Hi everyone,
I've just listened to the Main Menu presentation on the Bookport
Plus. I haven't actually had a chance to get my hands on one yet,
and I might not, unless someone else I know buys one.
Overall, it sounds like the Booksense is a better product--at least for now.
One thing that BP Plus does that the Booksense does not at the moment
is that it can read PDF files without conversion to some other
format. That's very convenient, but not a major selling point--at
least to me. It can record in MP3, and and PCM formats. The
navigation method through files is more like the original bookport,
in that certain keys will do specific things depending on whether you
are actually listening to the file, or going through it a bit
(character, word, paragraph, or page, at a time).
It also plays NLS books much faster than the Booksense, even though
they fixed that a little in their last firmware release. I think
they should fix it more. If I only listened to NLS books, I might
buy one just for that.
It supports MP3, WMA, (the unprotected type), and OGG files for play
back. At present, it doesn't play the I-Tunes format, but the
presenter said that could be added if there was enough demand. You
can mark up files while you are recording them, just like with the
Booksense. You also have the option of turning on automatic gain
control if you wish. You can also change the bit rate, just like
with the Booksense.
I liked my Bookport until it died. I liked the note-taking
capability, and at sometime in the future, A:PH. says they are going
to add that with the ability to use something called "thumb
braille".. I'm wondering if that might be more trouble than it's worth.
They also are talking about adding "wi-fi" capabilities in the
future. That just might get me to buy one then.
The main reason that I'm not interested in one right now is because
of the text-to-speech situation. The Bookport Plus uses the same
firmware as the Plextalk Pocket. What I noticed is that the voice
that takes you through the menus is even more human-sounding than the
one for the Booksense. However, that's all you get. When you're
reading something that isn't an actual recording such as Audible, or
NLS, the voice is not nearly as ;pleasant to listen to; although it
is better than the Double-talk used by the Bookport I don't know if
there are any pronunciation problems with this TTS voice, but I'll
take a few linguistic difficulties from Paul and kate any time
because of the overall clarity of the voices.
In conclusion, it sounds like the Bookport Plus would be a good
product, and perhaps may surpass the Booksense someday, but it
doesn't now, as far as I am concerned. No price for the unit was
mentioned on this presentation
Just one man's opinion. Listen to the presentation on Main Menu for
yourself. I'll keep my Booksense. They can always fix _that_
too--maybe tweak is the word I'm looking for.
Kim Lingo
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