[nabs-l] Note takers

Thu Oct 21 22:19:29 UTC 2010

Hi all,
I am a BrailleNote Apy user, the latest
notetaker.  Although the Apex has great potential, there's some 
work to be done on it.  It's a good don't get me wrong, don't get 
me wrong, it just has room for improvement.  Here is a comparison 
between the BrailleNote Apex and BrailleSense Plus.

HTH

Danni

Courtesy: Alex Hall.

 Here is a look at the BrailleNote Apex and its closest 
competitor, the Braille Sense Plus (from GW Micro).  I do not 
know enough about the Pac Mate Omni (Freedom scientific) to 
include it in this comparison.

  chinin Internal Storage: the BSP has 8 gigabytes of storage.  
The Apex has 8 gigabytes as well.
  chinin RAM: The BSP has 128 megabytes of RAM, as does the Apex.  
However, the Apex has an additional 126 megabytes of storage for 
operating system and temporary files, whereas the BSP has 64 
megabytes for this purpose.
  chinin Processor: the BSP's processor, type unknown, runs at 
400 megahertz.  The FreeScale IMX31 processor in the Apex runs at 
520megahertz.  Both the BSP and the Apex processors are 32-29t 
versions.
  chinin
  chinin Underlying Windows CE The BSP runs on CE 5.0.  While 
this is an improvement over the BrailleNote mPower's CE 4.2, it 
is not as good as the Apex's CE 6.0, which allows for many new 
features to be introduced, namely better RAM management and tens 
of thousands of processes to run concurrently; CE 5 still has a 
32 process limit.
  chinin USB: the BSP has 2 (1?) USB master port(s) for storage 
devices, printers, keyboards, and so on.  The Apex has 3 USB 
master ports for these purposes.  The BSP has one mini USB port, 
used to connect it to a computer to connect to ActiveSync or use 
as a removable disk.  The Apex also has one mini USB port, though 
it cannot act as a removable device.  Unlike the BSP, though, it 
can synchronize its contacts, calendar, and other items with 
Microsoft Windows computers.
  chinin Other Storage Options: The BSP has both an SD card slot, 
which supports SDHC cards as well as standard SD cards, and a 
compactflash card slot.  It can also use its bluetooth to 
transfer files between itself and any other bluetooth device 
supporting object exchange.  The Apex has an SD card slot 
supporting regular and high-capacity (HC) cards.  It does not, 
however, have a compactflash card slot, nor does it support 
bluetooth object exchange, though Humanware could add this option 
to Keysoft with little trouble thanks to the new Windows CE 6 
bluetooth stack.
  chinin Audio: Both devices have built in stereo speakers, 
stereo headphone jacks, external mono microphone jacks, and a 
mono internal microphone.  The Apex also supports bluetooth audio 
devices, the BSP does not.  Both devices can create recordings 
via either microphone, with adjustable microphone gains and 
quality levels, however the BSP can record in MP3 format or WAV 
format, whereas the Apex only supports the larger WAV format 
(maybe).  The Apex contains an FM radio internally and uses 
anything plugged into the headphone jack as an antenna.  The 
radio can be recorded as though it were another input source for 
the recorder.  The BSP also has a radio which works in the same 
way, but it cannot be recorded.
  chinin Wireless Communication Both devices contain both an 
internal BstG wifi card and an internal bluetooth 2.1 card.
  chinin Battery Both devices have about the same battery life, 
and both contain a removable battery.  The Apex has a way to 
charge the battery outside of the computer itself, the BSP does 
not.
  chinin Jacks and Ports BSP: two master USB, one slave (mini) 
USB, cable ethernet, VGA, SDSTSDHC slot, compactflash slot, mono 
microphone, stereo headphone, AC power port.  Apex: 3 master USB, 
1 slave (mini) USB, cable ethernet, VGA, SDSTSDHC slot, mono 
microphone, stereo headphone, AC power port.  Basically, they are 
the same except that the Apex has one more master USB port than 
the BSP, and the BSP has a compactflash card slot whereas the 
Apex does not.
  chinin Visual Output The BSP can print what is spoken or 
brailled to a monitor through its VGA port, or through its 
built-in LcD display.  The Apex can also print to a monitor with 
its VGA port, or through use of a Windows program called KeyView.  
This means that the Apex can connect to a Windows computer via 
USB or bluetooth (or through serial using a serial-USB 
converter).  KeyView will then display the Apex's text on the 
computer's screen.
  chinin Microsoft Word 2007 Neither device currently supports 
the disdocx (Word 2007) format.  Humanware has promised that the 
Apex will handle disdocx files in the near future, providing a 
free upgrade to all Apex owners so they can have this support for 
free when it is released.  GW Micro has not commented on Word 
2007 support, though another device of theirs, a digital book 
reader called the Book Sense, does support Word 2007, so it is 
likely that the BSP will support this format in the near future 
as well.
  chinin Internet Communication: Both devices have a web browser, 
an email program, and an instant messenger.  The BSP's browser 
cannot handle cookies like the Apex can, but that is the only 
major difference between the two.  The email programs are pretty 
well matched, except for one under-the-hood difference: the Apex 
stores all emails in a database, making it difficult to copy a 
message somewhere else for storage; copying the text is easy 
enough, but copying the message headers along with the text is 
all but impossible without going through a lot of tedious steps.  
The BSP stores its messages as diseml files, allowing users to 
not only copy entire emails to different locations, but to view 
these messages on other Windows computers.  The BSP also allows 
users to view HTML-encoded messages as web pages; the Apex, as 
far as I know will not let you do this, though it may be the case 
that it is, in fact, possible.  The instant messenger on the BSP 
only supports Windows Live (formerly known as MSN) Messenger, 
though this is a very popular network.  The Apex supports all 
XMPP networks, which include, but are not limited to, Google 
Talk, IC-HAT, and Jabber.  The Apex, essentially, supports a 
range of less popular networks, whereas the BSP supports only one 
network, but that one network is very widely used compared to the 
networks supported by the Apex.
  chinin Braille Codes and Languages The Apex supports 6 and 8 
dot computer braille, grade 1, grade 2, and UEB, plus it has 
computer Braille tables for English, French, Spanish, and Italian 
and it can speak in those languages.  The BSP supports only 
English computer braille (6 or 8 dot unknown), grade 1, and grade 
2.  However, the BSP will let you write in any grade, even in a 
text document or on a web page; the Apex allows only computer 
braille in text documents and web page forms.
  chinin Braille Scrolling and Navigation The BSP has four keys, 
two on either side of the Braille display for moving the Braille, 
for navigation, as well as four function keys for quickly 
switching tasks, closing programs, and performing other basic 
tasks.  The Apex has four thumb keys on its front, where the 
thumbs naturally rest while reading Braille.  These keys act like 
the scroll keys on the BSP, except they are more conveniently 
placed.  The Apex also has a scroll wheel, which lets you quickly 
scroll through lists and files.  The wheel also has a button in 
the center to act as an enter key, and four buttons arount the 
outside edge to act as hotkeys for commonly used keystrokes, such 
as calling up the help prompt for the given situation on the 
Apex.
  chinin Multi-Tasking The BSP can run 7 programs at once; you 
could leave your wordprocessor open while you quickly switch to 
your email to read something, then leave the email open to go the 
the file manager to copy a couple files...  For this reason, the 
BSP contains task manager, which is a large part of the 
functionality of the four function keys.  The Apex cannot, as far 
as I know, do this.  You can leave a media file playing in the 
background or do other things on the Apex while you wait for your 
machine to connect to a wireless networo, but you cannot let your 
email download in the background while you read a book.  The 
Apex, though, now (thanks to CE6) has the ability to do a lot of 
multi-tasking, far exceeding the BSP's limit of 7 applications at 
once, though such functionality is not yet implemented in 
Keysoft, much like bluetooth object exchange could easily be 
supported but is not yet there.
  chinin External Media Controls Tge Apex has only one media key: 
the record button.  The BSP has buttons on its front, where the 
Apex's toumb keys are, for skipping tracks, recording, playing, 
pausing, and so forth, not to mention its media switch, which 
lets you select a mode for your media keys: media, DAISY, and FM 
radio.  While both machines support playing media, playing DAISY 
files, and an FM radio, only the BSP has external buttons to 
facilitate easy manipulation of media.
  chinin Synthesizers: The Apex comes with two speech 
synthesizers: Keynote Gold, which supports only one voice, and 
Eloquence, with five voices to choose from.  The BSP only has 
Eloquence with its selection of
----- Original Message -----
From: "RJ Sandefur" <joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:36:18 -0400
Subject: [nabs-l] Note takers

I use a braille 'n speak which I've had for ten years now, and 
its on its last leg.  What types of note takers do you guys use, 
How much does it caust, and does it live up to what is advertised 
concerning it? I'm not shure wheather or not to get a packmate, a 
braille note, or a braille sence.  I'm on disability, due to some 
other disabililities I have.  I'm also in a distance learning 
Seminary, going for my doctorate degree in theology.  I'm not 
shure how I can purchose a note taker, due to the fact, I have 
alot of bills to pay.  Would my local lions club be able to 
assist me in this reguard? RJ
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