Jodi,
it sounds like these are great questions to ask in a call to Kurtzweil next
week.
I would suggest though that you consider your goals in this project. if you
want really great scanning results, then a serious consideration of an
upgrade should occur. Scanning systems have improved tremendously in the
past five years and the results have been impressive. Depending on what
scanning engine is in your version of K1000, you could jump from having
several scanning errors on a page to a single scanning error every few
pages.
further, the cheapest scanner may not be the most accurate. My scanner at
home is much better than the one at work, which was the cheapest scanner
they could purchase. I would say that my results are about 15 percent
better at home than at work using the same scanning software.
even if you decide not to spring for the upgrade, realize that most windows
programs produced before XP can work on XP systems, though check with
Kurtzweil on this issue.
using windows 98 on the second machine may not be such a bad idea. It
avoids the now familiar phone in ritual to Microsoft known as system
activation, which is required on XP machines. yes, bargains can be had with
used and reconditioned computers and those purchased without an operating
system. On the other hand, don't overlook new computers sold as last year's
models, open box machines and the like. These can be great bargains too.
with a somewhat new machine you could get modern features, like a CD burner,
a big Hard drive, and extra memory, for little more than what the used
machines sell for.
also many people use K1000 and Open Book on computer systems with screen
readers installed. Realize that these scanning systems are self-voicing
programs by default. Most have success when they use the software in this
way. yes, it is possible to use your screen reader instead of the
self-voicing module. However, when I have heard about people's digital mess
and a scanning system, it often involved tinkering with the self-voicing
aspect and their screen reader.
Kelly
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jody W Ianuzzi" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 12:30 PM
Subject: Kurtzweil 1000
> Hello Kelley and all,
>
> I was thinking of your idea of building a separate computer as a reading
> machine. I have Kurtzweil 1000 Version 5.02 release date July 2000. I
> have
> never put it in my Windows XP computer because I didn't think it would
> work
> and the last time I put Kurtzweil into a machine that already had JAWS
> installed, it messed it up a lot. This version of Kurtzweil says Dectalk
> version. I also happen to have a Dectalk in storage.
>
> If I were to build a computer for this version of Kurtzweil would I have
> to
> use the DecTalk or could I use a built in sound card? Also what version
> of
> Windows will this version of Kurtzweil work with? I figure I can find an
> old Windows 98 machine for next to nothing. I think I have an old scanner
> that will work with it too.
>
> What do you all think?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> JODY
>
> "WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH
> TO SEE IN THE WORLD" ~ Gandhi
>
>
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>
>
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
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