Voice notification possible?

[celestine]

hello there everyone! I'm new here and i hope to get along with you all^^...anyway, i have this task which is:
Voice notification when a drink is selected at a vending machine.For instance, at a drink vending machine, when i select coke as my option, it's suppose to say "Coke Selected".

i have a few ideas running in my mind:
1) Is there anyway for me to store a prerecorded voice in a PIC and play it out using a speaker without interfacing to the laptop.

2) i have an option of interfacing the PIC where the PIC is used to handle external triggers such as the buttons at the vending machine. What i propose to do is when a drink is selected, the external trigger will trigger the PIC to send a message to the laptop to play a prerecorded sound file.

which is the simplest and most effective method? or are there simpler alternatives which is not listed...pls do advice!thanx in advance!