Re: [Plextalk] Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY and Audio Book Player from Shinano Kenshi

6 Nov 2012


      I agree with you there completely rus, I also get alot of my knowledge
from those podcasts. I only started to listen to them a year or 2 ago
but I must admit that you right. Try look around the plextalk website
as Aidan said but otherwise I don't know but you have a goodpoint.
They haven't really also talked about the PTR2 on those podcasts
either. Most of the podcasts deal with mainstream stuff like the
Iphone and Microsoft but Accessible world has done a reasonable amount
of blind devices but its interesting and true what you said.

On 11/6/12, Russ Kiehne <russ94577@gmail.com> wrote:
...
I'm surprised nothing has been said about it on such podcasts as: blind cool
tech, Main menu, accessibleworld.  Thiese are the main podcasts where I
learn about many of the products.  Even on the bardtalk list, nothing has
been said about it until now.
-----Original Message-----
From: emma goodwin
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 7:53 AM
To: Plextalk User Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Plextalk] Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY and
Audio Book Player from Shinano Kenshi
I agree with Aidan. All the desktop devices are so similar to each
other so you don't really need podcasts but I agree with Aidan's
advice. If you know the straitus then you pretty much have an idea of
the PTN2 but I agree its weird that you haven't heard about the PTN2
before.
On 11/6/12, Aidan Maher <aidan.smarttalk@gmail.com> wrote:
...
Wel, I have talked about it several times on this list, so funny if
you say you never heard about it. Wel, you should check with places
like IRTI, they are a big plextalk dealer. There is not alot of
potcasts at all on any plextalk thing, maybe a few on the pocket, try
search for a vidio or to on utube. That is why I say its a pity people
only realize it after this woman poor stupid review. The plextalk site
have all the info you need. If you have a general intrest in there
products, or if you a huge fan like me, you should check the site from
time to time.
On 06/11/2012, Russ Kiehne <russ94577@gmail.com> wrote:
...
I wonder why here in the US, not much has been said about it?  I can't
even
find any podcasts on the ptn2.
-----Original Message-----
From: Aidan Maher
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 6:25 AM
To: Plextalk User Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Plextalk] Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY and
Audio Book Player from Shinano Kenshi
Wel, it does yes, but except for the stream and ptn2, I don't think
there is any other player who support it except easy reader from
dolphin. Wel the ptn2 is around for almost free years now. It came out
in end 2009. Replacing the oder ptn1/ptn1/pro. That's why the voice
sound like pocket. I just hope they will update it again. I love it,
but the only thing that I notice is that when changing volume and
speed rapitly its slitely a bit slow.
On 06/11/2012, Russ Kiehne <russ94577@gmail.com> wrote:
...
Doesn't the victor reader stream support skippable elements?
Here's the interesting thing, I tried to find the US manual for the
ptn2
on
the plextalk support page.  I wanted to look it over.  How long has the
ptn2
been around?  I didn't know anything about it until this review.
-----Original Message-----
From: Aidan Maher
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 8:55 AM
To: Plextalk User Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Plextalk] Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY and
Audio Book Player from Shinano Kenshi
Yes its a pity for sure. Wel I could be rong, as I am not part of that
service and they not available in my country, but it should be able to
work, although I don't recall anything about that from the manual or
website. What I do no is that they said somewhere on the site that you
can connect the pocket and ptn2 together, but I tryed that and it
didn't work. So I guess the only thing that will really work in that
USB port are memory flash drives. I guess you could email and confirm
about the compatibility with those nls cards, would be intrested to
no. But at least the latest 3.7 update made the cd drive perform
better and make less noise now. I think you will have a better chance
of connecting ptp1 with ptr2.
On 05/11/2012, Russ Kiehne <russ94577@gmail.com> wrote:
...
It's to bad they don't use higher quality tts on the ptn2.  Do you
know
if
the short cable supplied with the plextalk pocket can be used to
connect
NLS
cartridges to the ptn2?
-----Original Message-----
From: Aidan Maher
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 7:31 AM
To: Plextalk User Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Plextalk] Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY
and
Audio Book Player from Shinano Kenshi
The voices are the exact same quality. And yes to all the others.
On 05/11/2012, Russ Kiehne <russ94577@gmail.com> wrote:
...
I have some questions about the ptn2:
1. I see it uses the same tts as the plextalk pocket.  Is the tts
higher
quality than what is on the plextalk pocket?
2. can this player play audio cd's? data cd's with mp3's on them?
Daisy
cd's?  Does it remember your place on each cd?
-----Original Message-----
From: Aidan Maher
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2012 11:47 AM
To: Plextalk User Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Plextalk] Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY
and
Audio Book Player from Shinano Kenshi
I just hope that people can realize the wunders of this machine by
themselves. It just seem to me sometimes that only after a review
like
this some people actually wake up. I like this woman riting, but she
also make me angry. She didn't even mention the fact that ptn2 can
use
skippable elements wich only a few players can do at present. And the
folder is called plex backup, not plextalk backup.She should no that.
She is clever enough I am sure.
On 04/11/2012, Russ Kiehne <russ94577@gmail.com> wrote:
> Did anyone happen to see this from AccessWorld?
>
> Product Evaluation: The PLEXTALK PTN2 DAISY and Audio Book Player
> from
> Shinano Kenshi
> Deborah Kendrick
> Upon reading
> a product evaluation I wrote of a stand-alone tabletop DAISY and
> audio
> book
>
> player
> , a representative of Shinano Kenshi wrote asking for an evaluation
> of
> the
> PLEXTALK
> PTN2.
> First Look
> The PLEXTALK PTN2 is roughly 9 inches by 7 inches and about one inch
> high,
> giving
> it a footprint very much like the digital talking book player
> distributed
>
> by
>
> the
> National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
> (NLS).
> The
>
> PLEXTALK
> PTN2 has 27 buttons (or keys) on the top face of the unit, an
> external
> speaker grille
> in the upper right corner, roughly 2 by 3 inches, and a connector
> for
> an
> AC
>
> adapter
> on the back. On the left edge are slots for a secure digital (SD)
> card
> and
>
> a
>
> USB
> port in addition to a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the front edge is a
> slot
> for
>
> standard
> CDs; the battery compartment is on the bottom, along with rubber
> feet
> for
> stability.
> There is no carrying handle; the unit can run on either AC current
> or
> battery power.
> In the box with the unit is an AC adapter, user's guide on DAISY CD,
> and
> a
> snap-on
> cover with holes exposing only the basic, essential keys. (More
> about
> that
> below.)
> Initial Test Drive
> After taking the unit out of the box, it's fairly easy to test it
> immediately. As
> is always wise when using any product for the first time, plug it in
> and
> press the
> "Power" button. Anyone familiar with other PLEXTALK products will
> recognize
>
> the charming
> chimes indicating that the unit is working on the issued command. It
> immediately
> chimes once, announces "Please wait" in a clear female voice, and
> then
> repeats the
> PLEXTALK chiming waiting sound for about ten seconds before
> announcing
> whatever media
> is detected onboard. The inclusion of the user's guide on DAISY CD
> offers
>
> a
>
> perfect
> opportunity for acquainting oneself with the product.
> The sound quality of the PLEXTALK PTN2 is outstanding. Even this
> writer
> with
>
> a hearing
> impairment can hear it loud and clear from across the room. The
> synthetic
> voices
> for text-to-speech are the familiar Samantha and Tom and are
> sufficiently
> distinct.
> When playing music or an audio book, the sound quality is excellent.
> Those 27 Keys
> At the bottom of the unit is the familiar "Play/Pause" key in the
> middle
> with arrow-shaped
> "Rewind" and "Fast Forward" keys to either side. Directly above this
> trio
>
> is
>
> the
> 12-key telephone-style keypad used frequently for navigation, menu
> selections, and
> other functions. In a column to the left of these buttons are four
> distinctly-shaped
> keys: the "Menu," "Bookshelf," "Go To" (heading, page, etc.), and
> "Bookmark"
>
> keys.
> Directly above the telephone-style keypad are three control columns:
> "Tone,"
>
> "Volume,"
> and "Speed." Although the user's guide counts these as three
> buttons,
> I
> count them
> as six since each has an up and down control with a distinct split
> between
> them.
> On the right-hand side of the machine is an "Information" key, a
> "Sleep"
> key, the
> "Power" button, an "Eject" for CDs, and a close pair of title keys
> ("Previous" and
> "Next"), which are used when navigating from one media type to
> another
> or
> one folder
> to another within a given media source. Again, these appear to be
> two
> buttons although
> the user's guide refers to them as one.
> When first powered on, the PTN2 remembers the last content played
> and
> announces that
> content's source. If that is the material you wish to hear, you can
> simply
> press
> "Play." The "2" and "8" keys will give you information regarding the
> mark-up
>
> available
> (levels 1, 2, and 3, for instance), and the "4" and "6" keys are
> used
> to
> move backward
> and forward accordingly. The "Go To" key, depending on the type of
> content
> played,
> allows you to move by heading, page, or percentage within a given
> file.
> The
>
> "Bookshelf"
> key is used to rotate among CD, SD card, and USB thumb drive, all of
> which
> can be
> onboard at any given time. Navigating among the various media
> sources
> can
> also be
> done using the "Title" key on the right. The "Bookmark" key can be
> used
> to
> set up
> to 10,000 bookmarks. There is, however, no voice or highlight
> bookmark
> feature available
> but, instead, only numbered bookmarks, the numbers for which can
> either
> be
> user defined
> by entering a number from the keypad or automatically set by the
> PTN2.
> Once
>
> bookmarks
> have been set, however, you can access a bookmark list, navigating
> through
> your bookmarks
> with the "4" and "6" keys or by entering the number of a
> specifically
> desired bookmark
> to move directly to it.
> The Mask
> The PTN2 comes with a snap-on cover called a mask that is molded to
> fit
> securely
> over the face of the unit with pieces that grip the sides. When the
> mask
> is
>
> in place,
> only a few of the unit's keys are available to the user. These
> include
> the
> three
> keys at the bottom ("Rewind," "Play/Pause," and "Fast Forward"), the
> five
> keys at
> the right ("Power," "Sleep," "Eject," "Information," and "Title"),
> and
> the
> "Tone"
> and "Volume" controls at the top. One question that immediately
> arose
> is
> why
>
> "Tone"
> and "Volume," but not "Speed," controls have been selected as the
> most
> essential
> to have available to a user with more limited technical ability.
> That
> small
>
> caveat
> aside, this may be a useful feature in some situations, such as for
> teaching
>
> or when
> the unit is used by children or those with limited tactile
> sensitivity.
> What Can It Play?
> The PTN2 can play a wonderful array of file types and formats:
> DAISY,
> .TXT,
>
> .DOC,
> HTML, and a variety of audio formats, including WAV, MP3, and OGG.
> If
> a
> file
>
> contains
> both DAISY text and audio, the PTN2 will only recognize one or the
> other.
> I loaded the unit with content of every type (a CD, an SD card, and
> a
> USB
> thumb drive
> all at once) and found the results both impressive and puzzling.
> While
> the
> unit was
> able to navigate among all three sources, representing a wide array
> of
> format types,
> some content was inaccessible. On the USB drive, for example, there
> was
> a
> folder
> of audio files and a folder of text files played perfectly. A third
> folder,
>
> however,
> containing both audio and text files of the same content, revealed
> only
> the
>
> text.
> If I hadn't known the audio files were there, I would not have been
> able
> to
>
> discover
> them. You can work around this problem by removing the text files
> from
> the
> folder
> or by placing the audio files in a separate folder, but the initial
> roadblock is
> bewildering. Other PLEXTALK products share this particular quirk of
> requiring all
> content to be placed in its own folder, and in this instance, even
> if
> the
> content
> is the same but is represented in more than one format, each must
> have
> a
> folder of
> its own.
> Quirks aside, it warrants mentioning that included in the
> smorgasbord
> of
> content
> loaded for the above experiment were books drawn from three of the
> most
> popular sources
> for readers who are blind or visually impaired (Bookshare, NLS BARD,
> and
> Audible.com),
> and the PLEXTALK PTN2 played all of them beautifully.
> A Few Special Features
> The PLEXTALK PTN2 does a few things that competing products do not,
> and
> it
> does them
> very well. First, as mentioned above, the PLEXTALK plays audiobooks
> and
> other materials
> downloadable from
> Audible.com
> . Secondly, although it has no other recording capabilities, the
> PLEXTALK
> can backup
> an audio CD, including commercially available CDs, to an SD card.
> The
> process is
> a simple one but does take some time. To back up a CD with
> approximately
> 50
>
> minutes
> of recording, for example, the process took about 25 minutes. The
> procedure
>
> is completely
> simple (press the "9" key to begin and "8" to confirm), and the
> PLEXTALK
> chiming
> sounds continue throughout the process to let you know something is
> actually
>
> happening.
> When finished, the unit announces that the backup is complete. When
> CDs
> are
>
> copied
> in this manner, they are placed on the SD card in a folder entitled
> "PLEXTALK Backup,"
> which is created by the unit itself.
> On a more random note, the PTN2 does have time and date announcement
> features, a
> sleep timer, and an automatic shut-off after 15 minutes when
> operating
> on
> battery.
> While none of these are likely to be deal breakers for many
> customers,
> they
>
> are convenient
> features that warrant mentioning.
> Conclusions
> The PTN2 is a compact unit with fabulous sound quality that will
> meet
> most
> listening
> needs of customers who are blind or low vision. It plays content
> from
> CD,
> SD, and
> USB sources and can play a wide variety of formats from the most
> popularly
> used content
> sources. In addition to music and audio books, it offers clear
> text-to-speech capabilities
> and is, thus, able to play plain text, Word, and HTML documents.
> It does not have wireless or recording functionality other than the
> ability
>
> to back
> up a CD to an SD card.
> Product Information
> Product:
> PLEXTALK PTN2
> Price: $375
> Available from: available from a variety of dealers, including IRTI,
> Active
>
> Forever,
> Maxi-Aids, and others.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Plextalk@lists.hodgsonfamily.org
> http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/plextalk
>
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