[gui-talk] Looking For Feedback ON Seika Perkins Mini

[Beth Wright]

-----Original Message-----
>From: Rob Tabor <rob.tabor at sbcglobal.net>
>Sent: Jul 14, 2012 1:23 AM
>To: "'Discussion of the Graphical User Interface,
>	GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>, electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
>Subject: [gui-talk] Looking For Feedback ON Seika Perkins Mini
>
>Greetings,
>
> 
>
>I know of several PDA's and straight up hardware peripheral braille display
>devices, but Isomehow missed the Perkins Mini at the NFB convention. It
>seems to be a well priced notetaker  at $1549 with Notepad, a daytimer,
>calculator, and some other onboard software, USB and Bluetooth interface,
>and compatibility with JAWS 13. As a lifelong braille user I would much
>prefer a 40 cell braile display device, but this one seems to be a good
>value for the money with its only drawback being a 16-ccell display rather a
>40 cell one which is about $1000 more expensive. Does anyone on list own the
>Perkins Mini? What is your overall impression of the unit? Does American
>Thermoform Co. back the device up with good customer service, technical
>support, and warranty protection? Is iOS support being offered with the
>newest edition? If you were making a buy with your current knowledge and
>experience, would you make the same or a different by?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Rob "Jayhawk" Tabor
>
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Hi, Rob.

I've had my Perkins Mini Seika for a couple of months, and really like itWhen I first called Perkins to ask about the Mini at the beginning of May, they said they had it in stock but hadn't listed on their Perkins Products website, because Apple hadn't released the update they needed so that it would be compatible with IOS devices. I decided to go ahead and order it anyway. When I got it, some of the functions, such as "find" and the .txt to Braille Grade two translator, still needed some work.  These may have been updated by now, but I've gotten so much use out of my Mini that I haven't bothered to check about updates or technical support.  Perkins has a tech support number, but I don't know a thing about American Thermoform.  The manual could use some improvement, and as far as I know, the Apple update still isn't there.  I'd give the staff at the Perkins store a call. The website is
www.perkinsproducts.org

Beth Wright