Hello,
I've had experience with the Braille Plus, Bookport Plus, Book Sense, and
the Victor Reader Stream.
I use them at work for technical reading, note taking, and recording, and at
home for leisure reading.
During the last 3 years I've been in some intensive meetings which required
extensive note taking.
Everyone of the above systems except for the Victor Reader Stream has failed
me at one point or another at a crusial time.
I've now started to use 2 systems at important meetings. The backup system
is always the Victor Reader Stream, since I feel I can rely on it.
When the BookSense failed me it was shortly after it came out, and they
discovered the bug when recording, and supposedly fixed it. I haven't tested
it lately to confirm.
Another thing you may want to take into consideration is that the Victor
Reader Stream uses a different format when recording, but the recording can
be converted into a wav format, if you wish.
It can also be converted into the MP3 format, but you may need to purchase
additional software to do this. I don't recall for sure. You'll need to
check the VRStream manual to confirm.
The original format takes les space when recording. Therefore, you can
record more info, before needing to delete and make room for more
recordings.
Also, I believe the recording quality is better for the Victor Reader Stream
than the other systems. This may just be a personal preference, but for me
it seems to record better, pick up better in meetings, etc.
However, if you are planning on using the system where you need to do
reading, especially technical reading where you may need to have the ability
to move character by character, but still be able to read quickly and
relatively clearly, I don't believe any has been made to beat the original
Bookport. This is a personal preference, due to the boice that has been
chosen for the various systems.
However, since the Bookport is no longer available, then the next in my
opinion, for technical reading, would be the Braille Plus, mainly because of
the voice. Again, as I said, this is strictly a personal preference when it
comes to technical reading with speeds above normal.
The main issue witht the Braille Plus is problems with the cords. If they
could resolve this problem, it would be an excellent system for work. It
still can't beat out the VRStream for recording though.
Of course, the Braille Plus really can't be compared one-on-one against the
others, because it is more like a PDA than just a book reader, and is much
more expensive as well.
Good luck in your choice,
Pamela
-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ana G
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 11:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Fw: [VICUG-L] Bookport v. Victor Reader Stream
Like others on the list, I'm a big fan of the Stream, which has a voice
recorder, allows for bookmarking, and supports many filetypes, including
brf, html, rtf, txt, audible, Bookshare, NLS, and RFB&D though I haven't
tried RFB&D books myself. If you buy the softpack for $50, you can also read
epub and doc files and record or maybe convert to mp3. I don't have the
softpack, so this information is less reliable. finally, transferring files
is really easy. You can either copy directly to the SD card or use the
Humanware Companion software, which is also free.
I used the previous version of the Book Port and liked that very much as
well, but the interface and transfer tool took alittle longer to get used
to. I'm not sure if that's changed or not.
Just to complicate your life a little more, I know people who are happy
users of the Booksense and the Book Courier. I don't have any experience
with these, so I can't comment.
I recommend the Stream to anyone in the market for such a thing.
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