My friend who is visually-impaired has an 11 year old Kurzweill-Reading-Edge
computer that he says needs some work done on it.
In what specific ways does this computer offer functionality
beyond what any typical PC does? I mean relating to it's
hardware- ignore the software for the time being.
What is the approximate age of the system and/or any
particular components in it?
I told him that the parts
might be next to impossible to find considering the age of the pc and then
it might be costly to repair.
It depends on exactly what the system is, but I'd be
surprised if it wasn't a fairly typical x86 compatible
system, and that it's probably mostly replaceable. If there
are specialized hardware devices using ISA cards, that may
be an issue with using newer (motherboard), and if the
drivers for such hardware aren't compatible with a newer OS,
that may require continuing use of the same OS.
Not knowing anything about these kinds of
pc's, I need some help from the gurus. I have looked at several places on
the 'Net for anything concerning his pc but with no success so far. Any help
is greatly appreciated.
The first thing to do is determine what the problem is.
Then, whatever needs replaced, itemize the components
needing replaced and those needing be compatible with that
replacement part.
If you took good, high-resolution pictures of the inside of
the system, that might go a long way towards helping us
determine what you have. They should be posted to a server
and linked here, not posted to the newsgroup. Primarily a
shot of the whole thing, the motherboard, any
proprietary-function cards in it, or any input devices that
use a card rather than standard serial, PS2, USB or parallel
connection, and the power supply.
Lest I forget, system probably needs dusted out before
pictures taken.
Another way to look at the problem is to ignore (for the
moment) that it's anything but a standard PC and diagnose
the problem. Narrowing the focus in this way we might come
to conclusions about which part is failed and then whether
suitable replacement parts are available, ignoring the other
aspects of the system.
Does the system run windows or (what other) OS, and what
version?
