Interesting, Igor. I had the exact opposite experience. Igor Gueths writes: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > The only problem I find with software speech, however, is that it consumes a shitload of power...At least on my laptop specifically. Example: My battery life will be cut from about 3/4 hours > to about half that usually. > On Sun, Oct 31, 2004 at 09:38:32PM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote: > > Frankly, I would just go with software speech--especially if you have a > > decent audio system on that laptop and are able to play other audio > > while getting software speech. > > > > To my mind any kind of attachment on a laptop is a nuisance, whether its > > a serial cable to an external synth, or a pcmcia card plus the cable and > > the hw synth, or a usb cable and synth for that matter. I believe > > laptops are more easily used without extra appendages hanging off every > > port. > > > > Lorne Webber writes: > > > while we're on the topic of conversion into serial, another option that I'm > > > thinking about is PCMCIA to serial. > > > I too have a laptop that is sadly lacking a serial port, as well as Zack, I > > > know at least one other person right off who doesn't have a serial port on > > > their laptop. It looks like their going the way of 3 1/2 inch floppy drives > > > on laptops, obviously I prefer having a floppy drive, and of course a serial > > > port too. > > > I'm afraid this is becoming a trend, and the community is going to have to > > > adapt to it. > > > obviously USB to serial is probably not the answer, but I found a company > > > that manufactures PCMCIA to serial, and, I figure, Because they share > > > electronic fundamentals with native bus architectures such as PCI and ISA, > > > they function exactly like standard COM ports and should be able to be > > > addressed as such by most application software. > > > (of course that's also what the manufactures say about USB to serial > > > converters), > > > the address for the particular product I'm interested in is: > > > http://www.quatech.com/catalog/rs232_pcmcia.php > > > I'm curious what you folks think about this possibility, its drawbacks as > > > well as its benefits. one benefit besides the obvious one if it succeeds, is > > > that the frequency of a laptop not having both a serial and PCMCIA port is > > > virtually unheard of, but again, I could be wrong, and If I am, please tell > > > me. > > > > > > Thanks. > > > Lorne > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Speakup mailing list > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > -- > > > > Janina Sajka, Chair > > Accessibility Workgroup > > Free Standards Group (FSG) > > > > janina at freestandards.org Phone: +1 202.494.7040 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Speakup mailing list > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > - -- > "The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42." -- Douglas Adams > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.2.6 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQFBhk/ONohoaf1zXJMRApSBAJ9ENbI8jo4SnB9ietmqACSENkfrWQCePFjj > KCdEpxQGq3ggfvAP7Z2aK2g= > =tmvm > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup -- Janina Sajka, Chair Accessibility Workgroup Free Standards Group (FSG) janina at freestandards.org Phone: +1 202.494.7040
