[bksvol-discuss] Product Evaluation: On the Move with MuVo

"Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx> · Sat, 1 Jan 2005 14:40:11 -0500

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leon Gilbert" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Blind News Mailing List" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 7:28 PM
Subject: BlindNews: Product Evaluation: On the Move with MuVo

AFB Accessworld
Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Product Evaluation: On the Move with MuVo

By Deborah Kendrick

Do you like to have a book or magazine to listen to while you ride the train 
to work, fold laundry, or work out on a treadmill? Do you sometimes have 
trouble choosing between carrying a sound recording of the latest romance 
novel and the music by your favorite band? Technology has certainly made 
many things possible that were once impossible for people who are blind, but 
a definite drawback has been the amount of poundage carried on even a brief 
commute. Thus, for its size and simplicity alone, the MuVo portable audio 
player from Creative Technology commands attention.

The MuVo is similar in shape and size to a pack of chewing gum or a 
disposable lighter. In other words, it could sit in a shirt pocket with 
plenty of room to spare! The MuVo weighs just slightly more than 1 ounce, so 
it can be worn around the neck and barely be noticed.

Caption: The MuVo's tiny size is a primary advantage.

The MuVo I tested has 128 MB of space for you to store your files-whether 
they are MP3, WMA, or the proprietary format produced by Audible.com (a 
commercial online supplier of audio books and programs). For example, the 
unit I experimented with arrived with a track of brief instructions, a 
promotional sampling of products (books, magazines, and radio broadcasts) 
available from Audible.com, and the complete recording of Dan Brown's novel 
The Da Vinci Code. From my personal computer, I then added about a half 
dozen songs (some WMA and some MP3 files) and, just to see how it would 
sound, converted a book from Web-Braille to an MP3 file using a Kurzweil 
1000 and loaded some of the chapters in the MuVo.

All that transferring, incidentally, took about 15 minutes, and a portion of 
that time was spent browsing Web-Braille, choosing a book, downloading it, 
creating the MP3 files, and wandering around my music folder to pick fun 
files to copy to MuVo.

The sound quality ranged from good to excellent, with plenty of volume. I 
listened to the MuVo only through its stereo earbuds, but it can be 
connected to a set of speakers as well.

Driving MuVo

The MuVo has six small, but readily discernible, buttons that are arranged 
in two rows of three along one long edge of the device. The top row has a 
Play/Pause button, a button for moving forward, and a button for moving 
back. The bottom row has a Volume Up button, a Volume Down button, and a 
Repeat button (which is actually used for several functions.) To begin 
listening, you press the Play/Pause button for about five seconds. To pause, 
press the same button briefly, and to stop play altogether, hold the same 
button again for five seconds. (If neglected for a few minutes, MuVo powers 
itself off.)

To cycle through the tracks, press the Repeat button once and then use the 
Forward or Back buttons to move from file to file. When you have found the 
file you want, press Repeat again. If you stop in the middle of a file, MuVo 
will pick up where you left off when you turn it on again. The only other 
tactile occurrences on the unit are the jack for earbuds or speakers and a 
notch through which a neck cord can be threaded.

Transferring Files

As small as it is, the MuVo has two distinct halves. Just pull it apart, and 
you hold the AAA battery pack in one hand and the "guts" of the player in 
the other, where the USB (universal serial bus) port is located on the 
inside edge. To transfer files, simply plug the latter half of the unit into 
your PC's USB port. Windows Explorer then shows the MuVo as a generic drive 
(probably E or F, depending on how your PC is set up), and files are easily 
manipulated as with any other drive. Simply select the files you want to put 
in the MuVo, copy them, and paste them to the drive where MuVo is connected. 
Snap MuVo's halves back together, and you're ready to go.

Caption: MuVo pulls apart into two halves to remove the battery pack and 
upload files.

MuVo can be purchased at some discount and online stores-Wal-Mart

<http://www.walmart.com>, Target <http://www.target.com>, or Amazon.com 
<http://www.amazon.com>-for less than $100. Audible.com is currently 
offering it free with a 12-month commitment to the Basic AudibleListener 
plan. If you are not familiar with Audible.com, it is an online commercial 
service offering more than 23,000 books, several magazines, and popular 
radio broadcasts for sale. These are commercially recorded human-voice 
productions, the same ones you would find on the audiocassettes or CDs that 
you can purchase at a local bookstore. The basic plan costs $9.95 per month 
and entitles you to one book and one magazine or program each month. If you 
get the MuVo from Audible.com, Audible's proprietary software for 
transferring files to the MuVo will be included with the MuVo, plus its 
accompanying earbuds, extra battery pack, and cassette adapter.

The Bottom Line

A more complex version of MuVo is also available with more memory and for 
more money. The 256 MB model has an LCD (liquid crystal display) and a 
dictation option, but it was not evaluated for ease of use by people who are 
visually impaired. There is no display on the 128 MB MuVo. Its only visual 
indicator is a light that flashes red or green and is not essential for the 
smooth operation of the device. For its price, simplicity, and delivery of 
sound, the MuVo 128 is an excellent product to put in your pocket.

Product Information
Product: MuVo

Manufacturer: Creative Technology; U.S. headquarters: Creative Labs, 1901 
McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035; phone: 408-428-6600 or 800-998-1000; 
web site: <us.creative.com>.

Price: Available from discount and online stores for less than $100. 
Audible.com <www.audible.com> is currently offering it free with a 12-month 
commitment to the Basic AudibleListener plan.

http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw060108

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