Hi Paul, Thanks for responding. I have timed the "I'm talking till my battery goes flat" discharge and I get 8 and a half hours. This, from a brand new battery.
There appears to be two possible explanations for this. 1; The battery itself is a dud. 2; Apparently there is an issue with the mother-board flexing and so draining the battery. Thus much, so far, I have managed to ascertain hopefully, if I get some more feed-back from this list, I will be able to arm myself for the inevitable battle of interests I seem destined to wage with PDE. Take care, Sandy. > ----- Original Message ----- >From: Paul Henrichsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:41:18 -0700 >Subject: RE: [Braillenote] Thoughts on Technology, Who Uses What and Why >Hi, Sandy. I will bet I get eight hours using it each day for a little. It >would be interesting to see what you get from a full charge and letting it >talk itself flat. >I get about ten and a half to ten and three quarters hours, at least that >is what it was a month or two ago when I tried it. >At 4/12/2004, you wrote: >>Hi Paul, >> Seeing your message here, I just wanted to make you feel better with >> your battery as I have just received my own replacement one, last week, >> and I am getting a scant 8 hours out of it. When I mentioned 20 hours to >> the people at PDE (Europe, I'm in Ireland) they said "20 hours? Never!" >> and "Where did you hear that?" So, flummoxed, I desisted. but now I am >> considering sending it back, but what a palaver! >>All the best, >>Sandy. >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>From: Paul Henrichsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>To: Braillenote List <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 15:04:08 -0700 >>>Subject: RE: [Braillenote] Thoughts on Technology, Who Uses What and Why >>>Hi, Richard. I agree with you, especially regarding the service and the >>>units in genera. I also have herd many stories of units going bad shortly >>>after purchase, and of people who send their units in to get a new battery >>>and come back with other problems. >>>What is going on with quality control here? I asked the same question over >>>a year and a half ago before I even had a braille note. I have had good >>>luck with mine so far except that I only get eleven hours of battery life, >>>but it makes me wonder whether PDI buys substandard parts to save a few >>>bucks. I would expect that if I spend 6000 dollars on a unit that it would >>>have top quality parts right down to the battery. >>>With my unit, so far so good, but I have only had it four months. I don't >>>know whether to have a new battery put in this summer at the convention or >>>not. People tell me that my battery life is normal and then others get 20 >>>hours. >>>But there has always been a question in my mind about the quality of the >>>parts in a braille note and why some units seem to have so much trouble. >>>Shouldn't q and a weed those out before they end up in the market place? >>>At 4/5/2004, you wrote: >>>>I believe that I have a few more suggestions for the Braillenote. >>>>But before I present them I will simply state the following. In the >>>>early 90s, many blind persons with whom I was acquainted told me that >>>>they would never use a graphical operating system as it would never be >>>>accessible and it was not designed with the blind in mind. (as if Dos or >>>>Linux were) >>>>What many of those individuals may not have known was, that in the early >>>>90s, there were quite a number of MS-DOS applications that were as >>>>inaccessible as some on this list feel that Microsoft Windows is today. >>>>To me, it isn't whether or not we have a graphical operating system, but >>>>do we have the software and functionality we need to pursue the tasks we >>>>require. It's that simple for me. >>>>As I stated in an earlier post, the Braillenote has excellent Braille >>>>support. It is a device I can use without speech. Last Friday, I was >>>>playing with another product, (can you guess which one, the first >>>>initial is P)and frankly, without speech, that product would not be easy >>>>to use. Again I submit that if the sole purpose for designing the >>>>Braillenote was that blind people are incapable of using a graphical >>>>user interface, I would doubt that I would have ever wanted one. I >>>>believe in usability, and I think the Braillenote has a lot of it in >>>>most of its interface. >>>>However, the problem faced by some of us is that the Braillenote is not >>>>going to be as easy to integrate with other devices as time goes on. >>>>Fewer and fewer printers with parallel ports, fewer and fewer computers >>>>with serial ports, and fewer and fewer printers that the Braillenote can >>>>communicate with, this is the current outlook. >>>>My job (or part of it) >>>>Is to purchase new technology for clients based upon what they will be >>>>required to accomplish with what devices they receive. I have tended to >>>>recommend the Braillenote for many of them because I have felt that the >>>>device was reasonably stable and that it provided great Braille >>>>support. The PacMate, on the other hand, has only recently gained a >>>>fair amount of stability and its Braille support is not all that well >>>>developed. >>>>However, the scales are in the process of tipping, I'm afraid. a Number >>>>of my clients who are students have expressed a need for wireless >>>>network access, the ability to send documents to whatever printer is >>>>available, and they have also begun to express the need for Office 2003 >>>>support. These are all things that are not out of range, not beyond what >>>>a portable device should be able to do. >>>>I don't honestly know how many of these things will be addressed without >>>>another motherboard upgrade. >>>>Now, let's talk about service and reliability. My best friend will be >>>>sending her Braillenote in to PulseData/Humanware for the fifth time for >>>>service this week. She received the Braillenote in April, 2002. So, >>>>does that seem reliable? If you had purchased a mainstream product, >>>>like for example, a VCR, a television, or a stereo and you had to ship >>>>it back to the manufacturer 5 times in two years could you honestly >>>>recommend that I go out and buy the same unit? >>>>I received my first Braillenote on January 28, 2001. By march 28 of >>>>that same year, it had crashed beyond recovery. At the time, to their >>>>credit, Humanware sent me a new unit because the motherboard had failed. >>>>However, less than a year later, the same thing happened again. And in >>>>December of 2003, the same thing happened. Again, if I had purchased a >>>>mainstream device and I had had that kind of luck with it, I don't >>>>believe I would be telling all of my friends to rush on out and buy one. >>>>To be fair, my current Braillenote was received on June 5, 2003. Thus >>>>far, it has not required service. (knockin' on wood real hard) >>>>However, without drawing this out, I could relate at least three other >>>>stories of individuals who have had to return their product repeatedly >>>>in order to receive repairs. >>>>To me, even if some of the suggestions that have popped up on this list >>>>do not get implemented, I would like to see a more reliable unit >>>>produced. >>>>Finally, (my ramblin' is nearly don) to some suggestions. I would like >>>>to be able to load a large file in less than 30 seconds or more. I am >>>>not talking about Microsoft Word files, I am speaking of large text >>>>files. I would also like to not be asked if I want to review previous >>>>options. And, you already know how I feel about the file manager. >>>>In closing let me say that I am currently studying a number of products >>>>and ideas that I will have to consider when recommending products for >>>>clients of the Iowa Department for the Blind. And, what my future >>>>recommendations will be will depend largely on how some products evolve >>>>over the next year or so. >>>>-----Original Message----- >>>>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kirstyn >>>>Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 1:23 PM >>>>To: Braillenote List >>>>Subject: re: [Braillenote] Thoughts on Technology, Who Uses What and Why >>>>Hi Beth, >>>> I have a couple of questions. Who was criticizing people for >>>>choosing the BrailleNote and not the PACMate, or for choosing the >>>>PACMate and not the BrailleNote? Why is it so hard to get one's point >>>>across, and yet people like you say we should try to understand where >>>>each person is coming from? Never mind, I think I will not get the >>>>answer to those questions anyway. >>>> What I most agree with in your post, Beth, is that PDI accepts what >>>>we have to say on this list, whether good or bad. It's the fanatic and >>>>stubborn list member who is having problems listening to observations of >>>>other users when they find them negative to their taste, and it does not >>>>matter anymore if the observations were repeatedly explained to be made >>>>in order to show PDI and users what some of us feel is lacking, what we >>>>hope should be worked on in a reasonable time, and what consequences >>>>some of us are willing to take--like GUI--in exchange for an improved >>>>product. >>>> I apologize for stepping on the toes of the sensitive BrailleNote >>>>user. Also, I said the part about the BrailleNote will soon be limited >>>>to the people with simple computer needs and basic computer skills >>>>because of the philosophy that blind people should be spared from >>>>grappling with graphical user interface, even if it means slower >>>>development of the BrailleNote because they have to write KeySoft >>>>applications than just adopt Pocket PC or whatever will give more >>>>flexibility. Neither did I say that PACMate users are power users, I do >>>>not know where you got that crazy idea. But if the BrailleNote cannot >>>>catch up in terms of what it can offer to the user, then two blind >>>>people on exactly the same job but one is using the PACMate and the >>>>other a BrailleNote will have marked differences in how they do their >>>>job. They may have the same output, but the one using the more powerful >>>>product will have an easier time. >>>> Take Dan's case. If his job requires that he deals with HTML >>>>messages, and let's assume that there was another blind person with the >>>>same job but using a PACMate, then that other blind person will finish >>>>reading the HTML messages while Dan is still saving them to KeyWord >>>>files so that he can open them in KeyWeb and read them properly. Is >>>>this a comparison of the BrailleNote and the PACMate? Yes, but that's >>>>not all there is to it. You must understand that the point here is that >>>>PDI needs to do something about this because since it is not easy to >>>>switch from one PDA to another, the BrailleNote user will somehow >>>>expect--and we do based on our feature requests and suggestions--that >>>>our urgent needs be met somehow. >>>>Tired of repeating herself, >>>>Kirstyn >>>>___ >>>>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 >>>>___ >>>>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 >>>Paul Henrichsen >>><[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>><home.pacbell.net/paulh52 >>>___ >>>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 >>___ >>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 >Paul Henrichsen ><[EMAIL PROTECTED] ><home.pacbell.net/paulh52 >___ >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
