Hey Brian.
First of all, my name is Jessica and I'm 26 years old. Kind of late to
still be going to school, especially with only getting my two-year degree,
but at least I'm going, which is more than you can say for a lot of people
these days. As for the reading of RFB&D books and the new NLS books, I've
just recently ordered the Victor Reader Stream, also from Humanware, so
hopefully that should take care of those books fine by itself. Since my
rehab counselor left though I'm not sure who I even have any more, but I
may have to call her supervisor and find out about having them pay for an
upgrade. Thanks for all the info, and for everone's welcome messages.
MissWings
At 02:31 PM 9/1/2007, Brian Lingard wrote:
Ottawa Canada
Dear Miss Wings:
Sounds like you have an original BrailleNote, I'd call it an
Original Classic.
At some convenient time, telephone Humanware Customer Service at:
800 722-3393 and follow the prompts to reach customer service.
Give them your unit's serial number, Windows CE version and
KeySoft version and ask what the cost of upgrading it to say an
Mpower BT 18 or if you could also upgrade the display to upgrade
it to a Mpower BT or QT 32.
Your unit is very aged and many of the features of KeySoft 7.5
like reading R. F. B. and D. books just won't work on it.
Write down the prices or put them into a file on your BrailleNote
and plead your case to your Vocational Rehab counselor or
Tennessee Commission For The Blind counselor.
You have a good, solid, BrailleNote, but it just doesn't have the
capability of using the features of an Mpower Bt or QT 32.
Yes, the unit with a brailler-style keyboard is a BT model and
the 18 or 32 refers to the number of cells in the Braille
display.
The QT model has a typewriter-style keyboard.
The Mpower has the following features at a glance:
18 or 32 cell Braille display, very quiet compared to the one you
have now;
One each of the following ports:
9-pin serial
USB client
SD
CF
PC/MCIA
Two USB host ports
One built-in FM stereo radio that uses the headphone cord as the
antenna. Doesn't work worth a darn without a headset cord
plugged into it, although the radio can be played over the unit's
speaker even with headphones plugged in;
128 MB on-board non-volatile Flash RAM.
If you run the unit's battery flat, you don't lose your files on
the Flash disk.
Can use a wired-in Ethernet or wireless WIFI B Internet
connection.
Has no parallel port.
Built-in Blue Tooth and Infrared.
Blue Tooth lets you say connect to a printer or Braille embosser
with no physical cables to connect. Has a working range of about
30 feet.
One-year limited manufacturer's parts and labor service depot
warranty.
An Mpower can read R. F. B. and D. Audio Plus books, and possibly
the upcoming NLS digital talking books and magazines.
Both these kinds of books require a User Authorization Key you
get by contacting R. F. B. and D. or your local NLS library
respectively.
Nice Braille quick reference guide but the entire user guide is
available on board the BrailleNote.
Your version of Windows is elderly too. I forget if it is stable
or not.
Your Jaws is virtually antique!
You should have not much trouble convincing your V. R. Counselor
you require updates to your Jaws, operating system and probably
your entire computer.
The USB ports on the BrailleNote can use various USB devices,
such as hard drives, USB Thumb Drives (also known as a USB Key),
not sure about USB floppy drives and let you move files between
your BrailleNote Mpower and PC.
If you are a serious Braille user, you will find you live on the
advance button for the display.
A 32-cell display model will greatly speed your Braille reading.
If you prefer typing on a typewriter-style keyboard rather than a
Brailler-style keyboard, ask your counselor for a QT model
instead of a BT model.
Most people who know both kinds of keyboards well find they can
type much faster on a QT keyboard. However, if you have any
motor impairments in your fingers, hands wrists or arms, the BT
keyboard may be better for you.
Hope this helps and the best of luck in your college studies.
We have great expectations of you, and trust we will see your
name on the Dean's List.
In general we're a friendly bunch on here, but the list can get
busy and your college homework and course assignments should come
first.
Please provide us with your first name. Aliases and nicknames
can cause confusion as to who is who on a list.
Take care.
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
-----Original Message-----
From: MissWings [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 6:48 AM
To: Brian Lingard; BrailleNote List
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] RE: 2002 vintage BrailleNote BT 18
Hi Brian.
My BrailleNote has the Braille writer style keyboard on it, and I
think those are called BrailleNote BT. According to the
information I get when I press an I chord from the main menu, the
versions of software I have are KeySoft CE Version 4.01, build
1988, hardware revision e, at least I think it's an e. There's
no number sign so I assume it's a letter. kernel version 3,
dated November 18, 2002. The operating system is Windows CE
version 2.12. Hope this helps.
MissWings
P.S. It doesn't have a card slot on the back, but the Pcmcia
card slot on the side, as well as a nine pin serial port on the
back and a parallel port, along with a modem jack.
MissWings
At 12:45 AM 9/1/2007, Brian Lingard wrote:
>Ottawa Canada
>
>Dear Miss Wings and list:
>
>Welcome to the list.
>
>Try reading the information as to your unit's version of KeySoft
and
>Windows CE.
>
>Could be you are running Windows CE 2.2 and an aged version of
KeySoft.
>
>Well if you have a Braille keyboard, you have a BT model and if
it has
>a typewriter-style keyboard, it is a QT model.
>
>Hope it meets your needs for reading your notes and such.
>
>Yes, there are still pc/mcia adapter shells available to put a
CF card
>into the pc/mcia card slot on the side of your unit. Radio
Shack and
>Circuit City sell them for often around $10 each.
>
>Your unit won't be able to use a wireless Internet card as your
version
>of KeySoft doesn't offer this feature.
>
>Not sure when your Braille display was last cleaned and
inspected, but
>if it has had a lot of use in its life, it is holding up
amazingly well
>for a machine that old.
>
>You probably have a CF card slot on the back of the unit,
together with
>both a serial and parallel port.
>
>You can get a price on what it would cost to upgrade your unit's
>software, and also to transplant your display into an Mpower
model from
>Humanware customer service at:
>
>800 722-3393 in the USA and press 3 for customer service, I
think
>5 is for tech support then 1 for blindness products.
>
>As long as your unit works and meets your needs, that is the
important
>thing.
>
>I personally have a BrailleNote Mpower QT 32 with a 32-cell
Braille
>display, two USB host ports, one USB client port, one serial
9-pin
>port, no parallel port, and a SD, CF and PC/Mcia card slot (one
of
>each) and I think 128 MB flash memory on board.
>
>The Mpower can use either a wireless Internet CF card or an
Ethernet CF
>card for Internet connectivity and of course has a built-in
telephone
>modem.
>
>You've got a good start in your BrailleNote Classic 18 and
hopefully if
>you save up, in time, you can upgrade it to a newer unit or at
least
>newer software.
>
>Take care.
>
>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
>
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>
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