[Electronics-Talk] Orbit Reader review

[Tracy Carcione]

Annette,
The manual says it can read BRF, BRL and TXT.  However, I threw in some GF
files, and it read them fine.  GF is a Goodfeel braille music format.
The manual says that if you want it to read other formats, like PDF or
Word, you need to run them through a conversion to text or braille before
opening them in the Orbit.  The Orbit does no translation at all.  For me,
this is a plus.  Others may feel differently.
Tracy

> Tracy,
>
> What file types can be read with the Orbit Reader?
>
> Annette
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of
> Tracy Carcione via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2018 8:46 AM
> To: 'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>; 'New Jersey Technology Division
> List' <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Electronics-Talk] Orbit Reader review
>
> I just bought the Orbit Reader from APH.  It is a braille notetaker and
> reader that costs $449.  I've only had it a few days, but I'm happy with
> it.
>
> It's about the size of a fat paperback book.  It has 20 braille cells.
> The
> braille quality is excellent.  It has no speech, and no cursor routing
> keys.
> It makes a noise when the braille refreshes, like shuffling a deck of
> cards
> or pushing over a line of dominoes.  I can't use it to read sneakily when
> there are people around and I'm supposed to be doing something else, but
> neither my husband nor I find the noise annoying.  I was concerned because
> I
> had heard the refresh rate is slow, and I am a fast reader, but it's fast
> enough not to slow me down.
>
> It also connects via Bluetooth or USB to other devices.  I connected it to
> my iPhone very easily, and it works well.  The commands when connected are
> different from those in stand-alone, and I'm still learning them, but so
> far, so good. Don't know why they did that-just to confuse me, I guess.
>
>
>
> When editing, it writes exactly what I put in.  There's no translation or
> formatting.  This is exactly what I want, as I tend to write in shorthand
> and also frequently switch between Grade 2 and computer code.  I also use
> braille music.  I don't want any translation.
>
>
>
> If I could add something, I'd add an auto-scroll.
>
> And it would be nice if the notetaker makers would get together and agree
> on
> a set of standard commands, so I wouldn't have to learn a whole new set
> for
> each one.
>
>
>
> I've bought notetakers with all the bells and whistles, but I found I
> didn't
> really use most of them. I keep my own version of a calendar and an
> address
> book, and, if I want to surf the Web or mess with email, it's easy to
> connect to another device to do that. Really, I could have saved myself
> 2000
> bucks, if this had been out last time I was notetaker shopping.  It's
> basic,
> but basic is all I need.  And the price is right.
>
> Tracy
>
>
>
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