Hi Roger Yep, that’s indeed the correct device. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it here long enough to perform a very in-depth evaluation. So it’s very probable that you’re correct. However, the guy who brought it to show me reckons you can now move in any direction you choose. It contains 2437 individual pins, asI said, and I saw my name written up on a screen, raised into tactile format. And I can’t deny that I was extremely impressed.
But my real rave at the moment is the Orbit Reader 20. I was somewhat dismayed to discover that the retail price for one of these devices has jumped up by more than £150 in the last 12 months or so. It became available in the UK on 27 December 2018, and was then priced at £449.00 excluding VAT. Now, it’s priced at £598.00 excluding VAT and well over £600 if you have to pay VAT. Of course, if you’re under the age of 29 and resident in the UK, you may be eligible for a grant for this product. Also, if you happen to be a member of an RNIB Connect group, you can claim a discount, I believe it’s 10%although I’m not totally sure about that yet. I am a member of the Tees Valley Connect group, and also RNIB North-East Connect group. So I’m going to do my very best to get one of these things in the short term. No, they don’t incorporate all of the features of a fully-fledged note taker such as the Braille Sense Polaris, Braille Sense U2 or the two HumanWare BrailleNote Touch models. But they aren’t intended as competitors against those devices. The Orbit is purely a simple note-taker and Braille display. However, it’s far more portable and durable than the Focus 14 Blue, although the 5th generation isn’t far behind it in that respect. But the Orbit uses patented technologies for its Braille cells, and they aren’t nearly as vulnerable to the same problem-causing issues which have plagued my Focus 40 Blue since 2013. In it’s warranty coverage, it went back to Sight And Sound no fewer than 7 times to have blocks of cells replaced. I now have a dead display anyway, unfortunately, as there’s connectivity problem between the USB micro socket and motherboard which means that it’s no longer possible recharge the battery or use the display on USB. It’s had a hell of a lot of use, and I miss it greatly. However, I do have solutions which I can install in its place, all be it not as conveniently. I also own a 4th generation Focus 14 Blue, which lives now inside of my ElBraille W14/G2. Not at all a bad little computer for what it is. If I am successful in starting my business up either late this year or early next, I’m going to apply to Access To Work for the 40-cell version. Much has changed since the original release, much has been improved. But yes, the OrOrbit Orbit Reader 20 has a lot going for it. For what it is, it’s incredibly versatile. It handles every screen-reader I’ve tested it with extremely well, including both Google’s TalkBack and the Samsung equivalent when overlaid with BrailleBack which, happily, is now an integral part of the Google Accessibility Suite. iOS and iPadOS both work well with it. Wish it were possible to use a Braille display with the Apple Watch. Love my watch, and wouldn’t be without it now. It’s like having my phone on my arm at all times. I even wear it when I go swimming, and in the shower. It’s waterproof up to a depth of 50 meters. Yes, it really is the height of laziness to sit in the shower and listen to music, the radio or whatever. But it’s so nice to be able to do it. Of course, you need to pair the watch with a Bluetooth® speaker. But there’s no denying it works well. Battery life is also great. I can use it extensively all day and just charge it at night when it goes into bedside mode. In this mode, it acts like a large display alarm clock, minus the tick. It stays lit up during charge if you have Bedside mode turned on. And it wakes me every morning at 06:00. Anyway, I’m waffling. But yep, the Orbit does have a lot going for it in my opinion. Especially now, as they’ve just upgraded the firmware fully support USB HID. And it’s good that groups like Freedom Scientific are adopting that technology as well. It means that we’ll never need to install hardware drivers again. > On 24 Oct 2019, at 08:50, Roger Firman <ro...@golden-chord.com> wrote: > > Dear Gordon, > > Further to your message, are you by chance referring to the Graphiti – > Interactive Tactile Graphic Display? > > If so, I had a short look at a prototype earlier this year and felt they have > missed a trick. I have a memory that it works in straight lines, it certainly > did at that time. For me, I felt that if it worked on the basis that you > could display material in both straight lines or in a more flexible way, it > would be much more adaptable to a much greater range of needs. > > I look forward with interest to your discoveries. > > Best wishes, > > Roger Firman. > > > ------------------------------ > > This post, like all posts to the Techno Chat E-Mail group has been scanned by > our server-side antivirus/malware solution. This should not, however, be > viewed as a substitution for your own security strategy. 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