Thanks, Guys, this has helped a lot. I'm slowly making my peace with
Perfect Paul. What I thought of trying some time, unless you advise against
it, was to convert a small file into MP3 with my scanning-and-reading
programme and to transferr it to the BC as a test. The programme uses IBM
Via Voice, which I like a lot. I take your point, though, Mike, James and
Ted, that it
would eat up both battery and space and that I'll lose some utilities. I'll
just have to weigh up the pros and cons.
Thanks again for the help.
Regards.
Bennie
Hi,
Double-Talk is also the least power-hungry.
Cheers,
Mike
----- Original Message ----- From: "James O'Dell" <jamesodell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 3:29 PM
Subject: [bookcourier] Re: BETTER VOICES?
Hi Ben
I'm sure Springer will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this has a lot to do with the hardware that exists in Book Courier. Most of the more modern voices that are available are in fact software-based speech synthesisers which would require considerably more hardware and memory resources, and a compatible software platform, to run. The Book Courier is so economical and affordable because it is using special software made by the developers rather than any kind of third-party operating system, and as far as I am aware, the Doubletalk speech is a dedicated piece of hardware that more or less takes care of itself, meaning that the BC's internal memory can mostly be dedicated to other functions. Also I think using Eloquence or similar would result in a much shorter battery life. If you want to use different voices, try a PC tool that allows you to convert text to mp3 using any voice you have on your system. take a look at Text aloud from www.nextup.com or Yeosoft text-mp3 speaker from www.text-mp3.com. Both offer voices for sale at additional cost.
James
----- Original Message ----- From: Bennie and Catherine van Rensburg
To: bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 3:05 PM
Subject: [bookcourier] BETTER VOICES?
Hallo There!
I've only been using Book Courier for a month and have found it to be a most useful piece of electronics. Previously, when I travelled, I couldn't read any books, as a laptop was almost as much trouble to carry around as a desktop!
I bought my Book Courier with open eyes, as it were, having listened to Exact Pete on-line. However, I still found it amazing that Springer isn't using a better voice. To my mind, there is so much better available now. I put this point to support, suggesting Eloquence or IBM Read. They told me, in a very courteous reply, that this issue had been discussed often before on the list and that there were as many preferences as there were voices. So I apologise if I'm introducing a hackneyed subject, but don't you guys think there's something better out there than Double-Talk?
Regards.
Bennie
Ben and Catherine van Rensburg c/o South African Embassy Granatny Per 1, bldg 9 123001 MOSCOW Tel: +7 495 2990326 (Home) Note: New area code for Moscow Mobile (Ben) +7 8 915 397 6347 Mobile (Catherine) +7 8 915 300 40 43 South Africa +27 12 667 3545 (Parents/Claudia)
