Hi Anders, I gave them so much feedback that they’re probably relieved that I didn’t buy one. Lol But I completely agree with you about it being clunky. Cheers, Donna
> On Jan 5, 2024, at 12:47 PM, Anders Holmberg <and...@pipkrokodil.se> wrote: > > Hi Donna! > Thanks for your review. > I have been thinking of buying this display or getting funded to buy it. > Even though things sounds very cool I think I will wait until they have fixed > some issues. > The issues with the internal editor and having to go in and out of apps is > their real downside. > This has going on in all their devices since the braillino came out several > years ago. > Its a very very clunky way of dealing with things. > Something to tell them maybe. > Bless. > /A > >> 5 jan. 2024 kl. 04:15 skrev 'Donna Goodin' via MacVisionaries >> <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com>: >> >> Hi all, >> >> I have just spent the last two weeks demoing the Activator braille display, >> and I thought I’d send my review in case anyone is interested. >> >> There is a lot to love about this display. Unfortunately, there were also >> some things not to love. >> >> The form factor is amazingly streamline, especially given all that it >> contains. It is slightly bigger than the braille displays most of us are >> used to, but in large part, that is because the back portion contains the >> folding qwerty keyboard. On the right side is the magnetic strip, used for >> connecting the smart dock. On the left, farthest from you, is the USB port >> for connecting it to a computer. In front of that, closer to you, is the >> on/off switch. A long press of this button turns the unit on and off, while >> a short press cycles it between menu, Smartdock, and USB modes. On either >> end of the top of the device are three buttons. The top and bottom buttons >> are up/down buttons, while the right middle button is Enter, and the left >> middle button is back. These buttons are all small, so the middle >> buttons—Enter and Back—are identified with a raised line. Starting in the >> front of the unit, are the concave braille cells, as you would expect. >> Behind those is the Perkins keyboard. The one unique thing about this is >> that there are actually three space bars, two below the braille keys, and >> one in between the two groups of four. And behind that is the qwerty >> keyboard. All you have to do to use the qwerty keyboard is fold it back. >> One of many nice touches HelpTech added is that on the back of the qwerty >> keyboard there are little feet on each side, with a small rubber strip on >> the bottom that you can pull out to help keep the device stable, They >> recommend that you not use the qwerty keyboard in your lap, but I did with >> no problems. You just have to put the feet down, and position your legs so >> that they support the device. A lap desk would accomplish the same thing. >> The qwerty keyboard was comfortable to use, but you do have to stretch to >> reach it, sort of like you do on the Mac, except it’s a slightly bigger >> stretch. The newer units are going to be shipping with a quieter keyboard, >> so at this time I can’t say anything about what it is like to type on, as >> that will not be the same for anyone who purchases a device moving forward. >> >> The concave braille cells, in conjunction with the ATC (Active Tactile >> Control) make reading very comfortable. In my experience the ATC technology >> works quite well, though it worked best when I read with one hand rather >> than two. >> >> It also worked very well as a display when paired with my Mac and my PC. I >> tested with JAWS on my PC, and on the Mac with Voiceover. There is no need >> to install drivers in either use case, you simply plug it in and it is >> detected. You can, of course, also pair it via bluetooth, with PC, Mac, or >> phone. It also works as external storage on the Mac, which was a great >> bonus. (The one problem connecting it to the Mac as external storage is >> that the Mac will dump a bunch of junk files on the Activator. That results >> in a No Disk Room error, so you have to delete the junk files and reboot the >> unit in order to use it after transferring files. Kind of a pain, but you >> can transfer files that way, if you don’t mind the cleanup.) It did not >> work for me as external storage on Windows, more on that later. >> >> Now for the best part, the interface with the iPhone. It is AMAZING! You >> slide the phone into the dock, connect the dock via the magnetic strip, and >> it’s like you have one device that is essentially an iPhone with braille and >> the keyboard of your choice. You can access all your apps and files, and >> you can move files back and forth from the Phone to the Activator. There’s >> also a shortcut on the Activator that you can use to access the apps you use >> most often. It really is very slick. The only drawback, and this won’t be >> a problem for everyone, is that in this configuration, it isn’t very >> portable. The magnetic strip can’t support the dock and phone all by >> itself, so you have to have it on a table or in your lap. You could pick >> the whole thing up and move it, you’d just need to make sure to support the >> dock while you did. >> >> For those of you in the US, the Helptech dealer here is Dream Vision, and >> they are *fabulous to work with. The owner, Damian Pickering was great. >> Their tech support is provided by Mike Tindall, who many of you may remember >> from the old days of Freedom Scientific or HIMS. He was extremely generous >> with his time and support, even though I was only demoing the device. >> >> Now for the minuses. The only USBC port on the device is used to connect it >> as a braille display. There is no option to connect a thumb drive on the >> unit. There is one on the Smartdock, and you can use it to transfer files, >> but in my personal opinion, there are situations where being able to >> transfer files directly from a thumb drive without having to put together >> the whole device/dock/phone ensemble would be handy. >> >> Another huge minus is that currently the only way to update the firmware is >> via HelpTech’s HTUpdate application. That app only runs on a PC, so the >> only way to update the unit is by connecting it to a PC. Those who only own >> a Mac would have no way to update the device. I’m told that there is an >> alternate method of updating under development, but it is not available yet. >> In my case, the same USB issue that prevents my PC from seeing the device >> as external storage also keeps HTUpdate from running. That left me with no >> way to update, more on that in a minute. >> >> Finally, it’s very clear that the Activator is intended for use with the >> iPhone. The firmware that supports the unit as a stand-alone device for >> reading and such is not as robust as I would wish. I’m not one of those who >> wants full notetaker functionality. But for example, there is no file >> Manager. When you open the Editor app, you are taken into a list of all >> files the Editor can open. You press on the one you want, and then have to >> choose between a bunch of options, New, Edit, View and so on. There is also >> no way to close a file but stay in the editor. To exit, you have to back >> out of the file, and that takes you all the way back to the main menu. Then >> to go back into a file, you have to start the whole process all over again. >> I also wish there were more shortcut keys. For example, I often find it >> useful to be able to check the time while in a file. To do that, you have >> to exit the Editor, open the Clock, and press Enter on Display time, and >> then go back into the Editor and reopen your file. The same is true for >> checking battery level. You have to exit the Editor, type I for Info, B for >> battery, then press enter. Then to go back to your file, you back out of >> the battery info, and repeat the process I described above to go back into >> your file in the editor. These are kind of small things, but they make >> overall use of the Activator as a stand-alone device a little more cludgy. >> >> Lastly, Angie’s question about what happens when the iPhone transitions to >> USBC was an important one. Helptech is addressing it, but there are still >> some unknowns. The new dock is being developed, but no >> information—including price—is yet available. So anyone who purchases now >> will have to figure out how they want to deal with that transition. >> >> Now for a cautionary tale, applicable to anyone who deals with Windows 11. >> As I’ve mentioned I wasn’t able to get the PC software that accompanies the >> Activator to work, and I was unable to get the Activator to function as a >> mass storage device. All of us—me and the US dealer Dream Vision thought it >> was a problem with my USB not working properly. We’ve been trying to >> troubleshoot these issues since the week before Christmas, with no luck. >> Finally yesterday, I broke down and called the Microsoft Accessibility >> Helpdesk. I was on the phone with one of their techs for nearly an hour, >> and we got nowhere. The ticket was escalated, and today I heard back from >> Microsoft. Turns out my problems were the result of a known issue with USB >> and Windows 11. The only solution? Wait for Microsoft to release a fix. >> (Heavy sigh.) I’m writing this paragraph because it’s relevant to the >> Activator, but also to caution anyone who might be contemplating upgrading >> to Windows 11 to think about holding off as long as you can. The issue >> impacts a number of USB uses, not just Braille displays, so you could find >> yourself unable to access some peripheral that you can still use under >> Windows 10. In my experience, it seems to primarily impact external storage >> devices other than thumb drives. >> >> So, to sum up, it’s a *very* cool device, but right now there are a lot of >> aspects of it that are up in the air. Given the price point, I have decided >> to hold off until some of this gets resolved. Just a reminder, I was >> testing for myself, not for the blind community at large, so YMMV. I hope >> some find this info helpful, or at least interesting. :) >> Cheers, >> Donna >> >> -- >> The following information is important for all members of the Mac >> Visionaries list. >> >> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if >> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or >> moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >> >> Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. 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