Jenny, John Justice here. I am surprised at Andy for his pointed remarks about HP and Compaq. This conversation really doesn't belong on the jaws list excepting where the computer purchased might or might not be effective when using Jaws.
With that in mind, I'm going to take this little beauty apart and talk about what you're seeing here. The model number is important only in specifying which of Compaq's many systems you are considering. The description shows that your RAM or random access memory is 2 gigabytes. That is okay jenny but it could be better. Most systems today have at least 3 gigabytes of RAM, some even more. The RAM is used to actually operate computer software which is stored on your hard drive. If you are running Jaws 11 and one of those CD conversion programs, you could conceivably create a situation in which several programs are fighting for executable memory. When that happens, Jaws, which has a relatively low priority, runs out of working room and stops talking. Jaws is a pretty big system and when it's running with other programs simultaneously, you need as much memory as you can get. HARD DRIVE STORAGE: Your system shows a 320 gigabyte hard drive or storage area. That's pretty good Jenny, but again, it could be better. Very few things take up more storage space than Word documents and .MP3 files. You might be storing your disks using the Windows Media Player format which is .WMA. Those two storage formats are about the same when it comes to the room they need. Jenny, if you're going to upgrade to a new system, why not consider one with a much bigger hard drive. These days, 750 gigabytes is quite common. OPTICAL DRIVE: I don't recognize the drive in the system you're considering. Be very careful here, Jenny. You need a drive that will read and burn both CD and DVD disks. There are some computers on the market which still offer drives which cannot play DVD disks. This is admittedly rare. But Jaws in its later versions is loaded onto a DVD. Those disks have a much greater capacity than ordinary CD disks do. If you purchased any system with a CD only drive, you wouldn't be able to load jaws from the disk. You'd have to do it from the web site, instead. E-MAIL: Your system will come loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium in most cases. Now, you have an issue that has to be addressed. Windows Live Mail, the recommended e-mail client which replaces Outlook Express, does not play contentedly with jaws. Some people have less trouble than others but even at the best of times, there are issues because Windows Live is so different in design from Outlook Express. You seem to rely heavily on e-mail. You are already using Word 2003. It might be time to consider upgrading to Outlook 2003 which works quite well with Jaws. In addition, Outlook 2003 provides an excellent calendar function and several other tools which work very well with jaws. I can almost guess what your next question will be. Yes, there are ways to save your contacts in such a way that you can export them from Outlook Express and import them into Outlook 2003. ANDY'S SO-CALLED "BLOAT WEAR". He has a point. Many of these designers add a lot of worthless software we can't use. If you buy your system from a reliable computer dealer, much of that stuff can be removed. They should be willing to do that for you. But you won't get that kind of service from a big box store. The only option might be Best Buy and their Geek Squad. If, on the other hand, you buy from a place like Micro Center, you will get fully qualified support. A LOT OF WORK AHEAD: Finally, you are going to have to find and have ready an external USB drive of some kind. That will be the easiest way to copy your music and document files and then transport them to your new machine. I recommend a drive with at least 150 to 200 gigabytes capacity. They aren't too expensive and are relatively easy to use. WARNING: If you buy a Western Digital USB drive, the software included is not very Jaws friendly but you don't need it to store those files. You will have to create a password though, one you can easily remember. Good luck Jenny. John Justice -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Baracco, Andrew W Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:27 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Computer advice. Well Jenny, 8 years is a pretty long life for a PC. My home PC is 6 years old, and it is underpowered for some of today's tasks. With computers as inexpensive as they have become, aside from the inconvenience of learning a new OS, etc. upgrading your PC experience by purchasing a new one can be a definite positive experience. Just from glancing at the specs you have given, the new PC that you are looking at should more than meet your needs. My only comment is that I would stay away from HP or Compaq, which is made by HP, because of their high failure rate, and because they tend to put a lot of bloatware on their machines. Andy -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jenny Bomareto Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 4:18 PM To: Jaws-users-list Subject: [JAWS-Users] Computer advice. Hello all, I know this might be a little off topic but I need your help. The current computer that I have was purchased in 2002 and everything still is currently loaded on it, and I can't remember the name but I know it's a 32 bit. All I'm purchasing is the PC, no screen, and no speakers so another words the tower part that stores all of the information. I'll paste the name of the new computer at the end of this message. I need to know if this new computer will have enough memory for Jaws version 11, Kurzweil 1000 version 11, MS word 2003, all of my microsoft word documents (I have about 40 of them maybe more, my talking checkbook program, PC suite latest version, internet explorer 8, outlook express version 6.00, 250 folders in outlook express because when I get e-mail from people I save it in the person's folder, talking CD\DVD creator program, about 28 folders on my C drive. In my music folder I have four folders. Mark Chesnutt's folder currently has 18 CDS' in it and soon I will be adding his Outlaw CD (which was released June 22 for those of you that are interested in purchasing it). Then I have a misolaneous folder with about three CDS' in it, a George Jones folder which has two CDS' and another folder if I remember it's George Strait and it has a couple CDS' in it. So another words I don't want to have to keep having to buy a new computer every 8 years when I add music, more MS word documents, kurzweil 1000 documentation, e-mail folders, or my third concert and more concerts after that in my concerts folder. Now here is the information about the computer. Thank you very much in advance for all of your help. Have a great rest of the day. COMPAQ Presario CQ5300F(AY026AA#ABA) Sempron LE-1300(2.3GHz) 2GB DDR2 320GB NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Best Wishes, Jenny Bomareto [email protected] 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/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
