Speakonia User Reviews
Good
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"great program easy to use"
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
easy to install up and running in a couple of minutes
Cons
took alittle while to get the voice to sound the way I wanted it but the controls were easy to operate
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"great love it"
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
I workes very well. i will read wikiedia for me so i dont have to
Cons
works 98% of the words out
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"Did not work properly. Could not fetch the web page"
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
Easy to install, very fast uninstall
Cons
Web page (Wiki) could not be fetched. Only Clipboard reading was enabled and that too needs lots of adjustment.
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"A Trojan horse virus."
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
It's entertaining and useful.
Cons
After I downloaded it I recieved a Trojan horse warning.
Summary
I have not downloaded anything else recently, and just seconds after I downloaded it I was warned by my antivirus program (Avast) that a Trojan horse had been found. I have deleted the program, and no longer trust this website.
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"EXCELLENT PROGRAM FOR TEXT TO SPEECH COMEDY!"
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
This program is AMAZING for Text to Speech comedy! I use this all the time for making Microsoft Sam reading errors!
Cons
Just the lack of features on this...
Summary
This program is AMAZING! I think the CNet editors were on crack when they rated this 3/5.
Looking for it.
Updated on Mar 5, 2010 -
"Good T to S engine. It has clear speech with intonation"
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
This program has a crisp, clear voice with good reflection when reading. It's easy to use with no learning curve.
Cons
The only con I found with Speakonia is that you can not get it to open on start up and can not reduce it to the system tray for easy access at all times.
Summary
I like Speakonia because the voice is loud and clear and volume can be adjusted downward if it's too much. I also have other text to speech programs on my computer but find they are not loud enough or don't work as advertised. This program is very user friendly, loud enough when you want it to be, and does not shut down all the time as other text to speech software tends to do for some reason. My only complaint, and it's not a big issue, is that I can't minimize it to the system tray or get it to open on start up as some of the other text to speech software does, even though you don't want them to.
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"Open, highlight, copy, hear... Simplicity..."
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
Highlight text from any document (HTML / PDF / DOC) and press copy to hear it, simplicity. I've found a voice + speed I like. As a student I can reed papers / articles / books in hours rather than days. To speed read, wack up the WPM!+it makes WAVS!
Cons
A few glitches when copying from some documents you get a Windows BONG sound and a dialogue box in the back ground, BUT NOT AN ISSUE. It would be nice to have some better voices but for free It's the best I've found for my needs.
Summary
I'm a student and have loads of articles, papers and e-books to read. You can select from standard MS voices, change the pitch + speed. I've got one I like now. I'm quite used to it and can read documents very fast. It was a godsend during essays as I could speed (very fast) read a paper. I find it useful as well for proof reading as you are actually hearing your words read back to you and you pick up on things that don't sound right. The program has a registration feature that lets you save speech to WAV files that you can use, I've placed a few into my MP3 player for study purposes. I mentioned the bugs, it has never crashed on me, only given a few random C++ error boxes when I've clicked Cut instead of Copy. It sometimes has a tizz if it has to read non-English fonts.
I know there are a number of other programs but this one is very simple, just highlight any text (encrypted / No Copy PDFs don't work - but that's not its fault) and press copy and it reads the clipboard. You can also paste text straight into the program if you wish or type something in it's text box for playing. It also has a learning facility where you can Phonetically spell words to it, but I haven't used this as it pretty much gets them right. -
"This is a great, easy to use and very small program."
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
It took me longer to sign up with cnet to give a product review, than it did for me to download this program onto my computer! That was cool. It is great for a writer like myself. I find all my mistakes and can change the speed of the speaker.
Cons
The only thing I wish it could do was speak in a little more of a normal speaking voice, but you can get it pretty close to it. That is just fine with me because you can't beat free.
Summary
The features of this product is very nice to have. You can change the the different voices to a higher tone and lower tone. You can make it speak faster or slower. If you are a writer I would highly recommend this. I am low on funds so finding something like this to help me find all the problems, sentences that need revising or even typos is great. I am loving that part. I love that as long as Speakonia is opened up all you have to do is type "Ctrl and then C" on another program like Wordperfect or OpenOffice and it starts speaking it. Also, if you are bored one day and you want to get a really great laugh just play with the voices and it can be entertainment for all. Kids love it. It also has fluxations in the voices for question marks, explanation points and even pauses for comma's.
Speakonia doesn't speak in all caps, that is a down fall, if you type in all caps. Sometimes if you try to read a webpage it reads other things you don't want it to read. I think for a free program this deserves a 5. Only because even though it has little down falls, which is nothing compared to other programs, the free part makes up for it. -
"Free simple problem"
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
It does what it says it does. You can even have the program read web pages too! It have several different voice options. It's a very simple program.
Cons
All of the voices sound too robotic.
Summary
I will recommend this program.
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"A very useful, and occasionally funny program."
Version: Speakonia 1.3.5
Pros
The program offers a large set of options for customization. You can adjust the speaker's pitch, speed, and volume. Once more, this type of interferance is very user-friendly and its an absolute rarity that you'll ever encounter any problems.
Cons
The program has a Lexicon for creating words, but you can't use symbols ( #,*,@,&). It also makes many mistakes in grammer. Although it might turn out sounding hilarious, its troublesome for those trying to add dialogue to animated movies or games.
Summary
I honestly can't tell you how much time I've spent with this program. I open it every time I boot my computer up. It has got to be the best freeware program ever created outside of free video games. If you need something to be read, you only need to copy/paste and go. Its great for work, and even when your not busy, its also completly hilarious. If your debating to try it out, I recommended downloading it right now. Words cannot discribe this innovation.
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