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I am in the market for a shortcut/expander program and after reading input from other websites I am totally confused... so, can someone help straighten me out and guide me to what would be best for me? Since I have only used proprietary expanders (ESP/Dictaphone platform), and now whatever the shortcut/expander that is used on the DEP/DQ platform .. i don't really even know what questions to ask.. the only thing I have concluded is that shorthand and speedtype is the same? Are there differences?? why is the price so different... .. and so on ... anything one can share with me ... I can type like a madwoman, but don't ask me anything technical, as I am clueless!

Thanks for your input....

g8rk8r

Have a look under the Shorthand forums here (on the board index), and you will see that they are exactly the same. Exactly. The two differences are that:

A. Speedtype offers phone support, and Shorthand does not. SH offers email support, and take it from me that their support is top-notch. It absolutely is.

B. SH has a built-in file converter and will convert files from other expander formats for you, for free. You simply use the program to do it. With Speedtype, they do the conversion and you are charged for it.

I hope this is helpful!

thanks again .. that was my understanding... again, because I'm "non-technical" what are the chances of me being able to understand the directions and be able to convert my esp to sh on my own? Is this where I can find someone (like yourself??) who could help me when I'm stuck, frustrated, and overwhelmed? Do you know if this conversion can be done within the 30 day trial period with sh? I suppose I could always e-mail sh and ask that question?? thanks for your help.. this website is awesome.... g8rk8.

Oh, morning. I'm sorry, I didn't catch that you were asking about converting your own!

I am unsure what DEP/DQ is. I know we can convert a DocQScribe file to Shorthand. Shorthand doesn't yet have that platform included, but we have done it here, manually and with a macro. Or, do you work on something totally different? Whatever you work in, if you can email me your file, I'll be glad to give it a whirl for you, and I could test it out to be sure it works in SH. I am not certain the Speedtype people could convert it for you. As you said, you could write them both and ask about it. If you do decide to write me, I'm at harriebird@cox.net

Thanks for the compliment about the board!