Just new at this?

NextUp Talker is a Text To Speech application specifically designed for people who have temporarily or permanently lost their voice. With natural, human sounding voices and convenient shortcuts to quickly enter commonly used sentences and phrases, NextUp Talker allows you to easily communicate with others despite vocal impairments.

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tidbit
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Just new at this?

Post by tidbit »

I just found out about this text to voice technology and am so excited that I might be able to speak again! But I am very confused about how it works and what I need? At the present time, I hand-write everything I have to say on a Fisher Price Magna Doodle. It is very limiting as you might imagine!
I understand that I need a laptop or tablet computer with good portable speakers? I am looking at the NextUp Talker as I want it to sound as natural as possible. Can you offer me any help or advice at this stage of the process?
Thank-you so much.
larrymb
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by larrymb »

NextUp Talker will work on almost any laptop or netbook PC. An external speaker generally provides better clarity and volume. I use a Samsung NC10 netbook (about $380) and a tritton speaker (about $30.) Two optional additions are an external CD-ROM drive (ASUS about $65), and Word Prediction software which reduces the amount of typing you have to do. I examined several word prediction programs and settled on Word2Q by Quillsoft ($200), a company in Canada. These items are all you need and they are described further in previous posts. Most of the hardware I bought online from Newegg. There are more specialized hardware and software systems that cost in the thousands of dollars. I think as long as you can type, the NextUp approach is the most versatile and cost effective solution.
tidbit
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by tidbit »

Thanks for your reply. I am doing a trial of the NextUp Talker on my Home Computer which has an excellent speaker set-up, but the voices are horrible on the sample.
Are you pleased with the voices that are available out there? I don't particularly want to sound like an alien and scare small children away. Are some voice companies better than others?
Thanks for your help.
tidbit
larrymb
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by larrymb »

You have the option of using Acapela voices with the full version. I think those are pretty good, certainly better than the default. However, NextUp does charge extra for that option. Those voices allow adjustment of speed and pitch. How long the pause is between words and phrases is in one of the NextUp menus.

The various voices available are created by independent companies and have copyrighted names like Heather, Daniel, etc. You will genarally find the same voices no matter whose software or hardware you use. My wife uses Acapela Heather and I think it is very good.
tidbit
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by tidbit »

Thank-you so much, I will try Heather!
ashleynathomas
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by ashleynathomas »

Hey I am glad that I visited this thread. Because I had heard about this text to voice technology but only name of it. I liked that O got some more knowledge on this technology. But I want to know more on it. So If possible please post about text to voice technology in detail.
larrymb
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by larrymb »

Let me know if you have any specific questions. My wife has been using NextUp for about 8 months and is very happy with it.
tidbit
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by tidbit »

Does she still use the Samsung Netbook you wrote about back in your Sept. post? I am wondering if she has ever had problems with the Netbook not having enough power, memory or capabilities for her? I am trying to decide between Netbook vs Notebook. I like the small size of the Netbooks, but don't want to sacrifice any important functionality if it is needed to run the program or the voices. I just don't know the NextUp Program well enough to know exactly what I will need.
Thanks for your help. Tidbit
larrymb
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by larrymb »

Most Netbooks are powerful enough to run speech software. The main limitations are that the screen is shorter in the vertical direction and the speakers are tiny. We have not found the screen size to be a problem with NextUp. The sound quality is poor on most laptops as well as netbooks but if you read reviews you may be able to find a laptop with good audio. Still, it would be more than twice the weight and size (and more expensive.). So I went with a Netbook and external speaker. In a quiet environment, the tiny built-in speakers are often intelligible even though they don't sound as good.

I am trying a Bluetooth wireless speaker right now and will report further on it later. We are still using the Samsung but it has developed an intermittent problem where the screen goes all white. It is still under warranty. Before I send it back for repair, I bought an ASUS Netbook with solid state memory on sale for about $350 at Newegg. It weighs almost 1 pound lighter! It seems to work as well as the Samsung but I haven't had it long yet. (Netbook is ASUS Eee PC S101 EPCS101B-BRN057X Brown 10.2" WSVGA Netbook. Newegg has another model with 32 GB SSM that's over $100 more. Not sure why such a difference. They are very similiar.)
larrymb
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by larrymb »

To follow up: Samsung was very fast in repairing their Netbook. I received the Netbook at my door within two weeks from the date I mailed it in for repair. They acknowledged the problem and gave me a newscreen. It works fine now. I was very impressed......On the wireless speaker, the issue I am trying to resolve is how to get the Netbook to automatically connect when it is booted or comes out of sleep mode. Will post further on that later.
Gofer01
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by Gofer01 »

tidbit wrote:I just found out about this text to voice technology and am so excited that I might be able to speak again! But I am very confused about how it works and what I need? At the present time, I hand-write everything I have to say on a Fisher Price Magna Doodle. It is very limiting as you might imagine!
I understand that I need a laptop or tablet computer with good portable speakers? I am looking at the NextUp Talker as I want it to sound as natural as possible. Can you offer me any help or advice at this stage of the process?
Thank-you so much.
Well I'm in the same boat that you're in I can't speak worth a darn. I purchased NextUpTalker. They left out a very inportant feature in the program. Witch is you can't save anything to a audio file. Thats a big thing that they left out. A couple of other features that they should have and not in the program. 1st one is you can't inport a audio file and the 2nd one is you can't inport a text file. Futhermore they should have a pre populated common saying list on the menu on the left.

Is the program worth $99.00. In my opion the answer is no. I recieved 50% off because I purchased 2 other voices and purchased TextAloaud.

If I was you and really need this proram Y ou should purchase TextAlaud and Mike/Cryiscal voices and then ask for a discount on Nextup Talker. TextAlaud and NextUp Talker will make a complete text to audio program. If you buy the same programs and get the same discount that I did you will be looking to spend $104.00.

The question is is it worth $104.00. my answer will be yes. They still need to inproved on NextUp Talker.

They do have a great e-mail support system. They are prompt, accurate, and professional in the dealing with the issues that I had.
larrymb
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by larrymb »

Two other minor issues. My wife accidently hit some key with her left hand and completely wiped out all the phrases we had so carefully entered. There should be more safety against accidently doing that. (I have no idea what key she hit.) It should also come with word prediction. It cost me $200 for a word prediction program I lliked. (I know there are some free ones. I tried those and didn't like them.) However, on price, even if you buy Nextup alone with all the flaws mentioned in this thread, I bellieve it is still a bargain compared to the other programs out there.
tidbit
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by tidbit »

Hey, thanks for the heads-up! I try to back-up my system on a regular basis so I won't be in trouble if I lose everything, but sometimes I forget, and I would sure hate to lose all my phrases. I do not have word recognition, but am looking for a good program that does not cost so much.
jamesthomsen
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by jamesthomsen »

Thanks very much for this usefull information. Very nice to able to find this kind of information at this forum..

Regards
James Thomsen
http://www.lux-case.dk / http://www.lux-case.se
sisspeak
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by sisspeak »

I am trying to help my sister get past the scribbling on a white pad and I'm hoping this program is easy enough for her to use. I will purchase either an iPad, netbook or tablet. Wondering if someone can point me in the right direct regarding getting started?
tarak
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by tarak »

I totally agree with Larymb's comment about that ....
Graduated from Soran University with First Class Degree with Honours in Computer Science.
alexwinger
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Re: Just new at this?

Post by alexwinger »

I was curious to know if there exists any iPhone app for the same. I would love to use it.
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