Hi Tammy, I have primarily used Toshiba and Dell. Others in my house have used HP, although not with JAWS. In my opinion, all 3 brands have been very reliable. With that said, my husband had a Toshiba and it was nothing but trouble.
I have used laptops for nearly 30 years. None of them have had a separate number pad from the keyboard. With my very first laptop, I attempted to use an external number pad, and could never find one that allowed me to execute JAWS commands. As a result I have learned to use the embedded number pad, and have the JAWS Keyboard layout set to Desktop. Sometimes this does require interesting finger gymnastics, but it works for me. When I'm looking for a new laptop, I look for the one that provides me with the most up-to-date features for the lowest cost. Yes, this probably means that I will spend more money than I want, but I've always gotten 5 plus years out of my laptops. I also look for the lightest weight one with a keyboard that feels right under my fingers, i.e. shape and size of the keys, spacing between keys, and firmness when activating. Finally, battery life is a factor as well. With my current Toshiba dinosaur, I've gotten spoiled by a button between the keyboard and the mouse that allows me to turn the mouse on and off as needed. My work Dell laptop requires me to use a keyboard command to turn the mouse pad on and off, and that is not so bad. As much as I would love to say that I can tackle everything and anything on my computer without some sighted help here and there, that is just not the case. So being able to turn the mouse on and off as needed is very convenient. Many many years ago I bought one of my computers from MicroCenter and their service was great. They removed all of the junk and even installed JAWS for me. Another family member went there a number of years later and was not happy with the service. The last time I checked, their prices were higher than Best Buy where I've bought the past 2 computers over the past 11 years. Also with the last 2 purchases, I used the Dell and the Toshiba technical support. Both were very good at that time. The Toshiba tech support figured out how to turn off the "touch sensitive control panel so that I could not accidently turn things on and off. Now with the Microsoft Disability Support line, you have another source for help. Although sometimes having all of these support options can get you in a position where they each point the finger at the other one to address the problem. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing. My current Toshiba is now six and a half years old, so I'm sure a replacement is not too far around the corner. Annette -----Original Message----- From: JAWS-Users-List [mailto:jaws-users-list-boun...@jaws-users.com] On Behalf Of Tammy Freitag Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 3:42 PM To: jaws-users-list Subject: [JAWS-Users] laptop questions Hello, I am looking for opinions about laptop brands. I know there isn't one perfect answer to this but I do value the opinions and experiences of others. I want to purchase a Windows 10 laptop. Here are my questions; 1. Which brand would you recommend? Why? 2. What brand would you totally avoid? Why?? 3. Since I use Jaws, would it be better to purchase a system off the shelf or have one custom built? I have had them custom built before because I didn't want all of the games and extra unaccessible programs taking up space. These will do for a start. Thanks for your input! -- Independence is yours . Are you willing to reach for it? Tammy For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
