Missy, I am glad to hear you say that about responsiveness and reliability, as it is different than what I have heard from a lot of other users. Just on this list a couple days ago, another user said that her Booksense crashed while listening to an Audible book, and even resetting the unit hasn't fixed it; it sounded like she was going to have to have the unit physically serviced. I have also read on GW Micro's website that Audible books are a "work in progress," and it may not be compatible with all books. That is a heck of a disclaimer if I ever heard one, and it is worrying. And as far as my Stream, I have never even once had it crash on me; maybe I was just lucky.
All that being said, I am still seriously considering the Booksense, if for no reason other than the folder structure navigation which is very limited in the Stream, and the far-improved TTS. One other thing I have noticed from listening to Podcasts is that the Booksense appears to be much slower than the Stream when loading NLS books as well as DAISY books and text files. Just my observation. For example, in GW Micro's own "online training," Raul is bringing up the "Wheel of Time Book 11" book, and he gives the Booksense the instruction to move to heading 6 (by hitting the 7 or 8 key I believe). It took the unit almost 30 seconds to move to that heading; all we could hear were the beeps indicating it was working. Raul was conveniently trying to talk over the beeps and making it appear the unit was just paused, but it was clear the Booksense was trying to load and move to that section of the file. I have never had the stream take more than a half a second to move to a heading. Again, I am not trying to put the unit down; I am just a very heavy and technical user, so I want to be very sure of the unit's capabilities as well as its limitations before I get one, and I know there are a lot of expert users here who can provide valuable insight. Thanks, Suleyman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Missy Hoppe" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 3:33 PM Subject: Fw: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer I just wanted to respond to this and say that I think the booksense is a lot more responsive than the stream. I can remember my stream freezing up if I tried to navigate a file list too quickly, and so far, I've never had any problems like that with the booksense. My victor had other stability issues from time to time, which again, I've yet to encounter with booksense. So far, my booksense has been extremely stable, and it may have its little quirks here and there, but none of them are dealbreakers for me. I would definitely make the purchase again if given a choice. Missy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Suleyman Gokyigit" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 6:25 PM Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer The Booksense not supplying time remaining is just a software thing; it easily can if GW Micro decides they want it to in a future firmware release. Why it doesn't already is beyond me; you would think that anyone who hears time elapsed and total time would also want to hear remaining time; after all, it is a basic subtraction operation for the unit. Something tells me that the Booksense was rushed to the market a bit in order to try to garner sales from all the back-to-school crowd. Especially given all the bugs that I read about which existed in firmware 1.0, a lot of them should have been worked out before it was ever released. Even firmware 1.1 is still just a beta and has been for over two months now. While I like the unit's features, all this makes me very hesitant to purchase one, since I have doubts as to the unit's stability and reliability and performance. Is anyone able to comment on how responsive the unit is when compared to the Stream? For example, when moving back and forth through headings, paragraphs, Audible books... Is it immediate like the stream? Does it respond and move the instant you press the navigation keys? Suleyman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Missy Hoppe" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 3:04 PM Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer I don't get time remaining when pressing 0, just time elapsed and total time. I don't understand why audible books can't function the same as they did on the victor and the same as they apparently do on the booksense; still won't be able to find that one out for myself until my nls key is sent. Anyway, I understand if it can't provide detaild info for mp3 files, especially home-made ones, but the info for audible and nls books should be consistant. Missy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandy Licht" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 4:03 PM Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer I am pleasantly surprised. If while playing an Audible book you just press the zero, the time both elapsed and remaining will be announced! I am glad I was wrong about that. At 11:09 AM 11/9/2009 -0800, you wrote: >Sandy, > >Based on what I have seen in podcasts and what Cheryl has said here, the >way >to get the total time for an Audible book is not to press and hold 0 for >two >seconds but to simply hit the 0 key, as in press and release. Can you try >this and see if it reports the total time? I'd love to hear if it works >for >you. > >Thanks, > > >Suleyman > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Sandy Licht" <[email protected]> >To: <[email protected]> >Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 10:56 AM >Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer > > > What you get when you are listening to >Audible books, when holding down the zero key for 2 seconds on the >BookSense Standard is: title, then arrowing down: artist, album, and >then narrator. That is all. If someone is getting the time, please >tell me how you are doing it. > At 07:46 AM 11/9/2009 -0800, you wrote: > >Cheryl, > > > >Many thanks for the detailed and thorough response. So given you have > >confirmed that pressing 0 during an Audible book announces the total > >time, > >and likewise pressing long 0 during an NLS book does the same, it is > >possible to find elapsed time and total time for both types of books. So > >this means that the users that were saying it is not possible to learn > >total > >time yesterday were then mistaken? > > > >For example, Rod Gowen said yesterday: > > > >"When playing a media file, MP3 or other, pressing the zero key will tell > >you not only the title of the file and the elapsed time, but also the > >total > >time, the track number of the file in the current folder and the current > >mode of the player, I.E. pause." > > > >Sandy Licht then responded: > > > >"Not with Audible books." > > > >RS_Denis then said: > > > >"With a media file playing, pressing the zero once quickly will give you > >the > >elapsed time but there is no way that I could see of getting the total > >time. > >This may be because in media files, the sampling and bit rates may differ > >making total time unpredictable to the machine." > > > >Missy Hoppe then confirmed: > > > >"same here. it doesn't do that with audible or mp3 files that I noticed. > >I > >wish it did." > > > >Given what all the above have said and that it didn't match up with all > >the > >podcasts I had listened to, this is why I was confused. :) So in > >conclusion, it would appear these users are incorrect? > > > > > >Suleyman > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Cheryl Lenartiene" <[email protected]> > >To: "Suleyman Gokyigit" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> > >Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 4:57 AM > >Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer > > > > > >Dear Suleyman, > > > >Yes, when you play an Audible book or any audio file and you press the 0 > >key, it will announce the elapsed time and the total time automatically. > >When you play an NLS book, pressing 0 announces the current heading and > >time > >elapsed. However, ifyou press and hold 0, you'll access the DAISY info > >dialog, which contains the total number of bookmarksyou have set, your > >current heading and the total number of headings, the length of the book > >in > >hours and minutes, the time elapsed, and the time remaining. > > > >As to your speed question, the current maximum speed is level four, which > >is > >2 times normal speed. I have compared the Victor and the BookSense side > >by > >side using the same book, and speed 4 on the BookSense is right between > >speeds 4 and 5 on the Victor, meaning that speed 4 on the BookSense is > >slightly faster than speed 4 on the Victor, but not as fast as speed 5. > > > >Hope this helps, > >Cheryl > > > > > >Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, > >for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. > >1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 > >NIV > > > > > >-------------------------------------------------- > >From: "Suleyman Gokyigit" <[email protected]> > >Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 1:08 AM > >To: <[email protected]> > >Subject: [GW-Booksense] Questions from a Perspective Buyer > > > >Hi everyone, > > > >I am a current VictorReader Stream user and am looking at purchasing a > >Booksense; however, I have two questions (I will probably have more in > >the > >future) that I cannot seem to find definite answers for. > > > >First, I just saw today some discussions on this mailing list regarding > >the > >information that is presented when pressing the 0 key while playing a > >file. > >Specifically, it was stated by several users that when listening to an > >Audible file, pressing the 0 key does not tell you the total time of the > >file. I wanted to get confirmation on this because while listening to > >multiple demos and podcasts of the Booksense, the 0 key always presented > >the > >total time of an Audible file (I just went back and checked a couple > >podcasts to confirm). So when I saw users saying that it is not > >reported, > >this is giving me pause, as this is very important information, and I am > >wondering what has changed to suddenly make the unit not report this > >information. > > > >Second, I have read that the Booksense does not speed up audio files up > >as > >much as the Victor (I am referring to recorded books such as Audible or > >NLS, > >not TTS here), but I have not seen any information regarding exactly how > >much faster the Booksense can play the file. I am aware it can increase > >up > >to 4 levels (+1, +2, +3, and +4), but this is not very meaningful since > >it > >does not indicate how fast each of these settings are. Does it speed up > >by > >25%? 50%? 100%? Specifically, I like to listen to podcasts and other > >audio at exactly double (2x) normal speed. Can the Booksense play this > >fast? I know the Victor can go faster than even 2x, but I don't need it > >to > >be that fast, but if the Booksense cannot speed up to at least 2x, I will > >not be purchasing it. > > > >Many thanks for anyone who is willing to address the above two questions. > > > > > >Suleyman > > > >If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender > >only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is > >related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your > >message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. > > > >If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to > >[email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the > >message. > > > > > >If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original > >sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour > >message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please > >consider sending your message to [email protected] so the > >entire list will receive it. > > > >If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to > >[email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the > >message. > > > Sandy Licht >Turn right, then go straight! > > Jeremiah 29:11-14 (Amplified Bible) > >11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the >Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to >give you hope in your final outcome. > > 12Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, >and I will hear and heed you. > > 13Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital >necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.(A) > > 14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you >from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places >to which I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back >to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive. > >If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender >only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is >related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your >message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. > >If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to >[email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the >message. > > >If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original >sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour >message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please >consider sending your message to [email protected] so the >entire list will receive it. > >If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to >[email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the >message. Sandy Licht Turn right, then go straight! Jeremiah 29:11-14 (Amplified Bible) 11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. 12Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. 13Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.(A) 14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the message. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the message. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the message. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the message. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-booksense in the body of the message.
