[nabs-l] Question about technology

[Kirt Manwaring]

Mike,
  I'd respectfully disagree.  The last hardware update for the PAC
Mate happened...2-3 years ago, whereas the Apex came out within the
last year.  The Apex has bluetooth, wifi, much more internal memory
than the newest PAC Mate (I think it's like 4 gigs as opposed to 128
mb), a great deal more RAM, and support (at least in theory) for newer
microsoft word files.  The PAC Mate is at least a year behind simply
because the hardware hasn't been updated and freedom scientific
stopped updating it.  True, they've had some firmware updates since
the Apex came out...although I'm pretty wsure Freedom Scientific's
discontinued those as well.
  I, personally, think the PAC mate is just a little bit past its
time...and, as I said, I swore by the PAC mate for years.  While the
software and hardware of the machine are both sound, the Apex is
simply a newer unit and, as such, is a little bit ahead in the
technology department.  This does mean the Apex is quite a bit more
expensive- it runs around 5000 dollars whereas the PAC mate, for a
similar-sized braille display, runs at around 3800 or so.
  Respectfully,
Kirt

On 4/23/11, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
> There's now the PacMate Omni.  Dunno if it has a built-in wi-fi card as does
> the Apex but it's much newer than five years old.
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Kirt Manwaring
> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 8:23 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Question about technology
>
> Joshua,
>   The PAC Mate is a little bit behind the Apex in terms of the latest
> up-to-date technology.  That, however, shouldn't stop you if you are
> more comfortable with it.
>   However, I will say that if you liked the Braillenote you saw, it's
> a fair bet you'll like the Apex.  The design's the same, basically
> everything you could do on the old braillenote you do the same way on
> the Apex, the Apex just has more bells and whistles.
>   Personally, if it were me, I'd get the Apex because the PAC Mate is
> no longer being updated by Freedom Scientific and it's a bulkier
> machine.  I used a PAC Mate for like 5 years, I loved it, and I still
> miss it sometimes.  But my Apex can do more, the braille display is
> just as good as it was on the PAC mate, and it's easier to carry
> around.  But, as I said, if you really like the PAC mate better after
> looking at both machines, get the Pac Mate.
>   All the best,
> Kirt
>
> On 4/23/11, trising <trising at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> I absolutely love my Pacmate BX440. If I could only have one piece of
>> technology, this is the one i would have. I can take minutes
>> as the Secretary for the NFB of Michigan. I can also read books. I can
> also
>> edit minutes and other documents. I am very partial to
>> having Braille under my fingertips for accuracy as a Secretary, so I very
>> much prefer having Braille rather than just Jaws. This all
>> depends on what you are used to and what you are familiar with.
>>
>> Terri Wilcox
>>
>>
>>
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