Front of unit

The front of the BrailleNote Apex notetaker.

Rear of unit

The rear of the unit with the battery removed and screws taken out.

Inside, logic board half

The inside of the rear half of the unit, containing the logic board. More stuff on it than I'd expected!

Inside, interface half

The inside of the front half of the unit, containing the keyboard (under the top section), scroll wheel (top centre), and braille display (under the metal plate at the bottom).

Braille Display

The back of the braille display, showing the PCB for each cell, and a lot of hand wiring on each one.

Braille PCBs Closeup

Closeup of some of the braille PCBs and their wiring.

Braille PCB Components

The front side of the braille PCBs. Not sure what the big QFN is, some kind of high voltage driver likely. Didn't want to risk taking the display apart any further than this.

Closeup of a few braille cells

Closeup of a few of the braille cell PCBs, showing the main chip and a bunch of hand wiring.

Display Working

An example of the display working.

Parts Unit Display

The braille cells on my second Apex (a parts unit), much more integrated than the ones on my main unit, no hand wiring on this one.

Parts Unit Braille PCBs

The components on each PCB that make up the braille display on my parts unit. No hand wiring or anything, everything is connectorized and looks machine soldered.

Parts Unit Braille PCB Closeup

A closeup of one of the PCBs on my parts unit. Each cell of 8 dots has one of these PCBs to drive it, 32 of them total.