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this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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Being blind, I don't play video games and don't do any kind of 3D graphics and stuff like that. So many, many computers would fit my specifications.
Edit: My laptop right now is a Dell Latitude E5400 from like 2014 with eight gigabytes of RAM and a 7200 RPM drive with an Intel Core i5 and it works well enough. Honestly, the only problem with it is that it does not charge the battery. So as soon as it is unplugged from the wall, it just dies. And it's not the battery itself because I've tried getting new batteries for it. It's something in the charging circuitry. It works fine when it's on wall power, but it just does not charge the battery. I figure with it being 10 years old already, at some point I will have to replace it.
Oh snap I am really sorry to intrude but I have a question for someone like yourself who is an avid PC user and is also blind.
How do you feel about the prohibitive cost of braille terminals? I am not blind but I remember seeing the film Sneakers when I was young and the blind hacker Whistler using a braille terminal. As an adult I looked into them and was shocked that some cost more than a mid-range laptop. Are they even that useful or is this a relic that I recall but has been superseded by more useful assistive technologies?
Mind you, I don't use Braille super often. And the Braille note taker devices are quite expensive. For sure. But just direct Braille displays have come down quite a bit in price. I remember a couple of years ago, a Braille display was launched called the Orbit Reader 20, which is a 20 cell Braille display. And I think it was like $400 or something like that. Compared to the $5,000 that some Braille note-taker devices can cost, $400 is nothing.
Thanks for the feedback, that's super interesting to me. I'm glad to hear they've come down in price more recently, for sure!
Same here. It used to be that you had to get them subsidized by government programs such as vocational rehabilitation. But now they are affordable by just saving for a little bit.