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A good source for small foot print keyboards; ideal for treatment rooms.

Mini Silver Keyboard Price $79.95
Product Details
Features 11.81″W x 5.91″D x 0.71″H 88 standard size keys. Functionality of a 104 keyboard. Great for desk with limited work space. Available in PS/2, USB or USB with bilt-in Hub Scissors keycaps makes typing silent, stable and comfortable Fully compatible with Windows 95 98 Me, NT 2000 XP
Mini Silver Keyboard – See Options [1].

[1] http://www.ergonomicsmadeeasy.com/index.asp?pageaction=

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A simple and inexpensive, yet very powerful component to effective use of technology in the treatment room is multiple inputs. Input refers to any device, which allows the user to access the computer. The most common input devices are a keyboard and mouse. However there are other options as well such as light pens, touch pads, track balls, pen tablets, mini keyboards, voice and even bar code scanners.
When we first moved computers to the back we used the desktop model and had a single data entry point with a keyboard and mouse on the assistant’s side. As we developed the electronic chart and started using digital radiology, computerized notes, digital imaging and patient education we soon discovered we needed more input access.
For example, if the doctor wanted to view or manipulate a certain x-ray he would have to ask the assistant to bring it up on the screen and then manipulate it. As you can imagine this was a problem and ended up taking two people to do the job of one in a pretty ineffective manner. The same problem occurred with chart information. If the dentist wanted to read the previous appointment notes or review the treatment plan he had to ask the assistant, in front of the patient, to do it for him. Or worse yet he had to get up and move to the other side of the room, break asepsis, and do it, again in an ineffective manner.
The solution was a second input device on the doctor’s side of the room. This can be any type of input; we used a pen and tablet, a touch pad and even a wireless infrared keyboard. However we found what really worked well was a simple mouse.
In recent years the introduction of inexpensive and reliable wireless mice and keyboards has made this easier to accomplish.

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I received an e-mail from Tom Block regarding a new ultra small computer he has been putting in dental offices. You can read what he has to say below and contact him at www.blockdata.net [1]

“These are awesome and very versatile machines, I think they will transform dental computing in the near future. We have them installed in four different offices to date and our clients love the size and mounting options.  Plus they are just plain cool (literally) at 95 Watts.
We did a show special featuring the 945-D with slot loading DVD-RW, Intel 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo CPU 667MHz FSB, Intel 945 Chipset, 2GB DDR-2 SODIMM 667MHz RAM, 80GB HDD, and XP Pro for $999.00.”
 

[1] http://www.blockdata.net/

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Hard Drive: The hard drive is the main storage memory of the computer. Hard drive storage is measured in Gigabytes or GBs. In computer talk this is called a gig. The higher the GB of the hard drive the more total storage you have.
Random Access Memory: This is abbreviated as RAM. RAM was measured in Megabytes, or MB. New computers are now available with 1000MB which is a gigabyte. RAM is the active memory a computer has to process or manipulate data. The higher the RAM number the more memory is available. More RAM will allow you to do more things on the computer simultaneously and faster. Having too little RAM is a common cause of computer freezes or crashes. If this happens then you use the alternative RAM definition, Rarely Adequate Memory.
The two kinds of memory or storage confuse some people. A useful analogy is to think in terms of books. The hard drive storage is the total data you have available. It is like all the books you have on the shelves. The more shelves you have the more hard drive storage you have. The RAM memory is the book you have taken off the shelf and are currently reading. RAM is like your desk, the bigger the desk the more books you can keep open on it.

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Product Overview
Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing. Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed. Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute. More than 88,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers. New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise. Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy. Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly. Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times. More than 250 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN’s Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post. Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces. Holds over 200 titles. Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours. Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones—so you never have to locate a hotspot. No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read. Includes free wireless access to the planet’s most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org. Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.
Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store [1].

[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_5873612_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1JESB8VZS5M4K04KP3NB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=329252801&pf_rd_i=507846

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The average computer user only becomes aware of his or her hard drive in two circumstances: When it fills, or when it fails.
Hard Drives: Under the Hood [1].
Follow the link if you want to learn more.

[1] http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2214377,00.asp

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Bottom Line:The Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ is an excellent combination of small-business RAID muscle, gigabit throughput, and home-oriented media features. It’s expensive, but worth the price if abundant storage, fast transfers, and RAID reliability are what you need.
Pros: Fast transfers. Supports the three major desktop OSs. Granular performance-tweaking settings. Well-behaved network client. Many features.
Cons: Some parts of setup are tricky. Attached USB hard drives must be FAT or FAT32, not NTFS. Expensive.
Netgear ReadyNAS NV+: At A Glance – Reviews by PC Magazine [1].

[1] http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2205357,00.asp

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OATS Stands for Office Automation Technology Solutions. This is the acronym for a new service from Sullivan Schein Dental. OATS will provide hardware and IT (Information Technology) support for dentists through the existing Sullivan Schein dealer network.
Dentists will have a single source for hardware purchase, set up, service and support. It will eliminate the blame game between hardware and software vendors and help dentists get the right computers and keep them running efficiently.
OATS will launch within a limited area by the end of the year. I will provide more information as the project progresses.

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Moore’s Law states that computing power will double every eighteen months. He has been right for forty years. This means that it is foolish to shop for a computer that will last for the rest of your practice life. It is foolish to worry about filling up your server hard drive in four or five years. It is foolish because you will be able to upgrade to much better equipment  at a lower expense in a relatively short time.
So the lesson is buy what you need to do a good job in the office today. Don’t try and buy a computer for what you will be doing three years from now. Because in three years there will be computers four times better than what you can get today.

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This looks like a phone add on. However if it reduces noise would this be useful to improve voice activated charting. Interesting.

CrystalTalk™ (kris’t?l-tôk). n. Noise-canceling technology manufactured by Motorola; “a bundling of microphone noise reduction and noise adaptive speaker enhancements meant to improve the clarity and intelligibility of speech while you are in a noisy environment.” – Motorola.com
Motopure H12 = H680 + CrystalTalk – Gearlog#more [1].

[1] http://www.gearlog.com/2007/11/motopureh12_h680_crystaltalk.php#more

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