I would echo the responses listed below with some more take it or leave it advice. Rockbox,
I have installed and used it on several targets: Iriver, Archos and Toshiba Gigabete The setup process takes some doing but once you have the firmware installed updateing is a snap! AllMenue items are spoken using generated 8kb clips called a voice UI or, User Interface. You can build your own using sapi voices and Sigwin or download and install daily voice builds using the speaks coddex. The folders and files are spoken after running the voicebox plus utility. It is a pain to find a suitable player and get it set up but it is well worth it. The user manuals for each target are some of the best and accessible HTML documents I have ever used. Read more at www.rockbox.org Find out all targets and there capabilities at: http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BuyersGuide I also have the ZennStone with speaker with I use in the gym! Fantastic and super simple to use. Not the most powerful unit on the block but very portable and user friendly. Drag and drop USB charging with a clever way of navigation between files and folders. I have a Victor Stream manufactured by Humanware Canada!: www.humanware.ca A Smoking unit for Audible, unprotected WMA/DRm, Daisy 2/3, txt and html documents and music in MP3, losses and OGG files. I recently grabbed a 16GB HCSD high capacity secure digital memory card from EBay so my capasity is great! Not cheap at $275 to $375 but a very nice unit indeed! Oh ya, My Nokia smart phone runnning Symbian 9.2 with an S60 Audible player and Nokia audio book player is no slouch either. The loudest and clearest internal speakers I have ever heard! A, to B, with varying price points for yor consideration! HTH...rocker . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Chaltain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 6:19 PM Subject: Re: best player for blind person for mp3s? All points I was going to make! From my own personal experience, I would just like to add the following. I have a Zen Stone with an External Speaker that I highly recommend. It has a 2GB capacity. It has no screen, and it's totally accessible. I upgraded to this from my 1GB Zen Stone, which also didn't have a screen and was totally accessible. Both players have a resume feature, which will pick up where they left off when you powered them down. this is a global setting, so you can't have a separate book mark for each song or file. They may come in a 4GB version now. I paid $40 for the 2GB Zen Stone with External Speaker from Frye's. As clifford said, there are also versions that come with a FM radio, recorder and a display. I've heard blind people have been successful using them, but I can't speak to that myself. I personally use my Zen Stone for my audible.com and overdrive.com books, since it will play WMA DRM files, and these files typically aren't files I want to keep around forever, so the 2GB capacity isn't an issue. I also have a few of my favorite CD's on there as well. I also have an iRiver H20 running rockbox. This has a 20GB capacity. It's my portable music library. rockbox is open source firmware that you use to replace the firmware that comes on your MP3 player. It won't run on every player, and it takes a while to be ported over to new players, so the latest and greatest of each player aren't necessarily supported. It also won't play WMA DRM files, so no good for audible.com or overdrive.com books or some music subscription services. rockbox was not developed for the blind. It was developed by and for audiophiles who wanted to get more from their MP3 players than they could get with the player's native firmware. It does have an "eyes free" mode where menus, files and directories can be spoken. This is done with tiny recordings, usually generated with a speech synthesizer, and it is not done with a TTS. Rockbox is not a screen reader. Given all of this, Rockbox is a great project and wonderful for use by the blind. It is not as easy to install as a Windows application though, so if you want to install it, and have it speak your files and directories to you, it will take some reading and work on your part. IMO, it's definitely worthwhile, but people shouldn't go into it thinking it'll be as easy as buying a Zen Stone and hitting the power button. Good luck, and I hope this helps. Blackwell, Clifford wrote: > The question of a device is somewhat complicated. There are screenless > commercially available players like the Creative Labs, Zen Stone (1 and > 2 gb models, the Creative Labs Muvo t100 (1, 2 and 4 gb models) the and > the Ipod Shuffle. There are devices built specifically for the blind > like the VR Stream from Humanware. There are also commercially > available players with much more storage that can be made to "talk" with > the addition of software from Rockbox. > > What do you want the .mp3 player to do? Hold and play lots of music? > Play enough music for a work out or walk or trip? Do you want it to > play Audible and other recorded books? > > Does size matter? The Creative Labs players and the Shuffle are all > very small. The VR Stream is about the size of a deck of cards and the > players that can be loaded with Rockbox vary in size. > > Finally, what are you looking to spend? The commercially available > screenless models are generall under $75. I think the Stream is around > $300 and you will need to buy memory cards. And the other players vary > depending on availability, size and features. > > Hope this gets you started. > > There are good discussions of various options on AFB Main Stream, in > AFB's Access World magazine and in a book from NBP. > > Hope this helps. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lauren > Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 11:24 AM > To: PC Audio Discussion List > Subject: Re: best player for blind person for mp3s? > > I am seeking a portable device. > > > Sincerely, > > Lauren > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Blackwell, Clifford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 12:15 PM > Subject: RE: best player for blind person for mp3s? > > > >> Are you seeking a portable device or the kind of player used to play >> .mp3's on a computer? >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lauren >> Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 8:15 AM >> To: PC Audio Discussion List >> Subject: best player for blind person for mp3s? >> >> Hi, >> >> Please suggest the best MP3 player that a totally blind person can >> > use. > >> Thank you. >> >> >> >> Sincerely, >> >> Lauren >> >> Jonathan Mosen List Founder >> Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... >> http://www.pc-audio.org >> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> Jonathan Mosen List Founder >> Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... >> http://www.pc-audio.org >> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > > > Jonathan Mosen List Founder > Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > http://www.pc-audio.org > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Jonathan Mosen List Founder > Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > http://www.pc-audio.org > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -- Christopher [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jonathan Mosen List Founder Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jonathan Mosen List Founder Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
