[access-uk] Re: THE BUG
- From: "Andrew Hodgson" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 08:03:09 +0100
Ian,
Thanks for the article. One thing about the Bug is that aparently the
display is slightly larger than on the Tempis-1, and the design makes
the display possibly easier for someone like me to access, as its not
fixed to the radio, so if I want to read it I have to move the radio off
the table, as I can't get that low!
Does this make a difference?
Thanks.
Andrew.
________________________________
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Ian Macrae
Sent: 30 March 2005 09:34
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] THE BUG
Hi all,
As promised before Easter, here are some thoughts on The Bug DAB
receiver. Note this is not a full review, just some comments which may
help people to decide whether they want to get one. None of this deals
with technical specs or quality of output.
A number of the Bug's basic functions have dedicated keys and single
keystrokes. Spontaneous recording to the SD card, for example is
started and stopped by pressing the "Record" button, above/right of the
main on/off/nav switch. Similarly, pausing the audio is started and
stopped by the large pause button below the on/of/nav switch. Rewinding
the audio for up to five minutes requires a press of the pause button
followed by the bottom left button on the Bug's head which stands above
the body of the radio on a gooseneck stem.
Setting the ten presets follows Usual Pure protocols. The Bug's head
contains six buttons, three down either side. These are presets 1 to 5
with the bottom right button being a shift. To set presets 1 to 5,
choose the channel and the button you want to pre-set it too. Press and
hold the button for a couple of seconds. If you can see the screen or
are with someone who can, a message is displayed indicating that the
station is stored. For presets 6 to 10, follow the same procedure
holding the shift key and one of the 5 presets down simultaneously.
When the radio is playing, the two sets of presets can be toggled
between using the shift key.
Damon asked whether it is accessible. The answer is that it's as
accessible as most DAB radios. But because it has more functionality,
it's more difficult to use easily with no sight. I've found that I've
used my paltry amount of sight and my LVA more with the Bug than with
any other DAB radio.
As I've said, spontaneous recording to the SD card couldn't be simpler.
But using the timed recording facility is more complex and difficult.
Indeed, I'd say that it's either very difficult or impossible without
one or more of the following: sight of your own, sighted assistance, or
a very good memory. In brief, you have to access the radio's menus,
then find the alarm setting option, find the timed recording option in
the submenu and then follow onscreen prompts to set your timed
recording. I'd be interested to hear whether any totally blind people
have managed to do this. Even using my sight, I've messed up on a
couple of occasions.
To conclude, there's no doubt that having the ability to record to SD
card is a great benefit. Personally I've not used the rewind or pause
facilities that much. It's also worth thinking that Pure is already
developing a personal with Bug functionality and there are plans for a
sonus version of that using the Ivox speech. The main reasons for going
for the Bug now would be that you like it's unusual and rather whacky
design (which I do), or you want to be able to record to SD card
absolutely now. Otherwise, I'd recommend waiting for a Sonus equivalent
which can't be that long coming.
Cheers now.
Ian
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