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Communications

Text Messaging Device For the Hearing Impaired? 86

Posted by Cliff from the no-frills-messaging dept.
spaceball1 asks: "I was in the army and served in Iraq — one of the side effects being some permanent hearing loss. I now wear hearing aids all of the time, in both ears. Talking on a cell phone has become nearly impossible. I have considered moving to a device more geared towards text messaging, but they are all very expensive and have a lot of the features that I will never use. Are there any devices out there that are geared only towards simple text messaging? The No-Frills-Cell-Phone concept has been largely ignored in the US; does a No-Frills-Text-Messaging device exist?"
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Text Messaging Device For the Hearing Impaired? More

Text Messaging Device For the Hearing Impaired?

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  • Any no-frills cellular phone.

    BTW, any decent hearing aid can nicely cooperate with a good cell phone.
    • Get a cell phone with a nice bright display that will work outdoors for you. Also, make sure and get one with a vibrate mode, so you will 'hear' it ring or signal a message arrival. Also, get one with Bluetooth, and I bet you can find a hearing aid that supports bluetooth! Marc

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cooley ( 261024 )
      I just bought a used Nokia 6800a cell phone. They're older now, so they "seem" feature-limited and "no frills" (no camera, no mp3, no fancy ringtones, etc).

      It's got a fold-out keyboard and is a GREAT text-messaging device. They're cheap as all get out. Mine works great with the Cingular/ATT network.
    • Yes, but that still doesn't guarantee the person will be able to understand the person on the phone.. People on phones are one of the hardest things for a hearing impaired person to understand.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by snowgirl ( 978879 )
      I have a Deaf friend.

      He uses a Blackberry. You get a data-rate only, with no voice... perfect for him.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by mcspoo ( 933106 )
      Hearing Aids DO NOT cooperate with cell phones, or any phones for that matter. How do I know this? I've been wearing hearing aids since I was smaller than Wee Man.

      I use a Sidekick II from T-Mobile under Data contract. Cost about $40/mo.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by zogger ( 617870 )
        How is the web browser on the sidekick, what kind of speeds do you get, and is it really unlimited data like they say on their website?

        thanks in advance.
        • I have the $5.99/month unlimited data add-on to my T-Mobile cell plan and it is truly unlimited.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by zogger ( 617870 )
            certainly seems cheap enough for a backup internet connection. I was on a local wireless high speed net deal, then another company moved in, now those of us in the overlapping areas get squat, they conflict with each other,so I had to go back to dialup and landline. BUT, I have a verizon cell account, I think I just might switch to t-mobile and get a sidekick with the data plan. redundancy is a good deal.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by mcspoo ( 933106 )
          Speeds are like, say, 56k modem speeds. It could be better, but it works perfectly well for accessing email, movie listing, etc. Not really usable as a full web browser, but it does the trick. My primary use of the web browser is for G-Mail or work email. Works perfectly fine, even in the middle of nowhere in Michigan :)

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by zogger ( 617870 )
            Thanks. Seems like it is worth looking into anyway, seeing as how cell phones in general have become so necessary, and it's only a few bucks more for the data plan.

            As to dialup speeds, heck, that's what I'm using now!

  • Songs for the deaf (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ronz0o ( 889697 ) on Friday May 04, 2007 @10:46AM (#18988377) Homepage
    The college that I currently go to is one of about 4 in the United States that has American Sign Language as a major. Since sign is the second language on the campus, this guarantees that deaf students will be more likely to come here. Several of my friends here are deaf, including several teacher. From what I can tell, many of them will use the Sidekicks for communication, and one of the teachers also uses a blackberry. I'm assuming that you can go to the phone company, and they will more than likely have text plans for those who are deaf.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Kickersny.com ( 913902 )
      I'll second this; my school is about 10% deaf/hearing-impaired and they almost unanimously use Sidekicks.

    • My grandmother is deaf. All three of her children are licensed sign language interpreters. And several of her grandchildren are licensed sign language interpreters. If you're deaf and in Alabama, it wouldn't be surprising if you know my family. :-)

      Grandma uses a Blackberry. Several of the others use a Sidekick. For some reason T-Mobile seems to be the preferred provider, but I'm not sure why.

      By the way, sorry to hear about your loss and, in all seriousness, thanks for serving.

    • Yep, it's all about the Sidekicks. That's what my deaf friend uses.

    • Sidekicks are where it's at. I don't live that far from Gallaudet - Sidekicks are everywhere there, and have been for some time. It's the only phone I know of that's been focused on texting for several generations now, which means they've got it down pat. This also means that if you're on a budget or are really averse to a large featureset, you could grab an older model one and toss in your SIM card.

      - Stefan
      • if you're on a budget or are really averse to a large featureset, you could grab an older model one and toss in your SIM card.

        Indeed. Even the original grayscale-screened Sidekick is eminently usable for text communications: SMS, POP email, and AIM support are built-in, with IP-RELAY and i711 Wireless clients available as free downloads. The soft rubber keypad is a joy to thumb-type on.

  • TTY? (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Have you looked into TTY services? Or Relay services?

    Personally, I have a Treo 600. I can hear ok with the speakerphone, and I love the keyboard for sending text messages, which I do often. But when I need to call someone and discuss something important, I use an online Relay service like Hamilton Relay (google for it). It's free (domestically, anyway), and it's just like using AIM, basically, except you're on the phone.

    I wish more people would STOP using the phone and switch to email or texting. I hat

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fbjon ( 692006 )
      Put a message in your answering service that says the person needs to send a text message instead, then turn it on permanently. Anyone who calls will then immediately get the answering machine message, instead of making your phone ring.
  • Obvious solution is, of course, a no-frills phone with an SMS/Data plan.

    Otherwise a two-way pager f.ex. Motorola T900 or a Blackberry since it has a full keyboard. But most important is to find a way to get it subsidized as a hearing-impaired communication device.

  • Pretty much all phones have texting capabilities. Even an old Nokia phone (read: cheap) I have opens up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, and with some cell phone plans you get unlimited SMS messages.

    So what's the issue here? That it has a camera? Don't use it. That it has polyphonic ring tones? Don't use them. That it has an MP3 player? Don't use it.

    The phone I just mentioned above (don't quite remember the model number) has both a camera and ring tones and a bunch of other junk that I never used. I just i
    • If you've seen Babel, then you'll know the other solution. In that movie the deaf people in that movie were using sign language over video messaging to communicate. Of course this was in Japan where it's probably much easier to get a plan that supports this for a reasonable price, but give it a few years, and hopefully america phone companies will warm up to the idea.

  • Sidekick iD (Score:2, Informative)

    by reneg8 ( 1097661 )
    T-Mobile has the Sidekick iD for $99 (with contract and rebate) which isn't too pricey. I've used a sidekick for about 4 years now, pretty much just as a web/email/texting device. It has a great keyboard that you can type at a pretty good pace on. It has an IM client for Aim and Yahoo (I think) as well. http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/Detail.aspx?de vice=ab49893d-e81e-4065-ae87-ee2554ab2688 [t-mobile.com]
    • I've never used one, but I know a large portion of the deaf community where I live use Sidekicks. I see them all the time as I'm walking around the area.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by X00M ( 526040 )
        So does T-mobile offer a text only plan for the Sidekick iD or is the deaf/hh user stuck paying for a voice line that won't be used? AT&T wireless (pre-cingular) used to have a device called the oGo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogo [wikipedia.org] but it has since been discontinued.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by d474 ( 695126 )
      That looks like the perfect fit for what this guy is asking for. If I was texting all the time, I'd want that keyboard instead of using "T9".

  • ZipIT (Score:3, Informative)

    by Constantine XVI ( 880691 ) <trash@eighty+slashdot.gmail@com> on Friday May 04, 2007 @10:54AM (#18988523)
    If you're looking into a cellphone, there's always the Blackberry/Treo/Sidekick/Nokia 91xx(i think), and you can find most of those on eBay for cheaper than your provider has them for. However, if you'd be content to just use the nearest WiFi hotspot, there's something called the ZipIt which runs $100, and handles all the standard IM networks. Added bonus: it runs Linux.

  • Texting Tools (Score:4, Informative)

    by Teratoma86 ( 988021 ) on Friday May 04, 2007 @10:56AM (#18988569)
    My brother has been deaf since he was 8 months old. With the technology available today, he (and all the members of the multiple deaf societies of which he is part) uses a Sidekick. He tried no frills cell phones, cell phones with frills, and even a Blackberry. He says that for a heavy texting user, the Sidekick rocks.

    Some states also mandate that the local telephone carriers subsidize the use of a C-phone (which they also provide), but that is tied to a land line although portable versions are available for retail purchase.

    Good luck with your search!

    • It would seem to me that any phone that has good text messaging ability (good keypad, etc.) would be ideal. The only problem I see is in regards to not having to pay for voice service.

  • Zounds (Score:2, Informative)

    by stanfordguy ( 1097665 )
    You may want to check out a new hearing aid from a company called Zounds. My dad just purchased a pair, and loves them. He always complained about your same issue - the feedback problem with speaking on the phone. Good luck.
  • Don't know if the v100 is still available or, for that matter,
    if it is compatible with US mobile systems.
    A phone specifically designed for texting but pretty well useless for
    speech (!).

    More realistically look at the Nokia E62 if you can find a decent
    connection deal. Better yet, get the E61 (probably have to import from Europe)
    this supports WiFi connectivity as well as GSM (and 3G)
    and dozens of messaging features.

    Andy
    • If you go with Nokia and you care more about email than SMS, one other option is to just get the older 6680 (Europe) or 6681/6682 (US) and get EQ3 Email [eatoni.com]. With the purchase they send you for free a qwerty-like replacement keypad for the phone, which has a performance of about 3xT9 (and that for words that T9 knows - the email app's predictive engine is even better on non-dictionary words). So you end up with a device that has text entry capabilities close to a full qwerty device, but is smaller while having
  • Now that I think about it I have my old Sidekick Color in a drawer here. It still works fine, I switched to the Sidekick II because it is tri-band so I could use it when I travel overseas and it is a better voice phone than the Color is. Since you don't need that feature you'd probably be just fine with it. You would just need to make sure that T-Mobile will activate it for you (needs a sim card with a Sidekick account). All yours, free, if you want it and confirm that it will work out for you. It even
  • You might try 2-way pagers (like a Motorola T900 [beepers.com]). They have a full qwerty keyboard (although very small) and service can be reasonable (500 messages for $20). I used these pagers before and liked them.
  • Blackberries work great for this but you may want to look into a headset that can plug into your hearing aid. The Eli DIRX works pretty good for this too. http://www.elihearing.com/UnitedStatesENG/index.ht m [elihearing.com]
  • You could pick up a used Sidekick or last-gen Treo or Blackberry pretty cheaply on Ebay- just don't use the phone or email and you've got a great cheap messaging platform. You can even find a brand new Nokia 6822 [trustedreviews.com] there for about US$100 - pretty much the smallest package that you'll find with a QWERTY keyboard.
  • Try the Nokia 8600 series if it's still around. I think the E70 is the current model.

  • Better hearing aids might be the key (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I have a congenital 50dB hearing deficit in both ears. I lived with crappy analog devices for over 20 years. If you can afford it (and I know they're expensive) go digital.

    Up until I bought my latest set of hearing aids I had a lot of difficulty with phones. I was able to get a basic pair of digital In The Canal (ITC) hearing aids last time, and it has made a world of difference. The digital processing makes for much better sound quality and feedback is greatly diminished. The smaller ITC form factor a
  • Set the ringer to vibrate.
  • I think the cheapest would be a bluetooth cellphone and a bluetooth mini keyboard. The next in line I'd recommend would be Palm OS Treo, Blackberry (better KB than Nokia), Sidekick and then that Nokia Full-KB cellphone.
    BTW: The ears are the closest to being repareable with cybernetic enhancements. There are completely deaf people who've had implants with mics and coils attached to their hearing nerves (or so) who can now hear. I saw this on a TV show about 10 years ago, it should be a relatively regular thi
    • cochlear implants have been done for about 30 years, and still have many years left before it's even close to "real hearing"
  • I have done a lot of work with the hearing impaired, and companies that deal with the hearing impaired so I can speak somewhat intelligently on this.

    The Blackberry is really the device of choice these days with the hearing impaired and deaf. They're relatively cheap (especially if you buy an older model), they actually are quite solid and can take a beating and parts (like batteries) are cheap and easy to buy.

    Also, if you're registered as disabled and/or hearing impaired you may actually be able to get fina

  • You have options (Score:2, Informative)

    by flerchin ( 179012 )
    I married a wonderful Deaf lady who is a professor at a public university with a large Deaf program. While I'm hearing, I interact on a daily basis with a large range of hard of hearing individuals. While your experience is largely different from most hard of hearing individuals, there are many programs and technologies out there for you to take advantage of.

    Let me preface this by saying that the services are US based, and YMMV greatly in another country with a less established deaf community.

    Relay:

    In nearl
  • http://www.virginmobileusa.com/rates/home.do [virginmobileusa.com] You can get the switchback for $99 Sign up for min to min $.18/min (which you won't use) Sign up for the 1000 SMS for $9.99/month you get penny txt till you go over then it's $.05/per txt It's pre-pay so no contract. SO you get txting with no voice use for 10 bux a month. And say your non-hearing imparied firends fam need to use the phone for voice you always have that option without having to have a voice plan with include min.
  • I don't use a Sidekick anymore (I have a T-Mobile Dash now), but it has a great keyboard, awesome AIM client, decent text messaging, email, web, and you can download relay services from the Catalog. The Sidekick has pretty much become the device of choice among the deaf community, probably because it has one of the best keyboards on a mobile device, good non-audio notifications (e.g. unique vibrate/flash patterns for differnet notifications) and a lot of other nice features.

    The new Sidekick iD is $99 with a
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • >Talking on a cell phone has become nearly impossible.

    Which models have you tried? Verizon is very good about offering cell phones for the hearing impaired, and you can try nearly evey phone in their store before purchasing. I lost my hearing 7 years ago to illness (while active duty USAF, no less) and was left profoundly deaf. Left ear is completely gone, right ear works just enough for a high-powered hearing aid (100% deaf medically speaking). I use a digital Phonak, and previously an analog, w
  • I have a new Nokia 9000i you can have for free. It will work on
    T-Mobile, Cingular or any GSM service. It will make you look like
    Maxwell Smart with his shoe phone.

    http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/9000i#phone_feature s [nokiausa.com]

  • Get a 9300 or a 9500. The 9500 has a considerably better keyboard but it's a bigger phone. The 9300 is very pocketable. They're probably relatively cheap now, because their successor (the E90) is almost ready. The E90 is somewhat bigger than the 9300 but smaller than the 9500. It's main benefits are multimedia and UMTS.

    All of them have excellent keyboard compared to other phones and they still work like a decent phone as well (not like pda like windows smartphone lot).

    Regards,
    Peter

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