Ahhh…that’s the million dollar question now, isn’t it? It would be presumptuous of me to tell you how to spend your hard earned money, but I can tell you the features, functions, and price of the Infinity are unmatched. Check out the writer comparisons if you don’t believe me.

Me? I’m what they call an over-researcher. I like to do my homework and know everything about everything on top of everything. You should too. Do your homework, that is. Educate yourself. After all, I didn’t spend hours crafting all this carefully constructed prose for nuthin.

Hall-effect. They’re basically special sensors which give us the ability to scan and monitor key movement more than 1,000 times per second. Sound like a lot of measurements? Well it is. And in this case, more really is better.

So…what exactly does that mean? It means unsurpassed clarity in your writing and our ability to tell you how to become even better. We’re like the government. We can track your every movement. Yes, even that final “S” that just appeared out of nowhere.

Uh. Stacking? You shouldn’t stack the writer, they’re not really shaped right. Oh…not that kind of stacking. Got it. Stacking, as in the unintentional combining of two hands into a single outline.

Well, in that case, the Infinity series of writers goes way beyond standard anti-stacking algorithms. Its unique organic intelligence provides not only anti-stacking, but intelligent anti-splitting, anti-dragging and anti-dropping capabilities. Pretty dang cool, huh? All you have to do is follow the simple setup guide and in no time you’ll be writing better than <insert name of your favorite speed champion here>.

Of course. Duh. I mean, of course! But again, we couldn’t just leave it at that, so we also devised a way to extend the life of your batteries for up to three hours by automatically shutting off the large LCD in the event you wind up critically low on power. But that would never happen, right? Especially since we warn you with both visual and audio alerts.

You can check your battery at any time by looking at the job menu screen, and with a glance you can tell whether you’re in the all-is-good range, or in the OMG I-hope-my-charger-is-in-my-bag range. Remember, the LCD uses the most power.  The brighter the LCD the shorter the battery life.  The percentages and corresponding colors are in the table below.

Hot swappable? Explain. All I can think of is the time my cat thought it would be a good idea to climb the fence and swat the bug zapper. I suppose that could be called hot swapping.  Seriously though, no hot swapping of the batteries.  With our incredibly long battery life you shouldn’t need to anyway. But should you find yourself working marathon hours and need additional run time, we have an extended-life battery for purchase.

We use gamma rays from outer space to power our writer. Nuf said. Oh wait, never mind, that was something else. We use lithium ion batteries in the Infinity. Lithium ion batteries don’t have the “memory” issues common in other battery types, plus, they have the second highest charge density available.

Charge density you ask? Charge density just means how much energy (electricity) can be stored per ounce of material. In other words, a higher charge density means you get more power in a smaller, lighter package. Hmmm? Why not use the highest charge density batteries? I’m glad you asked.   The answer is simple, safety. Lithium polymer batteries have yet to mature to the point where they are safe enough to use in our electronics.

We constantly fine tune our writers for efficiency, but the below table should give you a decent idea of what to expect.

We use an a-Si TFT active matrix LCD. Don’t worry, it didn’t make any sense to me the first time I saw it either. So first let’s clear up some terminology. LCD means liquid crystal display, and literally refers to just the display. All modern screens are LCD; your television, computer, phone, calculator watch…you get the picture. What an LCD cannot do is produce light. So in order to see anything on this wonderful little light modulating device you need a backlight, typically in the form of a light emitting diode, or LED. OLED is just a type of LED that uses organic molecules to allow for thinner, crisper, brighter displays that consume less power.

Yeah. Some pretty gosh darn incredible ones. You can find them listed here, along with the regions they support.

Yep. Unlike your child or elderly parent, you are in complete control of this feature. You can also adjust the brightness level yourself to suit your preferences.

We use the highest quality and most modern a-Si TFT active matrix display with an antiglare treatment and RBG-stripe color arrangement. Ugh, yes, more acronym soup. The a-Si TFT active matrix display is described in a previous FAQ (What is the technology behind the monitor). As for anti-glare, I hope this is self explanatory (Hint: It does not involve making your significant other face the wall so they won’t glare at you when you tell them you have a headache).   RBG-stripe color arrangement isn’t so easy, but you can think of it as the ridiculously complex way smart people with too much time on their hands figured to recreate pictures on a screen.

Yes and yes, with one caveat. The Infinity writers are compatible with every major CAT software. However, one industry leader who shall remain nameless (ahem, Stenograph), has chosen not to support our products improved functionality, even though we have practically thrown our technical specs at them (for free, mind you—even offered our services to help them implement it…but I digress). So we implemented the good old Baron TX protocol to ensure our writer would, indeed, work with every CAT software. Ha! Now, if you’re one of the lucky Eclipse users you get a little extra sumpin sumpin, the writers full functionality no holds barred.

All critical functional firmware updates will be made available for free for the life of the machine.  No question. But not everything we release will be critical. See, we’re the type of company who can’t turn off the how-can-we-make-this-better switch. Certain new-feature firmware we create may be fee worthy. So if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest and coolest features we build, it would be worthwhile to take advantage of our customizable protection plans which allow you to pick and chose the features you’d like covered.

All of our equipment comes with a manufacturer’s warranty. You can find it all spelled out for you under the warranty section in any of the product descriptions, but it covers what you would expect in the way of manufacturing or design defects. It doesn’t cover abuse or misuse, such as attempting to dual purpose it as a can opener or wheel block, or throwing it at above mentioned spouse with a headache. Now if you accidentally bounce it off an attorneys head and accidentally catch it on video….well, then we’ll talk.

Well, it comes with about the cutest little, ultra small carrying case ever. Everything you need; tripod, power supply, and writer with large LCD tucked into the cutest little, ultra small carrying case ever weigh less than six pounds total.   We also offer a super stylish, ultra compact wheeled carrying case option, far from the brick on wheels you’ve been offered before.

What a nice, leading question. Thanks for asking! The writer does fit a standard tripod, but would you believe it? We have also introduced the lightest tripod in the industry.  It weighs 1.3 lbs, extends up to 26.5 inches, and once folded up is only 11.5 inches long. And guess what? You get one free with every writer. 

Not only can you monitor, you can boost your audio by going into the audio menu under utilities.

A .wav file. Wav files are the most compatible and work with just about any digital audio player. Do not attempt playback on a reel-to-reel or 8-Track.

Yep, all Infinity models court do. Audio sync, built-in recording, and audio playback via a 3.5 mm microphone jack (microphone and headsets sold separately). 

Yes

No “upgrade” or “add-on,” it just is. You can do wired, wireless, USB, serial, or use the internal tri-connect class one Bluetooth. The only exception is the student machine. To keep the price low and give you the most bang for your buck we left this out, but it’s an easy add when you upgrade to a Court or Captioner system.

Pretty much anything you can think of. Notes, timestamps, translation dictionaries, configuration information, log files, all four twilight books…whoops, scratch that last one.

Hmmm…I like to think of it more as “similar to how you measure space for that new Louis Vuitton handbag in your closet,” but I guess ink levels on a color printer works as well. The answer is yes, there are actually a few ways you can check. At startup the writer gives you an exact readout of the spaced used and available for each memory space. Or, if you’re really paying attention or not off getting that fourth cup of coffee, the large LCD model shows the usage on screen of each storage device during its start-up sequence. 

The writers which require backup, i.e. the court models, all have four electronic backups. Three external cards which you have complete, unequivocal control over, and one internal backup which is protected from even your finest attempts at meddling.

Our cart and student models each have one external backup with a limit of 20,000 strokes (100 pages) and 8,000 strokes (40 pages) respectively.

If we didn’t let you touch it first, what the heck would you obsess over while anxiously awaiting its arrival? Just as we’ve always done, we’ll have plenty Infinity machines for you to drool over…er, perform informed tactical research on at state conventions and trade shows. We look forward to seeing you and will stand by with napkins. If you would like to schedule a private demo, you can send us an email at Iwantademo@infinitytraditional.com. No, really. That’s the email address.

One million dollars. Or not…

Well, sure…but if you want it in baby vomit green you’ll have to send us a color sample. Preferably one without the baby vomit. We only stock the 20 standard cool colors (and a few premium colors) we have for all the Infinity machines. But hey, sure, if you want baby vomit green who am I to say…

Yes and no. It’s like classical mechanics versus quantum mechanics. For all intents and purposes at a high level the answer is yes, but if you look really, really close the answer isn’t so simple. Like a lot of machines these days the Infinity does have individually adjustable keys…but it has something better as well, a unique activation and deactivation point for each key which is dynamically driven. Let me explain.

In a traditional machine keys only have two states. On or off. And just like a light switch that “on” or “off” happens at the exact same point. It really limits your options when it comes to preventing stacking, splitting, dragging, or dropping strokes, which is why so much effort has been put into making individual keys adjustable.

The Infinity is something entirely new. The Infinity system tracks several things; direction of key travel, speed of key travel, acceleration and deceleration of each key, the length of time that a key is being stroked, and a few others that if we told you, we’d have to kill you. The combination of these variables allows us to dynamically calculate the activation and deactivation point of each key every time you start a new stroke. You won’t find a more accurate writer on the market. Pretty nifty, huh?

Hahahaha…hahaha…ha…oh wait, you were serious?   Uh…well, okay, that’s a strange question. You do realize we’re the only—and I do mean only—company to ever make an ergonomic writer, right? We’re, like, the unsurpassed experts in ergonomics. Oh, what the hell. I’ll take a few minutes to hop on my soap box.

Let’s just start by clearing up some misconceptions. No traditionally designed machine offers ergonomically adjustable keys. Nope, sorry, not even ours. By nature, a traditional steno machine is not ergonomic. If ergonomics is your thing you should check out the Infinity ergonomic. Nothing to be ashamed of, it’s not as though your admitting to that cute trainer at the gym that you have every intention tossing that protein drink at the door then getting in your car to scarf a whole bag of Milano cookies. It’s just ergonomics, and the Infinity ergonomic (I.E.) has the same incredible features of the I.T.

But rant aside, we would be remiss if we tried to tell you all traditionally designed machines were designed the same. The I.T., while not fully ergonomic, offers the widest range of adjustments in terms of force, so you can match the writer to your preferences and writing style to minimize the stress on your arms and wrists. In addition, we’ve also developed what we call multi-density pads for the I.T., which is used to stop the strokes at the bottom by adding a little cushion, like an air bag.

Since we’re the first to try this soft stop pad method we’ve had time to learn a few things. First, a soft stop pad is helpful in preventing repetitive stress injuries to the hands and wrists—much better than the hard rubber stop you find in most machines. Think of a runner. Those who run on concrete are more likely to suffer shin splints, develop ankle, knee, hip and back problems than those who run on a rubberized track or treadmill. The force of each step landing on unyielding concrete is transmitted through the body, resulting in compressed joints and body shock.

Now, the soft stop pad isn’t all lollypops and rainbows. Many people find it difficult to find the bottom of the stroke. They will continue to push even after the stroke has been completed because they have not developed a feel in their mind that they’ve reached the end of the stroke.

The I.T. introduces a technology that we started testing in the Revolution Grand with a small test group. Our multi-density down-stop pads give you a nice, firm ending, but provide almost the same level of shock absorption of a softer material. This way, the shock at the bottom of the stroke is absorbed into the machine, not your joints, while still providing the crisp ending to your stroke you’ve become accustomed to.