A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
What kind of computer do you like best? - Kt
Posted: Aug 20, 2011
I am looking at computers (tiger direct) and dont know which kind to get for transcription. Can you tell me any brands that you really like or to stay away from?
The best computer - Old Pro
[ In Reply To ..]The best computer is one custom-built to suit your needs. I hired a computer engineer to custom-build me one. It was not that much more expensive than the ones in the stores and it is so much better and faster. You might get some bids and see if this would work for you.
How do you get bids? - Kt
[ In Reply To ..]How did you get bids on how much it would cost? I'm not real sure about what I need either for transcription except XP and maybe 1 gb memory.
Check your local computer repair shops - Happy MT Robin
[ In Reply To ..]Usually they also will have a sales division where they will build you a computer. There's one by me has built some for some people I know and really given them a screaming deal. Be up front with what you are going to use it for and don't be afraid to ask questions about anything and everything. I've found most computer geeks love to talk computers and explain things to people.
Tiger Direct is pretty good, but sometimes I worry about the "off lease" computers, primarily because of their ages. You might also check places like Best Buy. I know I've seen some factory reconditioned models on their website that were really reasonable. The only problem with those is they come with Windows 7 and so you would have to get XP loaded on to it, but that's not hard to do.
How I got bids - Old Pro
[ In Reply To ..]I knew what I wanted/needed, and I called the best computer engineer in our city, and asked him to give me a bid to design and build it. And you need way more than 1 gb. My word, it is 2011 and my next computer he builds will have a terabyte! Seriously.
she was talking 1 gig for memory, not storage - Happy MT Robin
[ In Reply To ..]It's still not enough, because most computers these days are coming with 4 gb of DDRAM or SDRAM, and most new programs require at least 2, but that's memory. The terabyte you're referring to is storage.
Happy MT Robin - Old Pro
[ In Reply To ..]Yes, you're right. And it's good to see you back on the board. I was worried that you had forsaken MT for something else. Glad you haven't.:)
Thanks, Old Pro - Happy MT Robin
[ In Reply To ..]I appreciate the kind words from you and others as well. I haven't given up on MT yet and don't plan to. I am going to try my best to ride out the changes coming in the industry and see if I can go along with them. Only time will tell if that is possible or not. I had a rocky year starting in May of last year with a disastrous decision to go to work for one of the big Nationals and came close to losing my house, but have found a smaller company that values its workers and pays decently for VR, so life is looking up.
I've always enjoyed your posts. You speak from experience but never talk down to anyone. I hope you continue to post once you are officially retired.
1 gig memory - Kt
[ In Reply To ..]Could you ladies tell me what would be a good computer, memory, ram, processor in your opinion? I need to buy one like tomorrow and there are some computer stores here where I live, I might be able to go in and ask how much they would charge me, I'm just not exactly sure what I need of anything. I thought 1 gig of Ram would be enough because I'm not techy at all. Thanks I appreciate your help. :)
some suggestions - Happy MT Robin
[ In Reply To ..]I know just enough to be dangerous, so you'll have to read around some more as well.
1 gig of RAM/memory is okay, but it's on the low end of the scale these days. Decent computers are coming with at least 2 and personally I'd go for 4 at a minimum. In a very simplistic sense, the RAM is what runs your programs that you see on the monitor. The more memory you have available, the more room you have for more and/or bigger programs.
As far as storage, 500 gig of memory is a minimum of what I'd accept and I'm eyeing a computer that has a terabyte (500 x 2) of memory - but I have a lot of video downloads, etc., that take up an enormous amount of storage space. You can find good deals for 500 and 750 g of storage if you don't need to store a lot of volume type stuff.
As far as a processor, a lot of the computers are coming with AMD processors which is a competitor to Intel, but I've heard they're not as good as they used to be, so I'd stick with Intel - a lot of that has to do with personal preference, though. As far as processor speed, you want a minimum of 2 GHz, but I think most of them now are coming in the 3 range or slightly higher.
I've had several Dell computers in the past that I've never had problems with. My brother is a HUGE Apple fan, and so he would highly recommend a MAC, but those are more expensive and would have a slight learning curve if you've never used one, plus you'd have to make sure your platform is compatible.
Hewlett Packard is also pretty good, but I just read that they are getting rid of their computer branch - not sure on the timing on that - so there's a chance that at some point if the computer lasts long enough you would have a tough time servicing it, but that's pretty far in the future I would think.
Gateway is a brand that's come along. I've never had one personally, but I've heard good things about them from people that I have worked with who have them.
Just as a cost comparison, I'm looking at BestBuy.com and in their "tower only" section (assuming you don't need or want to replace your monitor and keyboard, etc.) they have a Gateway with 4 GB of memory, 1 TB of storage, and an Intel 3.1 GHz processor for $399.00, which as far as I can tell is a pretty screaming deal.
Look at Bestbuy's site, look at Dell.com, CompUSA.com (which is only mail order now, I think) and you'll get some good ideas of what is out there on the market so when you go to someone locally you'll have some comparisons.
Good luck and have fun!!
Agree - xxx
[ In Reply To ..]I agree with this 100%. I have done this twice and have been very happy with my computers. Do you have a good tech person? They might be able to do it for you.
what you want versus what you need - hmmm
[ In Reply To ..]The best advice I can give is to look at all help wanted ads and compare what operating systems are most commonly compatible. I am one of those who have purchased name brand (Dell) and have built my own locally. It used to be that you should buy this type of processor versus the other. I am personally loyal to Pentium and cannot be disswayed from having it in dual-core. But that is just me. I currently run a Vista environment with an XP backup, but I have off-big-boy-platform needs. My needs are not platform driven; they are broser driven. I can't help but advise someone to keep an XP system available for a worst case scenaro reality.
I would encourage you to look at the big picture to decide on your personal needs other than adding that the importance of a really good sound card is of more value than you can imagine (for obvious reasons). How much data can be stored is an individual choice. How much data can be handled simultaneously is always important, but not worth squat if your OS is not compatible with your platform.
Windows 7 Pro with XP mode - kklear66
[ In Reply To ..]I use an HP computer with Windows 7 Professional with XP mode. You can run either Windows 7 or XP. It is awesome!
I was just looking at that - Happy MT Robin
[ In Reply To ..]I am probably going to have to replace my old work horse by the end of the year, but I still use Word and Smartype to cut and paste into Bayscribe for my PT job and I really, really, really don't want to change that. Old dog not liking new tricks.
Do you notice any difference in how programs run or is there a difference in the screen at all? The description I was looking at on Microsoft's website seemed to say that it ran in a separate window that looked like it could be distracting. Can you have several windows or tabs open while you run the virtual XP?
Thanks for any info you can give me. I'm going to either do something like that or just buy a new one and reload XP on it.
sound card - kt
[ In Reply To ..]You know, I never thought about the sound card, that sounds like great advice, get a good sound card! That makes sense! Thanks
computer - me
[ In Reply To ..]I haven't found it to matter, and if you are still using XP you can get a computer as cheap as 80.00. If you want to know where, send me an email.
Thanks everyone, I just ordered one on ebay close to home - KT
[ In Reply To ..]Thanks for all of you who helped me on this issue. I just found someone on ebay who sells and there was a phone number, so I called and the gentleman is going to have one ready tomorrow and ship it to me. We discussed what I need and I think I've got it now.
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