I was able to purchase our netbooks from newegg.com for $299.99 with free shipping. I chose the Acer Aspire One AOA150-1570 Sapphire Blue Intel Atom N270(1.60GHz) 8.9" WSVGA 1GB Memory 120GB HDD Netbook, partially because it is a different color (BLUE) and can easily be identified as a little different. They come with a small carrying bag, but I’m not sure of its quality. I also purchased the $40 USB portable and flexible speakers from amazon.com. We will install Click n Type, Skeleton Keys, Etriloquist and Skype, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox on them, and supply a Swifty ($80 from orin.com) for switch access scanning. Since these will be available as loan devices, I intend to set it up to require an administrator’s password to be able to install new programs so that we are able to control the programs that are on them. We ordered 6 for a total cost of around $2600.! I’m looking forward to trying them out! J

Joy Meachum

Patient Services Coordinator

The ALS Association,

St. Louis Regional Chapter

Central Illinois Service Area

(888) 873-8539

xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx

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From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Amy Roman
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 3:58 PM
To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Assistive Technology] Netbooks

Hi Antoinette,

Thanks for the netbook discussion that motivated me to order one today for our Bay Area ALSA demo/loan center. For Trish and others who may be wondering about prices, I have them listed below from my order. It all came to 429.00 including tax. Good price considering that portable speech generating devices are over 4K. Two of my clients with ALS are ordering Netbooks after trials with portable devices. Both of these clients usually carry a laptop around anyway and they did not want to carry two devices. I guess we all just wait and see what the outcomes are. I hope people will share the pluses and minuses their clients experience using netbooks.

I thought your suggestions for software were great. You asked about any additional software recommendations. I might add ShortKeys Lite http://shortkeys.com/lite.htm which is a free abbreviation expansion software that you can use with Etrilloquist. Also I might suggest going to NextUp.com for a good quality voice for about $35.00. Thanks again and I have the prices listed below.

Acer Aspire One AOA150-1505 8.9-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) $329.99

Burnoaa Mini-Notebook Premium Memory Foam Pouch Case with Front Pocket
$22.92

Laptop Speakers - USB, Portable, Compact, Travel Speaker for PC and Mac - B-Flex 2 Hi-Fi Stereo USB Speaker (White)"
$39.95

OR

"Genius SP--i200U USB Portable Digital Speakers for notebooks- Black"
$23.

Sincerely,

Amy Roman, MS, CCC-SLP
Augmentative Communication Specialist

Forbes Norris ALS Research Center
2324 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
P (415)600-1263
F (415)673-5184

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Thank you.

--- On Tue, 2/10/09, Antoinette Verdone <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Antoinette Verdone <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Assistive Technology] Netbooks
To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 7:35 AM

Hello all,

I wanted to share with you my experience with the netbooks.

We just purchased two systems. I purchased a usb speaker that works well and I also got a carrying case that I think is good.

See attached pictures.

I got everything from Amazon.com

The speakers are:

Genius SP-i200U USB Portable Digital Speakers for notebooks- Black

The case is:

Acer Aspire One 8.9" Mini-Notebook Premium Memory Foam Pouch Case - (Black)

I just saw they have one with a front pocket, which would be even better:

Burnoaa Mini-Notebook Premium Memory Foam Pouch Case with Front Pocket - (Black)

I installed Etriloquist, Click-n-Type, Skype, Dasher, and Mozilla Firefox.

Are you guys recommending any other software?

No users yet, but I will report back if I get any feedback.

Antoinette Verdone, MSBME, ATP

Assistive Technology Specialist

The ALS Association, Greater New York Chapter

NEW ADDRESS:

42 Broadway, Suite 1724

New York, NY 10004

Phone: 212-720-3054

Fax: 212-619-7409

Email: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx

www.als-ny.org

"One cannot consent to creep when one has the impulse to soar" -- Helen Keller