We have a few Acer laptops in our family. No probs. nm

• Laptop advice.... - phillychik
  • laptop - agrahammt
  • Compaqs are nearly indestructible. - clhmt
  • i just bought a laptop for same reasons. - sm
  • We have a few Acer laptops in our family. No probs. nm - Look for a sale.
  • I have a Compaq ....sm - Georgia Gal
  • I use an HP Pavilion for my PT job. - MSMT

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I just bought an Acer notebook from Walmart.  Anyone have experience with this they can share?

I know they are not much good for transcribing (too small), but I also go to college and seeing as they only weigh 1 pound, I thought it might be good to have.

Do you think I wasted my money?  Should I have spent the extra $200 and got a real laptop?

A netbook/notebook is made to check email, surf the net, do light transcribing.  It should perform as well as a larger laptop and has a better battery life than a laptop (4-6h compared to 2-2.5h).   You can check Consumer Reports or PC World to find out how well each brand performs.  Acer is a nice unit, plus it has XP.  Buy a full-size laptop and you get Vista.

As far as buying electronics from Wal-Mart, I buy all my PCs, cameras, etc., from there and have never had a problem with any of them.  The PCs are the same as the ones in Staples, BestBuy, etc., just a $100 or more less.  They also offer a service contract like the high-priced stores.  No, I don't work there.

A friend's daughter bought one for college and was never able to connect to the internet.  Unfortunately, she waited past the time to return it before bringing it to me as I would have told her to return it.  We could get her microsoft update to work, but nothing else.  I tried for days to get through to their tech support, which was horrendous. 

First you have to send an email explaining the situation and what you have done to fix it.  They will then email you back with solutions and a number to call if it doesn't work.  You have 7 days from the date of the email to take care of it. I called the number as everything they suggested had either been done or just did not work.  Call was answered by someone in India of course, who could not fix the problem and needed to escalate the service.  You then get transferred.  Once transferred, the system automatically hangs up after 27 minutes.  I was never able to get through to anyone no matter what I did.  I called daily, several different times of the day, explaining that I was being disconnected, etc, to no avail.

She is going to take it to a computer repair shop locally to see if anything can be done, but after paying $500 for a laptop, why should she be paying for service on a new machine? 

My son was just telling me last week that he was thinking of a laptop for college and mentioned the Acer and I told him to stay far away from it explaining what happened to our friend.  I personally have had a Toshiba for almost 8 years (the same one!) and just love it.  I am getting ready to buy a new one and will definitely choose Toshiba again.

It's been well over a year now...  Towers are a different story, but I've had pretty good luck with e-machines from Best Buy.

I have the very same problem.  From what I understand, there's nothing that can be done about the download speeds.  Hughes won't give tech support concerning VPN issues.  If anyone else has any other information, I would appreciate it.  I am working with a VPN now and have satellite and can't connect, period.  Does anybody know why that would be?  I get a message saying that the remote computer has not responded.  The last VPN I worked with, I could connect; it was just very slow.

TIA

One of the companies I work for have recently switched over to Editscript.  I have been moving and have finally settled down and for the first time this week attempted to type.  The company says that you have to buy a special footpedal that goes with the software.  Instead you have to use hotkeys.  I could not even make my way through one dictation without giving up.  It is so hard not being able to use my footpedal.  Has anyone else had this kind of problem?

Do any of you work on a laptop and how do you like it?  Which one do you have?  What do you consider the pros and cons?  Thanks

Another poster asked how many MTs use laptops, and that got me wondering what the advantage to a laptop would be.  I understand traveling, but it sounds like some use it for home. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm trying to figure out how I can transcribe outside on the back deck with a C-phone and computer (I live in a rural area).  I guess a laptop, extension cords, and moving with the sun would probably be logical, but are there any problems with that scenario that anyone can think of?  Does anyone have any other ideas for outdoor transcription?  I get kind of lonely during the day, so I thought the outdoors might help.  Also, work wants me to transcribe 2 hours before breaking!  Even though I'm new with this company, I haven't met that goal yet.  Thought I would try some new scenery, if it's possible!  ');>

Read months ago in news articles that men should not use laptops on their laps due to radiation to their male body parts and affecting sperm counts...

it can be googled for verification

You most likely won't have a serial port or game port connection on a laptop unless you have it customized, but there will be several USB ports and most everything these days comes with USB connections.  There will be a place for headphones on any computer.  As far as the rest of the stuff it is the same and you would look for the same things as if you were buying a desktop.  I was told recently though that the Sony Viao run hot and that they weren't really made for a mobile type situation. 

If you want to travel you have to know all your internet options because you'll find yourself in various situations and your primary option may not be available for some reason, so you always have to have a backup plan. 

Would anybody mind telling me which type of laptop pc they prefer....Toshiba  vs. HP, type of processor etc. that they prefer  ex.AMD, core duo etc.  Considering getting myself one but there are so many out there with so many different specs it is getting quite confusing.  You are welcome to e-mail if you wish.  I would appreicate any input that I can get to help sort it all out. 

Thank you so much......

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

I'm searching for a laptop to use occasionally.  I have a Dell desktop, but have heard some bad things about their laptops.  A friend did tell me that Acer has a good reputation for their laptops.

Any/all advice appreciated.

If you are working from home as an employee, do any of you have employers who allow you to use laptops?  If so, does the company provide those, or are you required to buy your own?