Need a recommendation for a good, economical (dentist talk for cheap) tablet PC.
Time to junk the paper forms and the scans.
Motion seems to be the most popular name out there but what works best with OpenDental?
Thanks,
drtmz
Tablet PC
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Rickliftig
- Posts: 764
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:50 pm
- Location: West Hartford, CT
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Re: Tablet PC
If you don't mind doing it yourself:
Keep your eye on ebay for a used Motion LE 1600/1700 or Motion C5/F5 . These are fairly current models and rugged.
A quick search shows that it is pretty easy to purchase these for $550 or less. I would make sure an operating system is installed and that backup disks are available - also, make sure that the stylus is included. You may have to order a docking station or backup disks separately.
Also, the Motions only come with and onscreen keyboard and of course no dvd/cd drive. For a keyboard, you can always plug into the usb port - same with the drive.
I keep the LE1700 hanging on the cabinet in my hygiene op (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2911&p=12496&hilit=tablet#p12496) and use it to enter needed tx while my hygienist writes up the notes. I intended to use it for video presentations (using the free Curve ED presentations) but they have TMI (too much information) - I'd rather put together a group of illustrations and do a Madden chalkboard type of thing. You can have the patient hold the laptop to see before/afters, etc.
They are great for a small office - they save a LOT of $$$ and hassles that are involved with placing a second monitor in each op and they are very hands on.
The IPAD and GPDDS presentation software is 'da bomb', but it doesn't run windows and you can't digitally sign it.
BTW - through patience and careful shopping I found my LE1700 for $202.50. It had a few small scratches, but I am the only one that notices it. It was so inexpensive that if it walked out the door or was dropped, I would only bat an eye once or twice!
Keep your eye on ebay for a used Motion LE 1600/1700 or Motion C5/F5 . These are fairly current models and rugged.
A quick search shows that it is pretty easy to purchase these for $550 or less. I would make sure an operating system is installed and that backup disks are available - also, make sure that the stylus is included. You may have to order a docking station or backup disks separately.
Also, the Motions only come with and onscreen keyboard and of course no dvd/cd drive. For a keyboard, you can always plug into the usb port - same with the drive.
I keep the LE1700 hanging on the cabinet in my hygiene op (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2911&p=12496&hilit=tablet#p12496) and use it to enter needed tx while my hygienist writes up the notes. I intended to use it for video presentations (using the free Curve ED presentations) but they have TMI (too much information) - I'd rather put together a group of illustrations and do a Madden chalkboard type of thing. You can have the patient hold the laptop to see before/afters, etc.
They are great for a small office - they save a LOT of $$$ and hassles that are involved with placing a second monitor in each op and they are very hands on.
The IPAD and GPDDS presentation software is 'da bomb', but it doesn't run windows and you can't digitally sign it.
BTW - through patience and careful shopping I found my LE1700 for $202.50. It had a few small scratches, but I am the only one that notices it. It was so inexpensive that if it walked out the door or was dropped, I would only bat an eye once or twice!
Last edited by Rickliftig on Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Another Happy Open Dental User!
Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net
Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net
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Rickliftig
- Posts: 764
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:50 pm
- Location: West Hartford, CT
- Contact:
Re: Tablet PC
One more thought: Motion has great support and seems to be the industry standard because all they make are tablets.
Another Happy Open Dental User!
Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net
Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net
Re: Tablet PC
Rick, Thanks for the input. The Motion brand does seem to be the standard.
Does the OD team have any recommendations?
Anyone else?
drtmz
Does the OD team have any recommendations?
Anyone else?
drtmz
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Joe Gordon
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:43 am
Re: Tablet PC
Rick is right on with Motion- esp going the ebay / craigslist route. Also a good idea if you get something and find out it doesn't work well for you, no worries if you haven't spent much. The first ones we got many years ago were Gateway tablet pc's. Junk- every hinge broke several times and even though we had the service contract, it was a major hassle. Now we have Fujitsu T4220 tab pc's. Very durable and great specs. The advantage of these is they can swivel and fold, so carried like a tablet, and you can open it up so it fxns like a laptop workstation. If you have no use for that, then I would go with Rick's rec.
Re: Tablet PC
Thinkpad X-series tablets are pretty good. A Pentium M model, like the Motion LE above, isn't expensive anymore.