Category: accessible Devices
There has been alot of talk lately about the Kindle. But even though they're trying to improve it, it's still not fully accessible. I recently came across several book readers specifically made for the blind. Please note that the below information comes only from what I've read and not from personal experience. I could have simply asked about them, but thought it would be a good idea to summarise the information that I've found so that it's available in one place.
The first, and probably the cheapest if I could locate one, is the Road Runner. This product is no longer made but seems very simple to use and gets the job done. It cost $300 when it was still being manufactured, which was already a low price, so I'm guessing It would cost even less today. It reads standard ascii text files. The Road Runner works with Windows 95, 98 and NT and MSDOS, though I'm sure other MS-compatible versions of DOS could be used as well. It connects to a pc via the serial port and uses a program called Downlink, which comes with the unit, along with a custom serial cable and headphones. It's also extremely small, about the size of a standard audio cassette. It holds either 3mb or 1.5mb of information depending on whether you use Windows or DOS respectively. But txt files are small when compared with other formats. So several books and files could easily fit on this device. The one thing that I don't understand is that it has a trash folder but you can't delete files from it. So what happens when that folder becomes full? The Road Runner features several advanced navigation methods, book marking, a user-defined sleep timer ranging from 10 minutes (which seems like alot to me for a minimum) to 60 minutes and manuals in print, on disk and in the machine. The full review can be found here.
http://nfb.org/legacy/bm/bm99/bm991006.htm
The next two readers that I found are the Book Port and the BookCourier. Both of these are descendents of the Road Runner. All three devices use the Doubletalk speech synthesizer and a keypad similar to that found on a touch tone telephone. Both of these latter devices use either external speakers or headphones having no speakers of their own. They also use "flash memory cards" but they didn't say whether these are standard compact flash, ones specifically made for the machines or sd cards. In any case, the amount of information that can be stored, unlike in the Road Runner, is virtually limitless,. The Book Port can accept not only text files but also HTML, BRF, MP3, WAV, DAISY 2 and 3, Microsoft Word 97 or later, and RTF formats. The BookCourier can accept txt and mp3 formats as well as files downloaded from audible.com and from bookshare.org, though the latter must be converted to plain text files. I'm not sure if the BookCourier can handle the other file types that work with the Book Port, but there was an update at the end of the reviews, which said that by 2004, it should be able to handle more formats. Since it's now 2010, I'm assuming that they've made the adjustments if it's still being manufactured. In any case, all of these formats are considerably larger than text files, so the extra storage capacity is necessary. Both of these readers allow the recording of voice memos. The BookCourier also has a feature that allows it's software to be updated via downloading, so a user can always keep abreast of new developments. None of these three devices have off switches. Like the Road Runner, both the Book Port and the BookCourier shut off on their own. The Book Port allowes a user-defined time to be set while the BookCourier has a 10-second shut-off time. That said, both appear to have a sleep timer. I'm not sure what the difference is there, unless 10 seconds is simply the default time which can later be adjusted. The navigational functions of these two units differ slightly from each other and each has it's own advantages and disadvantages. It's worth noting that the Book Port has the ability to set bookmarks while the BookCourier does not. Unfortunately, both readers work only with Windows, specifically Millennium, 2000, and XP, though they may now include Vista and/or 7. Like the Road Runner, both the Book Port and the BookCourier come with belt clips, use AA batteries and have locking functions that prevent their keys from being accidentally hit. While the Book Port comes with a manual on audio cassette, on cd and in the machine, the BookCourier only has a manual in the unit. Both connect via a usb port. The reviews of the Book Port and the BookCourier can be found here.
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw050407
I've just done a bit more research and it appears that the Book Port is no longer being manufactured. I couldn't get a clear answer on the BookCourier, but it appears that it too has been discontinued. That said, the documentation and software for these two readers is still available. I couldn't find the Downlink software used with the Road Runner so am assuming it was made only for that machine and isn't a stand-alone program like Laplink.
Regardless, have any of you used any of these three devices? If so, what were your experiences with them? Is there a reader out there that's actually affordable, under $500? Most of my books are in txt format. The rest are on tape or, if I find them on Youtube, I convert them to mp3 with Klango. Keeping that in mind, if I were to search for a reader, which one, not only from these three but in general, would you recommend. Does anyone here actually own a Road Runner that they would be willing to sell?
Throw those away. Those are old news. Check out the book sense from gwmicro with neospeech, the victor reader stream from humanware, and the icon and braille plus. By the way, the icon and braille plus are not under $500, but their really useful, and worth the price of $1395. They have a sixty gig hard drive, and have a full set of pda functions, builtin wireless and bluetooth, and eloquence. If you still want an old thing, I might be able to tell you about the book port. It's a piece of junk, has no built-in speakers, doubletalk, and only supports CF cards. I've got a really dusty one sitting on a shelf with no batteries, and it's been that way since I don't know how long. The book port also needs special filtration software, so you can't use it with dos anyway. The booksense uses SD cards, has neospeech, builtin speakers, good recording, looks nice, and can play text, audio, nls, rfb and d, serotek content, etc. The icon can do these too, and has a sixty gig hard drive to boot. Please don't waste your money on a roadrunner! Please!
there's a new version of the book port out now, the book port plus. dont know much about it personally but do know it exists
To synthesizer101: Thanks for the suggestions. After all, I did ask for some. But I already have a laptop, bought for $284, that does all that, minus the blue tooth and sd slot, but I don't use those anyway. This reader is basically to carry around when I don't want to bring the laptop with me, and I hardly think that $1395 is even close to affordable for something like that. I might as well have a custom computer made or buy a bar code scanner, which is alot more useful. I put everything on compact flash cards so don't see the issue there. I've never tried the nls or rfb and d digital stuff and have no clue what serotek even offers. Admittedly, I'd like something better than Double Talk, and all of these seem to fit that bill, but the price is far too high for my needs. What is filtration software? Yeah, I figured that it's not possible to use the Book Port with DOS but it would probably work with my XP laptop or desktop. What's wrong with the Road Runner that you've begged me not to get one? *smile* Not that I can find one, and what other old things do you have? It's things like "I've got one on a shelf and never use it" and "it's just sitting there" that drive me wild and make me really wish that we had a blind flee market!
To rat: Here's what I found on the Book Port Plus. I'll just copy and paste, since it's short. Taken from:
http://shop.aph.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_digital%20talking%20books%20dtb%20audio%20computer%20recordings%20media%20recorders%20music%20players%20readers%20portable%20electronic%20hand%20held%20hand-held%20bookport%20book%20port+%20mp3%20sd%20card%20NLS%20Recording%20for%20the%20Blind%20and%20Dyslexic%20RFB&D%20daisy_1-07191-00P_10001_11051
"Book Port Plus™ is a latest-generation accessible media player/recorder. Its small size, quality recording, and unique capabilities make it an ideal replacement for cassette player/recorders, earlier Digital Talking Book (DTB) players, or inaccessible commercial digital recorders. Its specialized hardware and software makes Book Port Plus easier to use, more reliable, and more flexible than cell phones or PCs that might perform some of its functions.
Quality components and innovative software make Book Port Plus an excellent music player and outstanding recorder. The reading controls let you read a wide variety of books in both audio (human speech) and text (synthetic speech) formats. Its ability to create Digital Talking Book recordings is unique.
Book Port Plus contains state-of-the-art hardware:
• High-speed USB lets you read NLS DTB cartridges, thumb drives, and USB
CD-ROM drives
• High capacity SD™ card support -- up to 32GB
• Stereo microphone jack
• Stereo headphone jack
• Built-in speaker
• Built-in microphone"
I'm not too thrilled with the sd card bit but the built-in speaker sounds great and $299 is a much better price than $1395. Of course, it's not in stock now, but I couldn't rush out and buy it right now anyway. But it's still nice to know that it's within my range so I could get it one day if I wanted it.
Ok, just the roadrunner has only three meg of information. I don't have anything else old, and I'm not telling you to get an icon or braille plus. I was just suggesting. I really think that you should get a book sense for around three hundred twenty five, at least I think that's what it costs. Filtration software means you have to filter the files to convert them so the book port can read them. I know that it was really annoying when I used it, but it would work on windows. I'm not sure of a new thing that still uses cf, but I'd surely sell my book port if the school district didn't want it back when I turn eighteen. Like it's any use to them who scarcely know how to turn on half the stuff in their office. Any more questions about the book port?
I didn't return half my stuff as far as tech. No one wanted it and they knew I'd probably wind up getting it back anyway because of my love of old tech. That's why I still have my Braille Note from college, Braille Lite and printer (sadly, not the Braille N Print or the Mount Batton) and my favourite APH recorder (that needs to be fixed) from high school, my braillewriter from middle school and my Language Master and Dr. Pete's Talking Writer disk from elementary school. lol No one would be able to make me part with the Language Master, even if they offered me money. Very useful and amazing piece of tech that I still use to this day.
I love my VRStream and my BookSense XT.
Maybe they won't ask for it back, and then I'll sell it to you, if you still want it. I'm keeping it around just in case they do want it.
want a PDA and book reader for under $500 for $399 you can get a64GB iPod Touch which is the most cost effective and accessible means of doing both. Just about the only thinkg you can't play on one would be NLS books. The other stuff you guys mentioned can either be played natively or converted easily into a format that can be. Though that may either too modern ... or ... oh dear god it uses the dreaded touch screen method of accessing the device, and their is just too much of a learning curve for the blind on that one lol
Glad you brought up the touch screen. *smile* That, and the fact that I don't like ITunes and the way VoiceOver handles things with interaction and all that nonsense, are some very good reasons why I personally wouldn't go near an IPod. However, thanks for bringing it up for those who might be interested. It's certainly cheaper than some of the blind-specific tech out there.
what is wrong with voice over, What is wrong with Itunes? I personally have an Ipod I have used it for reading, its nice! :), What ever floats your boat.
To Post 9:
What you're suggesting is accurate, and puts the blind user on the same playing field as their sighted counterparts. While I do not yet have an iOS device - expenses for the teenage daughter / fam come first, I well remember the distinction between when I could and couldn't access online content at the same time as my sighted peers.
It is precisely this access to information that has made us more competitive and in a timely fashion.
I think if the Internet was the Printing Press for the Blind, then iBooks will be the next step. Who really cares what the interface is? I really could care less if they come out with a sphere and call it the iBall. The truth is with any funds available I'd put my money on anything that makes me more competitive, and right now the iOS devices plus iBooks do just that. Ultimately it boils down to results, and if the results are that we can get access to more content, our sighted counterparts have the right to expect that a. we can, and b. they don't have to make an alternative format.
I realize this pushes me out right now since I can't afford one, but it seems all the young / unencumbered / on the public ticket can, so definitely go forr it, increase your competitive advantage and get access to the data at the same time as or before your sighted counterparts. Since on the job, the number one thing sighted people wonder about is speed - whether you can do / acquire as quickly without sight, take any advantage you can.
When I saw iBooks I was floored by its potential, which no fanboy talking about audio programs or music has even remotely touched upon.
Many of us took the plunge into Windows when it was new to readers, and efficiency was remote. At that time I was fortunate enough to have the expense of a baby rather than a teenager, and to have acquired some unexpected inheritance money which I invested in a reader and synthesizer. I'm sure I am probably the norm and not the exception in that time period, maybe not the odd instance of actually getting inheritance, but still. You're going to pay out minimum $200 or so for an 8GB device which if you use as productivity and not music will suffice, as the 4th-Gen 8GB devices support VoiceOver.
You then install iBooks plus even their iWork suite of office apps, plus SayText and oMoby and you have in your hot little foreflipper something that borders on science fiction, to some of us anyway.
And, it's not a odd-looking 'What is that?' device, it's something your sighted counterparts understand. If the blindie organizations were anything but fools they'd raise funds from the rest of us stiffs to buy you kids Braille displays so you could have access to that, and then you'd be set. If you're living the mobile college lifestyle like my niece does, you could pay for 3G mobile internet via your cell carrier with no cable access, and you're off to the races.
These devices are going to outsell desktop computers in the near future anyway, and rather than playing catch-up like we did in the 1990s, you who can afford this or are living off support really should jump in for the big win and go for it. People rarely can argue with demonstrated competence.
OK I've rambled long enough ... but the Apple fan people don't even really touch on the power of what's out there for us, when they talk about playing with radios, to tap or not to flick, etc. when what we really have here is a revolution in what you can do *on the fly*. Who really cares about preference when it comes to us getting competitive advantage?
I didn't particularly *care for* Windows 3.1X, but having direct access to what everyone else was using, and what I had been configuring for people fromthe command-line, made me instantly more competitive by years. With what's out now, and your ability to take a snapshot of a package or piece of paper and get a general or specific idea of what it is without sighted help, that is a leap by light years! Geez!
So I did the perpetual genetic drift: Sue me for that. Book readers? iBooks = direct access to publications that make you informed and competitive in your field.
This is going to matter more and more as books increasingly have more rich content, meaning multimedia embedded in the books themselves. Meaning your sighted users have direct access to books that you don't and I don't unless we get iBooks.
Case in point on instant access: Last night at our Coast Guard Division meeting with the officers, I was being asked how certain training I've been doing was coming along. Because it's all online, because all the manuals are in PDF, I can basically use it. Sure, are there times I could belly-ache about certain things if I had a mind to? Sure. However, as a new member of the Coast Guard, I've a lot to learn, and the information is completely available, and much of it has had rich content: part video, part book, part online diagrams (which use html tables you can look at with your reader's table commands to understand coordinates).
So the point is, I don't have to ask, 'Can you wait for me while I get up to speed and get the material in alternative format' or whatever the word is.
But you increase this exponentially if you get access to something like iBooks, and hopefully Kindle Reader for iOS if Apple wins that war with Amazon / the publishers.
This isn't about preference anymore unless you're rich / can just look at these devices as your music player. It's about us having a competitive advantage, and seizing it.
To starfly: The idea of interacting that VoiceOver contains is annoying at best. It especially gets in the way when trying to copy and paste things from a webpage into Text Edit or when trying to use certain programs. ITunes doesn't have a simple cut and paste interface, but rather, a whole complicated mess that serves as the means of entering songs into it's library. Most of my songs don't have the artists in their titles, most don't even have proper titles and instead are called things like Track 01. I group them according to the cd that they were originally on, to artist, to the name of the Youtube channel where I found them or to my own names for files that I recorded via online radio. So ITunes's system would completely mess me up.
To LeoGuardian: I'm not trying to compete with the sighted, except that I don't want to have to lug around huge braille books when they could have a decently-sized print book in comparason. I merely want a cheap and simple device to let me read the hundreds of txt files that are the books on my computer's hard drive so that I don't have to carry my laptop around with me. All the other things I can accomplish with said laptop or even my Braille Note. But the latter is extremely expensive, so I'd need to be extra careful when out with it in public, and while it's certainly not large, it's not as small or light as a reader either. For extreme portability with mp3s, I have my Muvo T100, which can fit in the palm of my hand. The only advantage with an mp3 reader is that navigating through a file is possible. But since 99% of my books are either txt files or cassettes, it really doesn't matter, unless I convert said tapes to mp3s.
But in general, interface does matter to me. If it's not something which I feel comfortable using, and if there are other means available for accomplishing the same tasks, I choose those. This is why I hardly ever use my Mac, except for recording and uploading Youtube videos. I don't like the interface of Leopard and/or Snow Leopard and especially don't like how Safari keeps saying "busy" all the time. I also don't like how it puts blank duplicate files in a folder. So if I have file1 on there before I put the device in the Mac, I now have file1 and .file1 on it so have to go through all the files and delete the extra ones. Furthermore, any Greek files saved with Text Edit, when read with Windows, are completely unintelligible. I lost several lessons that way and wasn't too pleased about it. Thank The Gods, they're only for me and there is no teacher of my course.
I paid $14 for my Muvo T100 which is a 4gb device, though admittedly, I only use it for music. I personally couldn't care if my device is "odd-looking" or not to the sighted. So long as it works, I'm happy. As I said, I'm not out to be competetive, even when it comes to my computer. If I need it or if it makes my life easier, I use it. I don't jump on things just because everyone else is doing it. Many people use sd cards now, but I'm perfectly happy with my compact flash cards. They do the same thing and, like the sd cards, are solid state. The only difference is that they're slightly more expensive, but that will probably change once the camera people move onto something else. I also don't see the need to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a brand new laptop, unless it's custom-made, or to switch to Windows 7 when my XP machine does all that I need it to do.
If I'm just reading regular novels, tutorials, cookbooks etc. why on Earth would they have multimedia in them? I can't even think of an instance where I personally would need to read a book with videos or diagrams in them, except possibly a textbook on basket weaving, astrology, numerology or tarot. Even if I used said table commands, coordinates don't usually make sense to me unless I have the diagram etc. in front of me in braille. That said, if there was a synthesizer that could handle polytonic Greek and it happened to be on a newer device, I might consider getting it.
Most people who have to work for a living / support themselves and others are competitive. That's not an attitude, that is necessity unless someone or something is supporting you in an artificial universe where you need not sustain yourself.
Yes, but the subject here wasn't needing something for business purposes. It was merely about looking for something with which to read books.
Which is why I asked the question about the Ipod!, you can rename your tracks with windows explorer where there not just traack 1, track 2 and ETC. Its not Itunes doing this its how the file has been recorded. I have this problem with CD's I Ripped along time ago with my Gateway 1.73 single core processor. :) Awe, I miss that computer but I am getting off topic. Any way just food for thought.
Maybe, but I don't even know the names of half of them. Many were recorded from online radio. Besides, I have at least 4gb of music. I don't really think I'd have the patience to rename everything when I could just copy and paste the folders into my mp3 player.
Access to books = greater access to education / work. And let's face it, book readers of all types now support more than just books, but publications and periodicals. That's why I drifted that direction: there's a big correlation between sighted people's access to printed material and their employability, so why not blind also?
I guess the info was good for those seeking it.
I don't particularly like the touch screen, but I might get an iphone sometime. I really like the mac interface, actually, and I make sure to give my music the right name when I get it. I know that the VR stream will soon support Greek, but I'm not sure when or whatatonic it'd be.
I'm sure it would be monotonic, which is fine 99% of the time. Nice to know that it's getting some support. As for naming tracks, I can't do that if I don't know the name of the song. *smile*
If you use Winamp, you can hit alt-3, which brings up a dialog where you can edit the tags of the mp3 files. You can either enter the information manually or have it auto tag it for you. I'm not sure what database it retrieves its information from, but 99% of the time it's accurate. If you don't have Winamp, I'm pretty sure there are other free programs out there that will do the same thing. In fact, I think I remember one called mp3tag. As for the Book Port, that device is horrible. I hated that thing with a passion. First of all, the voice is absolutely atrocious for reading books, it has practically no inflection. Second, it doesn't have a built-in speaker. I don't know why the hell anyone would want it.
But how can it retrieve tag information from self-made recordings and from mp3s that have been extracted from cds? Do the extracted mp3s still have the cd information? I'm not being sarcastic, just curious. The Double Talk sounded okay from the samples that I heard but I didn't hear it reading for long enough for me to judge it as a book-reading synth. Still, it's better than the Echo and the Braille Lite. lol
Make that Braille Lite 2000, since the later ones actually used Double Talk.
You have a point there. The Braille Lite voice was pretty bad. To be honest I'm not exactly sure how auto tagging works, so excuse my ignorance. Maybe someone else will have an explanation. Yes, if you've taken the mp3's from cd's it can almost always get the information, even if it was a mix with all different artists. Recordings you get online can be a little trickier, especially if you got them from Youtube or another streaming site.
I know that the database would work if you have it set to autotag when you get the data-not sure how to set it up. I got used to doubletalk, but I can get used to almost anything, except the braille lite 40 I had which didn't use echo, it was ArtTalk. The braille n speak uses this too. Ugh!
The Youtube ones have names, but I have several that I created by simply recording from a radio stream. When I extracted the mp3s from the cds, I used Free CD To MP3 Converter, which idn't tag or anything. It just took the cda files, turned them into mp3s and put them in an output folder. I then selected them all and pasted them into a folder that I'd created with the name of the cd.
I know you can do this kind of thing with the SA mobile network, and with Itunes, but not sure otherwise. I use windows media player 8 or some other really old version, and do the same thing. Can't wait to transition to mac!
Tiffany, the way you speak tells me you obviously haven't ever used an I device. You seem very ignorant to the way voice over actually works on it and how its different from using voice over on amac.You also seem unaware that Voice over on the idevices changes the gestures so you don't have to interact with the device like its a touch creen but can use it much like u would a device with up down left and right buttons and and enter or select button of some sort, and you don'thave to know the locations of things on the screen like you would think u would have to.Not to mention i am pretty sure it has greek language support and you can set it up so you can use the language router to switch back and forth easiyl between the two. And while typing on the unit is the hardest part to get used to bluetooth keyboards are available from as little as $20 for a small portable one thats about the size of the device and fit in your pocket with it to full size ones for $70. iTunes really isn't taht complicated once you get the hang of it and you can have your library as organized or as unorganized as you would like. Oh and your compact flash cards are only gonn aget more expensive as everything is now supporting SD cards and not compact flash anymore the demand for them are going down unlike SD cards for which just keep getting cheaper and cheaper. I understand everyone has choice and should choose waht works betst for them but i think you are writing off something based on pre conceived notions you have about it with no actual knowledge. And based on your needs and waht you say you want to do in your previous post i think even an 8GB iPod touch at the very least would be a very useful took fo ryou. So here's to hoping you will have an open mind and atleast consider such a device. If memory serves correct we don't live that far from each other still i would be more than happy to show you around one of those devices so you can see for yourself and learn how to use it from a blind user who uses it every day and not a sighted person who is still going to try to show you the sighted way of using the device.
To monkeypusher69: Ijust checked your profile and yes, we are pretty close to each other. I do admit that I really haveno idea how VoiceOver works on those machines but I have used it with the Mac and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Of course, it is usable but the way in which it works drives me crazy. I'm glad that these touch screen devices at least have regular external keyboards but I think there's a bit of a problem when you have to buy an external keyboard to use with a device that's supposed to be portable, unless you need a special keyboard or the built-in one isn't working. I donno. Maybe, I'll try it one day, just to see what all the fuss is about and to broaden my knowledge.
In any case, if I were rich, this is what I'd get and have it shipped overnight!
MobilEyes Basic Portable Reading Machine for the Blind and Low Vision
http://www.maxiaids.com/store/prodView.asp?idproduct=8863&idstore=6&product=MobilEyes-Basic-Portable-Reading-Machine-for-the-Blind-and-Low-Vision
I was just looking for a txt reader but this thing is amazing! It reads all sorts of texts, downloaded as well as live plus bar codes and has a built-in mp3 player and voice recorder. It even has a magnifier for those with low vision and uses compact flash cards! And I thought the Intel Reader was good!
But back to basics... I might be able to afford this one at some point.
Tomboy Digital Talking Book Player
http://www.maxiaids.com/store/prodView.asp?idproduct=8810&idstore=6&product=Tomboy-Digital-Talking-Book-Player
The name is totally appropriate, as I'm a tomboy myself. lol It plays DAISY, wav, aac and mp3 files and reads txt, word and html files. Plus, it has a recorder with built-in microphone and voice recorder, radio and calendar with alarms. Unfortunately, this one doesn't use compact flash cards. I'd probably use it for reading txt files (my original goal), listening to mp3s, setting appointments, and occasionally, for recording things. I generally don't listen to the radio that much these days and prefer a regular dial tuner when I do. But overall, this looks like an interesting device and it does alot for the price. Butthere'salso the Victor Reader Stream, which is similarly priced and which does several of the same things.
I really would love a truly portable scanner but they're all hugely expensive. I did, however, find someone who is willing to sell me his ID Mate Omni for a very decent price. So if I'm lucky, I can get that, which will definitely make my life easier.
Eleni
To monkeyPusher69:
You may be right about choice, except with these new iOS devices plus OMoby, it's like having a virtual set of eyes ... I would relish the idea of being able to snapshot something, get a visual reference, I even heard of using one of their OCR apps to snapshot a screen and have the text read back. It's those situations where you really need vision in the short term, and you're the one who knows the material, where something like these could really shine. So to me, it's choosing between getting a virtual set of eyeballs (at least to a point) and not getting them. Finances permitting, I'll definitely opt for the former. You and Striker on here have pointed out the importance of flicking to get places faster on the device, and yes I had been with sighted people when I saw the iPad, so was doing it like them except with the reader. But sounds like the flicking would add more dimensionality to an already multidimensional interface.
Yes, the Idivices have Greek, and lots of other languages. By the way, did you try voice over on leopard, or voice over on snow leopard, or ... voice over on tiger? Because if you haven't tried vo on 10.6 snow leopard, you've got a treat coming to you, if you take my advice.
and like i said its amatter of choice, but pretty much everything that specialized machine you have to save for can be done wit an iPhone and more, and to me it was that ecconomic sense that made me force myself to learn the touch interface. I was greatly surprised to learn how easy it was to navigate after forcing my self to spend 30 days with one, i had it down in under 3 and decided i wasn't returning it. You don't have to get an external keyboar i have just adapted to the on screen keyboards whose auto corrections and auto pridiction is pretty good so most times i don't have to finish typing aword or have to go back to fix a a misspelling. sure at some point i may finally get the bluetooth keyboard. Like i said just get ahold of me and we can set something up.
I love my VR Stream. Actually the main reason I don't use it much anymore is the fact that my little SD card reader needs to be replaced and I can't for the life of me remember where I stashed the long USB cable that would enable me to transfer books directly to the Stream from the computer. Not that I particularly care for that method (particularly not when transferring more than one book) since it takes an inordinant amount of time. And although I read all Audible books almost solely via the IPod Touch I still read NLS books and the VR Stream is still the best for those as far as I'm concerned, although I do like the new NLS player also.
I've tried both Leopard and Snow Leopard on my Macbook. It' okay but I wouldn't want to have it as my only means of access to a computer. This is largely because of the interface of VoiceOver itself. I actually just learned two things yesterday. First, Quick Nav can be used, in some aases, to avoid the hitting of the VO keys etc. just to do a simple thing like reading a webpage. Second, there are Mac commands that are duplicates of the VoiceOver ones, but they require far fewer keystrokes in some cases. Unfortunately, these are not mentioned at all in the VoiceOver guide, so I, and several other Mac users on the Mac Visionaries list, had no idea that they even existed. There's no reason why Apple should be keeping that information from us and forcing us to use more combersome methods of doing the same things.
Ok. I hate to even suggest this, but if you don't like the idevices, the new pacmate omni with 6.5 has a rssolo Greek voice. The quality is pretty good considering the size of the voice, and the pm accepts cf cards. However, the prices are astronomical. Maybe, you could find a used pacmate omni (yes, it does have to be an omni) and upgrade it. Otherwise, I say sell your pacmates as long as you can get some money for those pieces of junk.