Hi, Jeff! What about the recording feature? How long can one record something? Where does the recording go? Is it a file somewhere?
Jeff, can you write me offlist about some ideas for presenting to DHS so I can pursue getting the upgrade to the BrailleNote Mpower from my BNQT 18-cell? I would appreciate the help. Oh, yeah, I am currently running KS v5.1 build 22. Thanks. Diane Garrett/Leader Daisy Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (918) 664-5731 > ----- Original Message ----- >From: Jeff Molzow (mobile) <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List <[email protected] >Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 18:19:36 -0700 >Subject: [Braillenote] MPower, the real deal >Hello Everyone: >After reading Jonathan's announcement, and all the traffic it's generated, I >just wanted to put my two cents in as a user of the MPower. I've been part of >the beta team for this awesome box, and I can tell you, if you've loved your >BrailleNote or VoiceNote, you're going to be very impressed with this new >technology. In this review, I'm not going to try and restate all of the new >features of the MPower, just the ones I use and enjoy the most. >Firs, let me state very clearly that I AM NOT an employee of Humanware nor a >distributor. I'm just a trainer and and industrial user of Adaptive >technology with over 20 years of experience. I travel 2 to 4 times a month. >Like you, I'm on a budget and won't buy, replace or put anything in my >mobile arsenal that is not absolutely necessary or road tested. The new MPower >is just such a device. Infact, I've actually been able to leave my laptop at >home and it's been wonderful not to have to carry all that weight and all >those extra peripherals. My VoiceNote has been a tried and true friend and >I was not looking to replace it, until now. >By far, my favorite feature of the new MPower is Blue Tooth connectivity. I've >been using the MPower with my Nokia 6600, along with GPRS service from my cell >carrier and it's been fantastic. For those of you not familiar with Blue >Tooth, think of it like a short range wireless link between the MPower and >other devices. These might be printers, PC's, external keyboards or in my >case, a cell phone. Basically, as long as I've got cell service, I'm >connected. So, wherever I am, in the car, on the bus, in class, at the airport >or just sitting on my patio, I can email and browse to my heart's content >whether or not their's a public wireless network anywhere around. At a >conference last week, we got hopelessly lost. While my driver was going >around in circles, I logged onto the hotel's website and was able to provide >her with driving directions. The best part is that the phone never leaves the >case on my belt. If you've ever struggled to keep two infra-red ports lined >up while trying t >o browse or download 100 pieces of email, your going to really appreciate this >feature. >Book junkies like myself, who enjoy reading books with their BrailleNotes, are >going to be surprised how the faster processor improves their reading >experience. I'm able to open and reposition within large texts literally in >about a quarter of the time that it used to take. How much faster?? To give >you some idea, Tom Clancy's novel, Sum Of All fears, is about a 940 page >book. On my Voicenote, it took about 52.1 seconds to load. On the MPower, it >took only 12.3 seconds. The speed of repositioning within a large document has >been equally improved. With the increased onboard memory, you can take more >books with you, but, you are not limited to just the onboard storage. >Besides the larger flash disk (A very welcome change), there is a whole world >of new storage options. You still have the rear compact flash slot as well as >the PCMCIA slot, but there are also two USB ports and an SD (Secure digital) >card slot. For those of you not familiar with SD technology, an SD card is >much like a compact flash card only it can hold more data, is about one third >the size (In all dimensions) and is somewhat less expensive. There is a reader >out there that you can buy for your PC that will read both compact flash and >the new SD cards. If you do a lot of transferring between your PC and the >MPower, you'll definitely want to add this to your equipment list. Of course, >you can always link up on Active Sync on either USB or via your local area >network. I use to go around bragging that "I have over 300 books on this >little compact flash" while showing friends the card. There reaction is >somewhat more surprised when I show them a card that fits in my wallet and hol >ds 4 times that amount. The only problem I have with these little cards is >they are so small, that they are very easy to lose. . Of course, when I >really want to take a bunch of files with me, I can hook up my Archos Arcdisk >portable USB hard disk and have over 20 gb of storage available. All though >that's getting somewhat carried away. Even I don't have that large a reading >library. But, suffice it to say, that we've tested many different USB storage >possibilities and most of them are very accessible and a breeze to connect. >But, you say, what about carrying music files?? This brings me to the media >player. I've always been jealous of my son who walks around with his IPod and >carries our entire music library with him. As you may or may not know, the >IPod is not very accessible, But, with the combination of the MPower and my >USB hard drive, I can do the same thing. The sound quality is excellent, in >stereo and until now, only those of you with a PK, know how much fun it is to >listen to music and read email or a book at the same time. The speech and >music volume levels are controlled completely separately so one doesn't drown >out the other. I will tell you that I was completely blown away by the stereo >separation. I mean plug a good pair of ear buds or even a top quality pair of >headphones in, and it rivals many of the mp3 players on the market. Lately, >I've enjoyed taking the audio portions of DVS movies with me when I travel and >watching/listening to a movie whenever and wherever I feel like it. Who c >ares if the particular flight doesn't have in-flight entertainment, I bring my >own. I've also been enjoying sitting on the patio in the morning and >listening to the NPR program stream while being totally wireless. >The "Teckies" on the list are going to love the improved connectivity options. >Active Sync via USB is a much faster option. Keysync was so fast, in fact, >that the first time I linked and synced, I thought something was wrong. The >process took about 1 third of the time it usually takes over the serial port. >Connectivity with the rest of my home network has been wonderful. I have a >MAC filtered, 128 bit WEP encrypted wireless network here and the MPower >connects up to it, faster than some of my regular PC's. I've been able to >wander out to the far edges of our property At times, well over 150 feet away >from the router), and still had an excellent and very stable connection. So, >even without the hard drive connected, I was linked right back to the music >library on my main PC and was able to enjoy music while working outside. The >paralelle port is gone, but its replacement by USB ports is a welcome one. >I can tell you that being part of Humanware's beta process was really >enlightening. Their response to us (Sometimes in the middle of their night) >was nothing short of amazing. I've never worked so hard on a beta in my life, >but the results are certainly worth all the efforts. >The final word is that if you've enjoyed your BrailleNoteVoiceNote, You're >absolutely going to be blown away by the MPower. I think you can tell that I >am. Sadly, I'll be putting this Beta unit back in its box in the next couple >of days and sending it home. However, count on the fact that my check for >upgrading my old VoiceNote will be right behind it. >Thanks for reading my review and if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to >answer them on or off list. >Jeff Molzow >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
