[nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

Mon Jun 20 23:03:33 UTC 2011

Yes.

Joseph

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 12:40:27PM -0400, Chris Nusbaum 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 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.tj
>oseph%40gmail.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/kerrik200
>6%40gmail.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/dotkid.nu
>sbaum%40gmail.com
>