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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