[NABS-L] Choosing a Laptop

Sat Mar 17 21:08:31 UTC 2018

   I agree. It's a bit pricey, however, if you can afford it, then it's a great choice. I really don't have good credit as of now, since I'm a student, and not working, so if I were looking for a Windows laptop, it would have to be less expensive. I do have a 2015 MacBook Pro with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB hard drive. It's a great computer, although in cases where I need Windows, I would like to get another computer, instead of using Bootcamp. Using things like a fingerprint sensor or encryption would be nice, since as students, we're always on the go, and we don't want to risk our information falling in to the wrong hands. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 17, 2018, at 12:34 PM, Joseph Hutson via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Laney, everything looks good. Except possibly the price tag. But I guess if you can afford it, it looks good.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Mar 17, 2018, at 1:39 PM, Lanie Molinar via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I just looked at the Lenovo website since several people recommended them. They have a 10% student discount on some of their laptops. I think I might have just found a good one for me. Take a look at this:
>> https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/ThinkPad-X380-Yoga/p/20LH000MUS
>> I like how it can be a laptop or a tablet and how it has a fingerprint reader. My mom said that I could get both a laptop and a Braille notetaker or display if I could keep the payments for each one under $100 per month. I did some calculations and found out that with this laptop, if I take 2 years to pay it off, the payments would be about $84 per month. It sounds like a really nice laptop. What do you all think?
>> 
>> 
>>> On 3/17/2018 12:11 PM, Himanshu Neema via NABS-L wrote:
>>> Hi Lanie,
>>> 
>>> As a blind user and otherwise as well what makes sense these days is to buy a laptop with only a large SSD in it. I recommend a laptop with at least 1 TB SSD in it instead of regular hard drive. The reason is that a lot of time is spent not only in memory access but also on input-output, even if it is happening behind the scene by the application in temporary directories or even by the operating system at the core. You will see a very large improvement in speed as compared to the one with regular hard drive. For blind users screen readers are also resource hogs so having a laptop with only SSD in it helps a lot. Don’t get the one with hybrid drive either. If it is too expensive, a laptop with 512GB SSD might do it for you.
>>> 
>>> Also, you can always create a partition in the drive and install Linux no matter what the operating system (such as Windows or Mac OS) is installed originally. Another easier alternative is to install open-source software called “Oracle VirtualBox” and you can run any operating system in it such as Ubuntu Linux, Mac, etc.
>>> 
>>> I think Microsoft Surface Books are quite good. Another option is to consider Dell laptops.
>>> 
>>> Lastly, I found in the past that Office Depot might provide you a good deal on a pre-configured laptop. Also, Best Buy provide something on the order of $100 discount for students. Dell also has special website for computers for higher education folks.
>>> 
>>> Hope this helps.
>>> Best,
>>> Himanshu
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>> On Mar 17, 2018, at 11:00 AM, Lanie Molinar via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi, everyone. This is Lanie Molinar. I'm sending this to a lot of lists at once. Some are tech-related, some are related to software development, and some are for students. I might have to get a new laptop soon and have a few questions. First, let me give you a little background info to help you understand what I'm looking for. I'm a college student getting a degree in Software Engineering, so I'll be working with code and developing things. I also have several disabilities and health issues in addition to my blindness, so I can't do much physically and spend a lot of my day on the computer doing schoolwork, taking surveys for extra money, gaming, and doing lots of other stuff. I'm fairly sure that I want a computer with Windows 10, not a Mac, although I'm willing to look into a Mac if that seems better. I would also be happy with something running Linux. I definitely want something new, not used, with plenty of RAM. There are so many options that I'm just not sure what to look for or where to get it. Again, I also need something that can handle being used all day, gaming, and developing software. My family is low-income, so I need to get it from somewhere that offers good payment plans. Can anyone give me some advice on how to choose a laptop, good places to buy one from, and what I should get? For those on software development- related lists, I'm interested in what would be best for a developer. I would really appreciate any help. Thanks.
>>> 
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