[nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

T. Joseph Carter carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
Mon Jun 20 23:33:46 UTC 2011 

Kurzweil 3000 exists for the Mac, and several applications such as 
Mariner’s Paperless 2.0, DEVONthink Pro Office, PDFpen, and others 
that deal with scanning can OCR text to an invisible text layer in 
the document.

Unfortunately I think ABBYY’s OCR engine is still version 8 for the 
Mac.  Not sure what version Nuance provides since I tend to prefer 
FineReader anyway.  FineReader 9 isn’t coming to the Mac—last I heard 
they were skipping it and going straight to FineReader 10.

Joseph


On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 03:29:24PM -0600, Kirt Manwaring wrote:
>I know Serotek has an OCR for the mac...I think it's called Docuscan
>or something.  Not sure how well it compares to Kerzweil or open-book,
>though.
>  Best,
>kirt
>
>On 6/20/11, Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Yes.
>> Open Book is only for Windows.
>> And no, there is no software for Mac.
>> And don't even try to run Windows on your Mac via bootcamp, I know from
>> experience that slows your computer to at least a forth of its usual speed.
>>
>>
>> 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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