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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>I just bought the Orbit Reader from APH. It is a braille notetaker and reader that costs $449. I’ve only had it a few days, but I’m happy with it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It’s about the size of a fat paperback book. It has 20 braille cells. The braille quality is excellent. It has no speech, and no cursor routing keys. It makes a noise when the braille refreshes, like shuffling a deck of cards or pushing over a line of dominoes. I can’t use it to read sneakily when there are people around and I’m supposed to be doing something else, but neither my husband nor I find the noise annoying. I was concerned because I had heard the refresh rate is slow, and I am a fast reader, but it’s fast enough not to slow me down.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It also connects via Bluetooth or USB to other devices. I connected it to my iPhone very easily, and it works well. The commands when connected are different from those in stand-alone, and I’m still learning them, but so far, so good. Don’t know why they did that—just to confuse me, I guess.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When editing, it writes exactly what I put in. There’s no translation or formatting. This is exactly what I want, as I tend to write in shorthand and also frequently switch between Grade 2 and computer code. I also use braille music. I don’t want any translation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If I could add something, I’d add an auto-scroll.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>And it would be nice if the notetaker makers would get together and agree on a set of standard commands, so I wouldn’t have to learn a whole new set for each one.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I’ve bought notetakers with all the bells and whistles, but I found I didn’t really use most of them. I keep my own version of a calendar and an address book, and, if I want to surf the Web or mess with email, it’s easy to connect to another device to do that. Really, I could have saved myself 2000 bucks, if this had been out last time I was notetaker shopping. It’s basic, but basic is all I need. And the price is right.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tracy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>