All Deals

An EBay seller and Blind Bargains reader has listed a Pac mate QX400 notetaker with a starting bid of $325. By comparison, a new Pac Mate Omni retails at over $2,300. This QWERTY keyboard unit is one generation removed from the Omni, but can be easily upgraded through Freedom Scientific's trade-in program. Auction ends November 7.

There's another Trekker GPS system on EBay with a starting bid of $400 plus shipping. This one is running version 3.0 and also includes other PDA functions. These sell for nearly $2,000 new. Auction ends today.

An EBay seller and Blind Bargains reader has posted an Alva ABT Series 3 80-cell braille display with a starting bid of $750. With about $14, that's several thousand dollars off the price of a new unit. It's advertised as working and comes with connection cables. Here's some info from Synapse Adaptive describing the display in more detail. Auction ends November 7.

Dollarright via Amazon.com has the ClassCo VoiceAnnounce Talking Caller ID Model# 9900CW) for $33.95. With free shipping, we couldn't find it for less elsewhere. This unit allows you to record names for up to 50 numbers, works with most call waiting services, and offers a custom outgoing message feature.

An EBay seller and Blind Bargains reader has posted a Victor Reader Stream portable media player with a starting bid of $200. With $10 for shipping, that's nearly $140 off the cost of a new unit. Plus, an 8GB memory card is included. Auction ends October 31.

Orbit Research has just released the iBill Talking Banknote Identifyer for $99.99. At this price, this is the least expensive bill identifyer currently on the market. According to the manufacturer, this device recognizes every US banknote in circulation in about a second and is able to announce denominations by voice, tones or vibration. The iBill runs on 1 AAA battery and can be ordered immediately.

Earlier today, we let you in on a security vulnerability found in JAWS 10 as reported on Tyler Spivey�s blog. According to the blog, a security vulnerability exists in JAWS 10 allowing a user to gain access to the command prompt as an administrator from the login screen. It allows an attacker to gain full system access to the computer, according to the post. We were not able to verify the claim, but you can listen to an audio demonstration of the process and try it yourself by navigating to the link above.

Attention supporters of Braille literacy through electronic Braille and the
right for consumer choice.

The above link will take you to a petition created
by the National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science and Open Braille API Initiative. This petition vehemently opposes the Secure and Compatible Braille Display driver signing polacy recently announced by Freedom Scientific. Please follow the below link to read more and if in agreement, show your support by adding your name and optional comments.

At Blind Bargains, we're big fans of Amazon Prime, the website's membership club offering free two-day shipping. First of all, there's no $25 minimum order to get free shipping. We've ordered $3 packages of batteries, $10 CD's, and many other items without paying an additional cent for shipping. Furthermore, Prime offers us an assurance of when items will arrive. With two-day shipping for free, we know exactly when to expect the items we order. Amazon will display the day the item will arrive on the product page while logged in. If we need something faster, overnight shipping is available for $3.99 per item. Combine this with Amazon's one-click ordering, and the $79 annual membership becomes an indispensable tool. You can try it free for a month using the link on this post. Also, split the cost with up to four family members to save more money. In our opinion, once you go Prime, there's no turning back.

A press release from book and content distributor Baker & Taylor speaks of a new partnership with K-NFB Reading Technology and mentions an upcoming electronic book reader. According to the release, "K-NFB Reading Technology’s new e-reader will operate seamlessly on a variety of electronic
devices, including
personal computers
, smart phones and cell phones." This could allow for speech and braille access to a vast library of books of a magnitude never seen before.
Baker and Taylor distributes and manages over 1.1 million E-books, though it is unclear how many will be available on the upcoming software. Here's another press release from the National Federation of the Blind, using the term millions in reference to the amount of books which may be commercially available. Watch Blind Bargains for more news on this new product as it develops.

An EBay seller and Blind Bargains reader has listed an almost new in box Humanware Maestro Trekker talking GPS system with a current bid of $400. These retail for nearly $1,900 new and includes a fully-functioning accessible GPS software and PDA functions. It has been barely used and comes with standard accessories. Auction ends October 14.

As a reminder, you can win a Moshi Travel Alarm Clock by following us on Twitter. All you have to do to enter is
Follow blindbargains on Twitter. If you're already following us, great! You're already entered. On October 20 at around 5 PM eastern, we'll take all current Twitter followers and randomly select one to win the Moshi.
We hope you'll join us on Twitter, and be the first to see our latest deals, articles, and news.
Spamming by opening multiple Twitter accounts will not be tolerated.
Read on for complete rules.

Our sister site, ATGuys.com, is now offering the KNFB Reader Mobile with the more powerful Nokia N86 cell phone.
Purchase the software with a Nokia N86, your choice of Mobile Speak or Talks, and Wayfinder Access GPS software for $2,095 plus shipping. Or get the reader, phone, and screen reader for $1,770 plus shipping. Other bundles are also available. The N86 offers high-speed 3G data coverage, 8GB of built-in memory, a faster processor, and FM transmitter among other features.

APH offers discounts on several items in their Fall Harvest sale. Of note, they seem to be clearing out a lot of Handi-Cassette II players and accessories, including half off on the rechargeable batteries, instruction tapes, and battery clips. They are also offering $10 off titles in the Verbal View series which teaches Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Internet techniques. Some braille books and cookbooks are also included. Sale ends December 31.

Braille Works offers the Index Basic D braille embosser for $2,900. With about $50 for shipping, that's roughly $800 off and the lowest price we could find. This embosser prints interpoint braille on tractor-fed paper. Deal ends September 30.

New Designs Unlimited writes to inform us of the Speakeasy Media System, advertised as a computer for the blind. It offers a menu-driven interface to Email, radio stations, podcasts, scanning, and much more. Packages range from $495 (software only) to $1,995 with a laptop, iPOD, scanner, and two years of free upgrades.

An EBay seller and Blind Bargains reader has posted a copy of the PAC Mate Scan Talker bar code software with a starting bid of $1. No bar code scanner is included, though the Metrologic scanner at A T Guys is compatible, among many others. The software normally retails for close to $500. Auction ends August 31.

Our sister site, ATGuys.com, is now an authorized reseller of the KNFB Reader Mobile software and bundled packages. Purchase the software with a Nokia N82, your choice of Mobile Speak or Talks, and Wayfinder Access GPS software for $1,895 plus shipping. Or get the reader, phone, and screen reader for $1,595 plus shipping. Other bundles are also available.

Recently, J.J. Meddaugh made a presentation in the Accessible Devices chat room concerning the BCScan website and associated programs which allow users to scan and identify products using bar codes. The archive of this presentation is now available and linked from this post.

Several leaked hints appear to lead to the imminent release of version 6.0 for the KNFB Reader Mobile, the software-based mobile scanning solution for the Nokia N82 phone. First off, a new version of the reader for people with learning disabilities, the kReader, has been released as version 6.0.7. Here's a link to the release notes. These notes mention the ability to translate between different languages using a data or wireless Internet connection. It also appears from these notes that additional language support is licensed separately, though no exact cost is given. In addition, James Gashel, Vice President of Marketing for KNFB Reading Technologies, mentions a release around the first part of January in this message posted to the Reader-users mailing list. Other messages have also mentioned the possible support for the Nokia 6220 Classic as an additional phone model. Current users are promised a year of free upgrades, though we expect the language support to carry an additional charge. We'll post more information as it becomes available.
Update: Based on the user manual for version 5.6.3 of the KNFB Reader Mobile in Europe, the volume keys on the phone can now control the reader volume. Also, two voices: a message voice and a reading voice are selectable. We're unsure if these features will be available in the U.S. release.