[nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

Rania Ismail CMT raniaismail04 at gmail.com
Mon Jun 20 13:01:34 UTC 2011


My laptop was $800 but I got it for $600
Rania,

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Kerri Kosten
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 2:00 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list; T. Joseph Carter
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

Hi All!

Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it!

I want to hopefully bring this new laptop to my upcoming trip to
Florida to visit some family so I think I am going to just go for
windows and maybe get a mac later when I know I'll have more time to
spend learning voiceover.

I did a quick search on Amazon for the I7 laptops and the cheapest
prices I can find are in the $800 range.

What kind of budget/price should I go for? I guess the more you pay
the better...are the more expensive I7 processor high end laptops
worth it over the much cheaper I3 ones?

I don't want to be so cheap I get a crappy laptop but at the same time
I don't want to get something that is overpriced and I end up getting
screwed.

For those who have purchased laptops recently did you go for the
cheaper lower end or the more expensive higher end models?

I don't mind spending the money for something good but I also don't
want to spend a ton on something and get screwed.

Thanks!
Kerri

On 6/19/11, T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>nabs-l mailing list
>>nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/carter.tjoseph%40g
mail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/kerrik2006%40gmail.c
om
>

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/raniaismail04%40gmai
l.com





More information about the NABS-L mailing list