Category: Geeks r Us
I've heard a lot about this new product. Has anyone used it yet? if you have, what did you think of it?
what is it? So many people post plugging something and then they provide us with no info on what it is we are meant to discuss
Itsan accessible pda from visuaid. sorry.
thats better hmm I'll havea look. cheers
Now they have a new one of these out. It uses a Dell instead of an HP. I wish it didn't cost so much, i've always liked the idea of having something smaller than a BrailleNote to write with.
I thought you were talking about the stuff from www.musicmachines.net. Nevermind, I'll go away.
In January of this year, AccessWorld (the technology magazine of the American Foundation for the Blind) featured the first part of a two-part evaluation of PDA's. Part 2 was supposed to be released in March, and one of the products it would review was the Maestro; it didn't come out in March though, so maybe in May. Actually, the unit is available as either the HP iPAQ 4150 or Dell Axim M50. Check out: http:www.visuaide.com/maestro_en.html for the full product description from VisuAide. It doesn't seem as if you can add a Braille display, so if you want to use a Braille display, it doesn't appear as if you will be able to the way you have an integrated Braille display on your BrailleNote. Also, since it doesn't seem like scripting functionality is possible with this TTS technology they're using, you can try to use third-party apps (they will run because it's PPC), but if they're not accessible, there's nothing you can do about it.
I forgot to say that, if you want to get one, it may be best to do so later this year because, according to the company's website, there will be support for prinstalled PPC apps like e-mail, Web browsing, and the media player which there isn't now. Also, if you don't like the tactile-membrane-over-touch-screen keyboard, you can get wireless keyboards to use. I was trying to find a current price for you on VisuAide's website and didn't, but maybe, I just wasn't looking closely enough, so it could be somewhere on the site I haven't checked. HTH, Maria
Maria, can we clone a few of you and scatter them around the boards? Nice, helpful, informative...
<laugh>! Thanks, Chris, I'm always happy to help whenever I can. BTW, about the AccessWorld article I mentioned in my first post on this topic, it turns out that Part 2 of the PDA evaluation will only cover the PACMate now, and the Maestro will no longer be reviewed this time around for whatever reason. Something involving the Maestro and preventing AFB from conducting the review must have happened to postpone the release date of the article, and there I was speculating that it had to do with the PM in a post in the PACMate/BrailleNote comparison topic, sheesh!
I came across this review. http://www.voiceofthenationsblind.org/articles/106/maestro-an-overview-of-visuaides-new-accessible-pda