[access-uk] Re: Book Courier Vs Bookworm

Barry,

There are no hardware changes.  All improvements are to the
firmware, hence why users can upgrade themselves.

George. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dj Paddy
> Sent: 31 August 2005 12:50
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Book Courier Vs Bookworm
> 
> Doris.
> 
> You've got me thinking.
> 
> These developments that take place I wonder how much are 
> software changes that could possibly be released as a
firmware update?
> 
> I'm trying to establish how much of the firmware is
altered 
> in upgraded models and how much is actual circuitry as
well.
> 
> 
> Dj Paddy
> "It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion,
> It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
> The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning,
> It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."
> -- Popular Usenet Sig
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Chipmunks" <chipmunks@xxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 12:40 PM
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Book Courier Vs Bookworm
> 
> 
> > why would someone want to spend $$$ on a book courier to
play text 
> > recorded in mp3 if portable mp3 players are available at

> much lower cost?
> >
> > The reason I want a book courier  - or rather actually a

> book port - is 
> > that it allows navigation of text files byparagraph,
line, 
> word or even 
> > character and check the spelling and such, something
that 
> cannot be done 
> > with either audio books or converted text2audio files.
> >
> > I am not a particular fan of Doubletalk as it reads too 
> slow IMO, at least 
> > it did on the old doubletalk card I had, but I'd prefer 
> hardware over 
> > software speech any time because of hardware speech's
higher 
> > responsiveness and much lesser drain on resources.
> > I've heard somewhere that there is a major rework of 
> Bookport in the 
> > works, which is one reason that has let me hold off on
looking into 
> > purchasing one at the time. From what I remember, this 
> revamp was also to 
> > include a new voice or voices for bookport. Since book 
> courier is a very 
> > similar if not related device, I wonder if a similar
upgrade or new 
> > version is not also a possibility for book courier.
> >
> > Unfortunately I do not have a written source for the 
> Bookport upgrade 
> > information but only heard people talk about it.
> >
> > I think the bookworm is intersting for people who are
good 
> with braille 
> > and prefer braille over speech output. I myself don't
know 
> enough braille 
> > and have never used any peperless braille device but
know 
> that people who 
> > are fluent braille readers usually prefer braille
output.
> >
> > Another thing to consider though is the storage capacity
of 
> whatever 
> > portable unit is to be decided on. The book Courier or 
> Bookport is fairly 
> > new technology and can use changeable memory cards for 
> storage. I think 
> > the bookworm is more contempory to the older Roadrunner 
> book reading 
> > device that only came with 2 or 3 megs of onboard memory

> for storage. But 
> > I do not have specifications on the bookworm and do not 
> know if it can use 
> > flash or other similar storage. I just wanted to point
out 
> that this is 
> > something else to consider.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > doris
> >
> > At 10:39 AM 8/31/2005 +0100, you wrote:
> >
> >>Hi Mel
> >>
> >>I have never used either product, but I would point out 
> that with the book
> >>Courier and Text Aloud from www.nextup.com, you can
convert 
> text to mp3
> >>files at high speed using Microsoft's text-to-speech
engine 
> or any other
> >>Sapi speech synthesiser that you might have.  They also 
> sell the A T and T
> >>Natural Voices, Cepstral Voices, Neospeech Voices and I 
> believe according 
> >>to
> >>their user forums they will have Real speak Version 4
soon 
> as well.  So 
> >>you
> >>could make mp3 files of your texts and then play them on

> the Book Courier.
> >>Obviously this will be a little more work, and will use 
> more battery 
> >>power.
> >>The reason that the Book Courier's speech isn't that 
> brilliant is that it 
> >>is
> >>using a hardware speech chip rather than the software 
> synthesisers we have
> >>become used to in desktop screen readers.  The advantage
of 
> this, though 
> >>is
> >>that you can read text documents which take up less
space 
> in its memory 
> >>than
> >>mp3 files and use less battery power because there is no

> decoding process
> >>involved.
> >>
> >>As far as the bookworm goes, yes it has an
eight-character 
> braille display
> >>and you transfer texts to its internal memory.  I'm sure

> someone else can
> >>step in to fill in the details.
> >>
> >>James
> >>----- Original Message -----
> >>From: "Mel Spooner"
<mel.spooner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 10:05 AM
> >>Subject: [access-uk] Book Courier Vs Bookworm
> >>
> >>
> >> > Hi All,
> >> >
> >> > I am looking for a portable solution for reading.  I 
> know that the Book
> >> > Courier will play Daisy files as well as MP3 files.
I 
> also know that 
> >> > it
> >> > will read text files using synthetic speech.  I've 
> listened to the 
> >> > sample
> >> > on the web site and wonder how anyone gets used to
it, 
> but I guess you 
> >> > do!
> >> >
> >> > I know a lot less about the bookworm.  Am I right in 
> thinking it has a
> >> > Braille display?  And what are its capabilities?
> >> >
> >> > If anyone has evaluated the two products, I be really

> interested to 
> >> > hear
> >> > your views.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks for your help.
> >> >
> >> > Mel
> >> >
> >> > Mel Spooner
> >> > edIT Help Desk
> >> > Nottinghamshire County Council
> >> > Tel   0115 854 6116
> >> > Email mel.spooner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> >
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