Christopher.Hill@p233.f4115.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Christopher Hill) (01/23/91)
Index Number: 13188
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
I'll agree with what you said about the arkenstone not being what
it's cracked up to be.
I've been trying to install one and keep one working for a friend
of mine for about a month now. The only major trouble seems to be
that it's on a 386.
I personally have a Pckpr, and it installed great and has worked
pretty well ever since. I've never had the arkenstone do a great
job.
Oh ya, what happens when the scanner's lightbulb burns out? They
never tell us that!
Chris
I need a 486 to type a letter!
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!124!4115.233!Christopher.Hill
Internet: Christopher.Hill@p233.f4115.n124.z1.fidonet.orgAl.Hoffman@p0.f143.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Al Hoffman) (02/04/91)
Index Number: 13355
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Hi:
What is the problem with the Arkenstone?
I am no expert, but have messed with them on different machines,
and had no problems yet. Sure, they are not perfect, but the Kurzweil
isn't either, and i"ver had the same experience there. Some machines
are just a pain in the chips, while others aren't. Compaqs are
sometimes just about impossible to use with the VTech DP11, but that
doesn't make either machine a waste. Personally I like the Arkenstone,
my experence is that it is easy to use, works well enough for the price,
and I haven't had the lightbulb burnout yet. If it does, call the
company who sold it, and make them fix it. If you didn't buy the
maintenance contract, well figure the lightbulb problem out yourself.
Question, how helpful is Kurzweil with no maintence contract? I haven't
found out yet.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!143.0!Al.Hoffman
Internet: Al.Hoffman@p0.f143.n109.z1.fidonet.orgWalter.Siren@p18.f5.n396.z1.fidonet.org (Walter Siren) (02/04/91)
Index Number: 13357
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
CH> I finally got my friends Arkenstone to work, it was a bad board!
CH> I doubt either unit is perfect, I know the PCKPR isn't, but I've used
CH> it to help me make it through several classes; when you're in computers,
CH> getting books read is a challenge. Anything is better than nothing.
That I aggree with you about, but is it two or three thousand dollars worth better than nothing? That's what I keep asking myself.
Walter
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!396!5.18!Walter.Siren
Internet: Walter.Siren@p18.f5.n396.z1.fidonet.orgIsaac.Obie@f165.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Isaac Obie) (02/04/91)
Index Number: 13372
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
don, i think i've been a bit harsh about the arkenstone. i guess my major
disappointment is that it cannot scan the want ad very well. the other thing
is that i get contract work in large print and must have someone use truscan
to clean it up. it actually works pretty well considering. i guess i don't
have much patience with it. it seems to take twenty to thirty seconds on a
page. i wish it was more like five or six seconds. oh, well, maybe that will
come. what kind of pc are you using with the arkenstone? thanks.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!165!Isaac.Obie
Internet: Isaac.Obie@f165.n101.z1.fidonet.orgDonald.Breda@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Donald Breda) (02/05/91)
Index Number: 13410
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
IO> DON, I AM NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN, HERE BECAUSE I DON'T
IO> OPERATE THE ARKENSTONE. I AM NOT SURE IF I CAN WITH THE BRAILLE
IO> OUTPUT. I'VE N"EVER" TRIED. BUT IS WHAT YOU SAID SOMETHING TO
IO> DO WITH GIVING COMMANDS WHILE SAY SCANNING? OR IT'S WHERE THE
IO> PRINT IS NOT SO GOOD, WE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN A COMMAND? THANKS.
Isaac; I was refering to changing the settings in the arkenstone so that it
might read a particular document better.
changing things such as the contrast ETC. can make a big differents.
You can change them in truescan or if your using easy-scan or quick-scan you can
do it there.
... Abled, Blinktalk and silver in boston
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460!Donald.Breda
Internet: Donald.Breda@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.orgDonald.Breda@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Donald Breda) (02/05/91)
Index Number: 13419 [This is from the Blink Talk Conference] In a message of <16 Jan 91 7:39:31>, Isaac Obie writes : > OKAY, DON, I GET IT. WE DO A LOT OF CHANGING THE SETTINGS. WE > EXPERIMENT A LOT. BUT, WE STILL CANNOT DO THE WANT AD. IT TAKES > THE LONGEST AND YOU GET HALF TEXT AND HALF GIBBERISH. CATCH YOU. HI Isaac; Well I forgot to mention in my last msg to you that the want add is a newspapper and anyone will tell you that to expect the scanner to read a newspapper is asking too much. Some day it will do a half decent job and other days it will be unuseable. this is because the papper and the print are of such poor quality.They are ment to be used once and thrown away so there is no effort to use decent papper or worry about the quality of the print. There is not much you can do about that really . If there are certain sections your interested in you might try xeroxing them and maybe making the copy darker or lighter or something like that. -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460.0!Donald.Breda Internet: Donald.Breda@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org
Isaac.Obie@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Isaac Obie) (02/05/91)
Index Number: 13432
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
david, i'd like to thank you for that excellent explanation.
you're absolutely right. i hat had a bit of trouble explaining
it. fortunately, for us, we were able to return our packard
bells after six months for full refunds. we threatendd court
action on the grounds of false advertising. it is so difficult
to know what will work or to know what you will purchase down
the road. we were told that the i/o bus speed was 8 mhz, but it
still didn't run the arkenstone. so it was compatibility.
although, i'll confess i loved my little pb. it ran like a ha
racehorse. it would take the duxbury program and grind it out in
less than a minute many a time. once again, thanks and good luck
in your new job as director of the technology center.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460.0!Isaac.Obie
Internet: Isaac.Obie@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.orgTandy.Way@f6.n377.z1.fidonet.org (Tandy Way) (02/05/91)
Index Number: 13448
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
david I use a north gate 386 with 20mhz and the arkenstone runs fine. I
don't know what is with packard bell but there xt machines gave software
problems to software that runs okay on other machines and now the
problem is occuring on packard bell 286 and 386 machines. another
problem child is the compaq computers. either it is a weird bios or
something.
...
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!377!6!Tandy.Way
Internet: Tandy.Way@f6.n377.z1.fidonet.orgDavid.Andrews@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (David Andrews) (02/06/91)
Index Number: 13540
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
TW> it is too bad I don't have your mailing address or I would send
TW> you a tape made for me by one of the arkenstone beta testers
TW> that might give you a different point of view.
I heard that the new Arkenstone software started going out to customers on
Tuesday January 22nd.
... Your Sound Alternative
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89!David.Andrews
Internet: David.Andrews@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.orgIsaac.Obie@f165.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Isaac Obie) (02/06/91)
Index Number: 13562
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
HI TANDY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN COMPAQ IS HAVING TROUBLE RUNNING ARKENSTONE?
AFTEL ALL, ACCORDING TO ARKENSTONE, THE PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED ON A COMPAQ
DESKPRO 286. I HAVE A DESKPRO 286 AND I AM HAVING NO TROUBLE WITH IT. MY LADY
FRIEND USES ONE TOO AND HER ARKENSTONE WORKS WELL. PERHAPS YOU MEAN THE NEWER
COMPAQS? WE DIDN'T WANT ONE OF THOSE BECUSE THERE'RE SO MUCH WE WON'T USE
ANYWAY. WHO NEEDS COLOR MONITORS? SO DON'T TALK ABOUT MY BABY, PLEASE. <GRIN>
CATCH YOU.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!165!Isaac.Obie
Internet: Isaac.Obie@f165.n101.z1.fidonet.orgcampbell%hpdmd48@hplabs.HP.COM (Gary Campbell) (02/21/91)
Index Number: 13679 Donald.Breda@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Donald Breda) writes: >computer manuals the scanners dropout colors should be noted. >the arkenstone is a shade of blue I think and the kurzweils is red. I think this is a characteristic of the scanner, rather than the OCR product. I think both of them can use more than one scanner. Good thing to note, though. >Lots of computer manuals are written with the information the user should tye in >red. If you have any trouble when reading a computer manual whenever you get to >a command that the user is supposed to type in, well thats probably why. It seems to me that with all reading machines I have used, the readability is inversely proportional to how much the text is trying to get your attention. <grin>