[nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

Tue Jun 21 14:43:16 UTC 2011

All,

I will say this one thing and get out of it.  My practice on 
lists is if someone asks a question and after some discussion and 
answers someone replies thanking us for all our answers, I think 
that person is trying to end the discussion.  Kerri did that 
yesterday.  So...

 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: Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:41:01 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Questions About Getting New Laptop

Actually I haven't had a single crash with Windows 7 since I got 
my machine a month ago.

And:
yes, Macs can be pricy but I think Apple's prices are 
justifiable--at least more then Sony's.

On Jun 20, 2011, at 7:27 PM, T.  Joseph Carter wrote:

 People say Macs can be pricey!  In the right configurations, 
they are.  But they hardly compare to the price of most Sony’s.  
I don’t know if the cost is quite justified.

 But then again, I use Mac OS X as my primary OS.  Mac OS X 
exists because making UNIX user-friendly was easier than making 
Windows not crash.  *snicker*

 Joseph

 On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 08:48:35AM -0400, Ignasi Cambra wrote:
 I must say though that I've had much better results with Sony 
Vaio computers than with Toshiba.  Vaio laptops seem to be more 
durable and solid, and in general I would say they are a little 
lighter than equivalent Toshibas.
 In any case you can always try whatever laptop that you want to 
get before you decide if you want to keep it or not.  Best Buy 
and others will generally allow you to return the computer after 
15 days if you aren't happy with it.  I have never had to do 
that, but just having the option makes me feel like I can buy 
what I think is right for me, knowing that I can exchange it for 
an other product if I made a mistake.
 On Jun 20, 2011, at 6:29 AM, Jorge Paez wrote:

 Kerri:
 I went for the higher-end Core I7 Toshiba laptops.

 I'm quite happy with the performance, not to mention the HD 
audio and 3..0 USB.

 Don't get a Sony, just because the Sony laptop I saw was like 
$2,000 for like 500 GB of hard drive with core i3 or something 
like that while you could purchase a core I7 from Toshiba for 
around $8 to 9 hundred.

 On Jun 20, 2011, at 2:00 AM, Kerri Kosten wrote:

 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

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