Hi, There are two specific reasons why I prefer espeakup with espeak, rather than speechd-up and speech-dispatcher with the espeak option. 1. The responsiveness of the speech system is much better with espeakup. 2. The speakup volume settings work with espeakup, and are inoperable with speechd-up and speech-dispatcher. The reason the second point might be important is to adjust the relative loudness of speech output in comparison with other audio output being generated at the same time, such as music or audio streams. Mixer settings or physical volume controls cannot adjust the relative loudnesses, only the overall loudness of all sounds. Chuck -- The Moon is Waning Gibbous (53% of Full) My web site: www.hallenbeck.ftml.net Microblog: http://identi.ca -------- To see a need and wait to be asked, is to already refuse.