[Trainer-talk] My Observations About the Braille Edge 40 From HIMS

[Michael D. Barber]

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