Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

When traveling I get by with a laptop with Window98, 400 mHz process, Pentium 2 ,- sm

Posted By: Laura E. on 2005-12-10
In Reply to: Updating - Returning MLS

Not sure of my RAM but it is not anything excessing, 256 or 512. So depending on the job, this will work. I used it for a national too. Now work for 2 small MTSO's, 1 is DOS based, the other MSWord, have 97 on the laptop which easily opens/is compatible with Word2000. So that is not an issue at all. So you can probably get by with what you already have, might not be the fastest computer in the world, but it will get the work done. Maybe you should use it for work, keep the bare minimum of programs on it, and save up $$ and in 6 months get yourself something better/faster.


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

traveling with a laptop
I put a pillow on my lap and the keyboard on top of that. It only took a few minutes to get used to and works great for me.
laptop while traveling
What about to send and receive your work via internet services.  I would think a wireless/high speed internet would be needed, first of all; but then will that work at all motels that advertise high speed internet services?  Any other tips regarding this will be appreciated.  I am in the thinking stages of this right now, so want to get the details worked out before spending a lot more money.  TIA
q for those traveling with laptop --
if you use a rolling case, have you had any problems with the laptop that could have resulted from being a bumpy ride? my brother said never to put a laptop in a rolling case, but if i travel by air, i'd practially have to to bring all my essentials along...(and not stoe it)
Traveling with laptop

Does anybody do transcription on their laptop, other than those working for that company that has its own board on here?


Using a laptop computer while traveling

Hi,


In answer to your question, I have a USB aircard through Sprint, which I use here at home since I am in the "boonies" and only a mile and a half from a cell tower however, so my connection speed is great.  When I "travel of the weekend" it is usually up to my significant others, and he has DSL available there so I use either or,


Hope this helps.


 


Question for traveling laptop workers

When staying in a hotel with a desk and internet connection to work, where do you put your keyboard?  Anyone have any suggestion for a portable table to use that is the right level.  The desks are too high.


Thanks!


Must be wrong traveling MT. I dont use another monitor if I'm using my laptop. I use another keyb
When I dont use my laptop and I take my "portable computer" then I just bubble wrap it and my monitor and put it in my suitcase. I'm not sure how many people actually hook up anothe monitor to their laptop. That would confuse me too.. LOL
Not sure if they are equal in power, but the Celeron is inferior to the Pentium.

If you're getting a desktop may be no big deal since desktops are cheaper and you tend to replace then every 2 to 3 years, but if getting a laptop/notebook, definitely get the Pentium or the Centrino and not the Celeron. 


Pentium is good for games/ Celron for data. NM
z
To all of you Escriptionist out there...Laptop question. Have any of you found a laptop that you can
thing. I tried one of those adapter that goes from the 9-pin to the USB but when I plugged in the USB my foot pedal did not work right. I know supposedly there is a help section on the escription website that says the adapter may work and how to make them compatible etc but it never worked for me. Has any of you find a solution or a laptop that this foot pedal with work with. I'd like to work while traveling and get a laptop but it never worked on my old one. Ideas??
Traveling MT

If I was a single person, I would most definitely take the position.  This would be an opportunity to save lots of money since most of your expenses are paid and you really would not need to maintain an apartment at your home town.


traveling
I work for K-Force now. I also hear Precyse travels but not sure, am looking for another company that does.
traveling MTs
My hubby retired recently, and we travel in our RV. I have a laptop, foot pedal, headphones, and an external keyboard. When in our truck, I just set up a TV tray in the back seat and use the keyboard on the laptop. For Internet access, I have an air card from Verizon. With few exceptions, this has worked quite well for the past 9 months of cross-country travel.
Traveling
I have searched and have not found the answer to my question, so I apologize if this has been discussed before.  I live in Florida and as hurricane season approaches, I am trying to figure out what to do if I need to leave town.  I work for a company that requires an internet connection, unlimited long distance and a C-phone to dial in to the hospitals.  I know that hotels usually offer wireless internet connections, but what about the phone line/connection?  It would have to be something that offered unlimited long distance (as the hospitals are in different states) that could be used anywhere (not just my home).  Would something like Vonage work?  Or does Verizon have something?  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!
Traveling MT- I need you!
nm
For those of you doing MT while traveling...
what about internet security? How do you make sure your work is secure? If you are using some other wifi connection when out and about, do you feel it's private? I am trying to figure out the basics. I'm clueless about this laptop thing but it sounds very versatile.
traveling
I went to San Antonio a couple of months ago for 2 weeks. I rented a laptop from Rent-A-Center, had the company install their software, and took it with me. I worked at the local library the first weekend because they had wireless, but then my father-in-law just went to the cable company and got me a modem for the 2 weeks I was there so I could work at his house. I would do it again though, even with going to the library. It was great to be able to go visit family and friends and not have to lose work either.
The traveling MT...
I have seen some posts about MTs who travel while they work.  I would like to try working in the car but my husband is afraid I will get motion sickness.  I am prone to motion sickness on curved roads and cannot read in the car.  Does anyone else have a problem with this or find that they don't have a problem with typing?  It seems like it would be different then reading a book or newspaper especially if I know we have a straight highway drive.
Traveling MT
If you have been a CMT for 20 years, how come you spell a lot as alot? ALOT is not a word!!!!
In the process
Some of us were VERY HAPPY with Medquist until recently, complaining right now is a way of seeing what is going on to figure out the best solution. Support is another reason. When you are with a company for YEARS and you come to the realization that it will soon be over, who in their right mind is not effected emotionally and discussion is good for that. If you can't empathize with that, I would thank you to please just ignore us.
I'm in the process of looking for another job (sm)
How long did you use their plan before they did this to you?


I am in the process.....
of making this transition now.  I am taking the AAPC home study course with tuition help from my employer.  Sorry I can't answer you questions at this point, but I hope to be able to in the near future.  My goal is to sit for the CPC exam in 6 months.  A lot of coders do work from home now, especially in the hospital setting, and they are paid well.  I talked to a coder about a year ago who was working from home for a local hospital and at that time was making $21/hour.  She was trying to encourage me to do the same.  I am told that coders for physician specialities make much more.  Finally, I am taking steps towards making the change.  Hopefully, I will have some great information to post next year! 
i'm in the process right now
of working at a new job (worked there briefly previously) but i want to be sure of what i'm getting into also. my plan is to get more comfortable with this new job and then give notice to my other place of employment; would like to go to part time and then if this other job works out as well as i would like, eventually stop my other job completely. i hope that made sense to you. :)

only trouble is, at the moment, i am exhausted! ;)
I know what you mean, I am in the process of - sm
training to be a school bus driver. Granted it is not a lot of money $12K, but it lessens the pressure on me for an IC income. Plus I am getting vibes that my MTSO is going to lose their contract and I will be out of a job. So if that happens I will have the bus gig to fall back on. I still plan to do MT but on a much more PT basis (from 9-2 each day), no more nights, maybe every other weekend, and reclaim my life. My kids will be much happier I know to see more of me. Good luck to you!
I'm in the process of doing this (sm)
You can get an Intellimover and transfer files.  You can copy your files onto a CD, which is what I'm doing.  For EXText, you'll have to be reinstalled by the IT person.  Hope this helps.
When you said I'm now in the process
of working my way up a little higher on the ladder, how far can you go on a transcription's ladder? That is a fairly laughable sentence unless you plan on opening up your own place and having transcriptions to work under you. The MTer job does not keep going and going unlike other jobs. You know no raises like other jobs, no advancements because where do they go. Your sentence makes no sense. These posts here are about as bad as the ones below, don’t really see any difference except realistic in 1 place and sorta haha in the other one.
Traveling Hubby
I, too, have a traveling husband with so much responsibility in his job for the past 20+ years.  Often I have had to be put on the back burner with a small child so that he could progress to the successful executive he is today.  Things have never been about me, and I have had to accept this.  I must say it was much more difficult when my child was young.  When he is free, we have to remember to schedule nice things together and get those in his DayTimer before life marches on by us both. 
Traveling Transcriptionist
How can they expect you to be a traveling Transcriptionist and go cold turkey into a facility and maintain a line count of 1500 lines?
Traveling transcriptionist job
I would love a job like this. Where do you apply for it. Also, do you have to do ops to get the job?
Re: traveling transcription
It sounds pretty good and it's a way to see some of the US that you might not otherwise be able to, but I couldn't leave my kids. You also have no way of knowing how much work you'll be given, so make sure you are able to meet your goals and have an out if it gets to be overwhelming. Would you be traveling alone or with another MT, for example? There are several things to consider. I personally am a hometown girl, but if you like to travel, why not?
Are there any traveling transcriptionists out there and do you like it.nm
x
Here's how I work while traveling...sm
If we're staying at a hotel, I stay only at one where there is a secured high speed internet available. They'll be happy to tell you if the connections are secured or not if you ask. How you know is this... if it's secured you'll have to enter passwords to enter their system. If they're not secured, you'd just plug in your cord and go for it.

If we're staying with relatives then I stay only with those that have the high speed internet connectivity available through a secured connection.

If neither of the above are available then I use my PeoplePC dial up account to work from. While it's not as fast as DSL/cable it connects well enough to let me work.

I take my keyboard and mouse and plug them into the laptop so that I do not have to depend on the laptop keyboard... which drives me nuts to type much on! Of course the foot pedal goes along as well.

Happy traveling!
Traveling teacher
Where in MT, you can E-mail me
Laptops and traveling
I have two accounts that I work on. My account during the week we don't have strict times, just a time you have to have files done by, so that does allow for a little more ease. On the weekend I cover for a small 50 bed hospital, so sometimes I may have 20 files, sometimes I may have 2. The one on the weekend has a special footpedal that you can only use with their program, but it really isn't that awkward in the car. The one during the week I can use a foot pedal or use F2 to start/stop, F3 to rewind, F4 to FF. At first I was a little slow with this but now I don't find my speed any different with using F2 or with the foot pedal.

It takes some getting used to, but where i live it takes forever to get somewhere, and it's really nice to be able to get some work done. I actually got to make some extra money the other day. My mom drives for a trucking company and they needed someone to take her to get her truck. So she drove my truck to go get it (about an hour away) and I worked the whole time. Got paid a $100 bucks to ride in my truck and work! Of course that was like a one time deal.

The best for me though is getting to go to Florida and visit my dad who is 6 hours away. I can still take my work and work on the road with a pc card (about $60 a month) and not have to take time off. Just have to make sure you discipline yourself to work and not chat with hubby! :)

Like I said, it takes some getting used to, but it comes in handy!
This is the process I use and seems the most productive
When I get a bad dictator, which is 70% of the time, whether it be one who rushes, one who mumbles, an ESL, or one with a bad phone line, i'll type the report quickly, leaving blanks, just to give it a dry run and an overall feel for what its about.  Then I go back and listen carefully, research if needed, and fill in the blanks.  With this, about 75% of the time I can get ALL the blanks.  I don't obsess over something too much the second time around.  If its an easy dictator, I'll go through it slowly and carefully one time and send it on its way without rereading. 
The training process

>>>you end up fixing things like changing "were" to "are", "a" to "an", that kind of thing. 


Like I said, it's all in the training process, which includes ar-ti-cu-lating correctly. You have to feel the words form in your mouth. If you don't, you're going to have errors like these. Also, did you use add phrases to the vocabulary? You sometimes have to do that. What about the microphone? If you used one of those right out of the box, that could be the problem. And your sound card? Did the program analyze thousands of documents? --- You can't just install the program and off you go. Like many an expansion program, you have to put time and effort into it ... but the gains are worth it (at least, they were for me).


>>>Easier in my opinion to type from scratch,


It depends upon the individual. If you're a relatively fast typist (100+) who can remember ten of thousands of abbreviations, or you're a whiz bang with ST or IT (which still ultimately requires memorization) you're certainly not going to benefit from the program aside from alleviating any pains and discomfort you might have as the result of RSI. But to those of us who who aren't whiz kids or are experiencing physical discomfort from years of clicking the keyboard, VR is blessing.


>>>not to mention that you are usually making half what a normal line rate is to do VR.


I can dictate and proof an average of 350 lph. Multiply that by 7 hours in a day.


in process of new addition
VINYL/congolium (spelling?) all the way. We had ceramic tile and it was a light color, stains, slippy but most of all COLD. We love the congolium flooring (nice vinyl) we put in and are doing it on our new addition.
We are in process of developing a new..
search module for forums. You will be able to search forums in a better way within next couple of days. Thanks, Webmaster@MTStars.com
Application process
Thanks, MTMommy, for your encouragement. I will do that from now on.
Application process

My apologies if posting on wrong forum, but I am beginning to get paranoid and am wondering if I'm not doing something correctly.  When I respond to an ad on MT Stars, I click on the "Apply now" button, fill out the boxes appropriately with MY email address, etc., and then click "Submit."  It tells me it has sent the message to the "Desired recipient" (employer).  Am I doing this correctly?  I have applied for so many positions, am an experienced radiology MT with 30 years' experience, and am having a hard time accepting the fact that absolutely no one is responding to my applications. I've tried Keystrokes (needed 15 MTs for rad) and others.  I check every hour to see what new ads are posted and respond within that time frame.  I know it can take a couple of weeks or longer to hear anything, but when I hear that others hear back the next day I have to wonder if I'm just not performing the application process correctly.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  I'm getting worried and cannot find work.  Thanks.


application process...
You need to go directly to the websites of different employers. Spheris.com medquist.com, transcend.com, etc. Then you can fill out an application directly from their site. You are a dream for any medical transcription company, being that you have 30 years experience. Don't get bummed out. I promise you will find something. Just go directly to the employer's website's.
Am in the process of leaving a job right now, and it's a very

I am also in the process of researching this. So far, (sm)
I have learned that the Core Duo is the best for running the new Vista. As far as brand names, I have never been happy with HP with their desktops, so I think I will just skip over their laptops. I love Dell products and have always had good luck with them and their customer service (I know some have not, but I have). However, both Toshiba and Sony Vaio have been recommended to me and I am looking into them right now.

Please post anything you might come across, as I am very interested in the responses to your question.

Have a great day!
What do you think of the job testing process?

I've been taking tests because I'm looking for a new job, and man, these tests take a lot out of you. For lots of companies, you have to take a screening test, an objective test, and a transcription test. If you take a lot of these for several different companies, it can be so tiring.


I wish that companies would shorten their tests. Half the time you don't even hear back from these companies anyway.


Anyone know the process for getting accts...
directly from Nuance (Dictaphone) to work on that are set up on their Enterprise system?
Decision Process.....
I am in the process of taking on some part-time work, along with my account that I currently have.  I have had offers from several good companies, two of them are paying me 10 cpl, another 8 cpl per gross line, one 9 cpl and another 8.5 cpl.  The two that pay 10 cpl are super-nice to deal with, really they all have been great and that's what's making this decision so hard.  I'd like to just accept them all, but know that's just not possible.  These are all IC positions, so other than the pay difference, what else would you look at to determine which to go with?  BTW, all are for flexible shifts and are all IC positions.  Thanks for the advice.
Long process
from what I am told. I just started mine. Half of the people I know that have done this have gotten their money, half have not. You could also try small claims court. That is problematic too if you live in a different state because it is costly. The owner knows all of this and is counting on your quitting. So don't give up. She/He will do it all over again to someone else.
How far does it get into the boot process? sm
A bootup problem always suggests something related to the hard drive, but there's stuff that happens during the boot before the hard drive comes into the picture. Do you see anything at all on your screen when you turn the computer on?
Been traveling for 3+ years and have worked the
whole time.  Almost every truck stop has internet access, even WiFi, so you can get internet in the truck.  Lots of hot spots across the country, can get an air card, use cell phone, etc.  
Regarding traveling transcription post below,
was offered $19-$22 per hour for hourly positions and 9-13 cents per line for line positions, paid travel including air, hotel, and rental car, full benefits, and ability to come home every 2-3 weeks for 4 or 5 days.  Would you take it?  Assignments could be anywhere in US and anywhere from 1 month to 3 years or so.  Thanks in advance for your time.
Question about working while traveling..sm..

Since I have my own account and no one to cover for me, I bought a laptop so I can take my work with me and get out of the house, go on vacation, etc.  I'm used to typing at a desk with the keyboard on a keyboard tray and a little lower than the computer.  I have an external keyboard hooked up to the laptop on a spare desk for now.  I just can't picture myself typing at a table or something when on vacation but what other choices do I have? 


Anyone have any advice for staying efficient and keeping up typing speed but not being at a desk?