006 1:34:29

I've used a braille note M power which was loned to me by my college when my laptop was messed up. Being a braille n speak vetteren, I learned it quickly enough and it is quite intuitive, but I think it's functionality is limitted, I didn't like the way it hanled the web and I would like it to have msn and skype for that built-in microphone it has. If it did I might use it.

## Post 20 by ablindgibsongirl (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Monday, 28-Aug-2006 5:52:12

I use a braille note mpower as well. I seem to be the only person who can't get the media player to work properly. Is it supposed to upload the sound files and play them immediately? I don't have an sd card so can't download the 7.1 update. I've used a braillenote since they came out and I've never lost anything or had it die on me. For me at least the web is a little friendlier and I can access things I couldn't before. I too found the battery recalibraition a pain as well. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with the mpower media player? Tiffany

## Post 21 by eman1191 (Eagle Scout) on Monday, 28-Aug-2006 9:48:11

hay! i use a braillenote mpower. i had a braillenspeak and i hated it then i had a braillenote 3.06 and it crashed and now i have a mpower. i love the mpower because you can play games on it. the media player on the mpower is quite easy to understand. i love the fm radio on the mpower also. what i do not like about the mpower is that the software you have to download to do the voice chat thing it only works on microsoft and not keysoft. i love the mpower if you have any questions about the mpower or something just ask me.

## Post 22 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Monday, 28-Aug-2006 21:33:09

I hear the mpower is great. I just I wish I had the money to get one. All I have is the really old unit with keysoft 3.06 and I think I should just cell it but I don't think It would cell very well.

## Post 23 by ablindgibsongirl (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Tuesday, 29-Aug-2006 5:36:00

I understand how the player works. But I don't know if I'm having a problem that no other mpower user is having. Aside from the glitch with the media player I love the mpower. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about and show just how old fashioned I am as well. On the library of congress site there are wave and mp3 files of really old recordings. When I click on the listening format I want it says loading media and then begins playing the song. After a few seconds or even half way through the song it just stops playing. I can switch to another task and minutes later I'll get a few more lines from the song. I wind up having to reset the unit because the internet takes a dive. This happened all but once when I got six songs out of the thing. Not very amusing. Thanks guys. Tiffany

## Post 24 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Tuesday, 29-Aug-2006 8:22:42

Tiffany, who are you using for internet dialup or broadband(DSL/Cable)? What you are describing sounds similar to what happens on a dialup connection while streaming audio. sometimes either due to the speed of the connection or the lack of bandwith the stream will come down in pieces producing the results you are describing. Also, did someone say you could use voice chat on the BN? please share this with the rest of the class. Hmm, this would be sad. I teach the stuff and haven't heard of this. Please educate a rather uninformed Woof!

## Post 25 by Sassiecat (Generic Zoner) on Tuesday, 29-Aug-2006 12:50:59

I can only dream of having a Braille Note MPower. I have never used a Packmate and I would probably try it, however since I intend to go to school, I find the Braillenote easier for taking notes. I have one,, but it's one of the first ones that arrived on the market and I have just never had the money to upgrade. Oh well, I will just keep on dreaming. smiles

## Post 26 by ablindgibsongirl (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Tuesday, 29-Aug-2006 15:22:55

I'm using a cable connection via router. There are 3 computers connected to the router and the mpower finds an address automatically. The internet can be patchy at times but mostly cooperates. Should I try different settings? Thanks for your help. Wow, can you really use voice chat on an mpower, that would be fun. Tiffany

## Post 27 by ISeeZip (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 31-Aug-2006 0:11:33

willy, active sync and key synch are two different products that work together.
Activesynch of course does the file movement.
Key Synch is a conduit between the keysoft and ms outlook.
Once hte keysynch server is installed, you use the synchronization menu of the utilities menu to synch calendar and contacts. i do not use my planner much, but the synching of contacts worked well.
The manual has excelent directions on how to use it.
Once the pc is set up, it is possible to do the contact and calendar synch with no speech on the computer, although I find that it does work better with a screen reader running. My outlook always asks if it is ok for another program to access my data. This can probably be turned off somewhere, but outlook's optoins are a nightmare.
Hope this helps,
Shawn

## Post 28 by ablindgibsongirl (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Sunday, 03-Sep-2006 10:33:48

Ok now that I've complained about it to the world it's behaving itself and being a good little mp3 player. Wierd. Tiffany

## Post 29 by frequency (the music man) on Sunday, 03-Sep-2006 10:45:22

I like the pacmate's software features, but I want hardware improvements before I'll use it. I loved using msn messenger with my phone as the internet connection. That was a blast.

## Post 30 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Sunday, 03-Sep-2006 20:42:13

Hi I also have one of the older braille notes that first came out and just do not have the money to upgrade rite now sad smiles. I think that it is great that you are able to brose the net on the unit even through the active sync connection.
Matthew

## Post 31 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Monday, 04-Sep-2006 2:47:32

I'm actually finding that the keyplan or any other templet program for contacts is more of a pain than it's worth. I'd rather keep a simple text file to job all my notes in with a freeform type deal.

## Post 32 by ablindgibsongirl (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Monday, 04-Sep-2006 10:00:07

I don't bother with the planner myself. I just created an addresses file and use that to list contacts and phone numbers. And since when did we need games on this thing. I'm deleting those unnecessary files. I have better things to do than figure out how to play these dumb sounding games. I'd rather play chess or poker. Tiffany

## Post 33 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Monday, 04-Sep-2006 20:46:15

I see nothing rong with the planer at all. in fact if I had an updated braille note or voice note I would have more to say, but form my experience I see nothing rong with it all.

## Post 34 by eman1191 (Eagle Scout) on Thursday, 07-Sep-2006 17:27:18

i see what you mean about the planner. it is kind of a pain but i still use it though. i guess i haved used it so much in the past that i am so used to using it. i love the games on the mpower it gives me something to do when i am bord. i suggest that if anyone has the games and has free time to look at them and learn how to do them. also with active sync can you download the software for the voice chat thing on to your computer and then do active sync and bring up that software from your computer on to your braille note or voice note? thanks!
EMAN!

## Post 35 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Thursday, 07-Sep-2006 18:33:09

I didn't say there was something wrong with it, just that I don't see a need for it. I also agree the games are kind of lame, blackjack or some other mainstream game would be nice. The only other criticism I have is that the BN only looks 1 layer deep in to directories. That kind of sucks if you have an sd card nicely organized like I do. I had a seperate folder for music and yet another for school related crap. Within those 2 main directories are other subdirectories, but the BN won't allow me to go in to them. I mean, with media now able to hold so much data, it would make sense for them to make it possible to read at least 3 or 4 directories deep.

## Post 36 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Friday, 08-Sep-2006 20:56:45

Hi you can not run mainstream programs on the braille note. you can only run keysoft applocations that humanware makes.
Matthew

## Post 37 by eman1191 (Eagle Scout) on Thursday, 14-Sep-2006 11:52:56

hi all! i have a braillenote mpower and i also have a wireless card exept i have a problem with the card. the card is inserted into the compact flash card slot and some times when i put the card in the braillenote does not say anyqing and some times when i jiggle the card then the braillenote will say network card ready but only some of the time. the other times it does nothing. any sugestions what i should do? should i get a new one? i really do not want to get a new one but if i have to. please answer to help me!
Ethan

## Post 38 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 14-Sep-2006 19:12:29

what you describe sounds like there is contact problems beteween the pins in your card slot and the actual card. Do you have problems with other flash cards or do they work fine. If other cards work fine then mostlikely it's your wireless card. you might try to see if there is any way to clean the contacts on the card with perhaps a pipe cleaner that might be able to easily get between the very small spaces. Gotta love those fuzzy things. Perhaps also, buying a can of compressed air and spraying the card and the braille note slot. compressed air won't damage anythinkg but the pressure of the air is usually enough to blow small particals of dirt from an area. There are also cleaners used for electronic parts such as blue shower which I have used but i would consult the manufacturer before even attempting using them. I would say the compressed air is your safest bet since all it is literally compressed air with no additives that I know of.

## Post 39 by mdyer1983 (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Thursday, 14-Sep-2006 21:17:09

That sounds intresting. I heard about that on the braille note list.

## Post 40 by Caitlin (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Saturday, 16-Sep-2006 14:01:21

I have a BrailleNote Classic, and I just got an SMA to upgrade it to 7.2, and I'm told another upgrade for the Classics (the last one) is coming out in six months or so. After that, they're starting to phase out the Classics. I use my BN for everything: a clock, alarm, planner, calculator, wordprocessor, address/phone book, file manager for all my school work, even an MP3 player when I forget to bring my Muvo. I don't like Jaws, and so wouldn't liek a PacMate. The Braille Sense sounds nifty though; I've never seen one. Also the Meistros and SmallTalks are pretty sweet, though I've never sued either extensively.
Caitlin

## Post 41 by eman1191 (Eagle Scout) on Sunday, 01-Oct-2006 13:39:48

hi! i have an empower. does anyone know how you can get a 7.2? can you download it off the internet or do i have to send the thing in to get fixed? from a 7 to a 7.2 what is the differance anyway? please answer my questions.

## Post 42 by crimson x (This site is so "educational") on Tuesday, 06-Feb-2007 22:53:05

okay go to the humanware .cn web page and find sdw download site then type in your serial number then in the password field type frog1 if you have a sma then follow the instructions if not get a sma

## Post 43 by crimson x (This site is so "educational") on Tuesday, 06-Feb-2007 22:56:04

I have 2 bn a classic and an m power the m power is graitte and I allmost have no problems with it the classic's braille display stinks but is useable

## Post 44 by donna p (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 15-Feb-2007 16:25:00

I'm just posting because I am a used of the voicenote. I love it. I use it as a notetaker, a phone book, and storage for my suday school lessons and bible study lessons. I can read directly from the braille display and don't have to print lessons out. The one line display is a blessing because I don't have to go looking for where I should be. the only problem I've had is tha I have to keep check on battery. It seems to need recharging a lot - even more than I thought it would need. But all in all, it is a real God send. It is a blessing for me and has been quite a life changer. I'm able to transport files from my computer rto it and vis versa. So I get a lot of use out of it. I'm not familiar with the other divises mentioned. Donna

## Post 45 by Siriusly Severus (The ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w7 The Taskmaste) on Monday, 12-Oct-2009 23:49:57

Yes, and I like it. It's pretty darn cool! I had one since fourth grade and I am now a junior in high school. My favorite thing to do on their is to write pieces in the wordprocessor in a braille document, KWB extention.

## Post 46 by cumbiambera2005 (i just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 13-Oct-2009 14:55:36

I use an empower and love it! Can't get on the internet with it but that's what my laptop's for. The way I see it, I don't have that thing to get on skype/msn/whatever, that is all my laptop. What I do love about the bn is the media player, and the radio's cool too, though it's not very good about picking up a lot of stations. The recorder on there is also handy but because my first external hard drive's messed up, i don't have a way to transfer data back and forth for the moment. I'm thinking about purchassing a new external hard drive that my braille note can read since it can't read that one anymore, but that will have to wait a couple of months at least. But other than that, works for me!
As for the subdirectory thing, there is a way to read subdirectories on the braille note. I can't think of it right now because I programmed mine to read them, I believe it's using dots 5 6 chord to enter a subdirectory, and enter twice to select it. But I would read it up on the mannual, it is there

## Post 47 by illumination (Darkness is history.) on Tuesday, 13-Oct-2009 15:19:04

The BrailleNote is a piece of crap compared to the PAC Mate, I'll just say that right now. There are a lot more features in a PAc Mate than a BrailleNote, simply because it's a Windows Mobile device, not Windows CE. It works well with skype and MSN, and you can also watch TV on it.

## Post 48 by Siriusly Severus (The ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w7 The Taskmaste) on Tuesday, 13-Oct-2009 21:01:35

Ashley
The recorder is definitely useful, now I think I suggested it to you. I use it to record all my teachers and it's never been more exciting then that. Though in one of the class, recording isn't such a good idea...
Also, Ashley, buy a ethernet card from Humanware and you should be able to go on the internet that way.
Yeah, Mpower for me too 7.5 here.