Dear Christina, Roger, Larry, Judy, Chris, Lori and Booksharian Friends,
Thank you all so much for your prompt, well thought out replies. Not only
do you seem to know a lot about computers, but all of you are productive,
reliable scanners and proofers.
Roger, If I can make it work, I think your thumb drive idea is my first
order of business to save as many of my word files and music as possible.
Christine, Is the way of saving to your hard drive compatible with JAWS?
I did buy a hard drive but three different computer guys I paid to come
to my house, not Geek Squad guys, said they couldn't get it to work with
my computer which is Windows XP. They said it had a drive letter that my
computer didn't have so the letters didn't match up. I have this
perfectly new hard drive that stands up and is sort of the shape of a
hardcover book, which has never done any good. It does connect with a USB
connection. That name, USB, makes me think of a kind of United States
submarine.
I know you are one of our precious, oh so needed, scanners. Does the fact
that you're still struggling with Word 2010 mean you aren't able to use
word to proof yet? I have the original disk with word 2003. I wonder if
Windows 7 or the new 8 will work with a 2003 program so I can keep doing
what I know how to do.
Larry, I thought terabytes were new. I'm surprised you've had yours for
so long. I know I'd like one of those. Tara is Irish for earth and
Terabyte also makes me think of hungry dinosaurs. I can warm up to a
merciless machine if I can humanize it a little and I can think of us
more as a team. The fact that your computer has been working well speaks
highly for it. It would be wonderful to get a relatively reliable,
trouble-free computer.
Judy, I've looked at monitors and the shadow witch is a horizontal and
wider at the ends than in the middle, tends to float right below where
I'm looking. We went to Best Buy today and the very patient salesman
tried looking from very close up and he couldn't see that shadow. I tried
without my glasses and the dim area was the same.
Best Buy had a long double row of monitors. All of them were LED. I
noticed that the smaller ones were brighter than the larger ones no
matter what the brand or cost. I chose a 27 inch Samsung with the
understanding I could return it if I have trouble seeing it. An Acer
monitor of the same size cost about half as much. It wasn't as bright,
but was brighter than other brands of that size. The brightest monitor of
all was an Acer 21 and a half inch. I guess I'll have to experiment to
see whether size or brightness helps me most.
I was explaining to a Booksharian friend why I cared so much about a
monitor since I rely mostly on JAWS. For example, I don't look at the
screen at all while typing e-mail. The only example I could think of was
that I like seeing book covers when I'm searching for books on Paperback
Swap or Amazon, etc. Thinking about it more, I get some value when
looking at some of the items on the QVC and HSN sites. I think I'd like
to see some things on U Tube which my computer hasn't been able to
connect with for over a year. I've heard there are very cute dog videos
there, great music and Lord of the Rings.
I've tried with Evan's 17 inch laptop and one I disastrously bought from
QVC, but the keyboard gets in my way when I try to see the screen. I
could work with a laptop if I could detach the screen and keyboard.
$40 a year for membership to Sam's club sounds very reasonable. I imagine
the prices might be lower than the home shopping channels, which I'll be
avoiding now that I'll have a computer to pay for. Everyone I've heard
speak about Sam's Club has been very pleased with it. I thought it was
mostly for bulk groceries. You got such a bargain on your computer, Sam's
must be a good resource for a broader selection of merchandise.
I hope you're backing off from visual tasks when your headaches kick in.
You're well known as a careful proofreader. What program do you use?
Chris, I thought new computers wouldn't have the jacks or whatever to
connect to CRT monitors. As I mentioned, mine is showing signs of
failure. It's diagonal is about 18 inches. I'd be glad to replace mine
with a new one or a used one that worked well. My vision can't discern
that LEDs and LCDs are as bright and clear as CRTs. I wish they weren't
so big and heavy, but they are so seeable for me. Equipment is so quickly
outdated and then hard to find.
My computer has only 1 gb of RAM but it could handle long books in a
single file for years. I did have the tower cleaned but the improvement
only lasted for a few months and then as well as the loud fan noises, my
computer became less and less able to cope with big web sites and
anything with video. If I can learn the updates, it will be dreamy not
to have to turn off the computer every time I go to Bookshare or do
anything but the simplest tasks.
Lori, our local blind center has barely enough money to keep its doors
open. It offers no computer training. I'll gladly buy the tutorials you
suggest. Do you think they'll be enough for me to get a handle on the new
programs without instruction from a person?
I haven't proofed within the K1000 program, but if it will accept RTF
files, maybe I can proof there while learning the new word.
So much to figure out all at once. I'm going to spend so much money and I
already feel myself drowning in brand new electronics. I don't know how
all of you adapt and cope!
Always with love,
Lissi
----- Original Message ----- From: "Christina"
<greensleeves1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 4:15 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Ot New computer advice and monitor for low
vision
Hi, Lissi.
I don't know much about computers and I'm still fighting with Word 2010.
I'd suggest getting an external hard drive. That way, you can back up
all
of your files yourself and do it as often as you want. If your computer
crashes, you'll still have the data. I have one and it sits on the desk
next to my computer. It's almost always connected via USB but it's also
portable.
Good luck with the computer.
Christina
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Estelnalissi
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 3:58 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Ot New computer advice and monitor for low
vision
Proofreading is what I do most of the time when I'm at my computer. Mine
is
about 7 years old. To proof books in word I have to divide them in parts
or
my computer fan shrieks and there are large time lags when I make
changes.
Last night I got a blue screen and two weeks ago I got a blue screen one
day, a black screen the next day and a blue screen the following day. My
fan
is so loud when I go to a site like Amazon or Paperback Swap that I
can't
hear anything else in the house. I think Scotty would say, "She can't
stand
the strain, Captain.!"
I'm terrified that the next crash will leave me with no ability to save
the
files of all the books I've proofed, my the poetry I've collected, the
quotes I glean from the books I proof, the Gaelic dictionary I've
compiled
while reading books about Scotland and Ireland, The personal e-mail that
means so much to me and my favorites that help me find the sites on the
internet I love.
I have to get a new computer! I use jaws to do 99 percent of my computer
work. I have no light perception in one eye and under 20/400 in the eye
that
works. It has no travel vision. I can't see things at the end of my arm,
on
the floor or across the table from me when I'm eating with others. The
miracle is that I can still see print if my nose is literally touching
the
screen or no more than 2 inches away, one inch if the print is on paper
and
is large enough.
My current monitor which turns dark aqua blue sometimes is the heavy old
type of TV. I can see enlarged pictures or print on it with no
distortion. I
only have to frequently clean off my nose prints. The new computers have
flat screens. When I get close enough to them to see them a kind of
shadow
appears, darkening what I'm trying to see so that I can't see it at all.
No
matter how large the screen is, my particular vision problem requires me
to
be right up there. Often it means standing up so I can lean over the
keyboard. For this reason, I can't see the screen on a laptop. I'll be
buying a desk top with a big monitor.
Can any of you advise me of a kind of monitor which doesn't get all
distorted when you get right up close to it? Can anyone advise me of a
computer you think will be strong enough for me to continue
proofreading? I
don't play computer games because they move too fast for me to track and
I
can only see a little part of the screen at one time. I want a computer
which will be able to handle long books in Word and will have a big
memory
for the books I like to keep after they are approved. I'd also like to
save
music, which I haven't been able to do for ages because my computer has
been
extremely noisy for at least two years. I just couldn't afford to
replace it
the minute it became troublesome. I think now I can't delay getting a
new
computer any longer.
I'm also wondering if anyone will be able to help me work with the new
Word
I'll get. I'm not intuitive when it comes to anything electronic. I'd
use
word 2003 forever if I could. Evan proofs in k1000, so word isn't his go
to
proofing platform.
Any advice will be deeply appreciated. I'm so sad that my Dell is
begging to
retire.
Maybe with a new computer it'll be easier to organize and keep up with
e-mail, particular e-mail from individuals. I don't do face book and
twitter, but e-mail from individuals is precious.
The Geek squad from Best buy will come to my house to install JAWS,
k1000
and transfer my current memories to my new computer. I am so scared
they'll
say they can't do it. Computers are wonderful, but hard copies of books
and
music don't vaporize in an instant. When my new computer crashed after
only
a year, they said they couldn't retrieve the email.
Wish me luck. Evan thinks I should be excited to be updating but I think
its
terrifying! And, I don't want to be stopped from proofreading for a
single
day.
Always with love,
Lissi
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