NEW STENO MACHINES

[Tracy Perry]

Has anyone bought the new futuristic-looking writer that looks like something George Jettson's kids would play for a musical instrument?

I've used the same writer for 15 years now....and I'm look at new writers, hesistantly, afraid to get to "electronically" dependent.

Would love any feedback on the newest writers!

TRACY

[Brenda Rogers]

I don't, but yes, you can. Steve Stogel does, Greta Ducket RTs to her judge. I'm not sure who else is, but I wouldn't be surprised that Susan Perry Miller does too.

[Tracy Perry]

I will attend the conference in July (?) and try it out there. I'm sure they'll be there. Very exchited to try this thing out! And the lap pillow sounds like a good idea....

[Shannon Wise]

Kelli, sorry to hear you sent it back. I just rest my palms on the front edge. I'm glad you're happy with the Mira. Was wondering how it was going with the LS.

[Dawn Scruggs, CCR]

Does it use the same tripod as all the other writers? I've been thinking about getting a new writer also. What kind of backup system does it have?

Dawn

[Brenda Rogers]

The LS has its own tripod, if you choose to use it. I don't. I hold it in my lap, like a laptop computer. It writes to an SD card. You need to use your computer with it because there is no readout on the writer. In that way, you have your notes on the SD card and on the computer. You can also use a flash drive in your computer and have the notes backing up to that while you're writing. I don't do that, just backup the Eclipse file to the flash drive before I leave the deposition room.

[Tracy Perry]

jeepers, I love this website. All this great information from the people who know. How cool is that? Now I'm interested in trying both. Thanks, Kelli, for that info. Maybe I could try yours sometime when we're close in location on depos in the city?

I like the audio back-up idea, tho. Very cool.

[Deborah L. Willoughby]

I was told recently by someone at Stenovations that they're hoping to unveil the new Lightspeed at convention this year. It's supposed to have the flip-up screen. I told him I thought it should be an all-in-one kind of thing (just like a laptop but with steno keys instead of a keyboard) and he said that's what they're working toward. Not sure if that's what it's actually going to be, though. He also said the price of the current Lightspeed is going up in May -- something like $400, I think he said. Of course, the new ones will be priced a lot higher, especially if it is more like a computer with tons of other features. Stay tuned.

[Dawn Scruggs, CCR]

I figure that as time goes by, they'll keep working on it and making improvements on it. until they have the "perfect machine" at some point. Someone told me that if you bought one now, they would let you trade it in each time they came out with a new model for a nominal fee. It just seems to me if you put it in your lap when you're writing, it wouldn't be at the right height for your arms and wrists and would cause pain eventually, but everyone seems to not have a problem with that.

[Brenda Rogers]

I do have a friend who had a problem with the height on her lap AND on the tripod. She has a back issue and keeps her Mira really low, between her knees, a little lower than the top of her thighs. I'd never be able to write like that, but higher than that kills her back.

The thing about it being on your lap, your arms aren't streched out *at all* so you don't get that shoulder fatigue. It's a little lower than I used to use my writer (my arms were almost parallel to the floor with my 8000), but it took no time at all to get used to it. I tried an iLap desk, but I didn't like it. Flat in the lap is the way to go!

Trade-in is at full purchase price, so my $1995 purchase price will be applied to the next gen if I choose to go that route. Greta has just posted some of Johnny Jackson's ideas for the next gen on Depoman, if you're interested in a peek into Johnny's brain.

[Shannon Wise]

It's not a problem at all. It's actually very natural, you can lean back. There's no more pain at all. I have a form of muscular dystrophy and all my pain that I used to get from writing because I could get comfortable is gone, because I can lean back in my chair and write. You really don't have to hold your arms up at all.

[Dawn Scruggs, CCR]

On the LS, does it have a thing in the back of it to where you plug in from the writer to the computer to write realtime?

[Brenda Rogers]

USB port on the right-hand side toward the back. That's how you RT to the computer and it draws its power from the computer also. No extra cord for power.