What (technology) I need for research and dissertating . . . maybe.

In no particular order:

Dragon Naturally Speaking, or something else voice-recognition-y. Because typing gives me carpal tunnel, or something.

A USB memory stick (if that's what they are called). Because more memory devices = more compatibility and more backups = good.

Digital camera. Because photocopying archival documents is damn expensive ("expeez," says EC), but it's still nice to have the original (of sorts) to refer back to. This doesn't mean that I shouldn't try to transcribe as much as I can as I go along, of course. Oh, and voice recognition software might make the transcribing go faster. Maybe.

A new battery for my laptop. Because the one I have now is pitiable. Really. I feel sorry for it. So weak and un-powerful-like.

A new note-taking program. Maybe. Scribe 3.0 is disappointing me. I was willing to deal with the un-user-friendly-ness of Scribe 2.5, but I'm not so sure I am willing to deal with the lack of outline feature in this one. Unless it means I'll have to learn another un-perfect program. Which I wouldn't like. I could just use 2.5 again, but I think I should explore my options first.

A scanner. Some options: (1) flatbed, (2) pen/handheld. Hmm.

I already have a fax machine, thanks to my parents, who bought it and used it once. The instruction booklet was too long -- they couldn't deal with it. I kid you not.

What do you think? Give me advice, all you fellow research nerds out there!