Category: Geeks r Us
In my search for a small computing device, I have always ignored notetakers. The only ones that I have ever used are a KeyNote Gold laptop, a Braille Lite 2000, and a BrailleNote made in 2002 or so. I still have all of the above, but since I was graduated from college in 2006, I have used a mainstream computer as my primary means of doing everything. Now, I am interested in learning about notetakers that are newer than my BrailleNote. I am actually not against using the latest models available, but the prices make that impossible. Even if I could afford them, I would never pay that much for any machine, unless it was custom-made to my exact specifications. The most I would spend on a notetaker is $500, though I would be more comfortable with $350 or less.
Basically, I am looking for something that can handle rtf, txt, doc, and mp3 files and go on the internet. For the most part, I read and write rtf and txt files, , and go to sites like GMail, Google (as a search engine), mobile Facebook, Weather Underground, Samnet, Klango, and Zone BBS. It would also be nice if I could watch Youtube videos, record mp3s, and use a calendar, alarm, and stopwatch, but none of that is really necessary. I do, however, switch between English and Greek many times per day, so the ability to read and write in both would really be appreciated. That said, I do not expect this device to replace my computer, so will always have my netbook and Thinkpad X60 available for converting files, making and uploading Youtube videos, etc. So I can always check Greek content there. I am a fluent braille reader, so a braille keyboard and/or display would be welcomed, but neither are necessary. However, I do like the ability to translate between braille and txt/rtf, incase I want to emboss a document.
Keeping this in mind, can anyone explain the different machines out there, and the pros and cons of each? Unlike with mainstream devices, it is difficult to find reviews for these.ac
How about an Intel NUC pared with one of those Bluetooth braille keyboards?
I would really like to avoid something that requires an external keyboard. I have never heard of a Nuc, but if you mean a Nook, I thought those were only book readers.
Sounds like an iPad mini paired with a bluetooth keyboard would fit the bill nicely, except
for translating .brf to .txt unless there's an app for that which I don't know about.
There are several notetaking apps, take your pick, which can even be printed via Airprint
to a printer, or I imagine you could save your docs into Dropbox or something similar and
then access them from a computer connected to a braille embosser.
I and many others out there have essentially said bye bye to the PC for the most part, I
still use my laptop for audio editing and some games, but the iPad mini is just a fabulous
all purpose device that meets all my document needs, with all the bells and whistles of
navigation apps, accessible games, messaging, internet, and listening to audio, watching
Youtube and even recording voice. Heck, I even have a MIDI adapter for my iPad and use
some apps to create simple music with my external digital piano.
You should easily be able to buy a new iPad mini and bluetooth keyboard for $400-$500
depending on what generation device you choose and memory size. It only works well for
notetaking when you use an external bluetooth keyboard, though.
Victor
I didn't think I needed to say this in a notetaker thread, but I want a device with a built-in keyboard. I don't do anything in the cloud. I save everything to compact flash cards, thumb drives, and flash drives, and that's good enough for me. As you said, IOS can be used with a keyboard, , but its devices cannot except regular thumb drives and such, and the prices for Apple hardware are ridiculous. I used VoiceOver on the Mac, and if IOS is anything like that, forcing me to interact with everything just to do simple things, I don't want any part of it. Plus, I don't want to have to download apps for everything. A web browser should be good enough when it comes to internet usage.
You aren't going to find a new piece of technology that fits your requirements.
It doesn't exist. There is nothing that will do all the things you want it to do,
have all the old fashioned bells and whistles you inexplicably still want, and will
cost less than five hundred dollars. Now, if you'd like to actually realize the
world you live in is not 1992, we have some lovely pieces of technology that
someone else who is more willing to put up with you will be happy to suggest.
However, since I've been down this road with you before, I'm simply here to say
that what you have asked for on this board does not exist.
Really? So notetakers today can't do simple things like handle rtf, txt, doc, and mp3 files or browse the net? Wow! Now who's going backward? Seriously, I am not asking for the impossible here, nor for something ancient. I just can't afford the newest ones out there because they cost thousands of dollars. So if I get one of these and not something mainstream, it will, by necessity, have to be an older model. If I go mainstream, then the age of the machine is my choice.
They do much more, so they cost more. If a new device sold for $500, I'd be happy. But, they don't.
Sarah/HW
As I said, I am not necessarily seeking a new device. I just want something newer than my BrailleNote. The only notetakers that I know of are the BrailleNote, Pacmate, Braille/Voice Sense, Icon, and Braille Plus. Maybe, I'm missing something. I have seen a few Pacmates on Ebay, usually the QX, BX, TNS, or BNS. I thought the last two only applied to the Braille N Speak, but apparently, the Pacmate line continued the trend. But I know little about these, including the time when they were released.
I was just recommended this site on another forum. As you can see, I typed in notetakers and found all sorts of results, even ones that mentioned netbooks! Hopefully, this will help me decide if a notaker will meet my needs.
http://www.afb.org/aw/search.asp?q=notetaker&action=results&Go=GO
While looking over that site, I found an interesting article from 2007.
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw0806toc&All
From it, I learned a little about the Icon from Level Star, as well as the Braille from APH. I am guessing that this was the first version of the Braille Plus, which then evolved into the Braille Plus 18. I have never been able to find an Icon, but I once found a Braille Plus with docking station for under $500. This is important, as I think using such a device without one would be incredibly difficult for me. I have a Plextalk Pocket, which has a telephone keypad, but its commands are straight forward and I don't have to use the numbers as letters.
At any rate, when I found the Braille Plus on Ebay, I searched for the manual and read it, in order to learn what the machine looked like and how it worked. Now, reading about the Icon, it definitely sounds like the Braille Plus to me.
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw080405
Some further searching showed me that I was correct. The only difference is that the Icon has the numberpad, while the Braille Plus has a built-in braille keyboard.
I really like the Braille Sense On Hand! But I haven't found it or the older Plus version on Ebay.
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw121003
I am not even going to look for the U2 Mini, as that is far too new to be affordable. But it sounds great as well, especially for its amazing size!
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw150504
I found a bit about the Pacmate, but this is from 2005, so I am not sure if any significant changes were made between then and just before the Omni was released. It uses a version of Pocket PC, which came before Windows Mobile, so I am not sure if I should go this route and which mainstream programs it can use.
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw060305&Mode=Print
I then decided to read up on the newer BrailleNotes, to see how they compared to mine. Apparently, the order is PK, Empower, and Apex. The author here doesn't seem to be impressed with the last, but she changes her mind in the next article.
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw110105&Mode=Print
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw1304toc&All
I have the KeyNote computer mentioned in the beginning, though there is something wrong with it, and I must find the disk and see if I can restore it. I like it for it's built-in speech, which even my later KeyNote Gold laptop doesn't have without the use of a special cable to connect to the VoiceCard. But it only has DOS 3.3 in it (the Gold has 6.21), so even I would only use it for fun. That said, the KeyNote Companion does appear to have built-in speech.
As for the Apex, the only real difference I can see that would effect me is built-in usb and more onboard storage. I only have one sd card, used for my Plextalk. The rest of the time, I use thumb drives, flash drives, and compact flash cards to store things. I don't use DAISY or docx, but do use rtf formats, but am glad that it can read, and hopefully convert, pdfs.
The ones that really caught my attention in all of this were the Icon, the Braille Plus, and the Braille Sense. Hopefully, if I choose to get a notetaker, I can find one of those!
I took a major Papadopoulos today and wiped my ass with a Greek flag.
almost all if not all note takers pretty much do what you want to do. The question is how
much you have to spend, and how old you want your machine to be. If you said, you
already have a braillenote, then, the question will be, why you can't use your braillenote,
why you need another braille note takers... pretty much, anything that got made in the
last 5 years won't have a CF slot, instead, they replacing something call the SD Card slot,
yes, welcome to the 21st century.
I am board so here goes, I and others have ask you tiff to wake-up its not the 90s and the older hardware adapters are gone. Others including me have offered our advice on touch screen devices made sometime with in 5 years. I know, I said touch screen, I'll wait for you to wipe the crap out of your pants. Kay after your done lets go on, two words for you, Android and IOS. Pick one, run with it and darn it learn its touch screen. If a 55 year old low vision user can take a crack at a touch screen so can you. I'll be here if you are really seriously going to learn your nexus7.
Go for an android tablet with a keyboard. no braille display but that's not part of your requirements. meets everything else though. newer than 2002, has a keyboard can use docs and txt. if you want a braille note taker newer than 2002 expect to pay anywhere from 800 to 7000. or even a windows tablet and learn a touch screne. and get over it. if you get something like an ipad you can still get a screne protector made by speed dots where you can see where each button is tactily. reality check i know yours got lost in the mail
I will be selling a few machines and a Perkins this month, so will have extra money. But I still would like to keep this under $600. My BrailleNote has a strange issue with the battery. It doesn't work for more than ten minutes on a charge. Maybe, I can get a new battery for it, but I was curious as to what else might be available. While I still use my flash card for backup, it's mostly incase something happens to my thumb drive, which is my primary means of backing up my machine. It's a 32gb Sandisk Cruzer Fit and is absolutely tiny. But I have used it for quite awhile now and have had no issues with it. I have an sd card, but I only use it for my Plextalk.
If I get a mainstream device, I don't want to have to spend hundreds of dollars on Proprietary hardware, including a usb adapter, a flash drive (which may not work on a regular Windows machine), and a keyboard. This is why I refuse to use Apple products. I also want something with a consistent interface across programs. Inconsistency is to be expected in DOS, but not in modern software. This is why I don't use Android. Even if such a tablet were to have a built-in keyboard, I don't think it's possible to avoid the touchscreen with this operating system. As for my Nexus 7, , I did the smart thing and sold it. I have no interest in any device that cannot be navigated strictly by a keyboard, regardless of what system it's running.
Tiff, I sold my PAC Mate QX with braille display and accessories for something like $350 on eBay.
this was the Omni model.
you might be able to find older PockitPC versions of apps to do what you want but I have no idea.
the web browsing on such products is a freakin joke.
with any of this older hardware (such as phones , or a NoteTaker that still runs Windows CE) is not gonna be your friend with browsing the internet.
sites wont work. java stuff might not work. Facebook might be screwy (if it even works) etc.
Your best bet isn't an option for you to due to price, but here goes anyway.
get the newest Sense line of products.
it is consistant across all of its built-in apps. I know they have a Youtube and Twitter app and believe they have one built in for FB too.
Hims. inc with its Sense line is doing all that can be done with Windows CE.
the only down side is that you have to wait for them to build in apps for stuff in some cases.
still, you may have problems with the web browsing aspect of using websites.
older engine, older version of IE. sites have moved on and I think you'll run into problems with rendering things on a NoteTaker running Windows CE.
Wow! I have never seen an Omni for that low of a price! That said, you do make very valid points about the internet. Then again, WebbIE and Internet Explorer with XP can still access the sites that I use on a daily basis. I certainly don't use these browsers, preferring Firefox. But they do work. The question, then, is security. Is that really an issue on these notetakers? As for the Sense line, I was really excited about them and wished that I could get one, after reading about them yesterday. But I didn't know that they still use Windows CE. That is disappointing! I thought that, being modern devices, they would use a newer system.
Windows CE is supported thru 2019. Hims is not done with updating the Senses yet. They will continue to add new features as the years go on thru that date I expect.
if you can get your sites to work, the sacurety shouldn't be an issue.
Eleni, don't, unless you can get a return without a restocking fee.
I really think that web thing is gonna be the sticking point.the PAC mate for instance? only runs at 11MBPS wireless B.
eithernet isn't any better.
Well, it may mean that I can't stream, but dialup is only 56kbps, and I was still able to access e-mail, Facebook, etc. with it. I just wouldn't use Youtube, Skype, or Samnet with it. Still, 11mbps for wireless is quite ridiculous. My XP machine regularly reaches at least 54mbps.
Your XP box has 54 MBPS (wireless G) too. Explains why its faster.
I know that T60 has wireless G.
I have an X60, but it does have g. I prefer n, which my netbook has, and I can get an adapter for the Thinkpad. But I need a fast one, and not one that literally stops working, even when I buy it new in packaging! That happened to me and was very annoying!
screw N, go AC wireless lol
What is AC wireless?
the next highest standard after Dual band N>
I've never heard of it until today. Do they make usb adapters for it and how do I know if my ISP supports it?
what ISP do you have? they make USB adaptors yes.
Right now, I have Verizon FIOS.
smart woman. do you have quantum?
I don't know what that is. Mom got the plan. I would never pay for internet, phone, and television, when all I use is the net. And even then, they disabled the ethernet port on the router/modem by default, which annoyed me!
find out if you got quantum.
if so you got AC. if not your stuck with n.
I've never heard of turnin off those ports mine aren't off.
Verizon always does that by default. I found out when I tried to connect a Nettalk device and it wouldn't work. I should be able to call them and have them change the connection from coax to ethernet.
they didn do that with me. I have a secondary router hooked up.
This doesn't fall under notetakers as such, but it does relate to small computers, and unless I'm missing something, I think I have learned what I could about the adaptive technology.
I decided to see if Youtube had anything about the Sony VGN-UX series and found this wonderful video on the 280p. It is extraordinarily detailed and gave me a very good idea of what to expect. This is a slightly older model (the newest I found was the 390N), but I am assuming that the later ones are similar. It has everything that I want in a mainstream device, including a camera, plus some extras, like hard drive protection and a Sony button for doing various things like controlling screen brightness, launching various programs, etc. My Thinkpad X60 has a nub on it, instead of a touchpad, so I'm used to having something in the middle of the keyboard. But it's not a pointing stick like on the Veio. I will either need to get used to it or disable it so that I don't accidentally hit it. I am sure that The touchscreen can also be disabled, though I found it quite interesting that one could be used with XP! The keyboard, as expected, is extremely small, but I was surprised to learn that the travel is very short, as on a mobile phone. I would definitely have to get used to that or see if I could find a small usb keyboard to use with the device. But I still like the fact that it has something built-in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fPbVmid6po
I found many on Ebay, and while some were definitely out of my price range, a large number were within it, including a 380N in excellent condition! So even if I don't get one now, at least I know what to expect in such a machine and which kind I want! The good thing is that I don't have to search the internet for them! *smile*
with so little ram and that processor, I don't think anything will run well on it.
omg glad not to hear that horrible hum anymore on that video. wow.
I heard it but barely noticed it after a few seconds. Anyway, like I said, this is an older model. But is this even less powerful than a netbook? I thought Atom N processors had the least amount of power in all XP/7 laptops. If so, then I doubt I would have a problem with these machines, as my netbook runs smoothly.
probably as bad as a netbook.
yeah. you don't have everything EQ'd like me either.
Then it should be fine, especially if I get the 380 or 390. I need to look up the specs on those. I doubt I'll be able to find the latter at a decent price, but I did find at least one 380 that looked decent.