Affinity Law Office Technology Blog

Law Office Tech Deals for Week of June 29

Radio Shack has the well-reviewed budget-priced MIO Moov 200 and MIO Moov 300 (widescreen) GPS units on sale for $129.99 and $169.99, respectively.  Both have text-to-speech for audible and well as visual driving directions. 

If you want a sleek portable USB hard drive to back up your notebook PC, Best Buy has the Western Digital My Passport Essential III USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive in black or sun yellow on sale for $79.99.  The 160 GB capacity closely matches the size of most notebook PC hard drives.

If you need more screen space to see every application window you keep open on your PC, step up to a 22" wide-screen LCD monitor.  Circuit City has the LG 22" widescreen on sale for $269.99.  This monitor received excellent user reviews.   

Palm Centro Finally Reaches Verizon Wireless Customers

For a company that touts the best wireless network, Verizon Wireless sure has a slow product-release cycle.  Many months after other wireless carriers began offering the Palm Centro smart phone, Verizon has finally caught up.  Although Palm's aging operating system is hardly state-of-the-art, it is intuitive, stable, and (most importantly) compatible with leading practice management software.  My new Windows Mobile 6 smart phone will do some things that are impossible on a Palm OS-based smart phone, but it is more complicated to use.  Lawyers looking for simplicity, yet sync-ability with Amicus Attorney and other law office software, in a small and inexpensive package, should look at the Centro.  At $99.99 with a two-year contract, the Centro is the cheapest truly useful smart phone offered to Verizon Wireless customers.

   

Windows Mobile extras from Microsoft

As a recent convert from a Palm OS-based Treo to a Windows Mobile 6-based smart phone, I am slowly exploring this strange operating system.  WM6 seems to do more, but not as simply or intuitively as the more basic Palm OS. 

Microsoft has recently updated its Windows Mobile web site, now calling it Total Access.  Once you create a free account, there are many no-cost add-ons available there from themes to wallpaper and software.  I found several color/graphic themes that are pleasing to the eye and enhance the readability of the on-screen text on the "Today" screen, which is the WM6 home page.  I also downloaded an installed Viigo, which is a neat RSS reader for Windows Mobile that automatically updates content for a wide variety of channels you are able to select.  It is a great (and free) way to keep up to date with news, politics, technology, or almost anything else.      

Is that a projector in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Projectors have been common-place for training and trial presentations.  They have also been used with notebook PC's for smaller-scale mediation and arbitration proceedings.  But even the smallest projector requires bringing a separate carrying case or finding room for it in a larger wheeled case.

Texas Instruments is now showing pre-production models of its sub-$400 Pico Projector.  A recent preview by Laptop Magazine shows how tiny this device is (about the size of a smart phone).  Although you wouldn't use it in a large room for dozens of people, you could use it in a conference room to display a presentation for an ADR hearing or to train small groups.  It will connect and display images from an iPod and many smart phones. 

This could help many lawyers take their show on the road without carrying anything more than a smart phone and a similarly sized projector.  In the next few years we may see the Pico projector actually built-into smart phones and digital media players.   

Law Office Tech Deals for Week of June 22

As summer travel season hits (assuming you can afford to travel by car with $4 plus per gallon gas), there are many good deals on portable GPS navigation devices.  One of the best budget-priced GPS devices, the TomTom One, is on sale at Office Depot for $129 after a $50 mail-in rebate.  TomTom GPS devices usually get high ratings for their easy-to-use interface and free map updates.  Another well-reviewed budget GPS is the Mio Moov 200 on sale at Kmart for $129.99.  If you want to take a step up to a widescreen GPS device, the Garmin Nuvi 200W is on sale at Office Depot for $199.99.  All of these units have on-screen and spoken word turn-by-turn directions.

If you are an AT&T wireless customer or willing to switch, you can get a great deal on one of the most compact smart phones on the market, and one likely to sync with your practice management or time/billing software.  The Palm Centro is just $29.99 at your local Radio Shack store with a two-year AT&T cellular contract. 

I love Skype's voice over Internet protocol telephone (VoIP) service.  The basic (computer to computer) service is free, but you can add the ability to make unlimited calls to any regular or cell phone in the U.S. and Canada for just $2.95 per month.  Go world-wide for only $9.95 per month.  If you have an international practice or clients who travel abroad, this is a bargain.  If you install Skype on your notebook PC, you can make free calls anywhere you can find a Wi-Fi connection and save your cell minutes.  Skype is much more pleasant to use when you wear a computer headset with built-in microphone.  I use the Radio Shack Gigaware VoIP USB Headset.  It is half-price at $14.99 after a $5 discount and a $10 mail-in prepaid card that can be used anywhere that credit cards are accepted.  It comes with the Skype software on a mini-CD.  On-line reviews of the headset have been mixed, but it works very well for me, and the price is hard to beat.         

ScanSnap S510 Initial Impressions

Two recent appeals with especially long transcripts led me to conclude that the scanner built-into my trusty Brother all-in-one laser printer was too slow for large jobs such as scanning in thousands of transcript pages.  I'd used and supported Visioneer and Xerox DocuMate scanners in the past.  They are identical but for cosmetics and (sometimes) software bundles.  So I was initially tempted to go that route.  Then I began researching small home-office document scanners on-line (as I always do before an important purchase).  There were rave reviews about the Fujitsu ScanSnap series and particularly the S510 model.  Those reviews, and a $50 main-in rebate (through June 30), led me to give the S510 a try. 

The box arrived from NewEgg.com with some damage, but nothing inside seemed affected.  I opted for the deluxe bundle, which adds the Rack2-Filer scan management software.  Rack2-Filer seems to do what PaperPort does for the Visioneer and Xerox scanners.  I have not fully explored it yet, so my comments here will not include the Rack2-Filer software. 

In addition to Rack2-Filer, the software bundle includes the ScanSnap manager software (drivers, a configuration utility, and a "Scan2" utility that allows you to save your scans to folders, email, etc.), Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard, and Abbyy Fine Reader OCR software.  Installation went smoothly and when the scanner was plugged in (do this only after all of the software is installed), the drivers installed and I was set to get to work. 

My first batch of scanning, transcripts from a child custody appeal, did not go well.  I could tell from handling the paper that there was something odd about it.  The ScanSnap thought so too, repeatedly pulling multiple pages.  Each time it did so, I had to start over.  I began to think I made a mistake not going with the Visioneer or Xerox scanners.  The ScanSnap has a 50 page document feeder, so I decided to load 45 pages at a time just to be safe.  After a few failures, I tried gently resting my hand at the top of the paper stack in the autofeed to provide some downward force.  With the odd paper, that worked and I finished the first transcript (the shorter of the two appeals at around 1200 pages) quickly. 

As it turned out, it was the paper, not the scanner, causing the autofeed problems.  The next batch of transcripts, and by far the largest, was on what felt like regular copy paper.  I scanned-in about 2000 pages for that appeal.  There was only one misfeed, and that was on a cover page that was torn on the leading edge (perfectly understandable).  When I ran it through again after straightening the torn section, if fed through without a problem.

I used the configuration setting to automatically convert scans to searchable PDF format.  At the end of the physical scanning process, there is a delay while the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) needed for the searchable PDF format is performed.  Once the OCR is done, the manager software pops up and lets you select where you would like to save the scanned document or what you would like to do with it (such as email it).  I chose to save it over the network to the drive where I store my client documents.  The save process happens very quickly, even to a network drive over a wireless connection.

Physically, the S510 is tiny.  And unlike the Visioneer and Xerox scanners I've used, the input and output trays are designed to fold over one another onto the scanner housing for easy transport.  Nothing needs to be removed.  That process also shuts off the power to the scanner (although there is also a dedicated power button on the front panel if you decide to leave the trays extended while the S510 sits on your desk, but want to power the scanner off during periods when it is not being used).

But for the S510's problems with the strange paper from the first transcript, I am impressed.  Hopefully it will turn out to be as reliable as the Visioneer and Xerox document scanners I've used in the past.  So far, the S510's lack of TWAIN compliance does not seem to be a problem.  But if you must use software that requires a TWAIN-compliant scanner, the Visioneer or Xerox would be a better choice.         

The new mini-notebook champ?

The ground-breaking Asus Eee gets the most press (I have one myself and love it), but there are other mini-notebooks, also known as Ultra Mobile PC's or UMPC's, on the market that may be a better choice.  Laptop Magazine, usually the best source for information about mobile computing. 

Laptop Magazine's UMPC Editor's Choice is MSI Wind running Windows XP Home.  At $499, it is $100 more than my Linux-based Asus Eee 701 (or the XP variant of the same machine), but it features a noticeably larger 10 inch screen and roomier keyboard for touch typing.  It is also very fast and has plenty of storage for a UMPC.  It features the new Intel Atom processor and an 80 GB 5400 rpm hard drive.  Battery life is excellent at just over 4 hours with Wi-Fi and 5 1/2 hours with the radio turned off.   

This is the UMPC of choice (until the next "best thing" comes along). 

Law office tech deals for the week of June 15

Color touch-screen GPS units for in-car use are all the rage these days.  With gas now topping $4 per gallon, you can't afford to get lost and drive around searching for your destination.  Just as Radio Shack's sale on the budget-priced but full-featured Mio Moov 200 GPS ended, Sears and its sister store, Kmart, placed the same model on sale for $149.99. 

My favorite wireless notebook mouse (which I've been using for the last two years without a single problem), the Microsoft Wireless Laptop Mouse, is on sale at Circuit City for only $14.99 after a $15 mail-in rebate.

I've been very impressed with my Wenger Swiss Gear notebook backpack.  Wenger also offers a more traditional Swiss Gear notebook case for those who need something more formal than a backpack.  The Impulse notebook case fits 15.4 inch notebooks.  It is on sale at Circuit City for $39.99.  The on-line user reviews are very positive.  It appears to be a stylish, rugged, and practical case at a very good price.

It may be time to take your wireless network to the Nth degree (in other words, upgrade to the draft 802.11n standard).  The compact, nicely-styled, and well-reviewed Linksys Wireless N Ultra RangePlus Router is on sale at Circuit City for $79.99.  It is backward compatible with wireless B and G devices, but the real magic in terms of speed and range comes when you mate it with a Wireless N network adapter on sale for $69.99.

Add huge file storage and remote access to your network with the Western Digital 1TB My Book World Edition external hard drive on sale at Best Buy for $229.99.  Unlike other external drives that attach to a USB port on one of your PC's, this drive connects via Ethernet cable directly to your router or switch.  1 Tera-byte of storage is huge at this price point. 

Two words of caution about this drive.  Make sure you update the drive's firmware from the Western Digital web site and you may want to skip the Mionet remote access software installation if you don't need it.  Go to Appendix A in the manual instead.  You'll find that the drive has a browser accessible control software embedded on the drive that lets you set this drive up in a snap.   

Bargain-priced GPS unit

Most lawyers have schedules packed wall-to-wall.  We can't afford get lost while finding our way to a meeting, deposition, or court appearance.  A portable GPS (Global Positioning System) unit is helpful in getting us to our destination on time.  But many GPS units from leading manufacturers are pricey.  The new MIO Moov 200 isn't.  At a list price of only $179.95 and a street price of only $150 at your local Radio Shack store and many on-line retailers, it is a bargain that doesn't omit important features such as spoken turn-by-turn directions.  The Moov 200 has received good reviews by Navigadget and PC Magazine.  If you need a GPS unit but don't want to spend much, the Mio Moov 200 should do everything you need it to do. 

Free antivirus program gets better

For years, Grisoft's AVG antivirus program has been the most popular free protection for use on personal (as opposed to business) computers.  But there are other alternatives, including Avast! Antivirus, which I have been using on my home desktop PC for two years.  Avast! has released its new version 4.8 Home Edition, which remains free for personal use.  It now has spyware and malware protection in addition to blocking viruses.  A recent PC Magazine review gave it a rating of 4 out of 5, which is very good for a free program.  Business users can opt for the professional version for $39.95 after a 60-day free trial.  There are discounts for multiple licenses.