as ts2000 users know, all menus speak, but often the menu items are 
abreviated, or numbered.
so yes, if you don't go into the menus very often, you likely have to refer 
back to the manual to find which menu number you need to change.
the ts480's only additional speech seems to be pl/ctcss, power and mike 
gain.
for an HF radio, plus 6 meters, the pl and ctcss functions are nearly 
useless as there are very few 6 meter repeaters really out there, and many 
of those don't have tones on them...as for power and mike gain, I guess it's 
really personal preference as to weather you want to hear the percentage you 
are at or weather you can simply count from 1 to 100 without getting 
confused.  I would venture to suggest that if one is capable of achieving 
their amateur license, then one is capable of counting from 1 to 100 
compitently.
If space and one radio meets all specs isn't a consideration, then the 480 
plus something like the V71 together would cost just a bit less than a brand 
new ts2000.
however, you then do not get a full 100 watts out on 2 meters, and you do 
not have SSB and AM capability on 2 and 70CM.
the nice thing about the TM V71 is that it does indeed speak important 
things like pl/ctcss to make it easier to manually program the radio in a 
hurry on repeaters and such that use those regularly.
So, if higher power, and SSB/am mode on vhf/uhf aren't important, and space 
isn't an issue, then a ts480 and a tmv71 would probably come in a bit higher 
as far as what is spoken and offered to the blind user over the ts2000. 
But, if you can simply count, and have a cheat sheet for those seldom times 
you actually need to go into the menus after initial settup, then the ts2000 
is a more feature rich, more functional radio with just a tad less speech 
output.
with the ts2000, there is also no need to monkey around with a separate face 
plate and extra cabling etc, or perchase additional mounts or accessories to 
make it into a nice package.
I'm totally biased towards the ts2000, however, I can see why some users 
might wish to have higher speech information to maintain a comfort level.
there are lots of pro's and con's to each situation.
73
Colin, V A6BKX
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Dresser" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: Kenwood TS-480 more accessible than TS-2000?


> Howard,
>
> I think I understand what John means by "talking too much."  For example,
> when in memory mode, every time you move the channel knob, the 2000 says
> "memory xxx xx.xxx>'  I would prefer an option to silence that amount of
> feedback, and instead have the speech say something when I press a button.
> Note that this option is available in the TM-V71A, where you can choose
> between "Automatic", where the speech works like it does in the 2000, and
> "Manual", where the speech is silent unless you press whatever button 
> you've
> assigned to trigger speech.  Even though the 480 uses the same speech chip
> as the 71A, it does not let you choose between Automatic and Manual.  That
> said, though, the speech in the 480 provides feedback for PL and CTCSS
> tones, power, and various gain functions, whereas these functions are not
> spoken by the 2000.  I would prefer having the more extensive feedback of
> the 480, but I like many things about the 2000, such as its much sharper 
> SSB
> filters, so I put up with the lack of feedback.  We should keep in mind 
> that
> the 2000 was one of Kenwood's early attempts at speech accessibility, and
> they've learned a lot since 2000 when the radio first hit the market. 
> Let's
> hope that one day they develop a radio like the 2000, but with the 
> increased
> accessibility of the newer Kenwood radios such as the TM-V71A.
>
> Steve
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Howard Kaufman" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 10:12
> Subject: Re: Kenwood TS-480 more accessible than TS-2000?
>
>
>> John, I have heard this idea of a radio talking to much twice in the last
>> two days.  I don't understand, if I am paying for a feature I certainly
>> want
>> to be able to use it.  Since a radio doesn't talk, unless you push a
>> button,
>> or navigate a menu?  How does a radio talk to much?  The only thing in 
>> the
>> 480 that doesn't talk, is the onboard power/SWR meter, and I wish it did.
>> I
>> must be missing something here.
>>