[blindza] Re: A CALL TO A SUPPORT CENTER...

quad-core processor - as in hardware, with something like 4 modules somehow 
implemented to run in parallel within CPU, whereas my desktop I5 is apparently 
something like quid-core...LOL!

Here's an actual explanation of multi-core processors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-core_processor

Also they both have 4Gb RAM, although the 32 bit OS won't see more than around 
2Gb, and other joke is my friend that got desktop for me put a terabyte hard 
drive in, so now with windows 7 installed, along with all my software, some 
music, etc. etc., there's still around 800Gb free...LOL!

Stay well

Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
'...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Boshoff, Deon (GP Health) 
  To: blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 9:21 AM
  Subject: [blindza] Re: A CALL TO A SUPPORT CENTER...


  I like DELL.  "quad-core thing" you said?   Sounds better than "Dual"  I 
think it actually needs Windows 7... 

  Deon [G. Boshoff, BA[Stell]UDC[Potch] 
  WESKOPPIES HOSPITAL SWITCHBOARD 
  Tel:              0123199735 
  Mobile:           0829699571 
  Fax:              0123277076 
  Bleeper: 0123199820, code 0002 
  E-mail: 
  Deon.boshoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Deon.boshoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 

    -----Original Message-----
    From: blindza-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:blindza-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On 
Behalf Of Jacob Kruger
    Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 9:09 AM
    To: blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Subject: [blindza] Re: A CALL TO A SUPPORT CENTER...


    Funny enough, when my work laptop moved over from XP to windows7, it 
actually worked somewhat faster/better - they reckoned it was something to do 
with targeting technology or something, but who knows, and it's a dell 
quad-core thing FWIW.

    Stay well

    Jacob Kruger
    Blind Biker
    Skype: BlindZA
    '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Boshoff, Deon (GP Health) 
      To: blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
      Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 8:59 AM
      Subject: [blindza] Re: A CALL TO A SUPPORT CENTER...


      Yep, I still use Win 98 on one computer at work, XP on3 other computers 
and Win 2003 Server on the fith, while my back up laptop, my two desktops and 
my main new HP laptop are now all running on XP, with SP2.  However, can you 
imagine how fast a computer which is capable of running W7, will run XP?  I 
tell you, I have to chain this thing down some times.  The previous laptop I 
bought, had Vista on, but, as it had only just enough memory, and so on, to be 
able to run Vista, it was a bit slowish, so I downgraded it to XP.... Then it 
was working fast!

      Deon [G. Boshoff, BA[Stell]UDC[Potch] 
      WESKOPPIES HOSPITAL SWITCHBOARD 
      Tel:              0123199735 
      Mobile:           0829699571 
      Fax:              0123277076 
      Bleeper: 0123199820, code 0002 
      E-mail: 
      Deon.boshoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Deon.boshoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 

        -----Original Message-----
        From: blindza-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:blindza-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Jacob Kruger
        Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 8:12 AM
        To: blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: [blindza] Re: A CALL TO A SUPPORT CENTER...


        I know what you mean, but I am quite happily working on 3 different 
OSes - windows XP on my backup laptop, windows 7 32 bit on my work laptop, and 
windows 7 64 bit on my primary private desktop machine.

        Either way, not too relevant, but when I speak to people like this on 
the phone, and want to give them an idea of what am talking about, and if 
they're using windows at all, I generally tell them to hit windows key + U, to 
start narrator so at least they can get a vague idea of what a screen reader 
doews.

        Stay well

        Jacob Kruger
        Blind Biker
        Skype: BlindZA
        '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'

          ----- Original Message ----- 
          From: Boshoff, Deon (GP Health) 
          To: blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
          Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 7:45 AM
          Subject: [blindza] A CALL TO A SUPPORT CENTER...


          Well, I guess that, if one is working at some kind of "Call Centre" 
or "Support Centre", or anything of that kind, all you hear the whole day, must 
be COMPLAINTS, COMPLAINTS and COMPLAINTS? 

          Well, I usually don't do as others do, so here's my story;

          About a month ago, I bought myself a new Laptop again, as I do 
yearly. This time, I decided to just as well add a few bucks, and buy the best 
I could find. So, I went for the HP Probook 4515s, from Hewlett Packard. What I 
liked about it was it's full sized keyboard, Dual Core processor, and 4GB of 
RAM. As all my experiences with Vista were not as happy as with XP up to now, I 
still tried out Windows 7 on this machine. I found Windows 7 much better than 
Vista. B

          During this period, I received a lot of support from my Planeteer 
friends, at www.inclusiveplanet.com; I can still remember Surendra's, Sonu's 
and Avinash's help with this, so I could at least get J11 talking a bit on my 
new machine, with it's Windows 7. 

          Of course, through all this, NVDA could come up for me every time, so 
at least I knew where I was? On Windows 7, which was completely new to me? But 
NVDA doesn't have a Video Intercept driver, and this was what the problem 
actually was.

          But as so many of my favourite programs didn't want to work, I 
decided to downgrade to Windows XP. This, I could't do myself, as the HD of the 
Laptop was partitioned in such a way that my normal XP CD didn't want to boot 
it up. So, I took it to a computer shop, which first made an image of my 
existing HD, and then downgraded it to XP. The first problem was the audio 
drivers, which we could find on the www.hp.com <http://www.hp.com> website, but 
still Jaws did not want to operate correctly. And soon, all kinds of problems 
developed; it would suddenly stop speaking, don't want to turn on or off, and 
generally kept on hanging, whenever it felt like it. So, I repeatedly re 
installed XP, and trying out all the drivers I could find on the Web. 

          This went on for four weeks, getting worse by the day. No one now has 
more experience in installing XP than I do!

          First, I need to explain that I am blind, and thus need to use a 
screen reader, which reads out to me what's on the screen; otherwise, a 
computer is just about useless to me. But, as I have been using these things 
for so long, I can nowadays do a lot of things with a computer, as long as I 
can get it talking.

          As far as I know, blind people actually need computers much more than 
sighted people, and I can frankly, not imagine a blind person without a 
computer, so I believe computers should be made accessible to the Blind. That, 
unfortunately, is not always the case, as manufacturers and sellers of 
computers do not really know and understand what the problem is, so most of the 
time, we blindies need to adapt these things to our own good use.

          So, here I was sitting with this grand portable computer, and I can't 
make it work for me, leading to a lot of frustration. Many a day, I thought of 
just throwing the thing against the nearest wall, and go out and buy myself a 
Zo-zo-tronic, or something. I tried to find support on the HP website, but the 
one link led me to the next, more useless link. I have some other HP equipment 
here at work, too, so, one day, when the HP printer brought up another 
unwelcome "Support" screen, which I have to click away every time, I thought of 
getting on the telephone.

          The tenth number I got from Enquiries; got me through to to someone I 
could actually talk to, and tell her about my frustrations. She knew nothing 
about screen readers, but at least listened to me, and understood my need for 
XP. I think her name was Kalpana.

          I told her about all the drivers I tried out, and all the funny kinds 
of problems I am experiencing. I'm sure you don't want to know about it!

          From what I told her, she suddenly came up with the idea of a 
"Recovery " CD, and I immediately felt better, as I understood what that is. 
With all my other previous computers that I bought, there came usually two CD's 
in the box, one for the recovery of the OS, and the other is usually called 
"Drivers and utilities". This time, with the HP, though, there were no CD's in 
the box; the recovery data was all on the HD, which was partitioned into 4 
parts, of which most of the total space on the HD was hidden, so useless to me. 

          Kalpana then promised me, after taking down all my details, as well 
as the model and serial number of the computer, that she would "Ship" the 
Recovery CD's off to me, within 3 working days. And, when I enquired of her the 
cost it would be to me, do you know what she said? No cost to me, can you 
believe it? 

          And, even though this was over Christmas time, it still arrived on 
the fourth day! And, as soon as I came home, I tried them out, and everything 
worked just fine, better than ever before. I must have installed too many wrong 
drivers every time, while this CD just knew which ones to install! 

          So, after, for four weeks of frustration, I was coming to believe 
that blind people should not buy HP products, as they seem to be less 
accessible to blind people than other, cheaper makes.

          However, I can, out of experience, tell you that their Customer Care, 
or Support is excellent, and highly professional it must be mentioned that each 
user is different, and that I had my own special needs and requirements. This 
model wasn't really designed with me in mind, but the After-Service, which I 
got from HP Support, made up for it, and more!

          So, all you Executive ladies Reception ladies, Secretaries, go out 
and buy yourself that lovely HP laptop, you're worth it, and I believe you will 
have less problems with it than I had, you will just love this computer. And, 
all you Visually Impaired, I can tell you, you can spend a bit of money on a 
decent computer, you need it, and you also deserve it. And, remember, in South 
Africa, at least, HP has a very good Support Centre. 

          Yes, I do believe that HP, like all other computer manufacturers and 
sellers, should take more interest in accessibility, as many of your customers 
have special needs, and no two persons are the same.

          I also talked a bit with two gentlemen at this Support Centre, but I 
cannot remember their names.

          So, let me thank you guys for your curtsy and your professional 
behaviour towards me during this difficult period. 

          And, just watch out what new HP model I will buy next year... 

          Prateek replied;
          Great, salute to your patients and all the work-arounds that you've 
done with your new laptop. In fact, if yu ask me what's the most attractive 
part about HP if you have to compare it with other companion companies, i'd say 
is their excellent technical support. Good that you've got your problem 
rectified, but i understand, it was not so easy for you to cope with the kind 
of troubles you had. I wish some day accessibility will be a part of training 
for technical support staff, not just in hp, but in all the companies in the 
world. At least, you can dream like this, there's no harm in dreaming.


          Deon [G. Boshoff, BA[Stell]UDC[Potch]
          WESKOPPIES HOSPITAL SWITCHBOARD
          Tel: 0123199735
          Mobile: 0829699571
          Fax: 0123277076
          Bleeper: 0123199820, code 0002
          E-mail:
          Deon.boshoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Deon.boshoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 



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