[nabs-l] Will Netbooks replace notetakers?

[Rob Lambert]

If anyone is interested, there's a review of the Asus eeePC 900 series (though I'd recommend setting your sights on the 1000H or S101 for a more comfortable typing experience), by Aaron Spears.

--- On Sun, 1/25/09, T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote:
From: T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Will Netbooks replace notetakers?
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Date: Sunday, January 25, 2009, 11:50 PM

The Asus Aspire One runs around $300-350.  Its keyboard is a bit cramped, and it
seems a little thick particularly next to my MacBook Air, but it's a good
size, a good weight, and comes with just enough horsepower to do the things you
want to do.

It should run JAWS or Window Eyes well enough.

Linux accessibility with the distributions that come with the things is all but
nonexistent as you note, but it's Linux--install what you want (or get
someone sighted to do that, I guess..)

Joseph

On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 03:24:12PM -0800, Rob Lambert wrote:
> 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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