Midwestern laptop

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I will be attending Midwestern University in the Fall and was wondering if any current students could give me some advice about the lap top requirement. We were told at the interview that it was required that we buy the lap top through the school, with the choice of a mac or a pc. Obviously, the mac will cost more than the pc. During the interview, an administrator suggested that we have a separate lap top for personal use and a separate one for d-school since the programs for d-school will be so large. I am wondering if the lap top bought for dental school will be of any use outside of dental school programs? If not, it seems like a waste to invest in a more expensive mac. On the other hand, I have been told that a large, bulky pc will be too much of a hassle for d-school. For those of you who had to make this decision, what do you think is the best thing to do?

For us, the cost was the same through the school whether we chose the mac or the pc. I went with the pc (a dell) dimply b/c I have had no prior exposure to mac and wasn't interested in taking on the challenge of learning the ins and outs of it at the beginning of dental school when I was already comfortable with pc. You do not need to purchase a separate computer. I have all of my school programs and files on mine plus pics and a game or 2 and it runs fine. Save your money If I had to choose over again, I would probably go with the mac. It runs better, has fewer bugs, and has greater capabilities than the pc. The only downside is shorter battery life. Good luck w/ your decision!

I concur w/ everything cjb said Except, i went w/ the Mac simply because that's what I was most comfortable using. You bring up 2 very good points, deeUGA--(1) Price, & (2) the need for separate laptops.

1. Price: At the time of our enrollment, all students were billed the same "fee" for the computer they chose, regardless of the operating system. So, that's a big thing to take in consideration. You should've gotten an email or some sort of correspondence w/ the specs of the computers available to u--i'd send you what ours were, but I'm sure they've changed from then. Personally, I just went through the options & figured which option was the biggest bang for my buck.

2. Separate laptops: This might just be my perspective, but i think it's safe to say that there's no need to get a separate laptop for personal use. This laptop will probably be by your side for the majority of your pre-clinical experience (i.e. 1st two years). I use mine for school AND personal use. You can create multiple accounts on it to help compartmentalize your data.
Also, you can always upsize your hard drive if you need to. Our Macs came w/ 160GB, which was plenty for school stuff. But with all my music & photos, I started to run out of room. So, I upgraded to a 500GB HD via Apple & that hasn't affected my warranty w/ the school.

Hope we've answered some of your questions!

I just bought a top of the line Dell XPS laptop and have no need or desire for any laptop they're pushing me to buy as mine would destroy it. What do I do - tell them I have a nice laptop that'll work fine and that it would be a waste to buy another?

You don't have a choice. You WILL be charged for it, it's built in to the cost.

Originally Posted by Chrono

I just bought a top of the line Dell XPS laptop and have no need or desire for any laptop they're pushing me to buy as mine would destroy it. What do I do - tell them I have a nice laptop that'll work fine and that it would be a waste to buy another?

Hi there,

Does Midwestern University only give students the option of Dell for PC's? Cuz if that's the case, i'm going to get a mac. Dell's aren't that great in my opinion.

Originally Posted by ctn3g

Hi there,

Does Midwestern University only give students the option of Dell for PC's? Cuz if that's the case, i'm going to get a mac. Dell's aren't that great in my opinion.

I can't say for sure, but judging by the comments from current students on the fb page, it sounds like just Dell. And it looks like a whopping 7 people
chose PC over Mac last year.

lame sauce...the only other pc i'd buy is a thinkpad.

Originally Posted by jeffity

I can't say for sure, but judging by the comments from current students on the fb page, it sounds like just Dell. And it looks like a whopping 7 people
chose PC over Mac last year.

I hope bootcamp works well too

That sucks that they forcefully charge u$ for laptop...hate when schools do that

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