[access-uk] Re: First impression of penfriend...
- From: "David Russell" <david.russell8@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 16:27:47 +0100
Carol,
My batteries had also fallen out and the sheet of braille did have errors,
but I am putting these things down to the fact that they wanted to get them
out as quickly as possible, so that is not anything to worry too much about.
Your volume control does sound faulty. Mine reduces and increases as it
should, but you do have to reduce the volume before recording or playing a
label. Again, a minor point really.
More plus points than negatives for me. I am glad to have it.
David
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
Carol Pearson
Sent: 01 August 2009 16:19
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: First impression of penfriend...
Hi Barry,
Mine also came this morning and I couldn't wait to get into it of course!
I think it's easy to use and still consider it's a product with a great
future ... but (like you) there are a few comments I will make here.
First, with reference to the volume, the instructions are a little ambiguous
I think. The wording actually says "When you switch the pen off the volume
settings will return to your setting." I take that to mean that, wherever
you leave the volume set, that will be retained but, clearly, it doesn't
mean that. In my case, the volume didn't seem to alter at all when I
switched up and down and was always at the high volume position; so I
thought the pen to be faulty and have arranged its return. Perhaps I am
wrong here and it's not working that way ... Maybe someone can advise.
I didn't find the adapter in the pack at all, though there was notification
that it should be there. In addition, the sheet of braille indicating this
had obviously been scanned and not proof-read or corrected and so the small
piece of information contained several errors! I also found my pages were
incorrectly tagged together in the braille instructions.
In addition, as I removed the pen from the box, the back fell off and
batteries fell out. (Maybe the pen needs to be packaged tighter in the box
when sending.)
I did have a little problem in locating the label (in the packaging) that is
there for you to play with if you wish and think this could have been better
described. I did find it eventually and it saved me opening my packet of
labels to use, only to find that the volume appears not to be working at all
on mine; so at least I can send all back with the label pack still intact.
I'm really sad to have to do this though, after a rather long wait and
having had it there, in my fingers.
I suspect the MP3 files will only play one after the other. (It would be
pointless starting from the beginning every time you stopped the pen.) I
agree too that this is probably a fairly limited MP3 player, though maybe
(with firmware updates) it could be enhanced further.
Does anyone know if the pen's firmware can be upgraded electronically?
I too look forward to all comments.
Finally, thanks RNIB. Keep working on this because it will certainly have a
use in my home. It's just a pity that some of these teething troubles
weren't sorted at the point of manufacture and before reaching us.
--
Carol
carol.pearson29@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/songbird49a
---- Original Message ----
From: Barry G
To: Access Mailing List
Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 11:46 AM
Subject: [access-uk] First impression of penfriend...
> Well, mine came this morning and here's my first
> impressions...
>
> The labelling and reading function works well, it's easy
> to use, smaller and lighter than I expected. It picks up
> the tags and plays the note quickly, and the sound
> quality is fine - it does exactly what it says on the box
> and I reckon it's an excellent little device.
>
> My concerns...
>
> Mine came with a short fly lead to convert between the
> standard headphone jack and the smaller jack socket on
> the penfriend - someone mentioned that there had been a
> manufacturing glitch and the wrong jacks were fitted to
> the early batches. It would seem that these
> mis-manufactured models have been issued to customers.
>
> I tried the mp3 player function and there are no
> instructions for using this feature on the product guide
> at rnib.org other than telling you to paste the music to
> the mp3 folder on the device. That's fine, but there are
> no instructions for operating it. Can't remember which,
> but either the power or the record button toggles
> play/stop. Sound quality is not sparkling, but it's
> acceptable in a device that doesn't try to be a dedicated
> mp3 player. There appears to be no way of moving from
> file to file however, so at first glance, it's not really
> very useable.
>
> My single serious gripe is the volume! The product guide
> and the tags on the packaging correctly say that the
> device defaults to the same volume each time the machine
> is switched off and on, and this is rather high. The
> real pain, on mine at least, is that it jumps to this
> high volume each time a new label is scanned, even though
> the volume has been turned down, so you have to reset it
> on each scan! I'm hoping that there may be firmware
> updates that will include a fix for this, but there is no
> mention of this in the product information.
>
> Finally, the online product info sheet says the following:
> RNIB are developing some associated products that are
> pre-recorded. If you wish to listen to RNIB?s
> pre-recorded information then you will need to use the
> download feature. You must have access to the web and
> connect to www.rnib.org.uk/penfriend. You will see a list
> of titles available for download. These titles are free
> or are part of any subscription system that you may have
> joined with RNIB. Click on any single title to download
> and save on to your computer?s hard drive. For example,
> c:\penfriend\downloads. After you have downloaded all the
> titles you are entitled to, connect PenFriend to the
> computer using the USB cable. Next, enter or double
> click on any title and an audio installer programme will
> appear, and then just follow the simple instructions on
> screen. This programme will automatically load the audio
> file onto PenFriend. Repeat the process for the other
> titles that you have downloaded. Remember, a copy of all
> titles is always kept on your hard drive so there is no
> need to back up. The audio files will be kept on the AP4
> folder in PenFriend.
> Well, the link doesn't exist or is broken.
>
> All the best,
> Barry G
>
>
>
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version
> of virus signature database 4295 (20090731) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>
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