I have a fairly new Perkins as my old one finally stopped working and my late husband did not want to send it for repairs so bought another. Can't believe how hard I have to punch the keys on the new one to get letters to show up on paper. Since he passed I can't even find the older one to send for repair, besides last time it was cleaned and repaired it never worked quite right again. Still I dislike feeling like I need hammers to write braille. The Focus 14 has such small keys that I am even slower than slow when I manage to get it where I can actually write with it. Considering I have spent my life doing secretarial work, taking minutes, typing reports it is driving me crazy now that I am forced into retirement that I can't find an easy fast way to do something everyone including me thinks should be a snap for me. I'd use to mPower if I could get it to connect to anything. Stupid codes with loads of numbers etc. are impossible for me to enter, remember or ever get right. Besides, some of what I need to do is PDF and the mPower does not do that either. It is wonderful for putting books on, writing account numbers and such on, but it is a nightmare to connect to anything at all these days. I am not even sure of the network card I have works, last time I tried to connect it at the hospital where it had connected in the past it refused to work.
I don't want a notetaker with a qwerty keyboard, however, since the ones I have seen are off a little and for a touch typist that is not nice. I truly need regular size keys with a bit of travel to be comfortable typing after 35 years or so of computer work. Rose Combs [email protected] A picture may be worth a thousand words but it takes up three times the memory! -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mary Otten Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 2:46 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Taking notes for meeting, Mac or iPad? I appreciate all the feedback. I just got more info on this little job they want me to do, and it may be something I can do. They look like they're using some kind of template that they have already formatted in the DOC X format. I have never felt particularly comfortable with templates. And I don't think Doc X and text edit like each other in that I don't think you can actually type a DOC X thing in TextEdit, can you? So they may be looking for another person. I used to just take minutes free hand so to speak, with no template. Just format it nicely afterwards. Oh well. And Rose, I feel your pain about the braille. I love the Perkins Brailer writer. But I am a much better typist than braillist these days. Mary Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 21, 2015, at 2:21 PM, Rose Combs <[email protected]> wrote: > > I feel your pain, I am doing a project at church in a few weeks and they > asked if I had a laptop, I do, and at home I connect a wireless keyboard. > However, if I were to carry it around with me not an option and I am > constantly hitting the touch pad on a Lenovo laptop and sending it to who > knows where, I hate how far the keyboard is back, makes me lean forward and I > keep resting the palm of either hand on the stupid thing, On the Toshiba my > husband had, very old, I could turn that off with function key 9, can't seem > to do it on the Lenovo with any key, not even through the control panel, > maybe it can be done, but so far not by me. > > I'd much rather type notes etc. but for now it looks like I will learn the > Focus 14 commands which I did not have time for last spring when I bought the > device and braille. I love braille, don't get me wrong, however, in the past > nearly 40 years I have typed 8 hours or more a day, brailed just maybe a > couple of times a week or less. I once was very fast but now am not, > especially on tiny keys on a braille display. Well have to devote time to > this instead of other things to make it work for me, I use the Focus > minimally thus far as I was working full time in the spring, transitioning to > a new company not by my choice, then ill, was terminated and am now retired > earlier than I wished to be. > > Any display users, especially of the Focus are welcome to contact me at > [email protected] > > I read braille perfectly, recognize mistakes easily but, these little keys > are going to be my downfall. I used a Braille note for years, loved it but, > probably will need something I can use where others can see what is happening > is the reason I was asked about a laptop or I device. My iPad is wifi only > and bought just at the end of its cycle in early September 2013 as a present > after I taught my husband how to use one with VO and zoom for him not me. He > bought me a mini after that and just before new announcements were made. > First gen so although I use it at home, it isn't going anywhere and his was > donated to a friend who spent months on a ventilator unable to talk but very > much mentally with it. I helped set it up so it could talk for him after my > husband passed a year ago in the spring. > So choice now looks like either hooking the Focus to the laptop via > Bluetooth, if I can or using my iPhone which would be less to carry. > My Braille note is an mPower, and if no one needed to see what I was doing, > and if I could get it to connect to my home network so I could load it easier > it would be my choice. > > I still use it but cannot get it to connect to anything even with a network > card these days. Never truly worked well in that regard anyway. However, > makes it useless as an e-mail client also and probably would not open the > documents I will be sent. > Long story as to why I did not upgrade it, let's just say HW and I are no > longer friendly. > > Rose Combs > [email protected] > A picture may be worth a thousand words but it takes up three times the > memory! > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Mary Otten > Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 11:06 AM > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: Taking notes for meeting, Mac or iPad? > > I have been asked to substitute as a minutes take her for an upcoming > meeting. I used to do this on a PC laptop in MS Word with complete confidence > and competence. However, that laptop is long since gone and buried. > At this point, my choices are to use my eye pad with a Bluetooth keyboard and > pray that I don't get bit by the Bluetooth bug in iOS 9, choosing among apps > such as voice dream writer or the new notes app. Or I could borrow my > husbands 11 inch MacBook air, with which I am not that familiar, and use > something like text at it. Neither prospect is exciting. I'm looking for > something that is going to be reliable and foolproof. As in me being a fool > and screwing up their minutes. What do people think would be the easiest > thing to do the most foolproof thing? This is, assuming I don't get the > Bluetooth bug that wipes out my iPad? Most about using the MacBook is hitting > that darned oversized touchpad and ending up somewhere where I really don't > want to be and not having a clue how to get back where I need to be in the > text writing app. > Mary > > Sent from my iPhone > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the VIPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your VIPhone list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the VIPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your VIPhone list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the VIPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your VIPhone list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the VIPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your VIPhone list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
