[access-uk] Re: Milestone 311 digital recorder and MP3 player

hi Ian.  Do we have a date when this will be sold by RNIB yet?  I am 
interested in suggesting this product in an access to work situation but 
need to know when it will be available in the UK first.

Cheers

Graham
Graham Page

Mobile: 07753 607980
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ian Macrae" <ian.macrae@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 4:25 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Milestone 311 digital recorder and MP3 player


Hi Clive,

I've had one from the Swiss manufacturers for a few weeks now.  It has 
clearly been designed with the needs of visually impaired users very much in 
mind.  The buttons are highly tactile and strongly contrasted with the 
fasure.  All the functions and actions are spoken.  In short it is a very 
usable and accessible device if you have little or no sight.

The information you passed on misses out some other important things.  The 
MP3 player relies totally on SD or MMC memory card storage.  Top Whack for 
these is, I believe, presently 2GB.  The unit will, I understand, be 
supplied with a 128MB SD card. If you are serious about MP3 and want to 
carry more than a few dozen tracks around with you, then you might find this 
very limiting.  However, if you want something on which to listen to the 
occasional audio book or odd album, and which is extremely easy to interface 
with your computer, then you might find the Milestone adequate for your 
needs.

There is a small external speaker on the front of the unit which, for its 
size, produces reasonable quality, particularly for messages and notes 
recorded on the digital voice recorder.  However, be aware that the player 
is supplied sans headphones.

One small frustration I've found is that the voice prompts are sampled 
recordings of a real female voice.  These are delivered at a rather slow 
rate.  If, like me, you're used to using synthesised speech at very high 
speeds, it can be frustrating having to listen to this.

In short, this is a very accessible and intuitively usable piece of kit and 
will be of particular interest to people who are not massively friendly or 
confident with their PC.  It's easy to get stuff into it and you don't have 
to faff around with scripts for Jaws etc.  It interfaces easily with the PC. 
But, given it's price to storage ratio, it's been said by people that, 
compared, for example with the iPod shuffle, it's rather highly priced. 
More serious MP3 users are likely to find the iRiver/Rockbox combination and 
its 40 gig of space more attractive including on the price to storage ratio.

If anyone would like a copy of the manual, please contact me privately at
Ian.macrae@xxxxxxxxx

And I'd be happy to oblige.

Hope this has been helpful.

Ian

-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
Clive Pallett
Sent: 24 February 2006 16:04
To: Access-UK
Subject: [access-uk] Milestone 311 digital recorder and MP3 player

Hello listers,



I read in the RNIB's February Technology Update that they will soon be
selling the Milestone 311 digital recorder and MP3 player.   For those
of you who don't receive this update, here is the info.



The Milestone 311 is a portable digital voice recorder and MP3 player, the 
size of a credit card.  It can record up to 2 hours of voice notes using the 
internal memory, or up to 140 hours using an external memory card.  You can 
organise your notes into five folders and label them with voice tags.  In 
addition, you can record from an external stereo source or a microphone in 
hi-fi stereo quality.  The Milestone 311 can connect to your computer to 
enable the transfer of audio files or books for listening on the move using 
the integrated MP3 player which is fully self-voicing.  An upgrade will be 
available later this year for customers wishing to play DAISY books.

Dimensions: 85 times 54 times 14 mm (3.35 times 2.13 times 0.55
inches)

Weight 49 grams (1.7 ounces)

Price:  £180 excluding VAT



I did a search on the web for more information and according to a review on 
the Blind Accessworld podcast this device has some limitations compared to 
other products such as the bookport.  If anyone has either heard or read 
about this device I would be interested to hear their comments.



Best wishes,



Clive Pallett





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