Jonathan, At this junction, I would prefer my storage flash disk to be in the form of compact flash disk. next time around for a purchase, I can have this storage at a fraction of the price of the "disk on chip" option. If the battery goes flat, I have everything on compact flash disk. I would prefer seeing $450.00 of processing RAM inside the BN than $450.00 of flash.
I do not regret purchasing the BrailleNote. It has performed beautifully. As I look forward to a future purchase, I will have different priorities and expectations for a note taker like the BrailleNote. Sincerely, Jerry Weinger ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 10:47 PM Subject: Re: [Braillenote] an interesting observation Hi Paul. It would I think be good to seek an explanation from the company first rather than jump to the conclusion that Pulse Data International is out to rip customers off. After all, what would be the sense in that? Apart from any moral issues involved, it doesn't make business sense for us to leave customers with sour tastes in their mouths. Let me first say that what you get when you update your Flash Disk to 48 MB is not RAM. Indeed, your 16 MB Flash Disk isn't RAM. What you get is a disk on chip. This is a big advantage over the BrailleNote compared with many PDAs for the sighted, and even some others for the blind. Many other devices store files in RAM, Randem Access Memory. The disadvantage of this, as Dean has pointed out, is that when your unit goes flat or is reset, you say bye bye to your data. When the BrailleNote was designed, we took this issue extremely seriously. With some devices on the market today, if you don't have a backup of your data or if you don't connect the unit to AC power within about a half hour of the battery going flat, all your precious documents, contacts, programmes and other files are gone. You can leave the BrailleNote in a flat state for an indefinite period and not lose data in this way thanks to the disk on chip technology we use. It is a bit proprietary, it can't be user fitted, and yes, it's more expensive than we'd like, but it sure beats the alternative in our opinion. When we get inquiries about the 48 MB upgrade, we talk people through the pros and cons. For example, clearly you can get much more bang for your buck if you purchase a compact flash card. For the same price as our 48 MB upgrade to the Flash Disk, you could get a gig worth of storage on a flash card, or even more with a microdrive. Some people prefer the extra on-board storage for convenience and for keeping large amounts of mail for example, so we attempt to establish what the user's requirements are and recommend accordingly. All the best. Jonathan Mosen BrailleNote Product Marketing Manager Pulse Data International Ltd DDI: +64-3-373-6192 Fax: +64-3-384 4933 Mobile: +64-21 466 736 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet: www.pulsedata.com ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
