This was a great post. It really reopens the door to potentially getting a Mac Air -- thanks Kayaker. I'd even maybe go for the 13-incher, as it offers a longer battery life; though I may be unnecessarily attempting to over compensate in terms of statistics. I'd be happy to discuss this further with you offlist.
On 5/3/14, Kayaker <sea...@me.com> wrote: > Hi, > > There have been a lot of unsupported and non objective replies to your > query. > > All Macs you can buy today are solid performers. We have reached the point > in CPU performance that there's little difference between bottom of the line > and top of the line machines for us who can't see, what's the difference > between 500 frames per second in some game vs. 450 frames per second when > your eye can't tell the difference. I promise you the average blind user's > Mac barely breaks 30% cpu day to day. This part of the reason why the PC > market is declining--people don't need to upgrade as often as they had in > the past. > > There is absolutely no reason to buy the Macbook Pro if you are blind. The > cost is mainly in the retina screen. > > The single most important factor is internal memory. That will be the most > significant real world speed boost for you and will help you in both > bootcamp and or a virtual PC situation. > > Don't bother paying for the processor upgrade. Do max out your RAM though. > The internal hard drive SSD is the other place to put your money. The sweet > spot in price seems to be 256G. > > Some people will argue that using VM to run Windows needs every ounce of > processor speed. I'll again argue the real world throughput for a blind user > will be negligible. I suggest you test it out for yourself at an apple > store. > > > I've been using Macs since the beginning. They last. I still use a PowerMac > G 5 that's 10 years old. Part of it works better than my MacBook Air 2012 > running the latest version of Mavericks. > > For a blind person, the 11 inch MacBook Air is a steal. Max out the RAM on > the entry level version and pick a HD size that fits your needs. > > Doubt my suggestions? Go to an apple store and see if you notice any > difference between the two models. You won't. > > Take the lightness, portability and power of the current 11 inch Air, and > put the extra dollars towards apps. And if you don't want a laptop, save > even more and get the MacMini. > > > Best, > --k > > Faith doesn't give you the answers, it merely stops you from asking the > questions. > > > On May 2, 2014, at 7:13 PM, Tristan <theblinddj...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hello, >> >> I've been a part of this group for some time now, and have enjoyed the >> wealth of information that I've gleaned from observing. I've finally >> come to the decision on switching from Windows to Mac. I'll either be >> getting a MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro. >> >> One of the big things for me, however, is virtual machines (or >> bootcamp). I still want to be able to virtualize a copy of Windows in >> case I have programs that will only work on the Windows side. Right >> now, the main things I do on Windows are word processing, internet >> browsing, Skype which would be possible on the Mac side, music and the >> occasional game (mostly MUDs using a low memory client). I would like >> to get a steady balance between battery power and processing power >> without having to deal with busyness and lag. >> I have my eye on the MacBook Air 13 inch (with both processor options) >> or the MacBook Pro. >> MacBook Air configuration - 13 inch (256GB SSD HD): >> 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz >> 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory >> >> Or the MacBook pro (without Retina, 13 inch): >> 2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz >> 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -- 2x4GB >> >> I'm really stuck at this point -- what will work the bes? It's also >> sort of nerve-racking putting a large amount of money into something >> that's already two years old. In all, I'm looking for something that >> will last, has updated hardware, and can handle an OS running >> alongside the Mac environment without any hiccups. I'm on a budget of >> about 1,550 dollars. >> I warmly welcome any advice. And yes, I know this list is mainly for >> voiceover users -- but I thought, as a visually impaired user myself, >> that it would be appropriate to ask here. >> >> Thanks in advance. >> -Tristan >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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