D Gander said on 2013/02/21 at 9:01 am
What do you think?
We purchased one last year and overall the experience has been positive.
The voice that describes what controls you've used is great.
The audio description on certain channels is great.
The remote is clear and easy to use
The box is simple to install, with a little help from a sighted person ideally.
The voice for the channel guide means we no longer need to have the radio times in audio cd format with the proviso that the channel guide lasts for one week, and ideally 2 would be better, and also that it disappears once the time has past, so does not enable review of what was on/missed.
The low power mode and standby features are not helpful if you are using it to record, as it does not come on in response to any signals from recording devices. Also, and related it has no timer features to allow you to programme it to come on and switch to a particular channel in your absence (you can set a timer, and then need to be present to respond to the reminder prompt, before the channel will switch).
It does get confused with dates on occasions and needs to be turned off at the mains to re-set itself.
I've asked if they will make a PVR version to allow me to record radio programmes without having to set a video separately, and I've been told that its unlikely. I've found that sky have got something that you can plug into their sky receiver called a sky talker and though it doesn't tell you every function that the sky box can do, it does cover some basics. Also with the sky Plus box you can then record straight to the hard disk (the service requires a monthly fee though, unlike freeview).
Anyone else heard of alternative ways of recording radio programmes onto a hard disc PVR, or similar?
DJP1996 said on 21/02/2013 at 9:01 am
I use the Smart Talk freeview box for about 2 years now. I love using it, before I had no way of accessible tv. These 3 problems mentioned by someone on this forum, I have them too sometimes, and I do then just switch it off via the mains and switch it back on. Then everything is fine. Another thing that sometimes drives me mad about it, and I do wonder if anyone also has this problem, when you go to some channels on the TV guide, it says no information available. Sometimes it even says it in all channels, and I have to restart it via the mains. Did anyone had this problem too?
Also I do think that there should be some updates to this software, and I don't understand why there's no development in this case.
Margo said on 20/02/2013 at 8:54 pm
Bought this just over a year ago and was working fine. Couple of weeks ago stopped working, thought I needed to replace batteries in remote, did that, but it still doesn't work, seems stuck on one channel. Does anyone have any solution on how to fix this, or know who or where I can talk to someone about this.
Thanks
Blind tech user said on 17/08/2012 at 8:29 pm
I now use the TVonics freeview box, but used to use the smart talk.
I think it is great for anyone blind or partially sighted who want a fully accessible TV but without paying a stupid amount of money.
I used to have to watch TV either by a sighted person telling me what was on, or by flicking through the channels and hoping I can tell what's on.
I had sighted assistance connecting the box to my TV, but that's only because our TV and wires are in a bit of an awkward place. Once it was connected, I didn't need any help at all tuning it in and setting up the other features. It gave me clear instructions what to do, and it was set up and working within 10 minutes.
Using the box is very straight forward. The voice reads out the programme guide, programme description, channel, start and finish time and if it has subtitles or audio description.
There were 3 glitches that really got on my nerves though that I wonder if anyone else have had. Firstly, about 2 or 3 times, the audio description would stop working. To start it again, I had to switch audio description off, leave it off for about 20 seconds then turn it back on again.
Secondly, the box would sometimes completely freeze when watching TV, and has to be rebooted at the mains.
The one that anoied me the most is sometimes the text to speach voice will sometimes stutter, or it would sound like it was trying to say 2 things at the same time. This only really happened on programme descriptions. For example, it might say "but will they find ouADtS" when what it should have said was "but will they find out? AD, S" I'm sure the last 2 problems will probably be fixed with the newer models that come out.
Apart from the 3 glitches I mensiond, it is great, and I still would recommend it.
My blind partner has one of these boxes and is frustrated because the AD is not always present. Either that or the box crashes, then it has to be rebooted. Isnt it time the manufactures researched these problems before putting them on sale.
Why is there no software updates for them?
Ockie said on 16/08/2011 at 10:45 am
I agree with pretty well everything you said about the freeview box, and in the main I am very pleased. There is one problem I am having though, and wondered if anyone else is having it too. About 2 or 3 times per session, audio description stops working, and in order to reactivate it I have to switch AD off and one again. When I reported the problem, I was told that because the problem was intermittent, it might be difficult to prove and therefore no exchange would be given. So, I wondered how widespread this phenomenon might be.