Well…not a coder, but I sort of use both, at different times. I’m not convinced, however, tthat routing keys on a 20-cell display are going to be tht much more helpful really. Still, I had some comments about this that I said I’d crosspost:

Maybe I’ll crosspost this comment:

Having, OK technically soon to be having, two competing low cost braille displays, it’s interesting to compare, or at least observe, the ways in which both companies/groups approached cost cutting. Innovision, who makes BrailleMe, is an Indian (as in from India) startup who is coming out with a display called BrailleMe. It has similar features to the Orbit Reader: standalone notetaking functions, USB and bluetooth connectivity, SD card storage, 20 cells. However, whereas the Orbit Reader has a slower left to right display refresh, BrailleMe refreshes all at once and pretty close to instantly. Where Orbit reader has no cursor routing keys, BrailleMe does have them, situated below the display. Where Orbit Reader has 8-dot cells, BrailleMe uses 6-dot cells. BTW, the noise level generated by both units is probably comparable in volume, although since Orbit Reader refreshes all at once, you hear a single click of multiple cells, rather than the rain stick or such sound that the Orbit makes. As I recall, I like BrailleMe’s keyboard a bit better, but the proof will be in the use when I get my Orbit later this week. Final thing: BrailleMe only supports NVDA and Android and maybe Fire tablets at the moment; iOS and Mac support are coming. As for braille quality, BrailleMe’s is pretty good, somewhere in between Orbit and traditional displays in firmness, meaning you can push the pins down and they pop right back up again, but the feel isn’t “spongy” as it is with the traditional piezeoelectric activated cells we’re used to.

I can see justification for and merit in both sets of compromises. For example, I think more people think they need eight-dot braille than actually need eight-dot braille. They’ve figured out how to represent the cursor by blinking unused dots in the cell, to overcome one objection. So that’s about 40 pins, and 40 corresponding holes, they don’t have to manufacture for. Orbit Reader, on the other hand, has no cursor routing keys, which saves 20 mechanical switches, or capacitive sensors, or whatever they decide to use. They’ve also not tried to make the refresh instantaneous, which probably means they used fewer actuators or something, but tried to compromise to make it still fast enough for good to decent braille readers. By using a four-way arrow cross, they’ve neatly reduced the number of needed switches from 20 to 5…not too shabby. Sure, maybe it’s a bit more manipulation, but we’re only talking about 20 cells here.