Again, Terri, you make lots of good valid points! I still say
that unless something changes _real fast, HW is going down the
tubes. Federal and state agencies are having to cut back on the
purchases of equipment they make for the blind, and a major part
of the blind population is not going to be able to buy these
products anyway!!
B. D.Rurry, Esquire, Rurrysville, Tn.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terri Pannett" <[email protected]
To: "BrailleNote List" <[email protected]
Date sent: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:05:11 -0700
Subject: [Braillenote] HumanWare's Quality of Service
Dear List,
I'm going to add my two cents' worth about HumanWare's quality of
service
and I will also tell why I'm staying with the BN.
HW's quality of service has gone down. I've bought HW products
since 1995
and, until my latest BN, I've never had any trouble with the
units.
When I first received my BN, I noticed some of the cells had dots
which
weren't as high as others although the braille was readable. The
cells got
worse and worse until I finally sent the BN in for repair. When
I got it
back, I noticed the bad cells had been fixed but other cells had
some dots
which weren't as high as others. The braille is readable, but
how long will
the cells last until I must send it in again? My warranty is due
to expire
soon and I don't know if I should buy an extended contract or
not. I was
told by HW that people may not receive a letter reminding them
their
warranty is about to expire. I think that's terrible!
So why am I sticking with the BN? I tried using a mini laptop
with a
braille display connected to it and I didn't like it. There's no
stability
and a docking station is required if I want to use usb
peripherals or
CD/DVD's. A full-size laptop is too heavy to lug around. The
gui
environment doesn't have the same ease of use as Keysoft.
Braille files
can't be read on a PC except by plugging in a braille display.
The BN
provides what I need: Word processing, the media player,
calendar and
calculator. I don't use Keymail or Keyweb very much because I
prefer using
my desktop PC for the internet. I don't use the recorder, the
radio or
games. I've got lots of recorders and radios and the games are
too hard, so
they're not even fun to play! I can't stand Word, and I don't
get too many
Word files. I only use the calculator for basic everyday math.
HumanWare needs to step up its quality of service and it does
need to pay
more attention to improving the BN. I can't understand why they
didn't get
the BN to work with NLS digital talking books unless it is
because they want
us to spend more money and buy another product to handle this
service.
I don't approve of their latest product for the deaf blind
because it relies
on the use of a cell phone. What happens when the cell phone
quits working
or the model is no longer being manufactured?
Before I bought my latest mPower, I looked into buying another
notetaker,
but I decided not to because the unit didn't have a QWERTY
keyboard and I
don't like working with a Windows-like environment. Buying FS
notetakers is
out of the question for me. And the BraillePlus doesn't support
a braille
display and it would mean having all of the hassles of a
minilaptop.
To conclude: HumanWare needs to listen to its customers and put
out a
better quality product. I don't care how many bells and whistles
are on it!
I can't afford to send the BN in for repair again and again.
The braille display I recently bought has very limited notetaker
capabilities, but I'm not required to send it in for servicing
for two
years! That's right, two years! Besides that, the battery can
be changed
by the user. I would be much happier if HW had the same quality
of service!
Terri Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA.
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