CheeseDog Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 The head has got an idea for note taking in meetings. It's to get a small laptop like the one below, and have staff take notes on that. As most of the time notes on paper tend to go missing and never get written up. The idea is that it's loaned out to staff whenever they go to one. Other than it being a bit pricey I've not really got any opinion on it. Personally I tend to file my notes in a pocket and they rarely see the light of day again, so I supppose it's a valid point. Just wondered what solutions other people were trying? We've got 2 PDA's but people tend to find them too fiddly. For those of you who can't be bothered to follow the link it's basically an 11.1" widescreen Sony VAIO laptop that costs £1300 http://vaio.sony-europe.com/ShowProductCategory.do?category=VN%20TX%20Series&language=en&country=BG&domainname=vaio.sony-europe.com
Dos_Box Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 My boss had one. They are too small and you hit 2 keys at once when typing. He now has a Dell 120L widescreen and is very happy.
Norphy Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 I'd suggest getting one of the thinkpads. They have the best laptop keyboards bar none (better than some desktop keyboards I've used) so people will probably find those more comfortable to type on than the average laptop. May something like a Thinkpad R51e which Probrand are selling for £505?
StewartKnight Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 how about a simple tape recorder, that someone could type up after!
CheeseDog Posted March 23, 2006 Author Posted March 23, 2006 I'd suggest getting one of the thinkpads. They have the best laptop keyboards bar none (better than some desktop keyboards I've used) so people will probably find those more comfortable to type on than the average laptop. May something like a Thinkpad R51e which Probrand are selling for £505? Think he's got his mind set on something small that doesn't look like you're playing on your laptop during the meeting. As for the tape recorder I'm guessing you not serious for admin's sake. However the PDAs can record sound.
Ric_ Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Get a digital dictaphone and use speech-text software. Or give the tape to a secretary whose job it is to type things up The Sony gear is also overpriced and hasn't been receiving a lot of praise of late WRT build quality and customer service.
plexer Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Yeah get an Ergo Microlite 401 12" screen 1.5kg lovely build quality under a grand. I have one Ben
StewartKnight Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 The price of the laptop is probably the equivilent of a secretarys wage for a month (if not 2 months!) That equates to 140 or 280 hours of typing!
Sylv3r Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 The head here has one of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00016KZGW/102-5765465-0407344?v=glance&n=541966 And she takes notes in the meetings she attends and is very happy with it.
plexer Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Or how about one of those electronic pad things you write as normal but the pen records your handwriting and then you hook it up to a pc and analyze the files. Ben
Ric_ Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Or how about one of those electronic pad things you write as normal but the pen records your handwriting and then you hook it up to a pc and analyze the files. Ben I think that this is what Ben means - I would interested to hear what they are like (perhaps a review for us?) At £150 it's a lot cheaper than a notebook!
plexer Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Yeah sorry just wanted to add to the thread that's the sort of thing but the one I've seen ain't a logitech one. I can't remember what it is at the moment but will have a look tomorrow if I remember. Ben
john Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Tablet PCs are an option, you can write on them, and do magic later
Ric_ Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Tablet PCs are an option, you can write on them, and do magic later You can't scribble quickly though which is what you would need to do in a meeting - you also pay a premium for the active screen. With the pen idea you get a tactile device for less money plus it gives a hard copy straight away... talking myself into getting one here!
john Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 If anybody has a tablet they want to rehome I am happy to accpet them
CheeseDog Posted March 23, 2006 Author Posted March 23, 2006 Actually mentioned tablet PCs when he first asked a couple of weeks back. But completly forgot about them since :oops: Saw a Toshiba one that myself and another member of staff at a school I support. Tried to scribble in the scrufiest handwriting you can imagine. The thing actually coped quite well unless you got really stupid. I'll have to find out what the software was as I get a feeling it may have been a demo. As for secretaries typing up things I'll mention now that I'm at a primary school so the secretary who'd be asked to do this has about 100 other jobs to do at the same time. Good point on cost though. I think I'll compile a list from this discussion and show him the options. Keep em' coming. Glad someone reminded me of those tablets
CheeseDog Posted March 24, 2006 Author Posted March 24, 2006 Actually on closer inspection that logitech pen look like it fit's the requirements the best. Could have almost 10 of those for the price of that Sony VAIO. Thanks again
crc-ict Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 I reckon the pen idea is one of the best. I have tried using both a PDA and a laptop to take lecture notes in the past and found them both to be a somewhat clunky way of doing it. If you're going down the laptop route, you better hope all staff are good at typing fast and accurately. Also, taking notes with a word processor or the like is rather limiting when it comes to diagrams, flowcharts etc. Unfortunately, when it comes to doing something quickly and 'live' so to speak, the humble pen and paper is hard to beat! Just my tuppence worth Chris.
Ric_ Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 @CheeseDog: If you get one of the pens, would you mind doing a review since it's something that looks like it would prove useful? Try chatting up your suppliers too and mention that you will be reviewing it for a community of 750 Network Manager types and see if they'll discount it for you too - EduGeek has the power!
CheeseDog Posted March 24, 2006 Author Posted March 24, 2006 @Ric_ No probs doing a review I'll just have to see if I can sell the idea to the head. I'll keep you posted.
Ric_ Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 @CheeseDog: You just descibe the situation in favour of your preffered option and show him figures and pictures (heads like pictures!). Sony VAIO laptop plus software licenses = £2000 Branded Tablet PC plus software licenses = £1500 Logitech pen thingy (no need for additional software) = £150 No brainer!
RoyG Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 I've got one of these - Acer tablet - great for scribbling or typing! Comes with XP Tablet edition, chuck on OpenOffice & you've got a superb, flexible bit of kit. I love it!! RoyG
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