[nabs-l] Will Netbooks replace notetakers?

[David]

I doubt it. For one thing, I have a PAC Mate, and I wouldn't call it 
proprietary. Also, keep in mind that it takes longer for a laptop to boot up 
than a notetaker. Furthermore, think of braille support. Even with a braille 
display, it would take longer to set up, and more things could go wrong with 
setting it up. Jaws support with braille alone leaves  some to be desired. 
Even the PAC Mate that runs JAWS can be used with Braille only. Anyway, that 
is all I currently have to say on the subject for now. It will be 
interesting to hear what others have to say.
David
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob Lambert" <rmlambert1987 at yahoo.com>
To: "NFB Student List" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 5:24 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] Will Netbooks replace notetakers?


>I was thinking about our proprietary notetakers like the PACmate, Braille 
>Note, and Icon, and thinking about Netbooks. This prompted an interesting 
>question: Do you think netbooks will be the new note taker for us? Continue 
>reading for further information if youare unfamiliar with Netbooks.
>
> For those of you unfamiliar with them, Netbooks are...I guess I could say 
> shrunken down laptops, both in specs, price, & size. For us, I'd recommend 
> any of HP's models since they have the keyboard thing down pat. Why does 
> this matter? Many netbooks LACK a keyboard that can be used for extended 
> periods of time. That's not to say we don't get a full QWERTY keyboards, 
> we do, but some of them can be cramped. The reason their smaller is that 
> the netbooks weigh almost nothing.
>
> Netbooks run Windows XP, and some Linux (be very careful because the Linux 
> versions have NO accessibility), and when it comes out, they will run 
> Windows 7. Obviously, since they run Windows, they can run JAWS (I think). 
> Many of them hover around a 1 to 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor with about 1 
> GB of RAM.
>
> The storage space is also small (especially if you use flash memory). 
> There are, however, some netbooks with full hard drives (usually ranging 
> in size from 40 to 120 GB). If you go flash, it will run you anywhere 
> between 8 and 40 GB. I think one of the eee's has 40 GB of flash with 20 
> GB of additional storage online. Sadly, that's only for the Linux version.
>
> Why does all this matter though? Note earlier that I said the system is 
> shrunken in price. Most Netbooks hover around an asking price of $400 to 
> $600 brand new. Be wary though. If you plan to use it as your primary 
> computer, don't. I doubt the Atom processor on board these Netbooks can 
> handle something like Goldwave.
>
> This, however, would be a perfect solution for note taking for college 
> students. It's light, it's cheap, when running Windows it's Accessible. Do 
> you think that netbooks will replace our proprietary notetaking solutions?
>
>
>
>
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