Test

 Test

Wheels to go Resources

How to  choose a wheelchair

https://youtu.be/dPRLh-MAdtY?si=XBw4k-z26uTwqf2M

Stores and Sources

Your doctor and medicare (to see if your situation warrants a mobility chair)

1xmobility

www.xmobility1.com (Leola) makes home visits

Sunset 

https://www.sunsethealthsafetyproducts.net/

Spinlife (major national catalogue and showroom in Newcastle, Delaware)

https://www.spinlife

Craigslist (search)

https://lancaster.craigsliistiorgi/

eBay

IMobility Chairs”

Jazzy Carbon

https://youtu.be/JmybRzC17AY?si=TM3TlyX9O1RhlzIT

Battery Warehouse

1071 Mannheim Pike

Lancaster, Pa. 17601

Phone:  717-392-8484

Website:  batterywarehouseonline.com

P

snrtech.blogspot.com

In the future reach us at snrtech.blogspot.com instead of snrtech.org.  Thank you!

Best advice on in-home projectors

 Projectors as an alternative to other means of accessing internet are extremely cheap. 

There are a dizzying number of new brands out there with strange names, each one with a variety of models.    The projectors vary greatly in their capabilities.

So there are pitfalls in choosing and installing the device.  And there are a lot of other things you need to do in preparation for the device.

Most important you first need a dark room. That means equipping the room ahead to make it dark in an effective way. That means an easy and quick way also.

Blackout curtains are a start.

And then you will be fumbling around in the dark trying to operate your remote unless you mirror your screen from your smartphone to the stick you will be using.  Or from your iPad, my preference.

You may want to dedicate a smartphone to the purpose. Search phones can be had from QVC for way under $100 even with a Year's service. But you won't need that service.

I also use a targeted lamp where I am viewing, PLUS Alexa to switch the room lights off and on.

Then you need to choose a short or long throw projector. 

What does that mean?

It means you need to size the projector to the room. Otherwise you may have a projector  that you need to place in the middle of the room in order to get a small enough picture.

A short by throw projector has a throw ratio between 0.4 and 1. The throw ratio is calculated using the distance from the projector to screen divided by the maximum projected width of the image.

So you need a short throw projector. Newer projectors have adjustable lenses down to 3.8 ft from screen to device.

These were formerly very expensive but now are dirt cheap.

I bought a short throw Vankyo for $35 with nothing on the back side so that I can stand it up and display to the ceiling.

I also bought a large RCA for $29 which was luckily able to work in my 8-ft wide rim.

Next you need to provide a stick which works well with your particular device.  I also wanted to use both speaker and headphones with the stick.

The Roku Express worked well with everything, except for headphones.  I needed to substitute the standard Roku remote for a Roku remote which enables plug-in to remote for headphones.

The Amazon fire stick does have the ability to connect with headphones by Bluetooth but did not work with my RCA projector. The Google TV stick also has the ability to connect Bluetooth.

The TiVo 4K stick worked well with my RCA except for headphones.

Projectors are getting better and better. The Yowick projectors are probably the most promising new ones. I have not ordered one yet.  

This product has the best user guide I have seen for projectors. Using the controls is going to require some effort and this guide simplifies the process.  You can download this guide from Amazon for the Yowick DPO2W.

This device promises 1080 resolution for the number of dots per inch.  Generally though you will not find inexpensive projectors with this resolution.  Inexpensive projectors do run 1080 but they do it by downsizing to 720.

The 720 only falls short when you are looking at a travel video showing a vista of scenery.   Standard TVs up to 32 inch have only 720.

You certainly don't need high definition for talking heads.  You also do not need 720 for motion pictures which generally are not that high definition  anyway.

Expect to spend a lot of time just figuring out your best arrangements and choices. Not as simple as hanging a flat screen on your wall but nowhere near as expensive.

Listen to Text on Your Android Phone While Doing Something Else

 A much underused and very useful capability on smartphones is the ability to have text read aloud from the screen.

This capability can be used to read Kindle books.

The gestures to activate this capability vary from phone to phone.

They may require sliding two fingers up, or sliding two fingers down, or simply tapping on a “bubble” which appears on the screen.   Tapping the bubble, brings up the play or pause or quit options.

The capability needs to be installed.  Installation for Android is tricky.

Also, it is important to install the proper text to speech software. You want to be able to toggle the capability on and off simply.

That means you do NOT want the talk back capability, which reads back screen commands, unless you are sight impaired.  That can be very confusing and require a lot of effort. Also, you do NOT want the requirement to select text first.

You want to be able to turn speech off and on, or toggle it, easily when needed and when not wanted

Set up requires going to the accessibility options in settings, and also the general options, in settings for android.

Text to speech needs to be enabled and then voice data installed.   Then the speak text on/off toggle action needs to be installed.

Some devices require the android accessibility suite app to be installed first before the above actions, in order to accomplish the above.

Once you have the capability, you can listen to any reading material while your eyes are involved in doing something else.

(114) How to Turn On Text To Speech Read Aloud on Android/Samsung - 2022 - YouTube

Getting it Read Out Loud

 The very best way to have a book read aloud.Is Alexa. Once the book is available from audible.all that is necessary is to.ask Alexa to read it.    There are free books available from Audible on Amazon.  This is best for the sight impaired.   Those with good eyesight will find the audible app most helpful.

Next best is to use.text-to-speech on a Kindle Fire.  .Swiping up from the bottom of the screen.presents a speaker.and arrow to be clicked to start.   Simple. The iPad can be set to read aloud by swiping down with two fingers.

Also available on the Kindle Fire and eReaders  is Voiceview.   The problem with Voiceview is that it makes navigation much more difficult.

Audible books are then the next easiest on many devices from their app.   Just click to start reading.

Then there is Librivox with loads of free books.  Similarly Audiobooks app.

Beyond that is the Gutenberg app and.The Internet Archive.

Last, is your local library online.

16 Best Free Audio Book Websites (October 2022) (lifewire.com)

Updating for Better Tech for Seniors

 Things I have been selling or giving away…

1. PC tower, eliminating clutter, cables, awkward hubs and wires, slow drives, and obsolescence, Windows 10

2. Landline phone - too expensive, too many nuisance calls

3. Kindle eReaders - Paperwhites too hard to navigate, books and media much too expensive

4. Conventional speakers and sound systems - take too much space, are nowadays included in devices

5. Old headphones - cost, confusing controls, poor fit, old bluetooth

6. Most news and magazine subscriptions - far too costly on Amazon

7. Many individual book purchases - available now with services and especially Calibre searches

8. Older streaming TV “sticks

And replacing with…

1. HP $200 Win 11 15” laptop, also 17” with touch screen at $400

2. Ethernet phone service with Obihai adapter - $40 a .year

3. Latest 8” Kindle Fire for easy ebook reading (with read aloud voice)

4. Alexa Echo wall plugins with distributed speakers

5. New $20 folding swivel bluetooth headphones with simple controls

6. New Moto smart phone WITH year’s service for under $100 total (HSN)

7. Old overstocked but still new top Nexus 5x phone now under $100 on eBay (with separate free TextNow phone number and service)

8. Apple News on old iPad with VAST reading access, nothing else gives such broad reading access

9. Calibre app on Mac or Windows for books - with broadest media searching and access at least cost (see wikihow)

10.  Google Chromecast TV with remote control and ease of use, best searching by far, though limited apps

11. Roku Ultra for ethernet, 4K, and vast app/channel library