Hi all, I think Mary Ellen has a good point regarding the BT keyboard and I would be interested in a response from PDI. I own a BrailleNote BT myself and I love the braille keyboard because I am a fast braillist and it is very accurate and responsive. However, as a conference interpreter I work in situations where quiet is absolutely essential, and I can only write with my BN very slowly and carefully, if at all, because of the noise from the keyboard. I realise that the noise is not excessive, but I have a feeling that it could easily be reduced further. The clacking sound does not really seem to occur when the keys are pressed down (I believe this was corrected at an early stage of the BrailleNote's development), but rather, when the keys spring back up. It sounds as though two hard surfaces are making contact with each other, e.g. plastic against plastic. Obviously the sound is magnified because the keys are normally pressed in combinations, not in isolation. I'm no mechanical expert myself, and so far I've resisted the temptation to take a screwdriver to my BN and have a look inside (grin), but I can't help feeling that one could perhaps insert a very thin layer of some sound-absorbent material, which would not significantly reduce the key travel, so the accuracy and responsiveness would not be adversely affected.
All this is pure speculation on my part, but perhaps someone from PDI could comment on this suggestion, explaining why it is or is not possible? Nicky ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Ellen Earls" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 12:30 PM Subject: re: [Braillenote] Quiet key keyboard for the BrailleNote? > Interestingly, my qwerty keyboard on the Braille Note is one of the quietest keyboards I have heard. My IBM, although not loud is a lot noisier than this keyboard. Now I heard a demo of something at csun on acb radio and someone was taking notes with a Brailler Style bn right next to the microphone and I have a musical ear so I pick up sounds more accutely than the average person so Here I am sitting listening to Mr. Somebody or other give this demo on xyz marvelous machine do it all for the blind and all I can hear is this clackety clack of this bn Brailler style keyboard going. > That is, in actuality one of the major reasons why I did not buy the Brailler Style keyboard. > > Mary Ellen Earls > > > ----- Original Message ----- > >From: Doug Lawlor <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [email protected] > >Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 01:16:06 -02-30 > >Subject: [Braillenote] Quiet key keyboard for the BrailleNote? > > >Hello Pulse Data: > >One possible upgrade for the BrailleNote QT I would like to see is a Quiet > >key keyboard. I am talking about a keyboard that does not click when you > >press the keys. Although the present keyboard is not loud it is certainly > >audible when working in quiet classrooms. If I understand correctly all > >modern day laptops have a keyboard which is not noticeably audible when it > >is being used. Someone can correct me if I am wrong on this one. To me the > >present keyboard on the BrailleNote QT feels similar to the keyboard which > >was on my old Toshiba T1200 I used to use back in the late 80s and early > >90s. Can we have an updated keyboard please? > > >Thanks, > >Doug > > > >___ > >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 > >
