[Electronics-Talk] Alva 640

Wed Sep 12 14:54:13 UTC 2018

I have the BC640 that has the top part with the extra keys and the memory. 
I could have gotten it without that, just the display, but I wanted to be 
able to put books on it and take it places with me and use it to take notes. 
Pam.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tracy Carcione via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2018 10:12 AM
To: 'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'
Cc: Tracy Carcione
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Alva 640

Huh.  I only use my Alva as a braille display.  I never even thought of
downloading things to it.  Maybe mine is different from yours.
Tracy

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of George Dominguez via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 1:05 PM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
Cc: geodom at optonline.net
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Alva 640

Some of my dots have started getting weird.  For a long time, they were nice

and sharp, and I liked that.  But the problem I have is that when I download

books from BARD, and I unzip them and put them on the Alva, only about half
of the books I put there will open up and let me read them.  Other people
have no problem with those particular books, and when I broke down and got a

U2, those books opened up just fine when I put them on there.  I was sad
about that, and I couldn't find anybody who could help me with it.  I sent
it back to the person I bought it from, and he had no trouble.  But he only
used bookshare.  He apparently doesn't use BARD.  And I like that Alva
because it has forty cells.  But he sent it back to me and said there was
nothing wrong with it.  Pam.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tracy Carcione via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 8:23 AM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
Cc: Tracy Carcione
Subject: [Electronics-Talk] Alva 640

Pam, would you care to elaborate?  I also have an Alva 640.  It's good,
but there's been a dot sticking almost since I got it.  However, I need it
for work, and haven't sent it in for cleaning.  Other than that, it works
well.
Tracy

> Yes; I am used to forty cells, also.  That's why I bought the Alva bc640.
> But there are problems with it.  Pam.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Lee via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2018 10:34 PM
> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
> Cc: Gary Lee
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Orbit Reader review
>
> sounds good, but I would like 40 cells.
> I read a lot of NLS books and they are 40 cell lines.
>
> also would make programming a little easier with the long line.
>
>
>> On Sep 10, 2018, at 5:26 PM, Andy Baracco via Electronics-Talk
>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> There are Braille displays available with just about anything you want
>> if
>> you are willing to pay for them. APH also sells a display called the
>> Refreshabraille. It has 18 cells and sells for about $1800. I actually
>> owned one for a while, but sold it because I just found that I wasn't
>> using it as much as I thought it would. It also had a funky USB
>> connection, and I never could get the hang of how to plug in the USB
>> cable
>> for charging, but after hundreds of complaints I believe that they have
>> redesigned the connection. Actually, it's a pretty slick little display,
>> but it is more expensive. I have heard good things about the new
>> Brailliant BI14 from Humanware. It sells for $995, and has some new
>> smart
>> technology, but it's only 14 cells, so its best use would be with a
>> smart
>> phone, for mobile use. Rather than cursor routing keys, it has a little
>> slot above each cell and you simply run your finger above the cell where
>> you want the cursor to be, and it goes there. Also, it has a feature
> where you can sync notes between the device and your iPhone.
>>
>> Andy
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Star Gazer via Electronics-Talk"
>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> To: "'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'"
>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2018 1:41 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Orbit Reader review
>>
>>
>>> Do they make Braille displays with
>>> autoscroll?
>>>
>>> -----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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>>
>>
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>
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