Can anyone recommend a laptop / scribe software for uni?

[Worriedmummy2400]

I know it’s not an aibu but traffic wise it makes sense.
For A levels my child used read write on the sixth form laptops and hated it. It stopped working during the exams 3 times in one exam and they hated using it. We need a laptop / software recommendations for essays. We are totally overwhelmed with choices for uni. Does anyone have any recommendations from experience? Thank you everyone.

Sorry that was obviously for recording lectures. Have you not had the meeting with the assessor of apples for DSA? He also recommended Dragon. It would all be paid for by SFE.

There could well be variations based on other factors. The op needs to ask.

We have an appointment with uni disability advisor this week. So I’ll ask.

Could you recommend a reliable AI?

Just to say we have a lot of dragon users at work and it's good but it EATS RAM - we find they need 32gb to run their laptop properly. You might well give you can get a laptop/other kit through DSA. I was supplied with e.g. a Dictaphone etc when I was at uni.

I wonder if this depends on whether your disability means you can't use a normal Chromebook/cheapish laptop? Because e.g. if you're needing to buy a laptop with massive amounts of ram and a fast processor, this is surely a lot more expensive than a day to day laptop for word processing?

Sorry I should have mentioned this as well. PP is quite right. If you are using Dragon, RAM is your priority when it comes to choosing a laptop.

Agree that you should speak with the university support officer.

Btw I use dragon and the new version (required for Windows 11) is awful. It keeps crashing my laptop - the older version didn't. I'm investigating why but also checking out alternatives.

does it matter where the information was sourced ? if these machines help the op then this is technical knowledge and rather than guessing, it was bing with the assistance of Microsoft's co pilot, why is it that when its actual tech knowledge its omg about how you got the information ?

What's better a person guessing what they think is a good machine vs actual researched knowledge from a large data base ?

Besides its a starting point for the op to use.

Your DSA Needs Assessor will advise you according to the particular barriers experienced by the student and in the light of the demands of the particular course they are on.

Make sure you take evidence of conditions as they will need to send this on with the DSA application.

Dictate in Microsoft 365 is pretty decent all round now, I would only personally tend to recommend Dragon more for students with visual impairments or speech impediments. It's also very straightforward to use, operating directly from the main toolbar of 365 on Word on 365, without any of the installation or learning requirements for Dragon.

There are lots of mind mapping software options which convert ideas to essay structures and support with referencing if these are challenges.

Some of the DSA funded AT is now integrating AI in their products, eg Glean, which creates summaries of lectures from recordings and can generate quizzes too. Not all lecturers are thrilled by this however!

We had the DSA appointment today and it’s all good. They are sorting it all out for us. We are getting dragon, read write , glean and a organisational software, a mentor, and a laptop to run it all on. Then something about ergonomics providing a chair and desk suitable too. So thanks everyone it’s all good!