[nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

[T. Joseph Carter]

For a JAWS user or Window Eyes user, the Mac is going to take a 
little getting used to, but other than learning the new screen 
reader, it functions basically as you’d expect it to.  The option to 
use a virtual machine to run Windows exists on a Mac as well, and you 
will find the MacBook Air in particular a joy to carry after lugging 
around a larger, heavier laptop.

Most ultralight PCs are cheap netbooks and pretty sluggish.  They’ve 
got going for them the size and usually also the weight, but they 
sacrifice much in terms of function to do it.  The difference between 
the MacBook Air and a more conventional laptop is that it’s missing 
optical drive and ethernet port.  And that it weighs half as much!  I 
personally can’t imagine carrying anything else anymore.

If you don’t mind the heavier laptop, all the advice about what to 
look for in a good laptop (i7 being more battery efficient than i3, 
etc.) applies to Macs as well.

The one thing that will take getting used to if you use Windows your 
Mac (either via BootCamp or virtual machine) is the keyboard.  You 
will find that the Alt and Windows keys are reversed.  The keyboard 
is basically done the way Mac keyboards have been for ages—it’s just 
that Apple and Microsoft happen to put the "alternative function" and 
"vendor logo function" keys in opposite locations.  I’ve gotten used 
to using Windows that way.  To me it’s no different from using the 
Control key versus the Command key for cut/copy/paste.  I just do 
what’s appropriate in the environment I’m using pretty automatically.

Joseph


On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 07:55:28PM -0400, Kerri Kosten wrote:
>Hi Everyone!
>
>Well, after five years, it looks like I am going to have to get a new laptop.
>
>I haven't had to look for a laptop in like five years so I had some questions.
>
>First, from an accessibility/screenreader standpoint what is better
>windows or Mac? Was the switch to mac from windows hard? Was voiceover
>easy to get used to? Do you like your mac better than windows? I've
>been told macs don't get viruses or have spyware and they seem a lot
>more durable. I have a friend who says he has had one for three years
>(he isn't blind) and he says other than spending some money on a
>bigger hard drive and paying $25 for one of the new OS updates (I
>believe it was snow lepoard) he said it works just as fast and
>everything as it did the day he got it. It seems with windows the life
>is only around four or five years old. Sighted people are telling me
>to go with mac but I know the world is still largely dominated by
>windows.
>
>For windows users who have purchased laptops recently what things did
>you look for in the laptop? What brands are people using with the
>windows screenreaders? I found a Tasheba satellite on Amazon.com for
>$479...it is usually $780 but has been on sale for $479. It has an I3
>processor, 4 gigs of ram, 640 gig hard drive, and a 15 inch screen not
>that that matters to me. Supposedly the battery lasts for five hours.
>I was going to just go with this one but i noticed it is rated 3
>starrs on the customer reviews and I wonder why it has dropped so much
>in price on Amazon. is anyone else using a tasheba and are they good?
>What things did you look for in you're laptop before purchasing it?
>
>The laptop I will likely get has Windows 7 and is 64 BIT. Is there any
>big bugs I should know about with 64 BIT, Windows 7, and Jaws? Do you
>like windows 7 overall? Is it better than windows vista? My old hp
>laptop had windows vista on it and my netbook (which I am typing this
>on) has windows XP.
>
>Even if Rehab or some other source purchased your laptop, I am
>noticing most of the new ones have similar specks:Windows 7, a 500 gig
>or bigger hard drive, I 3 and up processor, 4 gigs of ram. How fast
>are these? My laptop is so old I'm kind of excited and curious to hear
>about how fast the latest laptops with these new and improved specks
>are.
>
>Thanks!
>Kerri
>
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