If it hasn't been explained here, I think it's useful to point out that the Samsung NC10 has a slightly non standard keyboard that you have to get your head around. That said, it doesn't take a lot of learning.
I'm gonna lay out the situation in detail below to help you choose which Netbook you might want to buy. One big issue for blind people is that, if we purchase on the internet, we can't do simple obvious stuff like look at keyboards to get a basic idea if we might like it or not. And to me, keyboards are strangely fundamental and your high spec 160 gig hard drive might pale into insignificance if you can't type on it very easily.
The two big issues with it are:1: There are no home and end keys. What you have to do is hit a function key and then hold down either pageup for home or pagedown for end. The function key is situated on the left hand side of the keyboard near the control key which is in the place you'd expect it to be. The pageup and pagedown keys are situated in an unusual place, above the left and right arrows respectively, on the right hand side in the place you'd expect to find arrow keys (pageup is directly above the left arrow, pagedown is above the right arrow, with no space in between, it's all keys laid out flat)
I have an NC10 and, since using it, have realised just how much I rely on the home and end keys in day to day use, especially in word processing and using web forms. so it has been a learning curve. And when I use my regular keyboard at work, I now find myself hunting for the function key ... so it screws with your head. Be warned if your memory is not so good or if you hate slightly fiddly stuff.
2: The right hand shift button is not in a regular place. So, when you jab quickly at where you think it should be using the little finger on your right hand, you'll find that you hit the backslash key. The right hand shift key is a little further over to the right meaning you have to start thinking about extending that little finger in an abnormal position away from those learned home keys in order to do such things as type a capital A or T or E or S, for instance (i.e. letters you would traditionally type using your left hand from the classic home key position) And i'ts a little more fiddly than you'd think as I find myself extending the finger and also slightly twisting it to get to that right hand shift. For a fast typer I find this annoying and it slows me down and makes me think harder.
Other than this, the NC10 is absolutely superb. So go and buy one now. It has a pretty normal sized keyboard so you can get up to good speeds without half breaking your fingers or hitting two keys at once.
I'm not sure what keyboard configurations are like on other Netbooks. Can anyone report back? Are others more standard or less standard than the Samsung NC10
...Damon----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Sweeney" <tonysweeney@xxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 11:28 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: What netbook to Buy
Hi Eleanor, Netbooks don't come with CD drives!There are compact as getting a lot in to a small space if u get might drift is the idea!Perhaps in time! Am checking out the NC10. Have you bought one and what do you think? regards Tony----- Original Message ----- From: "Eleanor Burke" <eleanorburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:11 AM Subject: [access-uk] Re: What netbook to BuyOh sorry I thought I was answering Tony on another list but thanks a million for that very useful link and apologies to all of you for reading my mail. You must have all thought I had lost the plot and in a way I had!-original message- Subject: [access-uk] Re: What netbook to Buy From: "Ibrahim Gucukoglu" <ibrahim_gucukoglu@xxxxxxxx> Date: 17:03:2009 11:23 pm Hi.Just to back up what Eleanor is saying here, a number of review websites have prominently proclaimed that the NC10 is the best netbook on the market to date. For anyone looking for a review, you can watch a video review at www.trustedreviews.com.All the best, Ibrahim.----- Original Message ----- From: Eleanor BurkeTo: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:18 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: What netbook to Buy Hi Tony and OthersI am on the Access UK list and we had a lot going before Christmas all about the NC10 and many of us purchased it and we all remain delighted with it. I note the info below does not say that there is no CD/DVD drive. these Netbooks are sold in PC World so do go and have a look. they can be pricey but their advantage is their portability. Supernova works very well on them as well as Jaws. You will not be disappointed with whichever one you choose I am sure of that.Eleanor----- Original Message ----- From: Tony SweeneyTo: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:58 PM Subject: [access-uk] What netbook to Buy Hi All,Ccame across this on another list and thought that it would be of interest at least to some.See below. Tony,Netbooks are a great invention primarily due to their portability. I own anAsus EEEPC myself and find it excellent. The model is the 901, it runsWindows XP, has a 12 GB hard drive (solid state), 1 GB ram and an 8.9inch screen. It came loaded with Adobe Acrobat, Skype, Microsoft Works, and Star Office. I have installed Jaws, Microsoft Office and AVG myself and all seems to run happily together. The battery is a 6-cell, and lasts about 5 hours(with bluetooth and wireless networking enabled). I mainly use it for browsing the web, catching up on emails, and reading / writing word documents. It's really handy when travelling.The main things to watch out for when buying one of these PCs in my opinionare: 1) The size and usability of the keyboard; 2) The over all size and weight of the machine;3) The amount of RAM included (1 GB is normal, however some models come with512 MB which may not be enough);4) The type of hard-drive - either solid state or magnetic (solid state is similar to a flash card and so are more robust than the traditional magneticones);5) The capacity of the battery (as a rule of thumb 1 cell will get you about50 minutes to one hours worth of power);6) The operating system (most netbooks are sold with either Linux or WindowsXP, although Vista is starting to appear in the newer models); 7) The presence of integrated support for Bluetooth and / or mobile broadband; 8) The quality of the built-in webcam; 9) The number of USB ports;There are quite a number of netbooks on the market these days, some having screens as small as 7inches which makes the over all size of the machines tiny in comparison to a traditional 14inch laptop. The Advent 4211 is good, the Acer Aspire One also, and getting a little more expensive the Samsung NC10. The Dells tend to be a little on the pricey side too, plus I have heard reports that the keyboard layout is quite strange on them. Quirky keyboard layout is a common feature of netbooks, so I would strongly adviseyou to physically examine a number of your preferred machines before purchasing.For the most competitive pricing, I would recommend that you take a look athttp://www.elara.ie Cheers, Ciaran =========================================================== The vicsireland mailing list To unsubscribe at any time send a mail to: vicsireland-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxwith the word "unsubscribe", without the quotes in the subject of the message.To contact the moderator send mail to: tim.j.culhane@xxxxxxxxx For mor information on the Visually Impaired Computer Society visit: http://www.vicsireland.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1362 of my spam emails to date. 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