All Deals

An EBay seller has listed a working Vera Reading Machine with a starting bid of $199. Made by Freedom Scientific, this device originally sold for $3,000 and is a stand-alone reading machine. Auction ends January 4.

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An EBay seller has listed a copy of Kurzweil 1000 Version 11 with a current bid of $123.50 plus $15 for shipping. New copies cost $995, and this is the latest version. Auction ends January 5.

It's not often that we see one of these, but an EBay seller has listed a Trekker GPS system with a starting bid of $500. That's less than half the retail price. This model runs on the Dell Axim PDA and includes several accessories. We are unsure as to the version of the Trekker software, however. Auction ends January 3.

For the United States, Turbo Tax has launched their annual tax preparation software, and once again, you can file your Federal return for free. Other options that may give you a higher return are also available from this page. Tax day isn't until April 15, but you might as well pick up that refund now. It's your money.

Here's one for our overseas readers. Traveleyes, a UK-based company specializing in travel excursions for the blind and visually impaired, offers an 11-day, 10-night Cuban vacation for 1,049 pounds (about $2,000). To get this rate, mention Blindbargains2008 when booking, saving you 100 pounds. The trip is April 16-26, 2008 and includes your flight, lodging, and most meals. A detailed itinerary is available from the link on this post.

Enhanced Vision offers the Max Color Digital Magnifier for $99 with the purchase of a Merlin LCD CCTV. That's $350 off the retail price for this unit. Resembling the size of a computer mouse, the Max reading aid connects directly to your TV or monitor in seconds and enlarges print on any surface curved or straight. No end date is given for the deal. note: If you can't find this deal on the website, contact them and ask for Justin Moore.

Independent Living Aids has the Surfboard voice-activated remote control, also called the Accenda-3, for $49.95. This is $15 off the normal price. With about $9 for shipping, it's the lowest price we could find for this item.. The Surfboard allows you to control your TV, VCR, DVD player, or other device using built-in voice commands or commands that you customize.

Humanware has released version 1.0 of their Stream Companion software which works with the Victor Reader Stream. It offers a streamlined interface for transferring and sorting media as well as a tool for converting voice notes recorded on the stream into .WAV format.

From all of us at Blind Bargains, have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a festive holiday season. We'll be celebrating along with you over the holidays, so updates will be a bit less frequent. Thanks for a great year, and we wish you the best for 2008!

Dean Martineau has put together a loaded Top Tech Tidbits for this week. Read to learn about some great articles from Fred's Head, some vista tips, and the latest technology news. Tidbits is published most Thursdays.

With the Victor Reader Stream adding support for Audible books, we thought we'd mention their current special. Audible.com offers three months of their gold audiobook service for $7.49 per month, which is half off. Audible gives you credits each month which you can use to download audio books and other content. In addition to the stream, many mainstream devices such as the Creative Zen Stone as well as most computers can play the files.

An EBay seller has listed a Romeo Braille Embosser, model RB40, with a current bid of $142.51. Shipping adds about $40. We love how the description focuses on the value of the case more than the embosser, but our readers know otherwise. It's a single-sided embosser that prints up to 40 characters per second. Auction ends December 23.

Adaptive Information Systems has the new executive case for the Victor Reader Stream for $34. Shipping adds about $5, or get it shipped for free when ordering it with a Victor Reader Stream at $299. That's about $2 off retail and the lowest price we could find. This case offers better protection and more storage compartments than the standard case that comes with the unit.

Fredom Scientific has released the PAC Mate Omni, a combination hardware and software upgrade for the PAC mate BX/QX family of notetakers. This upgrade, now running Windows Mobile 6.0, adds 128MB of flash memory, improved Office Mobile support, and numerous other enhancements. This upgrade costs between $299 and $699, depending on the existance of a product and/or software maintenance agreement.

Amazon.com has the Nokia N75 cell phone for $24.99 profit. TO get this price, establish a new line of service with AT&T. Discounts are also available for extending your contract. This phone includes Bluetooth 2.0 support, 3G data connectivity, and a MicroSD memory slot. It's supported by Code Factory's Mobile Speak software for Symbian phones.

We've been waiting for an announcement from Code Factory regarding their recent partnership with AT&T and it looks like it has now come. AT&T offers licenses for Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier for $89, a significant savings off retail. We assume service with AT&T is required, and a short list of five phones is initially supported including the Nokia E62 and N75. We'll post more as we learn about it, and watch our site for deals on supported phones in the coming days. There isn't a lot of info on the AT&T site yet, but you can contact the National Center for Customers with Disabilities (NCCD) at 1-866-241-6568.

Sendero Group has released version 4.2 of their GPS software for the BrailleNote family of products, which adds at least twenty software improvements and a small number of bug fixes. Of note, route calculations are claimed to be 20 percent faster, audio and text files can be associated with points of interest, and GPS headings are smoothed out. This upgrade costs $149, or the use of one count on a current software maintenance agreement.

Independent Living Aids has this simple talking watch with a male voice for $3.50. With about $7 for shipping, it's one of the cheapest talking watches we've ever seen. It has three alarm sounds and distinguishable buttons for setting the time and alarm. Deal ends December 31.

Once again, Blind Mice Mart has the Talking Cooking Thermometer for $27. With free shipping, it's the lowest price we could find for this item. Stick the long probe into meat or other foods and hear the temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree.