[bcab] Re: Small (low cost) laptops

Yes indeed.

I thought the following URL was rather amusing.  Considering
they spelt it correctly in the body, I wonder how many
takers they got?

http://digg.com/tech_news/Request_a_Ubantu_CD_FREE 

George.

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Nutt
Sent: 25 July 2008 23:05
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Small (low cost) laptops

Hi Isaac,

It is Ubuntu, not Ubantu, I believe.

All the best

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Isaac Porat
Sent: Wednesday 23 July 2008 21:07
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Small (low cost) laptops

Hello Roger Graham and Adrian

The Eee does not unfortunately run Ubantu distribution - it
run Xandros, there are many differences but one of the major
ones is that it uses not Gnom as a desktop which works with
Orca the Linux screen reader but a version of KDE.

We looked into installing Ubantu on the Eee as the screen
reader is part of the distribution but it is not practical
for various reasons (the guy who dealt with this is a Linux
expert) hackers have done this  but again this is not a
practical proposition.

If one wants to experiment with Ubantu (not relevant to this
discussion as the computers we are talking about have
probably too limited resources for dual boot) , If you run
Windows, Ubantus installation on top of Windows installation
has been much simplified in Ubantus latest version it
essentially installs itself as a Windows application and
creates a dual boot on your PC. You can experiment  with it
and you can use add / remove programs to get rid of it if
you had enough.  I did not use it myself but know a number
of sighted users and at least one blind person in the US who
uses it this way - he is a Linux and Orca fun.

With regard to your question Graham, Apparently Open office
works well with Orca - perhaps not surprisingly as Orca has
been developed by mainly Sun microsystem who are the main
drivers behind open office.

And finally how I know a bit about the Asus Eee Linux
version, because    
We did some work at a-technic putting SpeakOn on the Eee Pc
Linux distribution with a view of using it as a media
platform - it works but more effort is required to complete
the job - better speech synthesizers interface and support
for some audio formats).  

In the meantime With the introduction of the Eee running
Windows XP (Roger it costs for 12 Gb £315 - £50 more than
the Linux version) SpeakOn should run on it out of the box
but I did not tried it yet and wait for confirmation that a
screen readers works well with it as well. .
 
Regards
Isaac


-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Graham Page
Sent: 23 July 2008 17:45
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Small (low cost) laptops

interesting. are there any office typed products that run
under Linux that are accessible? if so I will definitely
have a play when I get time.
 
regards
 
Graham
Graham Page
Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
Mobile: 07753 607980
Fax:  0870 706 2773
Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
Skype: gabriel_mcbird

----- Original Message -----
From: Adrian Higginbotham
<mailto:adrian.higginbotham@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 3:31 PM
Subject: [bcab] Re: Small (low cost) laptops


Roger, the linux eeePCs come with a cutdown distro of Ubuntu
installed. One of the things that has been cut is the
screenreader parts so you'd need to wipe it and do a full
Ubuntu install in order to have this functionality.
You'd have to have a decent sized SD card onboard to allow
you to have a full linux istall along with add-on apps and
useful amount of storage space too.

 

 

Adrian Higginbotham,

Manager, Leading edge research

Tel: Direct dial 024 7679 7333 - Becta switchboard
02476-416994

Email: Adrian.Higginbotham@xxxxxxxxxxxx

Web: http://www.becta.org.uk/

BECTA, Millburn Hill Road, Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7JJ 

 

From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger
Woolgrove
Sent: 23 July 2008 15:23
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Small (low cost) laptops

 

Hi Isaac,

 

I've been looking into the Asus eeepc and I found out the
following:

 

The Asus is very light (very very light)

It has 3 USB ports

It runs SD memory cards too

It comes with a built in webcam and microphone

It is available for the 4gb version from PC world currently
at £220.

There is a 2gb version which is around £200 without the
webcam and mike

It comes with Linux installed but I don't know which version

It can apparently run Windows XP but I haven't looked into
it much yet.

Linux Ubuntu can easily be obtained with Orca speech
software which isn't up to Jaws and Hal standard but is
workable.

The asus eeepc also - like most notepads - has WIFI
connection

The keyboard is manageable for me and I have large hands but
not massive, any bigger and you'd be in trouble.

 

Roger

 

 

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

        From: Isaac Porat <mailto:isaac@xxxxxxxxxxx>  

        To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

        Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 6:52 PM

        Subject: [bcab] Small (low cost) laptops

         

        Hello All

         

        I have started a new thread  here hopefully to
concentrate on this topic that like Graham I am very
interested in.  This is because I am a great believer in
using a small laptop as the universal note taker / media
machine if Braille is not a must.

         

        I have included below Graham reply from the other
thread which is very relevant here.

         

        I am aware of the ASUS eeePC (£315) and a model of
HP (£375)that fall into this category and wonder like graham
if anyone has experience using these with a screen reader.

         

        Regards

        Isaac

         

        Below is Graham posting on the other thread.

         

        ...

        On the subject of knowing about things, I don't know
about sight village but I do know that a few very
interesting things are happening on the small PC front with
the launch of the MSI Wind, also being sold in PC World as
the Advent 4211. This features the new Intel Atom processor
running at a speed of 1.6 GHZ and 1 GB of RAM. It also has
an 80 GB hard disk and runs Windows XP Home.

        I have had a look at this and the keyboard is very
usable. It weighs in at 1.2 KG and costs £279.00

        The only problem is that it currently only has a 3
cell battery so battery is unlikely to last more than an
hour and a half but this product is small, light and cheap
but the keyboard should be usable even by someone with large
hands. I wonder if, by any chance, anyone has tried this
with a screenreader such as Window-eyes, Hal or JAWS? I
would think it would work ok.

        Regards

        Graham

        Graham Page

          

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