I'm wondering if the software synthesizer will work with my laptop, or if I'll require sighted assistance to handle installation. Does it matter? Or is a hardware synthesizer required for speech during an install? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janina Sajka" <janina@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup at braille.uwo.ca> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 6:38 PM Subject: Re: serial conversion with speakup > 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 >
