Dear List, I tried an experiment today. I plugged my usb keyboard into the BN to see how the MP would behave. I was quite happy with the way it worked. You're probably asking yourself, "Why would she want to plug in an external keyboard when the unit is a QT model? Well, I figured if the English keyboard would work then a foreign language keyboard should work, too. I also thought it would be easier to write a foreign language with a larger keyboard and it was.
Here is how the keys behave. The alt key behaves like the function key when you need to access the unicode tables and the macros. It's much easier to press alt x and alt c on an external keyboard than it is on the Bn's QWERTY keyboard. The function keys at the top of the external keyboard take you from task to task with one keystroke: f3 help, f4 word processor, f5 calculator and so on. When braille is required, the home row on the external works just the same as the home row on the BN's keyboard. Plus, the BN's keyboard is not disabled when an external keyboard is plugged in. There may be times when those of you who have BT keyboards might find it advantageous to plug in an external QWERTY keyboar, especially if you're not hep on writing in computer braille. Foreign languages are easier because (1) your fingers don't get tangled up (2) you can turn on numlock hold down the alt key and write the numeric value of a unicode character and (3) you can use the two alt keys, whereas the BN has only one function key. I also discovered that if you press alt i, the BN will speak a sentence. Anyway, I thought this might be interesting to some of you. Terri, Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA. ___ 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
