Thanks, That was very helpful indeed! I do most of my reading via BookShare, but I wanted an affordable means of not being tethered to a computer. Thanks for the detailed response, Brad Trainham
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ray's Home Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 4:19 PM To: PC Audio Discussion List Subject: RE: Victor Reader Stream is Now AudibleReady Hi, just a few comments about the Victor stream. 1. With the last firmware update the VR can now play audible files, including type 4 or whatever they're called. Obviously the player has to be registered with the Audible software. 2. Supports MP3, DAISY, including the American variant of course, and .ogg files. Virtually certain it'l play .wav files too. 3. Good through an external powered speaker. 4. Internal speaker not good for book listening and probably not meant for that either. 5. You can record memo notes with the Stream's built-in mic, or plug an external mic in. Sensitivity of this mic is very good. Does record to an odd sort of file compression type though and not sure that it's easy, yet, to play these on a PC. 6. Internal speaker is good for listening to memo recordings. 7. Good support for text and HTML files too; read by sythetic speech which to my ear is good. Maybe support for MS Word files too, but not sure on that. Navigation of text much improved with character, word, line sentence and paragraph. 8. Only real downside is USB 1.1. This means if transfering files via a UsB cable transfer is SLOW! You can use an external card writer though to place files on the SD cards it takes. 9. Battery life good at around fifteen hours, and charges up quite quickly. (Some have had problems with batteries, but think this is solved now.) In short, for the money, it has to be a good deal, well in terms of the cost of access tech devices anyway. Overall quality of playback is good, though critical music listeners might feel there's something lacking quality-wise. HTH. >From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- Bradford Trainham Does anyone have an opinion of this machine you'd care to share? It looks/"sounds" like exactly what I want, but I haven't reviewed many of the contending/similar products that are designed to give us "on-the-go" access to digitally-done books. Brad Trainham -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Pattison Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:51 AM To: 'GUI Talk'; Access-L; 'PC Audio Discussion List' Subject: FWd: Victor Reader Stream is Now AudibleReady From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] VICTOR READER STREAM DAISY, MP3 AND NISO PLAYER IS NOW AUDIBLE READY Portable MP3 Player Specifically Designed for the Blind and Visually Impaired now Compatible with Audible.com Longueuil(Canada), November 15, 2007 Victor Reader Stream, the pocket-sized portable MP3 player designed for blind and low-vision people now has the capability to play the popular Audible.com books. In addition to the variety of audio formats (MP3, DAISY, and NISO books and music) supported by Victor Reader Stream, the Audible format will provide a huge additional choice of content to the users. Audible is the leading provider of spoken audio on the internet, providing over 140,000 hours of digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines. The Stream has extensive navigation features for moving through audio books and text files, including functions that allow you to move to the next chapter, section or page, or to set bookmarks. For Audible books, the user will be able to navigate from one Audible heading to the next, move by increments of one-, five-, or ten-minute time jumps, and move with an accelerated fast forward feature that announces the amount of time lapsed. Blind and low-vision people who listen to talking books on a regular basis often prefer to speed up the playback. For all audio book formats that Stream plays, including Audible, variable speed control with digital pitch correction allows the reader to accurately listen at higher than normal playback speed. The player is completely accessible by blind and low-vision users. All keys and messages are provided through audio feedback. The player has a built-in User Guide and a Key Describer mode to remind the user of keypad functions. It comes with integrated text-to-speech voice, allowing it to play text-only files and announce the track names of music files. It uses an SD memory card to store books and music transferred from a computer. "We are very happy to bring the advanced navigation features of Stream to the Audible listener experience", says Gerry Chevalier, HumanWare Victor Reader Product Manager. "I know of no other Audible-ready player that offers accessibility, variable speed playback, and advanced navigation, all in one package." "We are very much aware of the value and popularity of Audible books for the blind and visually impaired", says Will Lopes, Vice President for Business Development at Audible. "We are pleased to work with HumanWare to bring the benefits of the accessible Victor Reader Stream player to Audible listeners". Victor Reader Stream can be purchased online at www.humanware.com (in USA). Current Victor Reader Stream users will need to upgrade their player to software version 1.1 in order to play Audible books. The latest version 1.1 software upgrade is also available online at www.humanware.com. About HumanWare HumanWare (www.humanware.com) is the global leader in assistive technologies for the print disabled. HumanWare provides products to people who are blind and have low vision and students with learning disabilities. HumanWare offers a collection of innovative products including BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for the blind in education, business and for personal use; the Victor Reader product line, the world's leading digital audiobook players, and SmartView Xtend, the first fully modular and upgradeable CCTV-based video magnifier. 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