[nfbcs] Preference in Braille Displays

[Tracy Carcione]

I have 2 braille devices, an Alva and a Braillenote.  The Alva is 40 cells, 
and has to be connected to a computer.  I use it constantly for everything I 
do with a computer, except playing audio games or listening to internet 
radio.  I use my Braillenote exclusively as a stand-alone.  I frequently use 
it for reading, and find 18 cells acceptable there, because it has an 
auto-scroll mode.  If I had to constantly hit the advance button for a long 
period of time, it would be bad, as it would cause my tendonitis to flare 
up.
A long time ago, I tried hooking the 18-cell braille display to the 
computer, but I did not find it satisfactory.  I use my computer/braille 
display a lot for work, and 18 cells was just too short for looking at jobs, 
programs, or long strings of data.

So, as with most things, what you want depends on what you want to do with 
it.  I like the 18 cell display to carry around with me and take notes or 
read, because it's small and light, but I like 40 cells for real work.
HTH.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <majolls at cox.net>
To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 17, 2013 12:31 PM
Subject: [nfbcs] Preference in Braille Displays


> 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.
>
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