A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

LAPTOP FOR TRANSCRIPTION??? - Jenn

Posted: Mar 10, 2010

Hi,

I was wondering if there are any transcriptionists out there that use a laptop for typing? I am thinking of purchasing one of these but also have a desktop. I thought it would be great if I could work in different parts of my house when my kids are sleeping. My desktop is in my master bedroom so therefore its very difficult to work late. I appreciate any help/advice on this issue. Thanks, Jenn

LAPTOP - mtH2)

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes.. I just switched from desktop to laptop. As a matter of fact, a netbook.. Loving it... You can hook up a keyboard, printer, pedals, everything. A little slower than my desktop but love the convenience.

Laptop - geegee

[ In Reply To ..]
I have a laptop strictly for my work and a desktop for research and anything personal both in my home office. Then both computers are networked to the printer. Of course the laptop keyboard is not designed for production typing, so I also attached a separate keyboard to it. Main reason for the laptop is so I can pack it up and take it with me when visiting relatives out of state (which ALL of them are), then I just work from their homes. I miss my desktop during those times, but keep my misc computer activities to a minimum when not working. Being mobile truly is the best part of this job.

laptop - J

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for you reply. What type of laptop do you have? I heard that the Apple Mac was the best, but see that a lot of places require either Windows Vista or Windows XP and I believe Apple does not have this software on theirs. Also, did u have any problems finding foot pedals commpatible? Thx for your help

Apple machines are generally incompatible with the vast majority -- - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
of platforms in the MT world. Some of the newer machines have an Intel processor,k which would allow booting into XP, or Vista, or whatever, or one could also run Windows via virtualization, but that may not solve all of the compatibility problems, depending upon whatever software you may be using.

If purchasing for MT use predominantly, I'd stick with Windows-based PCs (and, at this point, XP for an operating system, as neither Vista nor Windows 7 is compatible with a lot of platforms, either).

I heard XP is being phased out. Anyone - else? NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Microsoft is gradually phasing out support for it, yes, and - - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
- it's getting harder to find pre-installed on a new PC, but it's still pretty much the standard OS in the MT world, with Vista and Windows 7 only slowly being adopted by the various platforms.

XP is still easy to find on sites like geeks.com, where you can find both new machines being closed out, as well as refurbished systems ... I mention that site only as one of many out there because I've dealt with them many times, but there are a lot of options if you just look around.

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