[Electronics-talk] Important message to avoid being takenadvantage of

Thu Dec 20 23:38:01 UTC 2012

Gerald, I wil post a sample of the voice and will contact youto hear it

Stephen Guerra
Assistive Technology Specialist and Technical Operations
independent living aids, LLC | SOUNDBYTES
200 Robbins Lane
Jericho, New York 11753-2341
Phone: 800.537.2118
Direct: 516.450.3817
Fax: 516.450.3842
E-mail: stephen at independentliving.com
Check out our 2013 New E-Catalog
Web sites: www.independentliving.com
www.soundbytes.com
13581ff6-edb8-4fe2-9d8d-9677a6e429d3
Y2:13581ff6-edb8-4fe2-9d8d-9677a6e429d3

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Gerald Levy
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 4:48 PM
To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Important message to avoid being
takenadvantage of

Here's the problem I have with FutureAids.  When they first announced the
availability of the Tiny Tunes MP3 player, they promised to add a link on
their web site so that you could hear what the built-in speech sounds like
before you buy it.  They still haven't added any such link to their web
site, so you have no way of knowing what this player sounds like before you
buy it.  This would not be a problem if they allowed you to return the item
if you aren't satisfied, but because they do not accept returns, you are
essentially out $75 if you don't like the way it sounds.  To me, this is
totally unacceptable, and they deserve the criticism they are receiving. 
Last year, I bought a cheap talking watch from them, and the battery died
after just 8 months.  But, then again, I have had equally bad luck with
talking watches I have purchased from ILA. I also purchased a talking pen
watch from FutureAids, but when its batteries died after only 3 months, I
was able to easily replace them myself, so at least I did not get stuck.

Gerald

----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Guerra" <stephen at independentliving.com>
To: "'Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances'" 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Important message to avoid being
takenadvantage of

> To all-
>
> The Tiny Tunes player is exactly what it is, a MP3 player that Talks.
>
> Laz's players are I am sure equally good, and sum might say better, 
> but the Braille Bookstore has been operating for many years, and I 
> personally have not had any issue with anything I purchased from them.
>
> They do provide detailed descriptions, and as consumers, if you do not 
> in this day read the full description, or provided reviews of a 
> product, then it is your own fault.
>
> The Braille Bookstore does have a return policy, and its clearly 
> stated
> here:
> http://www.braillebookstore.com/view.php?C=Return+Policy
>
> The Braille Bookstore does not offer a warranty on its items outside 
> of what the manufacturer provides.
> Other retailers in the industry might, but it is at the choice of the 
> retailer to offer a warranty on top of what is provided by the 
> manufacturer or not.
>
> This does not mean the products being sold are in poor quality, but on 
> the contrary, the braille Bookstore sells quality products.  The head 
> of the Braille Bookstore is totally blind, ad takes great effort to 
> enhance the product descriptions and insure that no stone is left 
> unturned when it comes to product quality assurance.
>
> Most manufacturers offer a warranty, and in the provided instructions, 
> the warranty information is clearly spelled out.  Failure by a 
> consumer to "Read the manual" is no fault of the retailer.
>
> The Braille Bookstore offers clear remedies to defective merchandise, 
> damaged products during shipping, and resolutions for all this and 
> more on their site listed above.
>
> Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but before you condemn someone 
> and a company who has a well established credible reputation, take 2 
> minutes and read all the data about the product and the company before 
> you render a verdict.
>
> I personally will enjoy the Tiny Tunes MP3 player, as at best, though 
> I enjoy my iPhone, managing music at best is clunky no matter if you 
> have sight or not.
>
> If the TTs is not for you, then that is ok.  But would you quickly 
> pass judgment about someone who likes the Window Eyes Voice's versus 
> the voice offered by JAWS, Sysstem Access, NVDA or other screen reader?
>
> I, welcome choice in the current marketplace, and whether you have a 
> RockBox, player from Laz, or Tiny Tunes MP3 player or something else, 
> it comes down too what may work for you may not for someone else.
>
>
>
> Stephen Guerra
> Assistive Technology Specialist and Technical Operations independent 
> living aids, LLC | SOUNDBYTES
> 200 Robbins Lane
> Jericho, New York 11753-2341
> Phone: 800.537.2118
> Direct: 516.450.3817
> Fax: 516.450.3842
> E-mail: stephen at independentliving.com
> Check out our 2013 New E-Catalog
> Web sites: www.independentliving.com
> www.soundbytes.com
> 13581ff6-edb8-4fe2-9d8d-9677a6e429d3
> Y2:13581ff6-edb8-4fe2-9d8d-9677a6e429d3
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Electronics-talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of Rich Cavallaro
> Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 8:17 PM
> To: DennisLong; Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Important message to avoid being taken 
> advantage of
>
> Hi all,
> Frankly Gabe, I have to agree with Dennis here.
> The rockbox software and indeed what you pay for from Laz is far 
> better than the tiny tunes mp3 players.
> Rockbox plays more file formats, has a better fm radio chip on board 
> the sansa line and also has expandable memory.
> True, the tiny tunes has text to speech, but the text to speech is 
> horrible.
> Plus, the Braille super store having no return policy on any of its 
> products?
> That is just nus.
> I know I will never be investing in the tiny tunes solution.
> What you get from Laz with a Sansa mp3 player is far worth the  money 
> then this tiny tunes solution.
> With this Tiny tunes solution, your paying a lot of money and getting 
> very little functionality as a result.
> Laz, I commend you for your work and for posting this email so people 
> who are considering there options on what portable media solution to 
> buy can really see what a product such as the tiny tunes really actually
cant do.
> Rich Cavalllaro
>
>
> On 12/19/12, DennisLong <dennisl1982 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I like to be warned when a product is falsely stated.  I would rather 
>> hay a little more for a product and have it work as advertised.
>>
>> -original message-
>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Important message to avoid being 
>> taken advantage of
>> From: Gabe Vega Via Iphone4S <theblindtech at gmail.com>
>> Date: 12/19/2012 8:18 PM
>>
>> So this is how low you are going Huh Laz? to sell your little cheap
>> MP3 players?
>>
>> Gabe Vega
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> (623) 565-9357
>>
>> On Dec 19, 2012, at 5:43 PM, Laz Mesa <lazaro6 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The below is a response from a customer who paid $75 for a 
>>> misrepresented product.  He gave me permission to send it to other 
>>> lists in order to protect anyone else from falling for this con job.
>>> Here is this gentleman's reaction to the player and the company 
>>> selling it.
>>>
>>> Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:06:52 -0500
>>> From: Joe Giovanelli <joegio1 at earthlink.net>
>>> To: Pc-audio at pc-audio.org
>>> Subject: tiny tunes player
>>> Message-ID: <20121218010652.joegio1 at earthlink.net>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>>>
>>> Hello, Everybody,
>>>
>>> You may have heard about a rather small player called "Tiny Tunes."
>>> It claims to have an excellent TTS engine, which means that it will
>>> read textfiles.  It plays various audio formats.   The instructions
>>> tell us that it will read folder names.  Navigation is accoplished 
>>> with a minimum number of controls.  Its 75 dollar price sounds great!
>>>
>>> I strongly suggest that you do not obtain one.  The speech is some 
>>> of the worst I have heard in my 30 years of computer use.  I was not 
>>> able to receive any FM stations on its radio.  I could write a long 
>>> treatise on what this unit should do as opposed to what it really 
>>> does, but I won't.  Suffice it to say that navigation and response 
>>> are erratic.  When a few folders are loaded on to the device, it 
>>> will likely quit responding, leading to running down its battery.
>>>
>>> I truly dislike writing negative things, but I have to do so in this 
>>> case.
>>>
>>> If you go to the Braille Super Store website, be sure to look for 
>>> the company's return policy.  Among many unbblievable things, you'll 
>>> read that none of its products are warrantied.  It gets worse from
there.
>>>
>>> Joe Giovanelli
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Affordably priced Talking MP3 Players with FM radio, voice 
>>> recording, and expandable memory! Priced As low as $69.99, plus free 
>>> shipping in the US!
>>>
>>> Listen to our presentation:
>>> http://www.talkingmp3players.com/demo.html
>>>
>>> See our current special:
>>> http://www.talkingmp3players.com/specials.html
>>>
>>> Join our mailing list by sending a blank email to:
>>> RockboxedSansaTalkingMP3Players-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
>>>
>>> New web page in progress:
>>> http://www.talkingmp3players.com/accessible-phones.html
>>>
>>> Unlimited Quality 4G Cell Service only $49 per month No contract, 
>>> Option to bring your own phone!
>>> Works with the new Google Galaxy Nexus!
>>>
>>> Contact info:
>>> Email:  accessibleelectronics at gmail.com
>>> Skype: lazmesa
>>> Phone: 727 498-0121
>>> Facebook: facebook.com/laz.mesa
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>
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