Family Support Division
Rehabilitation Services for the Blind

Portable Note Taker Devices

Devices listed in this section are small note taking devices that may or may not use a braillewriter keyboard. While some models include a visual display screen, the majority incorporate speech synthesizers and/or refreshable braille displays.

Advanced Access Devices

2066-C Walsh Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050
voice phone: (408) 970-9760
Fax: (408) 727-9351
e-mail: aadbrl@aol.com
SuperBraille-LT: A personal computer which includes built-in Braille and speech access. Includes a 40-cell 8-dot refreshable Braille display, four PCMCIA Type II slots, CD ROM drive, built-in speech synthesizer, and 32 megabytes of memory.

Arctic Technologies, Inc.

1000 John R. Rd., Suite 108
Troy, MI 48083
voice phone: (248) 588-7370
e-mail: info@artictech.com
Web site: http://www.artictech.com
Braille Desk: Includes braille keyboard and translator.
Braillepad: Includes braille keyboard, Arctic Speech, calculator, book reader, grade 2 back translator, terminal program appointment scheduler, and more. This unit can function as an external synthesizer.
Ergo Braille: Features an ergonomic braillewriter keypad; it can serve as a small speech synthesizer.
SQWERT: Includes a QWERTY keyboard, can operate as external synthesizer, includes same features as BraillePad and Ergo Braille.
Transtype: Bigger than the SQWERT, this note taker is also a synthesizer with a QWERTY keyboard, editor, address book, terminal program, talking clock, and stopwatch. It includes both serial and parallel ports.

Blazie Engineering

109 E. Garrettsville Rd.
Forest Hill, MD 21050
voice phone: (410) 893-9333
fax: (410) 836-5040
Web site: http://www.blazie.com
Braille 'N Speak 2000: Offers braillewriter keyboard; features include word processing, appointment scheduler, address book, scientific calculator and more. It can serve as an external speech synthesizer.
Braille Lite 2000: Similar to the Braille 'N Speak, this unit includes an 18-cell refreshable braille display. It uses a braillewriter keyboard. Both units include two megabytes of flash memory.
Braille Lite 40: Similar to the units mentioned above, this product differs slightly in that it includes a 40-cell refreshable braille display and comes with four megabytes of flash memory.
Type 'N Speak: Includes all features of the Braille 'N Speak 2000. It uses a QWERTY keyboard.

HumanWare

6245 King Rd.
Loomis, CA 95650
voice phone: (916) 652-7253
or (800) 722-3393
Web site: http://www.humanware.com
Braille Companion: HumanWare is the U.S. distributor of this product manufactured in New Zealand. It uses a braillewriter keyboard, includes word processing, scheduler, telecommunications program, MS DOS, an address book feature and more. Some models include small screen in addition to speech. Can double as a synthesizer.
Keynote Companion: Includes features similar to the Braille Companion, but uses a QWERTY keyboard.
Mountbatten Brailler: This unit works as a note taker, Braille printer, electronic Braillewriter, and more. One can use the QWERTY keyboard to produce translated grade 2 braille. Can translate from print to braille and braille to print.

Myna Corporation

239 Western Ave.
Essex, MA 01929
voice phone: (978) 768-9000
fax: (978) 768-9911
e-mail: mynacorp@aol.com
The Myna: A small portable 386-based computer which features built-in DECTalk speech synthesizer, note taker software, scheduler/organizer software, address book, four megabytes of RAM, and two PCMCIA Type II slots. It can run DOS-based screen readers.

Sighted Electronics

464 Tappen Rd.
North Vale, NJ 07647
voice phone: (201) 767-3977
e-mail: sighted@idt.net
Web site: http://www.sighted.com
The BrailleX Compact: A Pentium-based notebook which includes a 40-cell refreshable braille display. It can hold up to 40 megabytes of RAM, includes a small hard drive and floppy drive. The unit has multimedia capabilities. Software associated with the unit includes Windots, a package designed to provide the user with access to Windows 3.1x.

Technologies for the Visually Impaired

9 Nolan Ct.
Hauppauge, NY 11788
voice phone: (516) 724-4479
Web site: http://www.tvi-web.com
This company is the U.S. distributor for the Aria, a note taker with a braille keyboard. It includes a scheduler, phone dialer, address book, calculator and more.

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