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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Hello,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I agree with ron in that the functionality of the Plextalk player is significantly better than that provided by the Stream. Keep in mind that the Victor Stream’s hardware was designed more than three years ago and is not as powerful as the Plextalk. I also agree that the Booksense is more complex than it needs to be in its interface. Some have certainly reported hardware issues with the Booksense though I did not personally experienced these issues while I had it for testing. The Plextalk and the Booksense have a better industrial design. The 4<sup>th</sup> option you have available is the Bookport plus from the American Printinghouse for the Blind. This player started shipping in early march. It uses identical hardware as the Plextalk with APH’s flavor of the firmware. Personally if I had to choose from among all these players, I would go with APH’s Bookport Plus. I owned the first iteration of the Bookport three or four years ago. It was very well designed. The software was quite intuitive. From the demos I’ve heard, the new player caries that tradition with new hardware. Plus, APH has a history of updating the firmware quite frequently to meet the users’ demand. I’ve also noticed that GW Micro has updated the Firmware several times since the release last summer. At this stage, the Victor Stream would be my last choice as humanware is known to have significant support issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Pratik<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> athen-bounces@athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces@athenpro.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Ron Stewart<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, April 28, 2010 11:11 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'Access Technology Higher Education Network'<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Daisy Player that can take a beating<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I have been playing with the PlexTalk PTN1 and I actually like its feature set over the Stream. Both are very durable and have a small wrist strap loop that could be used to tether them down as well though I would worry about the strength of the security. For most users the Booksense is overkill as a DAISY reader and not something that I see checking out on a regular basis since it is really a mini-PC and overkill for the average campus use. Odds on favorite for CD based players is the Victor Classic X+ for durability and the ability to leash it. As many have heard Gaeir and I say, “ it passed the drop test, and even the throw across the room test”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I must stay though in my visit to the RFBD and Humanware websites that finding these players was almost impossible. Not a good sign for long term continuation of the product. I am used to the lack of user functionality on the HumanWare site but to find the “new” RFB&D site totally almost totally unusable for access to the good pragmatic solutions that I have looked for in the past really was a bummer on a very long day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Ron <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> athen-bounces@athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces@athenpro.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Kestrell<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, April 28, 2010 2:05 PM<br><b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Daisy Player that can take a beating<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I have a Booksense, and I love it, but even though I only received it at Christmas and didn't start using it until after New Year's, I have already had to have it replaced. It has a known issue with the jack where you plug in the power charger. I have had a similar issue with my laptop--after a while the contact becomes loose. It was easily exchanged because it is a known issue, but still, this could be a major hassle for you.<br><br>Also, the Booksense is pretty complex--I think one of the other Daisy players might be much more straightforward to learn.<br><br>Kes</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt;margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>----- Original Message ----- <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#E4E4E4'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <a href="mailto:jhausler@cahs.colostate.edu" title="jhausler@cahs.colostate.edu">Hausler,Jesse</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>To:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <a href="mailto:athen@athenpro.org" title="athen@athenpro.org">'Access Technology Higher Education Network'</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Sent:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Wednesday, April 28, 2010 11:34 AM<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Subject:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> [Athen] Daisy Player that can take a beating<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal>Hello,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I am looking to purchase a Daisy hardware player that could survive as a loaner in a library setting. We have a Victor Classic plus and a few Telex Scholars and they are finally nearing the end of their days. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Does anyone have any suggestions for a “work horse” daisy player? Or would the Classic plus still be the one to buy? We use the Victor Wave and Stream for direct student loaning, but are looking for something a bit more sturdy for this purpose. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thanks,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jesse Hausler<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Assistive Technology Resource Center<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Colorado State University<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>970-491-0625<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://atrc.colostate.edu">http://atrc.colostate.edu</a> <o:p></o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></span></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>_______________________________________________<br>Athen mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Athen@athenpro.org">Athen@athenpro.org</a><br><a href="http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org">http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote></div></body></html>