Starting from scratch-want to do it right

I am an ER doc and the best prices, by far, are through the hospital with HP.  I am looking at the HP tm2t, and I cant afford much, so trying to see if what they offer will fit, or do I wait.

No one in my group uses tablets yet (although a few residents are trying Lenovo X41s from ebay).  I want to do more, and add voice recognition. 

I would like to use WSR (cant afford Dragon).  From what I read (here and hundreds of other linked pages), It can now dictate directly into a Citrix based EMR (we use EPIC - ECare).  This would be a must.

I would spend the money for the Sennheiser M3 with mods, but the area I would dictate in is a glassed in 4 man cubicle with 2 open doors, so there is some noise (I need the "cone of Silence" from Get Smart).  Honestly, it would be quicker to use a handheld mike, but they all seem to cost 3 times as much for the same accuracy (why-makes no sense-I'd think a good handheld would be cheaper). I dont care about wireless and refuse to look geeky by wearing a headset all the time).

The best HP  from the employee purchase plan would have the 9600 ULV core 2 duo processors at 1.6, Windows 7 64 bit with 6GB RAM, and a 7200 rpm HHD. 

Is this plenty fast enough for excellent WSR performance and accuracy, or would the faster core 2 duo's (either the older ones like on the X61 Lenovo or the newer i5 or i7's) make that big a difference with WSR?

The combo of PC (about $1100-1200) and mike (about $150) with some inexpensive WSR add-on software would be under $1400.  I wouldn't want to go more until I knew it would work in my setting (where I couldnt hide in a quiet spot all the time to dictate).

I would order tests and records from the touchscreen, and do part of the H+P with handwriting recognition, and the long verbage with WSR.  I would also like it be able to accept the proprietary scrip writing the ER uses, and load the PACS Xray reading software.  I currently use a workstation on wheels, which I am sure is not as powerful as the HP since its 1 1/2 years old...so I think this should all work - do you?

Questions:
-Lenovo now sells the i5 and i7 in the upcoming X201 tablets...HP probably will eventually - should I wait -  and would it matter for WSR?  I would use the tablet for nothing else.
-Would I get better bang-for-the-buck spending money on an X61 with faster processors that were not ULV, installing windows 7, and just getting 2 batteries?
-would Dragon Preferred be better than WSR if I trained it medical words?  I could never afford Dragon Medical.
-all my questions concern getting the least expensive but most accurate way to dictate.  I am willing to train WSR, but dont know if the HP intel ULV 9600 at 1.6 is fast enough or if faster would help accuracy. I would already do the other things (mike, usb sound card, find the quietest spot I can) to help accuracy.  What do any of you think?
-what else do I need to ask that I havent?

Thanks in advance (and thanks to those whose links I've followed closely)

Jeff

jeffandpamsmith wrote: Any recommendations between the M3 and Q7?

1. The Samson Q7 combo saver package with the cable and windscreen is reasonably priced, highly accurate and very noise canceling. It has two possibly minor downsides. First of all, it is bulky which may or may not be a problem you consider you need to be able to move from one desk to another. And as discussed it does not have an on/mute switch. WSR when using the WSRToolkit has a microphone toggle for all on/off by using the Control and Windows key in the lower left keyboard. See this at:
2. You may need to it the Andrea USB Sound pod if the sound quality from the built in soundcard is not well shielded and introduces electronic noise. For Tablet PC and this microphone we recommend the Andrea USB-SA because of its small size.

2. The Buddy StylusMic 7G USB Microphone is highly practical for Tablet PCs. It connects through the USB Port and actually the connection access a holder for the stylus/microphone. In addition, it has programmable buttons which allow you to move from one field to the next or add text macros. See this at:

Marty Markoe, eMicrophones, Inc. Up

Edited by mmarkoe_admin - 08/Mar/2010 at 10:32am