- cross-posted to:
- linux@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- linux@lemmy.ml
OK, maybe you wouldn’t pay three grand for a Project DIGITS PC. But what about a $1,000 Blackwell PC from Acer, Asus, or Lenovo?
Besides, why not use native Linux as the primary operating system on this new chip family? Linux, after all, already runs on the Grace Blackwell Superchip. Windows doesn’t. It’s that simple.
Nowadays, Linux runs well with Nvidia chips. Recent benchmarks show that open-source Linux graphic drivers work with Nvidia GPUs as well as its proprietary drivers.
Even Linus Torvalds thinks Nvidia has gotten its open-source and Linux act together. In August 2023, Torvalds said, “Nvidia got much more involved in the kernel. Nvidia went from being on my list of companies who are not good to my list of companies who are doing really good work.”
Honestly, I’ve found that my compute needs have been surpassed quite a while ago, and so I could easily get away with buying a $300 computer.
Honestly, for real, a lot of low-power PCs are really useful once they have crap like Windows off of them and a lightweight Linux distro on them.
Exactly. Get yourself a somewhat low-end PC, wipe windows, and install Linux Mint, and you’re pretty much golden.
I’ve found my preferences have been creeping up in price again, but only because I’ve found I want an actually physically lightweight laptop, and those have been getting more available, linux-able and capable.
I only need a few hundred dollars worth of computer, and anything more can live on a rack somewhere. I’ll pay more than that for my computer to be light enough I don’t need to think about.
I bought a former office HP EliteDesk 800 G2 16GB for $120 on eBay or Amazon (can’t recall) 2 years ago with the intention of it just being my server. I ended up not unhooking the monitor and leaving it on my desk since it’s plenty fast for my needs. No massive PC gaming rig but it plays Steam indie titles and even 3D modeling and slicing apps at full speed. I just haven’t needed to get anything else.
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 hey, I have question for you then. Are you using any braille system with your computer? Or is it a kind of voice reader thing you have going on? What do you use for reading posts and comments on Lemmy?
I use my phone a lot more frequently than I use my computer and I use the TalkBack screen reader on my phone primarily. I can read and write Braille of course and have been able to do so since I was a little kid but I don’t do it very often primarily because I’ve always found reading to be slow for me and so I prefer audio. I’m able to better absorb information through audio than through reading it directly and always have been.
Edit: I’m not totally blind so my primary navigation is through memorization of where things are and then to read posts and stuff like that that’s long I use the screen reader. So, for example, on my home screen, I know where I’ve placed my app icons, so I can just easily navigate to them, and in settings, for example, I know roughly where the menus are that I’m looking for, and so can navigate to them quickly. I also use the magnification gestures a lot. So, primarily, I navigate with memorization, magnification gestures, and screen reader for longer stuff.
How fast do you listen?
I don’t have a specific words per minute count, but definitely quite fast.
Can you actually understand mumble rappers?
Seriously though I find these accessibility discussions very informative and they make me think about how I develop things and share information. Thank you for sharing.
You mean the fast rappers like DMX? Actually, no. I can’t. They even speak too fast for me.
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.
Yep. Give me a 4c/8t 16gb ram and a med-low GPU and I have nothing to complain about.
My current laptop is the Dell Latitude E5400 and it has like 4 threads with 8 gigs of RAM and a 7200 RPM drive and it works well enough even though it’s 10 years old. Honestly, the only problem with it is that it does not charge the battery. It’s something in the charging circuitry. Since it works fine when it’s on wall power, but it absolutely will not charge a battery anymore.
I’m still dailying my Acer c720 Chromebook with Linux mint lol. I’m thankful the flimsy changing port hasn’t given out yet. But it’s coming.