[nabs-l] questions about a mac bok pro

Mon Apr 23 02:40:25 UTC 2012

Cindy,
What is boot camp, and how can I get it? Does it automatically come or
do I have to buy it, and if I have to buy it, how much does it cost?
I know I'm asking alot of general broad questions, but I appreciate
you all helping me out.
Laurel and Stockard

P.S.
I am a foreign language major and will be doing alot of interpreting
and translating. One of the reasons I love vo is it's good support for
alot of languages, where I don't hafta download extra voices or buy
extra languages.
Thanks

On 4/20/12, Cindy Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Laurel:
>
> I think that Bryan gave you a lot of good information. I can enlighten
> you on the switch though. I have a MacBook pro and I split it with
> bootcamp, and I use the PC side of my computer way more. Like
> anything, if I had started with Macs, I think that I would have
> trouble switching to a PC, and I think that is the main reason I
> haven't switched. Because of the MS Word problems Bryan talked about,
> I will never fully switch, because I plan to go back to school, and
> unless you are majoring in something in the arts or graphic design,
> you absolutely have to have access to the Microsoft Suite while in
> school. I love VoiceOver though. You'll pick up the track pad quickly
> because of using an iPhone, and it is amazing. There are a lot of 3
> and 4 key combinations. Basically, if I could mix the advantages of
> PC's and Macs when it comes to accessibility, I would. i like and
> dislike them both for different reasons.
>
> One thing to know about VoiceOver is that it gives you an idea of the
> layout of pages much better than screen readers on PC's. While it's
> great to know that, I have found that it sometimes slows me down when
> I just need to navigate to one specific thing.
>
> I love Textedit. Numbers is pretty similar to Excel, but you'll have
> to get used to the fact that Macs are more artsy and eye appealing.
> Programs are going to automatically look nice. While this takes some
> pressure off of a blind person when it comes to printing spreadsheets
> without graphs on top of them, they are sometimes cumbersome to
> navigate. I found the same thing in Keynote. In some ways, it is much
> more accessible than JAWS and PowerPoint, but again, you can insert a
> picture and you won't be able to get feedback about whether you put it
> in the right place, and text boxes aren't very navigacable especially
> when you arrange multiple columns.
>
> In any case, if you are curious, and if you learn more and really want
> to switch, just know that you can always split your Mac with Bootcamp.
> Even though I do use Windows too much, I think that Apple products are
> made better, and the warrantee is great.
>
> I also second getting the refirbished products. I got a 13-inch pro
> with 3 years of Apple care for $50 less than the New 13-inch pro with
> only the standard 1 year warrantee. I got the 3 years of Apple care,
> because it was my first time buying a refirbished Apple product, so I
> wanted to be safe, and Apple care is much more inclusive than the
> regular warrantee. There are basically no questions asked if something
> happens to your product. I do disagree about the air though. Your
> decision should be made on what you need to do with your computer, but
> the Pro has more memory, and is not much bigger. It also has more
> ports to plug things in and an SD card slot which is great if you take
> a lot of pictures.
>
> Good luck in your decision, and I hope I was able to provide some good
> information for you.
>
> Cindy
>
> On 4/20/12, Bryan Jones <opensesame at me.com> wrote:
>> Hello Laurel,
>>
>> My perspective is as someone who has never used a Windows screen reader,
>> so
>> I can't offer much in terms of comparing VoiceOver to Jaws or Window-Eyes
>> or
>> NVDA, but I can provide a bit of input to a few of your other questions.
>>
>>> 1. Macbook Pro vs iMac.
>> I've used a variety of Mac desktops and laptops in the past 5 or 6 years
>> and
>> my personal favorite is the current 11 inch Macbook Air. Portability is a
>> high priority for me, and the Air also offers good performance and a
>> decent,
>> though notperfect, keyboard. If you are set on choosing between an MBP
>> and
>> an iMac, you might consider waiting another month or two as rumor has it
>> Apple will soon be introducing updated versions of the MBP.
>>
>>> 3, Kurzweil / OCR options.
>> I use Abbyy FineReader Express for OCR. It's been able to handle most of
>> the
>> jobs I've thrown at it, including PDF conversions and multi-language
>> documents. Again, I've never used Kurzweil, so can't offer a comparison.
>>
>>> 4, anything else.
>>> 4a. MS Office for Mac is not accessible using VO. In fact, if you expect
>>> to be editing or creating documents that include tables and several
>>> other
>>> key elements, there is currently no word processor that smoothly allows
>>> VO
>>> access to these functions. Pages and Nissus Writer are close and getting
>>> better, but are not there yet. That said, if you do not expect to be
>>> working with complex documents, you might be OK just using  the Mac's
>>> very
>>> good built-in word processor called Textedit. It opens Word documents
>>> and
>>> can save in a variety of formats.
>>
>> 4b. Web browser options are still limited on the Mac. Safari and it's
>> cousins Webkit and Chrome work OK with VO, but FIrefox  and Opera aren't
>> there yet and there is no version of IE on the Mac.
>> 4c. Generally, when folks ask me if I think they should switch to a Mac,
>> my
>> answer is "No, unless you really have a desire to learn something
>> different
>> or you just want a new toy." For most Users and functions, the Mac OS is
>> no
>> better than Windows. You'll still crash sometimes, you'll still be
>> vulnerable to malware and other security threats, and you'll find plenty
>> of
>> hardware and software that does not play well with VO.
>> Plus if you've already invested in an expensive windows screen reader,
>> and
>> expensive Windows office suite, and if they're working OK for you, you'll
>> lose that investment when moving too the Mac unless you decide to go
>> through
>> the hassle of installing Windows on your Mac.
>>
>> More than anything else, I strongly suggest spending time in an Apple
>> Store,
>> Best Buy or other place where you can get your hands on the Macs and spend
>> a
>> bit of time trying them out. If you want to actively learn how to use VO
>> while sitting in front of any current Mac, you can turn on VO by pressing
>> Command+F5. The Command key is the key immediately to the left of the
>> spacebar, and the F5 key is the sixth key from the left in the top row
>> (the
>> first key being the escape key). When you press Command+F5, you should
>> hear
>> the announcement, "VoiceOver On." Once VoiceOver is running, you can
>> access
>> a quick VoiceOver tutorial by pressing and holding the three keys located
>> immediately to the left of the Spacebar and then pressing the F8 key,
>> which
>> is the ninth key from the left in the top row. You should hear VoiceOver
>> announce, "VoiceOver Quick Start." The quick start tutorial will
>> introduce
>> you to the "VO" keys and will point you in the right direction for
>> learning
>> more about the Mac and VO. Consider bringing a pair of headphones or
>> earbuds
>> when you try this out. It can get pretty noisy in an Apple store.
>>
>> If you haven't already joined, there are a number of active email lists
>> and
>> forums for blind and low-vision Mac Users. A quick google will turn up a
>> list of them.
>>
>> One last note: I personally think the best way to purchase a Mac is
>> through
>> Apple's own refurb store, which can be found from their main shopping
>> site
>> at store dot apple dot com. Macs purchased there usually cost a couple
>> hundred dollars less, come with the exact same 1 year warranty as new
>> Macs
>> and can be covered under the same extended Applecare warranty plans. The
>> only Macs I've had to take in for service were ones I purchased new. My
>> refurbs have never needed service.
>>
>> HTH,
>> Bryan
>>
>> On Apr 20, 2012, at 10:29 AM, Laurel wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> I have to confess, I haven't been watching the recent thread where
>>> people were talking about mac vs. pc. I wanted to buy a mac but I
>>> didn't have the money so I was putting it off. This week I got some
>>> very unexpected money from somewhere (I don't wanna go into all the
>>> details) but I have enough to buy a mac. I plan to do so but I wanted
>>> to ask some questions about the mac that maybe some of y'all could
>>> answer for me.
>>>
>>> 1. Do you all prefer the Mac Book Pro (lap top) or the iMac (desk top).
>>> 2, those of you who use JAWS and switched to voice over on the mac,
>>> how hard/easy was the switch? I already use voice over on the
>>> iPad/iPhone but I'm not used to it on the mac yet.
>>> 3, Do any of you use Kurzweil for scanning? I have Kurzweil 1000 for
>>> windows, and I don't know what to do for my scanning program on a mac.
>>> Should I use my Kurzweil, I know you can use mac to run programs that
>>> run on windows, or should I switch to another program. What other
>>> scanning programs out there work well with voice over?
>>>
>>> 4, is there anything else, accessibility related as far as softwear
>>> goes, that I should know before I make the switch?
>>>
>>> I plan on keeping my pc at least for the summer so I can slowly switch
>>> over and have time to get used to a mac. I know this is a long email,
>>> but for you mac users out there, thanks for the help. It's
>>> appreciated.
>>> Laurel and Stockard
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Cindy Bennett
> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>
> clb5590 at gmail.com
> 828.989.5383
>
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