Hi Vicky and list, I probably shouldn't write this Email. I don't intend to write anything here to put down anyone or the product they may have at the time. If any given product has served you well, that's great! Keep using it! I certainly have had good service with my BN product an M-power. It usually is there when I need it to be. I certainly have fond memories of my old Braille And Speak especially its small size! It was a work horse and went with me wherever I would go! I took it more places than I did my M-power even though I've traveled with the M-power quite a bit. I really like my M-power but I always wanted that smaller notetaker I could take somewhere, take down my info, read my Email, go to websites, listen to audio streams and once home pass the info back to my M-power if I needed to do so. We can now add daisy books to the mix. I liked being able to pass info from a BNS back to a Braille Lite and back again. Both used the same system and everything was so handy! I can appreciate where the PK came from but I always felt it was over priced for what little it did and much of this price was the built in braille display. I had wished the voicenote could have been the size of a BNS. I probably would have considered one especially if it had the same capabilities of the larger M-power.
Well, a competition product bosts that they use windows CE 5 I think, has user replaceable batteries, can fit in a pocket, (depends on the size of pocket), has a gig of memory to work with, has stereo speakers, can play daisy books and audio streams, has FM radio and records memos. My wife and I are trying this product. If it lives up to what it says it will do, it certainly will give the PK as well as the other notetakers a run for their money or relegate them to history. Time will tell! Technology changes so quickly! Even this choice could be relegated to the museum. Oh yes, it has built in Wy Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. I'm not certain if it will work with the more secure SSL Email system though. We are talking about $1900 US. What impact this will have on the general notetaker marketplace has yet to be felt but it certainly will be interesting! Another piece of competition claims to be on windows 6. I'm not certain what the advantage would be. I guess my part of the wish list would have been a smaller notetaker, the size of the old BNS with the same capabilities of the M-power. I'm afraid I don't know for certain how things will turn out. This competition device has two external braille displays which one can get down the road. These displays can be used with the screen reader available from the same company. They use the USB interface with notetaker and PC. A given feature in a piece of technology might serve you better than myself or visaversa. Yes, I understand where one might be locked in to one type of technology and cannot afford another. This I understand. On the other hand, there are people here with resources. I think the best way to send a message is to purchase the features you need in a given piece of technology. If you need to go to the competition, so be it! The technology in question is there to help you and me! Please accept my appologies for breaking all the rules but I feel I understand people's concerns on this list. I should know more in a few short days. Yes, the M-power and the competition won't be all that compatible but we the consumer have power too. More and more choices are coming into the market place. Please feel free to write me privately. Jim Aldrich http://www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5761 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vicky Collins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Kristen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Joseph Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Braillenote List" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 9:26 PM Subject: Re: [Braillenote] my wish list Hi All, Well, grin, guess it doesn't hurt to dream about what we would like our BN units to do in the future. However, kind of bringing things back down to earth a bit, I can't help but mention what Maurice said in his email to the list in May of this year. Remember, he was talking about the SSL encryption being in the next release, and then the improved Word support being the main thrust of the next release after that one. Also, while I'm writing, I can't help but wonder a bit just where the BN note takers will be headed in the next year or two. This is especially true when we see HW putting more emphasis on its own Trekker GPS, not to mention partnering with companies such as Code Factory to give folks other more portable and main stream options for PDA type devices. Then, too, we have the Sendero GPS soon to be on the note takers distributed by GW Micro. Of course I have no way of knowing; but, I can't help but wonder if perhaps we shouldn't be taking our clues as to where the BN in its current form is headed from how the list regarding this product is now handled by the HW staff? Although I will still have another SMA count on my mPower, the SMA for my PK is up after KS 7.5 is released, and I'm seriously considering whether or not to purchase another one. I mean, in the past, we've kind of always had the idea from HW that they were concerned about the BN family members development, and that good things were still to come, so to speak. However, in the last several months, well, for who knows what reason, I just haven't gotten that impression anymore. Now, don't get me wrong, my PK still goes practically every where with me, but I also realize that technology is something that is almost always going to change. And, although it is kind of hard to believe, I've now had this PK for almost three years. Vicky Collins [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/883 - Release Date: 7/1/2007 12:19 PM ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
