Ottawa Canada Hi Tessa:
If your unit has both an SD and a CF card slot on the back, it is an Mpower, if only a CF card slot it is a Classic. I believe the Classic can be upgraded to 7.5 but if you have one of the real old Classics you may be right about needing a hardware upgrade. You can transplant your Braille display from a Classic to an Mpower. So you have the innards of an Mpower but aren't having to buy a new Braille display. This is a whole lot cheaper than buying a brand new Mpower and trying to find someone who wants to buy your used Classic. Your best bet is to call Humanware Customer Service Monday morning, give them your machine's serial number and version of KeySoft and ask what your options are and their cost. Then you can look at ways of saving up or financing the desired upgrade. Not sure if you're working or not. If you are, you may be able to take BrailleNote upgrades or transplanting as a business expense if you use the unit directly for work, or as an Eligible Medical Expense on form I. R. S. 1040. However you would need to itemize to do this and should either ask the Internal Revenuers for an explanation as to how the law works in your case, or consult competent financial and legal advisors. I used to work for Income Tax in Canada and technically we could not give tax planning advice, but could explain what the law provides for and how it would work in your particular case. Then you had to make up your own mind, we couldn't decide for you. But we could offer an opinion as to whether we thought something would be more or less beneficial for you to do. Remember to look in dresser drawers, cookie jars, jeans and coat pockets and your purse you used last season for odds and ends of change, banknotes and even the occasional cheque payable to you that you forgot to cash when looking for money to afford an upgrade or transplant. Here in Canada the Income Tax Act, 1972 as amended, is pretty generous about letting you take a deduction for access technology for the blind. But of course this is only of benefit at tax time if you have income subject to tax! Brian Brian K. Lingard email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype: ve3yiab2ji15 tel: +1 (613) 247-0665 New York NY Tel +1 (646) 797-2862 FAX +1 (613) 247-9998 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.5/899 - Release Date: 13/07/2007 3:41 PM ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
