[BRLTTY] Choosing the right Braille display

[Jason White]

Daniel Dalton <d.dalton at iinet.net.au> wrote:
> I've got to make a fairly fast decision in regards to choosing a Braille
> display. Ideally I would have gone with the Baum super vario, but this
> is no longer available in Australia. 

You could contact Baum and find out what price they would offer you. This
would involve importing the hardware, but I've done that before with no
difficulties. You would need to calculate the exchange rate and take account
of the shipping costs, but that's easy enough.
> 
> So, I am currently considering the humanware Brailliant BI 40 display or
> the HIMs braille edge 40. Does anyone own these displays and if so are
> they good, or do they have some negative aspects? 

I know someone who has a Brailliant BI 40 and who is very pleased with it,
including the BRLTTY support. I am also considering buying one at some stage,
as I want a display with a braille keyboard that can connect to a mobile
device via bluetooth.

The BRLTTY protocol support for these displays was introduced as of version 4.4

There have been substantial price reductions across the braille display
industry in recent years. I don't know what is driving these, or what effects
they will have on quality. Any manufacturers who haven't brought their prices
down will find it hard to compete in the new environment, which is surely why
every manufacturer I checked (Alva, Baum, Handytech, Papenmeier, HumanWare,
Freedom Scientific, etc.) offers a 40-cell display below the US$3000 price
point. (I am referring to US prices because they are easiest to find on the
Web).