[nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

Mon Jun 20 22:48:48 UTC 2011

There are several options, including Serotek's Docuscan + which works beautifully.
On Jun 20, 2011, at 3:19 PM, Katie Wang wrote:

> Hi, all,
>  I have been following this thread as I'm also planning to purchase a
> new laptop within the next year or so (my current one still runs
> Windows XP). One question for those of you who use and like Macs: Is
> there some sort of OCR sofftware that works with Macs? I regularly use
> Open Book to scan documents or convert pdf files into a more
> accessible format, but from what I understand it only works on Windows
> machines. Is that correct? Thanks!
>   Katie
> 
> 
> On 6/20/11, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Florida? Are you going to convention while you're there?
>> 
>> Chris
>> 
>> "A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
>> To learn more about Camp Abilities and find a local camp near
>> you, just click on this link to their national Web site:
>> www.campabilities.org.
>> 
>> The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired youth in
>> Maryland have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click
>> on this link to learn more and to contribute:
>> www.icanfoundation.info.
>> 
>> Sent from my BrailleNote
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>,"T.  Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
>> Date sent: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:00:04 -0400
>> 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 you뭗 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.
>> They뭭e
>> 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 it뭩
>> missing
>> optical drive and ethernet port.  And that it weighs half as
>> much!  I
>> personally can뭪 imagine carrying anything else anymore.
>> 
>> If you don뭪 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 ages뾦t뭩
>> just
>> that Apple and Microsoft happen to put the "alternative
>> function" and
>> "vendor logo function" keys in opposite locations.  I뭭e gotten
>> used
>> to using Windows that way.  To me it뭩 no different from using
>> the
>> Control key versus the Command key for cut/copy/paste.  I just
>> do
>> what뭩 appropriate in the environment I뭢 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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>> 
> 
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