I think Dell will still let you choose XP. sm

• Replacing old desktop - can
  • New Desktop - Jerry Leinwand
  • Go on the websites and search them - They said what
  • I think Dell will still let you choose XP. sm - TechSupport
  • I'll leave the specs suggestions to others, but - sm - NWMNMT
    • Is it dangerous to buy used? - can
      • I've purchased one laptop and one desktop system used/refurbished, sm - NWMNMT
      • not if you get it from the right place - deenibeeni

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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.

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 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.

Any info on Precyse Solutions...Silent Type....Breitner ????

Need to give decisions by Friday...help!

And empty, not-yet-used concentration camps do not physically exist in the USA, yes?  And your president has told no lies in 6 years, yes? 

SHEEP I tell you...........BAAAAAAAA.......

Hi, MT's!

I'm trying to make a decision about my job, and thought maybe your input would help me put it into perspective.   I'm thinking about changing my MT job.  I have gone over a long list of the pros & cons, and still am up in the air about it, and hope to make the most informed decision possible.  Here's the situation:

I have transcribed since 1975.  I have been at my current job for roughly 29 years.  Still, I am a long, long way from retirement, if ever.  Most likely the earliest that could happen is 2025, but I'll believe it when and if it happens!   I have always worked in-house, initially for services, then for a hospital, and for the last 29 I've been at a multispecialty clinic.  20 or more years ago or more, it was a decent place to work, but that has all changed and now it's very stressful.  We get blamed for every mistake the doctors make, management communicates with us very little, and what they pay us has not even begun to keep up with the cost of living.   Still, on the plus side, my commute isn't too bad, I enjoy the variety of specialties to type, and I have the most seniority.  Although our pay isn't so great, we do have paid time off and fairly decent healthcare, though it must be at our own clinic.  We have a 401K retirement savings account through work.  Our pay is by the hour, with no overtime offered, so we have no opportunities to increase our earnings.  I've been saving to buy a condo, but at this rate it's always out of reach.

I have had my eye on a national service lately that seems to be much better than most of what you see offering jobs out there.  I have a couple friends who work at home for this service, and they recommend it very highly.  The service pays on production, and when I tally my daily work that I'm currently doing and convert it to the service's way of paying the best I can, it at least SEEMS like I could make a lot more money.  The service also has a 401K, health insurance, and paid time off.  The hours are very flexible, which for me is a huge plus.  As long as you do a set minimum amount of lines per pay period, it's all good as far as they're concerned.

Lately I've been so stressed and unhappy in my current job situation that I'm almost ready to take a cut in pay, if that's what it takes, to be able to work at home, where I can control my environment (heat, air-conditioning, light brightness, office ergonomics, etc.)  Working at home for a national would also free me up to be able to move to a less expensive area.  That would help if the pay WAS less, but if the pay was equal to or more than I'm making now, then I could be socking a lot more of it away towards a down payment on a first home.  And if I finally did get to buy that home, being able to take short, "meaningful" breaks from typing (instead of pigging out at the candy-machine) would make it possible to take care of that home, as well. 

As it stands now, my list of "pros" for taking the at-home job is quite a bit longer than the "cons".  And just the opposite for my current job.  My biggest concern is the longevity of either position.  I am reasonably sure that bit by bit, MT work in the US is going to diminish.  The question is, which one is likely to fold first?  Our clinic already sends extra work out to a service, rather than pay us overtime to do it.  Over the years our MT Dept. has shrunk considerably.  The more it shrinks, the more work gets sent out.  Although we are told otherwise, my gut feeling tells me that it will continue in this manner until the department is eventually closed, and all the work gets sent out.

But, when I read all the message boards here, and people working for MT services talk about how much of their company's work is being sent to India, or being partially transcribed with VR, I have to wonder how much longer "live" MTs are going to be around in the service venue, as well.  And I don't think being an Editor wouldn't be an option for me, either.  Not only would I be bored to tears, but instead of paying more than MT, which it should be, it appears to pay quite a bit less. 

So, if you knew you weren't going to be retiring in the next 5-10 years, and you wanted to continue being an MT (it's the only thing I know how to do), do you think there is more security in staying with a long-term employer that not only very callous towards its employees, but is slowly but surely whittling away at their transcription department?  Or would you take the "unknown road", and go with what is currently a very viable and successful national company that would let you work at home, but may already be offshoring extra work?  (I haven't been able to find out if they actually do or not.)  I don't relish the idea of having to "start over" as a new employee, but the idea of having less stress and more freedom also appeals to me quite a bit. 

If you were in my shoes, how would you base your decision? 

Thanks in advance for any ideas you can throw my way!

Job A at 9.5 cpl but awful dictators, bad sound quality, speed talkers, cell talkers, ESLs about 90% of the time, blanks in 50% of reports. 

Company B:  7.75 cpl easy, long dictations, averaging 9 minutes, 90% English speaking, coherent, slow, pronouncing words, no blanks left all day.

I work at home full-time as an Editor making $15 an hour.  I've been offered a position as a pathology Transcriptionist working in the office for a local pathology group.  They've offered me $16 per hour with a review in 90 days and a raise to $17 at that time.  It's about a 30 minute commute one way to the office.

Which would you choose?

I'm sponsoring a 7-year-old boy (and his big sister) for Christmas.  The one thing the boy would love to see under the Christmas tree is a bicycle.  Having never had any kids and never seeing this boy before, I don't know what size or type of bike to get him.  The information I have says he wears children's size 7 shirts, size 7 pants, size 2 shoes, and size 8 underwear.  Should I get him a 16" or 20"?  If I got him the 20, then he could grow into it, but maybe it would be way too large for him for a long time.  He lives in a rural area, I think.  When shopping for bikes, I'm getting overwhelmed with all the different brands, handle-bar types, and different-tread tires.  Please help me, Moms 'n Dads!!  I never in all my life thought I'd have an opportunity to buy a child a bike for Christmas and am thrilled to be able to do this. 

I thought I could grab some clothes in his size and "reconstruct" him next to a bicycle, but there are just too many people shopping now.  I've no idea how long his little arms are.

Thanks! 

College 1:

Medical Transcription Certificate:

Advanced Keyboarding Skills
Beginning Terminology
Keyboarding Skill Development
Structures of English
Transcription and Editing
Word Processing
Advanced Terminology
Intro to Database/Spreadsheets
Medical Transcription 
Pharmacology

College 2:

Medical Transcription Diploma:

-Business Editing
-Computer Business Applications
-Medical Terminology
-Word Processing 2
-Basic Anatomy & Physiology
-Elements of Pharmacology
-Information Processing
-Medical Transcription
-Medical Office Management
-Intro To Pathology
-Professional Practicum

am not putting myself up on a pedestal.  I don't think a little pride in one's work is too much to ask.

And yes, right now I do have job security, but these horrible American MTs keep giving MTSOs directly and hospitals/physicians indirectly an excuse for offshoring because they can simply use the argument that it doesn't make much difference regarding quality.  So how much job security can I have and for how much longer?

I would usually keep a template with the different settings, use the correct one then save it to another file.  

Hope this helps.