[nfbcs] Preference in Braille Displays

[majolls at cox.net]

Hi everyone

Wanted to get your input on what works best as a general purpose Braille Display.
Would you want one that is just a dumb terminal, or one that has some notetaking capability built into it?
I also wanted to find out what gives better efficiency ... 18 cells or 40 cells

So the first Braille display I tried was the Freedom Focus 40 blue.  Liked it alot, but it has to be hooked up to another device such as IOS or Windows PC to work.  No smarts in the device at all.
Next I heard about the HIMMS Edge 40.  Now there's something interesting.  I can connect it like the Freedom, it can be a slave.  I can use it as a dumb terminal or I can disconnect it and do some basic notetaking tasks with it without it being connected to anything.  Price is about the same as the Freedom model.  Is the flexibility good to have?  I guess that depends on where you go with it.

As I recall, HIMMS has the 40 cell model, but it also has the OnHand which is an 18 cell model.
So, of those that use Braille Displays, do you prefer a 40 or 18 cell?  Is an 18 cell adequate or are you complaining constantly because you don't have enough cells and you're constantlyhitting the advance button?

The 18 cell models are cheaper, that's why I'm asking.  I'm thinking, however, that the 40 cell model would be better ... more braille until you hit the advance key.  Also, the notetaking features built into the HIMMS mean you don't have to carry the display plus the iPad or iPhone.  You could just carry the device alone.  I'm kind of leaning toward the HIMMS but I'd like some info from people that actually have one .. or other devices.  Tell me what you like and what you don't like.  $3000 is a lot of money to spend so I wanted to get some practical advice.

So what configuration do most of you use?  Let me know.