Actually I would not let even that student touch anything over a year old. I don't care if it still works. Many companies don't support let's say a 7 year old machine the school might be giving to their students. If the school can afford it let them buy refirbs that are a year old if that is even possible as long as they have 8 or 16 gigs of ram and the students can use them for class but anything over a year old at least in terms of school settings is yucky to me.

I know a family member who is at their office still using windows I think it's 7. They refuse to upgrade the their machines are 10 years old, but what would you expect from most people who don't really care about this stuff.

If I could afford it I would replace my computers every year or 2 even though they still work. It's staying up to date with technology and going with the best if you can, at least to me.

On 11 Jan 2019, at 12:34, Brian Vogel wrote:

Sarah,

            You really seem to be spinning out over these last several posts.   This really is not about you, or your needs or wants, but trying to offer advice regarding how best to make buying decisions related to computers in general.

             It's not that your needs are wrong, but they're utterly irrelevant to what I've seen as the broader point of this whole topic.

--

Brian - Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit, Version 1809, Build 17763  

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

          ~ Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back

 

 

On 11 Jan 2019, at 12:34, Brian Vogel wrote:

Sarah,

            You really seem to be spinning out over these last several posts.   This really is not about you, or your needs or wants, but trying to offer advice regarding how best to make buying decisions related to computers in general.

             It's not that your needs are wrong, but they're utterly irrelevant to what I've seen as the broader point of this whole topic.

--

Brian - Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit, Version 1809, Build 17763  

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

          ~ Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back

 

 

The fact of the matter is that most of the processors these days are way overkill for just about 99% of people. General slang is that anything below an i5 or i7 quote on quote sucks. It does not. There are machines from 2010-2011 that, even in this day and age are still running reasonably well for web browsing and the like. Allow yourself some growth but there is no need to go hog wild. A nice balance is key.

Me, for instance, I have a surface book for my portable workhorse. It has 8 gb of ram and 256 gb of solid state storage. It's 4 years old now and has a 6th generation i5. It still runs beautifully and the build quality is outstanding. It came with none of the bloatware that other manufacturers send out because it is a Microsoft product.

On 1/11/2019 2:55 PM, Brian Vogel wrote:

On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 02:05 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote:

So for me I would build a pc thus

Sarah, you have been a voice of reason in this exchange overall.  But the central point, which only this post seems to partially miss, is that "for me" is just that.

Each and every user should carefully consider what their intended use or uses of their computer is and what those require hardware wise.  What fits you, or me, or anyone else like a glove may not fit another well.

Also, I support leaving some room for growth, too, but even the base system you described for your build is just gross overkill for my needs, and always would be in the foreseeable future (who knows, it could become utterly insufficient, but I can't see that in the near term).

Even if someone can afford the latest Intel or AMD CPU, it's an utter waste if all they're going to do is web browse, e-mail, edit some documents, and, perhaps, stream occasionally.

Tool to task, and all that.
 
--

Brian - Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit, Version 1809, Build 17763  

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

          ~ Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back

 

 

On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 02:05 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote:

So for me I would build a pc thus

Sarah, you have been a voice of reason in this exchange overall.  But the central point, which only this post seems to partially miss, is that "for me" is just that.

Each and every user should carefully consider what their intended use or uses of their computer is and what those require hardware wise.  What fits you, or me, or anyone else like a glove may not fit another well.

Also, I support leaving some room for growth, too, but even the base system you described for your build is just gross overkill for my needs, and always would be in the foreseeable future (who knows, it could become utterly insufficient, but I can't see that in the near term).

Even if someone can afford the latest Intel or AMD CPU, it's an utter waste if all they're going to do is web browse, e-mail, edit some documents, and, perhaps, stream occasionally.

Tool to task, and all that.
 
--

Brian - Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit, Version 1809, Build 17763  

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

          ~ Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back

 

 

On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 02:05 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote:

So for me I would build a pc thus

Sarah, you have been a voice of reason in this exchange overall.  But the central point, which only this post seems to partially miss, is that "for me" is just that.

Each and every user should carefully consider what their intended use or uses of their computer is and what those require hardware wise.  What fits you, or me, or anyone else like a glove may not fit another well.

Also, I support leaving some room for growth, too, but even the base system you described for your build is just gross overkill for my needs, and always would be in the foreseeable future (who knows, it could become utterly insufficient, but I can't see that in the near term).

Even if someone can afford the latest Intel or AMD CPU, it's an utter waste if all they're going to do is web browse, e-mail, edit some documents, and, perhaps, stream occasionally.

Tool to task, and all that.
 
--

Brian - Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit, Version 1809, Build 17763  

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

          ~ Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back

 

 

Hi,

Intel Pentium processors can run all of that just fine paired with 8 gb of ram. An i3 can run it, too. This falsehood that an i5 or i7 processor is always the answer really needs to stop.

A solid state drive, however, does make an enormous difference so investing in a machine with one, especially if you'll be keeping it long term, really is a great idea.

On 1/11/2019 9:05 AM, Gene wrote:

That is a general statement and is not correct if you run a synthesizer that is not computer intensive.  I don't know how much more work it is to run an intensive synthesizer but because of slower response time while working with one, many blind people run a very responsive synthesizer such as Eloquence for actual working with the computer.  They use one of the newer more intensive synthesizers for listening to things where they will be just listening such as reading a book. 

 

A screen-reader when used with a synthesizer like Eloquence is not intensive.  I don't know whether an SSD increases responsiveness of the newer kind of synthesizer but my point is that you needn't buy a much more expensive machine to use a screen-reader as I've described.  If you do, and if you benefit from doing so when you use a more intensive synthesizer for everything, you then have to consider the extra money you spent on the computer as part of the cost of the synthesizer and it may be unreasonable.  I'm also not saying that getting a really fast computer would make newer synthesizers more responsive, I don't know.  I'm talking about cost/benefit.

 

Gene

----- Original Message -----

From: Brian K. Lingard

Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 5:19 AM

To: nvda@nvda.groups.io

Subject: Re: [nvda] Minimum Specs for NVDA with Other Intensive Applications

Dear Noah & List:

Running a screenreader adds a fair bit of work to a PC as you have a software synthesizer. You could offload the work of speaking by using a hardware synthesizer such as a Doubletalk or Triple talk. Your laptop needs SSD not a mechanical hard disk with 8, 16 or 32 GB RAM. 32 GB is best if you plan to do video and/or audio editing & recording. The PC at your school may have as little as one GB RAM and a slow CPU. Giving the laptop adequate RAM ids, more important that high-performance CPU. Look for a laptop with a fast, but not necessarily Intel I8 speed. An Intel I5 or six CPU should work fine. You consume CPU cycles a lot if you do sound or video editing, recalculate mammoth spreadsheets and run many programs concurrently.
Web browsing is light work for a PC.
Download the Belarc Advisor from HTTPS://www.belarc.com. Run it on the problem computers at school. Lists the CPU chip, installed RAM, software licenses, everything worth knowing about the PC. Also gives information on the SSD or Hard Disk. Program is free for personal use.
Brian K. Lingard

From: nvda@nvda.groups.io [mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io] On Behalf of Noah Carver via Groups.Io
Sent: January 10, 2019 6:53 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: [nvda] Minimum Specs for NVDA with Other Intensive Applications

Hi All,
I will need to get a laptop for school; however, the school machines cannot run NVDA plus Chrome and Word all at the same time without lagging.
What I need is a powerful machine that can handle email, office, and web Browsing, ETC. without wimping out on me while I am trying to do work. Do you have any recommendations for specs or any particular laptops that you might recommend?

Thanks,

Noah

One can never swear that anything will necessarily work with the screen reader, but it's worth going to the Norton Remove and Reinstall Tool <https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v60392881_EndUserProfile_en_us> page, downloading it, and trying it as your removal method.
--
Brian *-*Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit, Version 1809, Build 17763
*/A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep./*
          ~ Saul Bellow, /To Jerusalem and Back/

On modern computers, I don’t see much of a benefit to it, unless you’re using Emacspeak where the hardware DecTalk is still a good experience with it. On older computers, or computers with fussy sound cards, it may be a good experience.

On Jan 11, 2019, at 10:19 AM, Brian's Mail list account via Groups.Io <bglists=blueyonder.co.uk@groups.io> wrote:

The real question though is this. Can they be more efficient in real terms than the inbuilt espeak?
I did some tests back in the xp days when I had access to one, and to me at least there was nothing much in it.
Of course the old interface used a serial port on my old computer, so it could well be that this ancient device was a bottleneck.
Brian

bglists@blueyonder.co.uk
Sent via blueyonder.
Please address personal E-mail to:-
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk, putting 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name field.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian K. Lingard" <bkl@ncf.ca>
To: <nvda@nvda.groups.io>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: [nvda] Slightly OT: Hardware speech synthesizer


Dear Felix & List:

I believe the triple talk synthesizer is still manufactured. So is the Votrax Personal Speech System by the Federal Screw Works.
Brian K. Lingard


From: nvda@nvda.groups.io [mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io] On Behalf of Felix G.
Sent: January 11, 2019 7:26 AM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: [nvda] Slightly OT: Hardware speech synthesizer

Hello everyone,
I am thinking of getting a hardware speech synthesizer because I feel it might improve my efficiency by making me independent of existing sound resources on machines. I am aware hardware speech synthesizers are an ancient concept, so I would like to ask around are they still being manufactured for end users. If so, which ones are being produced as I am writing this?
All the best,
Felix

Good day list,

�

I have an Acer laptop with Windows 10 and the latest version of NVDA.

�

Norton Anti Virus is pre-installed on this Acer laptop.� I would like to use Windows Defender instead.�

�

I tried to uninstalled Norton with no success.� I followed the steps whitch you would follow to uninstall a program.� NVDA doesn�t give me any feedback after I hit enter to uninstall Norton. I tried Golden Cursor to read the screen also with no success.

�

Is there a way to uninstall Norton while NVDA is giving feedback?

�

Any help would be appreciated.

�

Kind regards

Morn�

On Jan 11, 2019, at 10:19 AM, Brian's Mail list account via Groups.Io <bglists=blueyonder.co.uk@groups.io> wrote:

The real question though is this. Can they be more efficient in real terms than the inbuilt espeak?
I did some tests back in the xp days when I had access to one, and to me at least there was nothing much in it.
Of course the old interface used a serial port on my old computer, so it could well be that this ancient device was a bottleneck.
Brian

bglists@blueyonder.co.uk
Sent via blueyonder.
Please address personal E-mail to:-
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk, putting 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name field.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian K. Lingard" <bkl@ncf.ca>
To: <nvda@nvda.groups.io>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: [nvda] Slightly OT: Hardware speech synthesizer


Dear Felix & List:

I believe the triple talk synthesizer is still manufactured. So is the Votrax Personal Speech System by the Federal Screw Works.
Brian K. Lingard


From: nvda@nvda.groups.io [mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io] On Behalf of Felix G.
Sent: January 11, 2019 7:26 AM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: [nvda] Slightly OT: Hardware speech synthesizer

Hello everyone,
I am thinking of getting a hardware speech synthesizer because I feel it might improve my efficiency by making me independent of existing sound resources on machines. I am aware hardware speech synthesizers are an ancient concept, so I would like to ask around are they still being manufactured for end users. If so, which ones are being produced as I am writing this?
All the best,
Felix