When I had the chance to evaluate the Braillenote classic, I found a few things that were not to my liking. I hope these can be addressed to make the product even better. 1. The speed only goes up to 16. I think that it should be able to go up a bit more, for skimming documents and the like - I can listen to Eloquence quite fast, and keep Window Eyes and my DEC Express at 100 all the time. 2. More keys available to the braille display mode - on the QT model, a few braille keys are taken up by functions - I don't think this is needed in the braille display mode, you can just hit escape. I vote for the ability to assign any key you want, if not just on the braille home row, on the entire QT keyboard - except for escape, or another predefined key that will get you out of Braille Terminal mode. 3. When speech has stopped for a short time and what I think is the amplifier has shut off, there is a gap in responsiveness when pressing the next key. I think on AC power that the amp does not need to be turned off, to improve responsiveness. 3. I would like to be able to redefine/suplement hot keys on the keyboard - e.g., control alone to silence speech.
If I do go for a notetaker, I'm not sure which one I'll go with - since both the BN and PM have theeir advantages/disadvantages, and what works for one person might not work for another. Myself, I'm a person who is interested in technology, and who likes tinkering with things - be it notetakers, programs, and/or operating systems. The most responsive braille display driver for the BN seems to be Brltty under Linux. - Tyler Spivey
