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I've searched and not all Dell laptops have the parallel port.

Posted By: jus me on 2006-02-17
In Reply to: I have 2, a Dell and an HP. The - me

So I just wanted to check to see more specifics from those who have. Thanks.


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I've had two dell laptops and 5 Dell PCs. Here's the thing...

Make sure you get the extended warranty, again, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. And, here is why.


My first laptop went out on my, though it was a couple of years old.  Because I had the extended warranty, a service tech came to my house, replaced motherboard, hard drive, heat sink, and keyboard.  He was able to back up everything first and restored it once all the new stuff was in place. 


One of my PCs kept giving some weird blue screen error and I couldn't get to go even in safe mode. I called up Dell, told them the problem, they looked up my extended warranty and they sent someone out to repair it.


Overall, I have been happy with Dell products.  The only drag is that everything Dell sells regarding accessories is proprietary and you have to order it through Dell.  No generic accessories will work.  My suggestion is if you decide to buy a Dell laptop, make sure you get the car power supply and you might even get a 2nd regular power supply because I have been known to leave town and forget the power supply at the house.  Now, I have everything in my laptop bag for when I go out of town and can just throw my laptop in the bag and know everything is there.


Lastly, some Dell laptops require a special aircard to connect to the internet.  I ended up getting a 2 cabled USB air card and I'm glad I did because 2 USB plug ins give better reception than one.


If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I'm happy to help.


Looking at Dell laptops, need help plz..sm

I am going to purchase my first laptop with Dell but have no clue which one to get.  I will be working from home with it so I am not too concerned with wireless internet connection and all that.  Does anyone have any advice?


Thanks


RUN FROM DELL LAPTOPS
Ish will never by a Dell again!!!
I just got my 5th Dell---have 2 laptops and 3 desktops - sm
My laptop which I bought used about 5 years ago has been acting up for about a year, so expect it to die soon, so bought a new/used Dell laptop to replace that (use for travel only basically). My desktop crashed last year, got it fixed, bought a backup though about 8 months ago to replace that one. My everyday one finally died right after Christmas. On my backup desktop used Dell now, but this is supposed to be my younger daughters computer (and just my backup for emergencies); so I went and ordered a new Dell last week (with XP though), just got it and plan on setting it up over the weekend. I am very happy with the Dell product. My first one lasted 6 years, my used laptop is about 8 years old and still going though it is dying, my new/used laptop is about 2 years old and in great shape; my backup is also about 2-3 years old but I expect it will last longer than 6 years as it will not be abused like my regular desktop. I am sure I will be happy with the new one. I had a Gateway before and it died after 4 years, so I find Dell more reliable.
Go do Dell.com and click on laptops. To the far right is an icon that says "looking for Windows
If you click on that, they offer computers that have XP on them already. I have not checked into this, but the prices listed are the same as for Vista computers. You might check it out, and let us know if it is legitimate. Good luck.
STAPLES is now carrying Dell PCs, laptops, exclusive retail agreement. nm
Paradox
I've tried Dell, which is what I prefer. sm
The reps have told me that all home desktop models now come with Vista. Period. I even asked if I could purchase one with XP if I paid extra and received a negative response. :(
I've heard with Dell if you tell them you're a business,
you'll get someone from the US.  I already have two HPs but tried it anyway.  I used to say home or home office but said I use it for business and still got someone from India but he spoke very, very good English compared to some I've spoken to in the past.
I have a desktop Dell and it has been alright so far, but I've never owned a laptop.
What brand are you currently using then?
I've worked on a Dell Inspiron 8600 for 3 years
I've heard they're not as good as they used to be, but so far (knock on wood), I haven't had any problem except last week my AC power pack died. They mailed me a new one within 3-4 days (I was under 4 years parts warranty). I use a USB keyboard and mouse and don't bother to try to use the scrunched up laptop keyboard.

I've lost more than one hard drive on Dell computers
That's the message you get normally if the hard drive if fried.  I just called Dell and they diagnosed the problem and sent me a new hard drive and I returned the bad one. Is yours still under warranty?
Escription users: I have a question. I've about had it with Dell junk computers.
and their Indian call centers..nothing like getting help from someone whom you cant understand. Even if they hear you, they have NO comprehension skills. Anyway, I have like 3 Dell computers which goes from bad to worse. For Christmas, I got my husband an Mac IBook ...wow..what a difference, now that's a computer. Anyhoo, they now have Microsoft office programs for Macs..anyone know if this computer would be compatible at all with the Escription platform since it's so picky. If not, any laptop computers suggestions that are not a piece of junk.
outsource overseas...and QA and managers "above" MT, period. It was parallel to the old EdiX
too bad, because they used to be awesome, then lost of lot of people skills and adopted the edix mentality...

I hold no grudges, just giving you my own opinion, my own experience. I moved on and am in a better place...
I have both a Dell Latitude Laptop and a Dell Dimension desk top PC and bought both...
off of Ebay.  The laptop I paid $300 for had Windows XP and works great.  It wasn't wireless, but they sent me a PCI card with it and it works fine.  The desktop PC has XP on it as well and I paid $250 for it.  Both have Pentium IVs.  Both work great for work.  I have no complaints and I feel like I got a great deal both times out on Ebay.
How I job-searched
Last fall, after nearly 28 years with a local office (and 36 years of experience in all) I found myself having to look for a new job when my boss closed down his practice. I searched local jobs (nothing) and online MT job boards (mainly the jobs board here at MT Stars). I applied for, I think, 31 different jobs all told. My biggest problem was that half the companies wouldn't even allow me to test because, despite 36 years of experience, it was entirely clinical, and I couldn't even get arrested in acute care.

The last day of my job hunt, I went through the "companies" section of another board (MT Chat, as it happened) and looked up every company that got good reviews. If they had a means of applying online, I did it. (Companies that either got out-and-out bad reviews, or for which the only response was a curt "I sent you a private message," I ignored.)

I sent out 14 applications, tests and/or resumes that day. As it happened, the very LAST company I applied with (and I took their test at the end of a very long day, so I was TIRED) just happened to have a suitable opening, and I was hired the very next day. They weren't even advertising; I had applied "blind" via the "careers" section of their website.

And after some of the horror stories I've read on this board and others, I consider myself very, very lucky. Every single promise made by this company has been fulfilled, including the promise to "up-train" me into acute care.

So hang in there, and keep trying. You might want to try my method of applying "blind" to companies that people are happy working for. It takes some research and time; but it's well worth it, because the stakes are so high.
Company provides a Dell for work, I have a Dell for personal use, too.
x
Dell customer service is overseas. I have had a Dell, a
Toshiba Satellite, and an HP.   The Dell was a piece of junk from day 1.  The HP hard drive crashed after 4 to 5 years, but otherwise no problems.   I bought a Toshiba about 6 months ago and it is okay, nothing special.  I was looking at the Sony Viao and the salesman said that some laptops are made to be portable, but that the Sony was not one of them, but the Toshiba was.   My keyboard also has a numerical pad on it, but it throws the other keys off a bit, so when I'm in a portable mode and don't have room for an external keyboard it really slows me down.  I have a Duo Core processor and notice no difference whatsoever in speed, the number of programs I can have open, etc.   I have also noticed that even when I am not on battery power that every so often the battery is charging.  I don't know if this is a defect or something that is supposed to happen, but I need to investigate it. 
Have you searched for these on google?

 I don't think I'd try them.


Avatars can be searched on sm
yahoo, but to fit on this site as a profile ID they must be only 100 x 100 or no more than 12 kb as hayseed says.  Go on www.yahoo.com, and then search avatar for message board or message forum.  I still have not figured out how to crop a true pic of myself down to 100 x 100, but I will eventually.  The rest, hayseed has in her post.  You avatar will post as long as you fill in Profile ID when posting. 
Tough situation. Have you searched the ads and

applied with the companies who have been advertising ER accounts?  I know I just saw 1 this past month or so.  I do believe there is a good place for you; it'll just take digging and time.  I would absolutely refuse to do so many different unless in the same field.  Right now I have probably 15 different docs but all in the same field so it is not bad.


I have no idea how anyone makes 50K+ unless they are tied to the computer day and night....not my choice or my life.


Good luck and I hope you find some sort of resolution to this.



I knew I saw this a few pages ago and searched for you.
Here's a link
Just searched and yuck is right! How digusting. nm
x
I searched by patient name today as I needed
to find a medication that the patient was on. So I searched patient name and pulled up the H&P for the visit to check what medications had been listed on admission to help me figure it out. Great feature.
I don't like Dell. I bought a Dell laptop and it

was a piece of junk, so I'm not the one to ask if you should buy a Dell.   I'd get at least double that processor speed.  My computer is about 10 months old and I have 5 times that, which means that there is probably something faster out now, or soon will be.  It is more than I need for work, but I also use computer to download music/pictures, and a bunch of other stuff.   The Dell I had had 650 mHz and it was slow and that was almost 6 years ago.   You may have to customize anyway to get XP unless you buy one previously owned, which you can also buy from Dell.   It is always a good idea to buy bigger than you need currently just to allow for updates to any software or new software you may add.    You need to also think about tech support.  I know Dell has tech support in India, which can be extremely frustrating.  I don't know that other computer companies don't offshore their tech support, but that would be a question I would ask and find out if there is a locally authorized dealer to handle warranty repairs or if you need to send off the computer.    I would not recommend a Gateway computer and I would not recommend any computer that has a Celeron processor.   They tend to be in all the lower end computers. 


 


I had head if you were connected to a VPN your computer could be searched without your knowledge ??
nm
Have you searched the board for posts on this company recently?
1
Thanks Darlene. I searched hi and lo all day and couldn't find a thing. nm
 
Buy a Dell!! You can't go wrong with a Dell but
I bought an Emachines and had trouble with it from day one. I returned it, as the store I bought it from a six month return policy, so I returned it after about five months. I bought a Dell two years ago and have had no problems since!! Buy a Dell, you won't be sorry!! :)
I am not a Dell lover. My Dell has been
a lemon.  I just replaced mine with a Toshiba Satellite and I have seen a few others here recommend this.  Dell's customer service is in India.   The only thing I dislike about my Toshiba is that because it also has a number keypad the shift key is in a different position than I'm used to and I end up deleting and retyping when I use the laptop keyboard.  I normally use an external keyboard, but I travel a lot and try to work on the road and just don't have space for an external keyboard.    
Where did you hear that everything you buy for a Dell has to be from Dell?

I have LOTS of peripherals on both my laptop and desktop Dells and they certainly didn't come from Dell. You've been misinformed.


I love my Dells.


You are right. I never thought about only 1 port. sm
My tower has 2 in the front and 4 in the back. Could the USB ports maybe be under a cover of some sort. Kind of like the little rubber things on a digital camera where you plug in your USB cable?
I have relatives in Port St. Lucie and....sm

they used to live in Miami, but lost everything to Hurricaine Andrew.   Now that they're in Port St. Lucie they have learned from the "Andrew" mistakes and for Wilma made sure they had plenty of food, water and gas for the generator that they bought.  They knew they should have gone to a shelter but during Andrew the official shelter they were in had its roof blown off and they sat there wet and cold for hours until the storm blew over and decided to not do that route again.  They knew with Wilma that they risked having their home destroyed while in it but made that choice. 


 They did sustain damage to the house with Wilma but aren't waiting and insisting that the government bail them out.  They had already talked to a contractor before the storm and had him lined up and ready to come out after the storm was over so they didn't have to wait on long waiting lists.  These aren't rich people - my aunt is a retired school teacher and my uncle has been disabled for many years.   They're just smart enough to realize that if you live in an area that is prone to severe storms that you have to be prepared or not whine and expect the government to bail you out. 


The people in Louisiana knew days ahead of time that they should get out of town and they didn't.  It didn't help that the Mayor there basically blew the situation off until after the fact and  then decided the federal goverment should have done what he should have done in the beginning - made arrangements for people to get the heck away from there if they didn't have travel means. Instead he transported people to shelters that were right in the midst of the storm and then cried to the world that the government purposefully caused people to die.  Gimme a break.  IF anyone is guilty of that it's him because he didn't take the appropriate actions which were even outlined in the  New Orleans  City official disaster plan. 


Living in Georgia  and in a "tornado alley" part of the state I know my odds are that my house could get demolished by a twister.  When a severe storm arises I high-tail it to the basement.  Since we also get remnants of hurricaines at times, ice storms, etc. I always have enough food and water to last for several days in the basement, along with plenty of candles and batteries.  I also have lots of  logs for the fire place to cover winter storms. 


You don't have to be rich to prepare for a disaster.... just smart about it and plan ahead of time.  If you live in a  coastal state then buy that hurricaine insurance and don't whimper that we need to buy you a new house if you don't have insurance and your home gets destroyed.  I have homeowner's insurance but if my house were to burn down and I didn't have insurance would it be the government's responsibility to build me a new one?  No.


 


 


OMG!!! I'm in the Northeast too - Port Richmond!
nm
USB port. Is there a way to convert the files?

I just do them as they come in.  I must have 20 different ways to download audio files on my computer, but I don't know how to convert audio files from one program to another


Heck, I have to ask my 11-year-old to get the DVD player to work.


Getting ooooold I guess.  I'm like my parents who used to put a piece of black electrical tape over the flashing clock on the VCR because they didn't know how to reset it until the 7-year-old granddaughter came over and fixed it for them.


 


Pedals usually last for years. Try it in another USB port if that's what it uses. nm
s
un- attached chest port?

My son has a chest port.  He can lift up three corners of the port, make a pocket out of loose skin and slid his thumb under the port.  He says the port is supposed to float freely within a tissue pocket created in his chest.  It is his belief the port is Not sutured to anything inside him, like, say, the chest wall for example.  Hmmmm! I am seeking outside opinions as he and I disagree.  Please let me know what you think.


In Joy,


cyllk


is it a game port adapter?
If it is, you may have to click on "gameport" on Express Scribe
Does anyone use a game port pedal and use
I am considering employment with a company that uses a pedal for the audio that may require a sound card be installed on my PC.  I currently use a USB wav pedal to receive dictation that are dss files, wav, etc.  Does anyone know if I can install the sound card and still use the USB wav pedal or would that take a lot of tinkering back and forth.  I am considering Zylomed, and I think they use MT World.  Would anyone be able to offer any information regarding this type of situation?  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 
foot pedal COM port
If you have not gotten help with this, why not call your tech support line.

You wrote Start-Stop. Is this the patented HTH Engineering StartStop foot pedal and software? They have a toll-free line.

If it's not and you want to call me, you may.
Did you select the right port under options? sm
In the Bytescribe, look under ports and select USB (assuming that is what you converted to).  
I will check out the port. As for the Bytescribe - sm
It did not give me an option, probably because I was re-installing from copying it from another computer. Says I have used up all my installs, so I need to call them and get a code, though the player did still work, just not with the pedal. My other program wouldn't work either. I will check out the port this morning and see, otherwise returning cable and buying a 9-pin card; at least then I know everything will work (otherwise computer being returned...have 3 weeks to do so, don't want to though, it is very nice).
Does anyone know if you have a foot pedal for a USB port if you can convert it somehow to a 9 pin
port or must you buy another foot pedal. Anyone ever had trouble with foot pedal compatability with using their own computer.
WAV pedal/serial port question.
I work for an MTSO  that uses a pedal with a serial plug, and my lap top does not have a serial port, so  have plugged it into a USB adapter. The dictation is coming across has somewhat "hesitant"--there are pauses at times and I really have to bash the pedal to get it going again (the pedal works just fine if I use it on the MTSO's computer, which I don't want to keep doing--I need to be portable with my lap top). The tech people haven't been too motivated to help; I can only use my own computer if I don't require tech support, though I'm told many people do it successfully.

Anyway, bottom line, the adapter is showing up in Com-Port 4, and the tech says it needs to be in 1, though I can't get any further advise. When the adapter is plugged in, the MTSO's software shows a drop down menu for ComPort 3 or 4; there is no 1.  Any suggestions from any of you tech geniuses out there?? Oh, I also have a USB pedal from another service, but that is showing up in ComPort 3 and won't work at all.
Look under Settings, I think. Your pedal might be in the wrong port. nm
s
she said that the usb port worked with her printer, but not any pedals.
not the driver, then. it is not the port that is the problem. :^)
Another thing you might try, is reinstalling the driver for your USB port. SM
If you right click on your "My Computer" icon, click "Properties", then click on the "Hardware" tab.  Then click on the "Device Manager" button.  You'll see a list of all your hardware devices.  Find your USB devices and double click.  You'll see the button for reinstalling the driver.  Go from there and follow the steps.
You may have to change the port setting for the footpedal.
Under Settings, Control tab. Try different ones to see if you can find one that will work with your pedal.
Just stick it in a USB port. Use it just like a floppy disk.

Start/Stop Com Port settings
Have you played with the Com port setting under the Configure button? I have had to try mine in all 8 until I found the right one.
To determine what kind of port the footpedal
has, look at it. If the wire at the end is flat, then it is a USB. If it is round and has 9 little holes, then it is a serial port.

The newest computers have in the back a USB- and a serial-port. If you have only the USB port and the footpedal has a serial, then you have to buy an adapter and vice versa.
In addition you have then to access your footpedal setting in the computer and set them right:

Click control panel/footswitch setting and choose the right port, USB or serial.
Shop for a "USB to game port adapter".
Staples, Radio Shack or Office Max should have them.  ebay should have them.  If not, Google for a seller.