Dear Riana I am responding via the Digest so I hope this is still on topic. The last email I saw from David said it was OK for the time being.
I agree that the problem with the EyePal currently is the excessive cost. I was fortunate in getting funding for the equipment. The overwhelming advantage for me is that the equipment is genuinely portable , weighing only 1 pound, and this means I can use my netbook with the EyePal software in for example the British Library. The issue about scanning books and margins is I think address in the EyePal setup in 2 page mode but as I do not have the optic book I cannot genuinely compare, though I do have Kurzweil 11 which I have used with a variety of other scanners. The comparison I made with Kurzweil was based on my experience of Kurzweil OCR accuracy. As I say it appears to me to be outperformed by the EyePal but this is not say at all that the EyePal OCR is perfect. I have never come across a solution that is. A lecturer friend of mine does have an optic book Kurzweil setup but acknowledges the EyePal solution is superior and is seeking funding through his workplace to switch over to a similar setup to the one I am using. Where the EyePal scores above optic book and other scanners is in speed. Essentially you do not move the book at all but simply lay it on the table and turn the pages under the scanner. I guess in the end a decision has to be made whether this speed and portability is worth it in each individual case. Regards David Griffith Read my User Review of the EyePal Scanner http://www.nonags.org/members/dajgriff/Review_EyePal.htm My Low Vision Resources Web Site is http://www.nonags.org/members/dajgriff/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 14:50:27 +0200 From: "Van Der Walt Riana" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] User Review of EyePal Scanner To: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <76f29ba8836b6045b94cde210b90836c026a9...@dojcdnoc-xv1.dojcd.gov.za> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello David, I've read your review and just wondered whether you are aware of, or have perhaps tested the plustec optic book 4600 scanner with Kurzweil's latest version 11.03, before making the observation that this extremely expensive Eyepal scanner performs better than Kurzweil? I was not yet able to obtain the Plustec scanner, though I am using Kurzweil, but It can apparently scan right into the binding of books, eliminating the problem one has with other flatbed scanners and according to discussions on the Kurzweil list, its performance is excellent and together with Kurzweil, amounting to about probably a quarter of the price of the device you've just mentioned. Even with a normal flatbed Epson scanner, 80% of books I've scanned, scan acceptable with Kurzweil, on double page scanning, if one scans sideways. Regards Riana For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
