I really spell checked my message guys, but sending it out you wouldn't know it.
> ----- Original Message ----- >From: Rhonda Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List <[email protected] >Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 13:32:13 -0500 >Subject: re: [Braillenote] My M-power Observations thus far >Hi Jim and List: >I didn't notice any word separations in your e-mail, which I was glad to see. >I was surprised to hear about having to charge up the battery twcce since >Friday. Of course, you may be using this machine a lot. >I wish you the best of luck with this MPower. Glad you got it. >> ----- Original Message ----- >>From: "James Aldrich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>To: [email protected] >>Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 11:35:14 -0600 >>Subject: [Braillenote] My M-power Observations thus far >>Hello all, >>Here are my M-power observations since I received it on Friday, September >>2nd. I'm writing this with the M-power so anyone wishing to evaluate how >>this EMAIL may look once it reaches the list can feel free to analyze how >>well this works as they wish. Just don't analyze my poor writing (grin >>smile)! I hope what I say will ease some of the concerns about this product >>on this list. >>My wife Dar thought the M-power was lighter when she first saw it out of the >>box. We both were impressed with the newer braille display. The intensity >>of how the dots come up can be adjusted in the braille display menu. I >>haven't seen much difference in the settings of the display so I keep it on >>the default of 5. One can hardly tell whether the display is functioning or >>not. One doesn't notice the thump thump on this newer display as the dots >>change position as one does with the older displays. Of course, new is >>always better than the old but this truly is a sharp display. It is a >>pleasure to read with it. It is a far better display than the immediate >>competition, there is no contest! The M-power display may not have the wear >>and tear of the older displays because of its smooth operation but time will >>tell. >>I think the speech is clearer perhaps better pronunciation. The speech voice >>is much the same as it was but I think the M-power speaks more clearly. It >>may or may not make a difference to anyone depending on hearing loss. I'm >>more pleased with the speech on my M-power than my 32 BT even though I still >>say the speech on my older unit is quite good! Ear buds and headphones work >>so much better on the M-power. One doesn't need to drastically set the >>volume higher for headphones. I rarely set the volume between the speaker >>and headphones with the M-power. >>I charged the battery twice since I received this unit. The battery gage >>went to a hundred percent both times and stayed at a hundred percent once I >>disconnected the AC adapter. It went down to 99 percent soon after the >>charger was disconnected and the battery seems to last quite a while between >>charges thus far. On the second time of charging, I noticed that the gage >>was at 94 percent after two hours. I left the M Power plugged in much longer >>and once I got home from church, it was at 96 percent. The percentage was >>the same when I disconnected the adapter. I kept it plugged in till the gage >>reached 100 percent. I think the gage may have calibrated this time around >>which accounted for how long the battery took to charge. I didn't get much >>notice once the battery reached zero percent. I'll know more in time about >>the battery life but I'm not complaining thus far. >>Kathy Williams take note! I downloaded 133 messages with both BN units. I >>left the messages on the server. The BN 32 BT took 6 minutes and 16.6 >>seconds according to the M-power stopwatch to download all 133 messages. The >>M-power took 2 minutes 7.18 seconds according to the BN BT stopwatch to >>download the same mail. Emptying the trash and clearing database space is a >>snap! One barely has a chance to breathe and the process is done! This unit >>is quick! I'm keeping messages on the server for a while longer so I hope to >>update you on how much quicker the M-power is than my older BN BT. Of >>course, one must consider the limited disk space and the processor speed when >>comparing the two units ability to download EMAIL. I like the way the >>M-power turns wireless on automatically when one wishes to go on the web or >>download EMAIL. One still must turn wireless off after being on the web or >>downloading EMAIL. I neglected to say I'm on a wireless DSL connection here. >>Being able to listen to streaming audio on a portable device is truly nice! I >>would say the M-power works well on the "free streams". ACB Radio was the >>first stream I tried. It was a snap to get to and listen. I also listened >>to a MONTANA Radio Station stream, and some other streams on Bill Sparks dot >>com as well as radio-locator dot com. I tried to get into the XM Radio site, >>listen at XM Radio dot com. I got into their web site okay but when I tried >>to receive a stream, I was told by their site in no uncertain terms that I >>needed to update my web browzer since my present browzer couldn't support the >>new features in their player. I got such a kick out of what I heard, I tried >>it again! One can get their site as I described it above and one must write >>it together, or one can go to wwwddxmradioddcom and select "listen now". One >>can get a three day trial on their programming otherwise one pays $7 a month >>to get the stream or close to $14 a month if one has one of their ! r! >! >e! >>ceivers. >> WSM Radio is another site which became a "pay site" so doubt it is >> available to the M-power. This is why I say the M-power probably works best >> on the "free streams". >>Passing files from my PC to the M-power is so much faster now through the >>network. I was able to get both MP3 and wav files to my M-power and play >>them with no difficulty. I was pleasantly surprised to find how quickly I >>was able to copy these files and play them with no difficulty whatsoever. I >>may have found one file that wouldn't play but it wouldn't play on my PC >>either. The playback on the wav file player is very good. I'll have more to >>say about it later. I went to Voice of the Nation's Blind dot org to listen >>to a particular file. I could hear one file from that site with no problem >>but I couldn't hear the file I wished to listen to. I kept hearing something >>about unfamiliar media so couldn't hear what I wanted to hear. This morning, >>I was able to hear the introduction of the May Humanware Newsletter on the >>humanware site. I'll listen to more of it when I have time. I can see that >>I have a wonderful world of streaming audio waiting for me when I wish to hea! r! >! > ! >>new info >>rmation or music. I'm looking forward to being a part of this new world with >>my M-power. >>The most disappointing feature to me on the M-power is the Memo Recorder. >>Perhaps I don't understand digital recording very well! This is the first >>digital recorder I have used at length. The memo recorder plays back wav >>files very nicely provided they were recorded or created elsewhere. Based on >>how my unit operates, this memo recorder is good for voice only whether it is >>on the low quality settings or the high quality settings. One can record >>their audio memos if they aren't too far from the microphone. One doesn't >>have to hold the M-power or external microphone to their face though. The >>default factory setting for recording with the internal microphone is level >>12. When I attempt to record at this setting, my recording is faint and the >>recording is weak with a fuzzy distorted sound as if I were talking through >>wax paper. The speech is not intelligible and the speech is intermittent! >>Level ten seems to give me the best recording quality but I hear a degree of >>white! ! >! >n! >>oise and >> a slight frying sound in the background of my recording. Speech from the >> notetaker comes in very well for obvious reasons if I happen to leave my >> unit in record and attempt to operate other functions with my M-power. The >> memo recorder in my unit is adequate for memos and I might send voice >> attachments in an EMAIL or two, but I don't think it would record music very >> well especially that piano recital. There are other devices on the market >> which would better serve such a purpose. I think a $20 to $40 cassette >> recorder could do as well or better for a recital than would my particular >> M-power unit. There might be some kind of component breakdown inhibiting my >> unit from recording properly, I really don't know! To my knowledge, the memo >> recorder isn't stereo either. I could be wrong about this conclusion >> though. I can safely say my unit doesn't support levels 11 through 15 with >> the internal microphone. I placed the level with an external microphone to >> 35. I couldn't hear! ! >! >a! >>nything >>at all from that attempt to record. I could hear the external microphone >>when I set the record level to a lower setting. I may need to check the >>battery in the microphone perhaps. The playback is fine with my memo >>recorder but I question whether the record feature is working properly in my >>unit. I'll be happy to send anyone interested attachments when recording at >>level 10, 11 and 12. This should show what I'm talking about. >>Web braille seems to be working better on the M-power. I can now reach the >>listing of braille books at the end of the web page. I can again get into >>the list to download volumes once again. My older BN BT was able to get that >>page as well so maybe NLS fixed the problem, I really don't know! I haven't >>downloaded any books lately so that is for another EMAIL. >>I haven't interfaced my M-power with my Juliet braille embosser but I hope to >>accomplish that soon! I haven't tried the bluetooth feature so that is >>something I'll look forward to. >>I'll be happy to try web sites when I can to see how accessible they will be >>for the M-power if that would be helpful to anyone. >>As I wrote this EMAIL, I noticed the speech cut out for no apparent reason. >>I turned the speech to on request to off and back on again and everything was >>fine. This happened three times while I wrote this post. >>Thanks for reading! >>Jim Aldrich >>___ >>To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >>http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
