[nfbcs] My Observations About the Braille Edge 40 From HIMS
David Andrews
dandrews at visi.com
Thu Aug 9 01:45:45 UTC 2012
>
>From: "Michael D. Barber" <nfbiowa at qwestoffice.net>
>To: "List for teachers and trainers of adaptive technology"
> <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2012 20:35:35 -0500
>Subject: [Trainer-talk] My Observations About the Braille Edge 40 From HIMS
>
>Good evening: I wanted to share with the List my observations about the
>above subject unit I was privileged to test just before our national
>convention.
>
>BrailleEdge 40: The Newest Offering by HIMS-Inc.
>
>Presented by
>
>Michael D. Barber, President
>NFB Assistive Technology Trainers Division
>
>
>My very first introduction to the world of refreshable Braille was in 1991
>during my employment as the first totally blind customer service
>representative at then Norwest Card Services (later to become Wells Fargo
>Card Services.) My job was to help customers understand their monthly
>statements, assist with replacing lost or stolen cards, make necessary
>monetary adjustments to their statements, give balances, etc.
>
>At that time, I was using Artic Business Vision, but because of unresolved
>conflicts between Norwest's system and the screen reading technology, it was
>clear my short stay at Norwest was in jeopardy. Enter Humanware and the
>Alva 280 braille display.
>
>I had never seen a braille display and was totally unfamiliar with what they
>could do. This Alva display was a job saver for me, because now I could,
>without any conflicts at all, do all the things my sighted coworkers were
>doing.
>
>Since then, I've seen many different displays, ranging from the 80-cell
>display all the way down to the 12-cell display offered by the Braille Pen
>12 display. Some of these displays are simply that; braille displays,
>while others offer the ability to actually take notes using their
>Perkins-style or QWERTY keyboards as seen with the Braillenote and
>Braillesense and other devices. The most recent offering I've seen is the
>BrailleEdge 40 from HIMS-Inc.
>
>The BrailleEdge 40 is a very basic notetaking device manufactured by
>Hims-Inc. It features a 40-cell braille display, an nine-key Perkins style
>keyboard, 8 function keys, eight navigation buttons, four scroll buttons and
>40 cursor-routing keys. Additionally, it operates using the Windows CE 5.0
>operating system and has a Lithium polymer battery which will last
>approximately 20 hours before it needs recharging. The package will include
>a USB cable, an AC power adapter, a CD containing the manual, as well as a
>2GB SD card. The unit measures approximately 12 inches long and about 4
>inches deep and weighs about 2 pounds. Its primary function is that of a
>Braille display, either for the JAWS, Window-Eyes and NVDA screen readers,
>or for IOS devices. At present, it does not work with the 5.11 IOS
>software; however, it did work with the prior build, according to HIMS.
>They are hopeful that Apple will fix the problem in the next software
>release.
>
>With this unit, you can open BRF files such as those found on Web Braille,
>create new BRL files and edit text files. It also has a calculator,
>planner, stopwatch, countdown timer, and an alarm. Its price is slightly
>under $3,000, which is about half the price of other popular note taking
>devices on the market.
>
>While this unit provides a nice ergonomic design for the keyboard, and The
>keys are easy to push and very responsive, I experienced a problem in
>getting one particular setting to hold in the Options menu. I wanted the
>unit to start in a new document and it would not. HIMS indicates this is a
>known problem. I did note that when I pressed the reset button on the rear
>panel of the unit that the unit would start up and I was placed in a new
>document. Powering down and then back up produced the same result as
>before, and I was in the main menu once again. I also noted that when you
>edit a text document and use contracted braille, it's best to read the saved
>file on a computer using a braille display because at present there is no
>reverse translation and the speech synthesizer will not read properly.
>HIMS officials indicated they would pass on this concern with hopes this
>would be fixed in future updates.
>
>I was able to successfully install the needed drivers so the unit would work
>nicely with JAWS. When you connect the unit to the computer using the USB
>cable, the BrailleEdge automatically powers up and you're immediately placed
>in Terminal mode. I then had to unload and reload JAWS so that the braille
>display became active.
>
>The manual which accompanies the unit was easy enough to follow and the
>steps to perform various functions were written in an easy-to-follow style.
>
>
>
>My conclusions are these:
>
>1. Hims has developed an excellent product which is principally for use
>as a Braille display or taking notes.
>2. With the price being about half of what other known note taking
>devices, this will be attractive to individuals and rehabilitation agencies
>alike.
>3. The unit is very comfortable to write on.
>4. The braille on the display is very firm and easy to read.
>5. This unit will accommodate up to a 32-gigabyte SD card allowing for
>a vast amount of storage.
>6. Although this is a very functional unit, I fear that because of the
>small percentage of people reading or writing braille, it may not sell as
>well as it could otherwise.
>7. I could live with a unit half its size using a 20-cell display which
>would add improved portability.
>
>
>Cordially,
>Michael D. Barber
>(515) 771-8348
More information about the NFBCS
mailing list