thanks for the encouragement my friends. actually, i am not new to the concept or the technology. i have had my current dynavox v/max device for about two years. the maestro is the newest model and has a win 7 os as opposed to win xp. i have win 7/64 on my desktop so i can now do some custom apps easier for my dynavox. the exciting part...i will get 9 hours of talk time, not just 2.

carkins, i have no doubt that biab will run beautifully on my maestro. i have never tried it on my win xp model. whenever a text field appears, an on-screen keyboard pops up to enter text. i am tempted to run biab from its external usb drive and provide a report to peter. it constitutes a very tiny market to cause much interest, unfortunately. then there is the matter of touch screen input method. i like your idea though.

they are not inexpensive devices. my older one was us$9,000.00. i think the maestro tops $16,000.00 as near as i can determine. add a couple thousand for accessories like a voltage converter to power it from my wheelchair and a mounting arm and it runs into serious bux (loonies). i have a $15,000.00 power wheelchair that alyssa ramrodded through bureaucracy for me and none of it has cost me a nickel.