[blindlaw] Law Student Query About Adaptive Equipment

[Tai Schmittroth]

Deborah,

Having had a Pac Mate for quite some time, I would advise you against this
unit. It is highly unreliable and crashes frequently. I find it slow to type
on the keyboard and the functionality is just too limited when compared to
that of a laptop of similar size and weight. 

If your Braille typing speed is slower, you may want to consider a
lightweight laptop. Here are some brands and makes you should look at: 

Sony VAIO TX series
Toshiba Libretto
Toshiba Portégé
IBM Lenovo Thinkpad X40 *laptop version, not tablet version)
Fujitsu lifebook
Panasonic Toughbook 
Portico made by Comp Solutions
Bluetooth keyboard in conjunction with talking PDA or cell phone such as the
Nokia 6682 (the keyboard folds out into a larger full functioning keyboard
without the number pad on the side)
 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Deborah Byrne
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 7:25 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Law Student Query About Adaptive Equipment

Fellow blind law students and attorneys:



I'm a newly admitted blind student who will be attending law school this
fall.  I do not yet have a lap top or note taking device and am hoping that
those more experienced than I may be able to give me recommendations as to
what equipment to purchase.  The following is a list of four devices with
notes about their features.



Since I am not able to carry much weight, my priority is for something lite.
I'm leaning towards the Packmate.  Of the keyboards I've tried, it seems to
be the easiest on my fingers.  I've heard, however, that it crashes a lot
and I found Freedom Scientific to be very unhelpful after the merger.   The
small Talk Ultra may be a good option but I don't know Windowize (another
system to learn) and no vendor in my area yet has it in stock to play with.
The Braille Note is heavy for me.  The Braille Note PK is wonderfully lite
but my Braille typing speed is slow and I don't know if it would be hard on
my hands to always use the small add on keyboard.



As far as Braille displays go, I'm hoping to have my Braille reading up to
45 words a minute by September but with all that needs to get done, I have a
ways to go.  Would you say that being able to read Braille at this speed is
crucial for participating in moot court or other law student endeavors?



Anyway, those are my considerations.  I don't have a lot of time left to
decide and I'm hoping to communicate with others in the profession who may
have relevant insights into these choices.  Please feel free to respond on
list or to me directly.



Thank you, 

Deborah Byrne



_______________________________________________

 

Hi Deborah,

 

Here are the choices as I see them for note takers.

1.  PacMate QX 

(which is the PacMate with the laptop style keyboard.)

Or, the PacMate BX (which has the braile keyboard.)

 

2.  The Small Talk Ultra 

(the new laptop (or tablet PC) from GW Micro

which weighs all of 14 ounces and comes already setup with Window-Eyes.

 

3.  Braille Note PK plus the Think Outside Bluetooth Keyboard.

 

4.  The BrailleNote mPower, where you have a choice between their

QWERTY style keyboard, or the braille keyboard.  You can also use the

Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard with the mPower.

 

The PacMate runs on Pocket PC.  you can install third party programs

that are written for that operating system.  The Braille Display is

removable so it can be used with a PC.  If you have to do a "cold reset"

you loose all your files in the PacMate's main memory plus anything you

have installed; so you need to do regular backups and also save your

files onto a Compact Flash card.

 

The Small Talk Ultra is a full computer running Windows XP so you can

install anything on it that you can install on a desktop.  It comes with

a 30 GB hard drive, 512 MB RAM, an external CD burner/DVD player, a

docking cable for attaching other peripherals like printers, etc.  It

also comes with a USB Keyboard that is supposed to be fairly comfortable

to use.  It has Wireless and Bluetooth built in.  It has a 5 inch screen

so a sighted person could assist if a problem occurred.

 

The BrailleNote PK only weighs a few ounces more than the Small Talk

Ultra, but with all the BrailleNote products you cannot install any

other software.  The PK has an 18 cell braille display.  It only comes

with a braille keyboard, but it works well with the Think Outside

Bluetooth keyboard.

 

The BrailleNote mPower comes with 18 or 32 cell braille display or as a

"Voicenote" without a braille display.  The VoiceNote I think weighs

about one and a half pounds.  The braillenotes weigh a little more

depending on which braille display.

The mPower has more ports than the PK or the PacMate and more internal

memory than either of them.

The braillenotes are less likely to loose any of your files, but with

all computer based equipment, including PC's or laptops, it is wise to

back up your files regularly.

 

The PacMates or the BrailleNotes can read MicroSoft Word files and save

their files in Word format.

They can all handle web browsing and E-mail.

They all have a calendar program and address book program.

 

You can find more details on their respective web sites.

For the PacMate, go to

www.freedomscientific.com

 

For the BrailleNote/VoiceNote family of products go to:

www.humanware.com

 

and for the Small Talk Ultra, go to:

www.gwmicro.com

 

I hope that helps.

 

Richard

 

Richard Turner

Braille & Technology Instructor

Oregon Commission for the Blind