Laptop preference for dental students

[ankylosaurus]

I'm trying to decide between a macbook air and a macbook pro and would like some advice from current dental students or students about to start. I will be starting dental school in August.

Is the advantage of a lightweight macbook air worth it? Will I need a macbook pro for the CD drive?

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[Flashes23]

The new macbook pro doesn't have a CD drive, but its almost the same size as the air. The air has ALOT of problems with over heating and virtually no memory. Stick to the Macbook pro!

 

[sacapuntas]

MBA has better battery life, is cheaper and can be equipped with more hardware than you will need for dental school. Either will be just fine so don't stress over this decision.

 

[chill45]

The new macbook pro doesn't have a CD drive, but its almost the same size as the air. The air has ALOT of problems with over heating and virtually no memory. Stick to the Macbook pro!

I would disagree with this statement. I have had my Air for 3 years now, runs like it did when I first opened it up. No overheating problems and 4gb of memory coupled with the solid state hard drive and it is all most would need for school. Both can be upgraded to 8gb memory and it looks like the new pro has the solid state drive as well. It still weighs 1.5lbs more than the air, around 40% thicker and the battery life is not nearly as long.

I would say a pro can be more beneficial for some, though. I had one starting out at undergrad and got an air two years later. It does all I ever did with my pro and the weight difference and size, I would pay more for another air than a pro (unless I really needed the computing power but looking at powerpoints and checking Facebook all day is all I will be doing anyways).

At least this thread is mac vs mac and not mac vs pc lol.

 

[oralcare123]

Make sure you back up regularly. My hard drive died 2.5 years after purchase

 

[ankylosaurus]

Thanks for the suggestions. Are a lot of software/programs used in dental school? Or is it mainly studying off of powerpoints?

 

[dernretellin]

think so,Make sure you back up regularly. My hard drive died 2.5 years after purchase,thanks

 

[Glimmer1991]

I just made a huge post about this over on the medical forums. I'll just copy and paste here.

Up until literally just last week, I used a 15" MB Pro since late 2008. It is 6 years old. It still works. And it works pretty dang well--just as well as the new Lenovos and whatnot I have to use at work.

However, after 6 years, I figured it was finally about time to pick up something that was a little bit snappier and updated. So my old computer has now been bequeathed to my father, and I have a new one.

First of all, I will never, ever go back to a PC unless I have to. Macs just work. And they work for a long time, plain and simple. I have used multiple PCs before and they were ready to crap out after 2 years--almost unusable at that point. Ugh. No thank you. My friends who bought PCs for undergrad also had issues at the 2-3 year mark, which just stinks.

I ended up going with the 13" MB Pro. Here are the specs and price:

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display
2.8 GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
512GB Flash Storage
AppleCare Protection Plan

Cost with student discount: $2,088 (computer) + $183 (AppleCare).
Also, by using ShopDiscover to buy it, I got an additional 5% cash back.

It's an expensive computer, no doubt. However, to me, it is 100% worth it to have a computer that is A) awesome and B) will last forever. You're going to be using your computer for ~4 hours a day for the next 4 years. You want something that holds up.

I didn't go with the Air, although they are sweet computers. First of all, the 13" Air is ONLY half a pound lighter than the 13" MB Pro. In your hand, the difference is almost completely unnoticeable. An 11", in my opinion, is just too small. I was fine to make the switch from 15"-->13" because the 15" was a bit bulky, but I won't go 11".

Also, you can just really beef up the MB Pro a lot more than you can the Air. I keep stressing longevity, and the better your computer is when you buy it, the greater the chance it has of staying applicable as new programs are developed. I loaded out my 15" back when I bought it 6 years ago, and I think that's a big reason why it's still working so well today.

The only spec I didn't increase on my Pro was upgrading the memory to 1 TB. I bought a Toshiba external drive to do that... It cost $80 bucks that way instead of $400. Here's the link if you're interested--so far, I'm really pleased with it.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba...7978&skuId=1783007&st=toshiba hard&cp=1&lp=14

I'm not sure how CPU-intensive (for lack of a better term) the programs will be that I have to use in dental school, but I wanted to make sure I had something that could handle them all with ease.

On to battery life... Granted, I have only been using my computer for a week. However, my brother has a 13" Air, and I have been able to compare mine to it. His gets a *little bit* more battery life, but not by much.

Quite frankly, when are you ever going to really need to use your computer for any longer than 9 hours without having access to a charger?

The longest I have used mine consecutively is 6 hours. I got home from work at 5 PM and browsed the Internet/watched Youtube videos until 11 PM. I had the brightness up pretty high. When I closed it down for the night, I still had 4.5 hours of battery remaining. If I hadn't been watching so many videos or had the brightness down a few notches, it would have been even more! I was majorly impressed.

Oh, and I have also installed Windows 8 on my Pro. It cost ~$130 to get the Windows operating system, and BootCamp comes pre-installed. It is running flawlessly. (Windows 8, btw, is STRANGE. Haha!) I will have to use this for a few programs at dental school. I'll probably end up using Parallels, but I won't buy it until after Yosemite is released.

I also have Office for Windows installed.

When I bought my computer, I picked up an extra charging cord. Yeah, it's pretty steep at 80 bucks... but it is SO NICE to be able to leave one cord at your home desk and not have to roll it up every time you want to take your computer somewhere!

The Retina display is just stunning, too. Since I study all of my notes from my laptop, I want something that is as easy on my eyes as can be.

I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out, but seriously, this is an amazing computer. I recommend it 100%. Please feel free to ask any questions, and I'd be more than happy to comment!

 

[chill45]

Note that @Glimmer1991 has the macbook pro with retina display. It is a lot more comparable to the air as far as weight and dimensions as opposed to the non-retina pro, but faster than the air. The retina pro is probably the best of the three but also at a $300+ price difference compared to an equally equipped air, which I would rank as second, but the pro obviously has a little more processing power. So if you just have to have the best look at the retina pro, which is a lot of computer for less than what I paid for my pro back in 2009. For most people that won't be able to tell the difference and want to save some money go with the air, but since Macs really are an investment with their longevity I would stick to one or the other as opposed to just the regular pro. I think they are using the "pro" name to sell people on those now.

If I could do it again I would probably pay the extra $100 to upgrade my Memory on my Air to 8gb, as a higher memory capacity would probably have a bigger effect on speed than a slightly faster processor. I would also think about upgrading to 256GB hard drive, though after having my 128GB capacity for three years I still have 31GB free, but I don't have much music or videos on my computer. I try to keep it freed up for school files only.

 

[chill45]

O and Applecare is a MUST!! I dropped my first macbook pro off a desk at school (about 3.5 ft off the ground) onto tile. About 6 months later my ram started giving me trouble. They replaced it with a brand new macbook pro even though they knew I had dropped it since the corner of the aluminum body was dented in significantly. Some people give the genius bar grief but they have done way more for me than I would have imagined. That is the only time I have had to go to the genius bar in 5 years that I have owned a mac and it was my own fault.

 

[Glimmer1991]

Oh yeah--definitely go with the Pro with Retina display. I would never suggest getting the "old" Pro--my bet is that they will phase those out soon, anyhow.

For a few hundred bucks extra, you really can get a MUCH beefier computer with the Retina Pro. I highly suggest maxing out everything other than the memory (512GB is enough, just buy an external drive). It will last you many, many years if you do this. The 16GB SDRAM and the fastest processor aren't necessary right now, but will they be useful in 3 years? Maybe! If I'm going to spend $1600 bucks (or whatever) to begin with, I might as well add another $400 bucks for added security.

I know they are expensive, but when you truly boil it down, it's not that bad. A beefed-up pro will last you 5-6 years, easy. You will likely use it 4+ hours every day, and you will at least use it all four years of dental school. I'm all about splurging a little bit on something that I want and need to last.

Definitely get AppleCare, if for nothing other than peace of mind. The phone support is helpful if you're in a bind, and they replaced my battery for me once. That battery basically covered the entire cost of AppleCare.

 

[Michael A. Blum]

I will recommend you to go for Mackbook pro. Air is good but if you believe in quality then mackbook is far better then others. Air has lots of problem regarding virtual memory issue and it also heating badly.

 

[r2thekesh]

I would go PC if I was buying a laptop. They're so much cheaper. You can buy 3 laptops for $400 before you get into the price range of an apple. If they last 2 years each, that's 6 years. If they last longer, you're playing with house money. And instead of buying them all at once, you can upgrade every few years. And you can put skins that make your desktop function like a Mac and get a cover and/or a sticker/light to have the Apple logo.

 

[Glimmer1991]

I would go PC if I was buying a laptop. They're so much cheaper. You can buy 3 laptops for $400 before you get into the price range of an apple. If they last 2 years each, that's 6 years. If they last longer, you're playing with house money. And instead of buying them all at once, you can upgrade every few years. And you can put skins that make your desktop function like a Mac and get a cover and/or a sticker/light to have the Apple logo.

Have you ever owned a Mac?

I've owned both. I'll never switch back.

On paper, a Mac and a PC might have the same exact stats. However, in reality, the Mac will just work better, faster, and more consistently... at least in my experience.

If you buy a $400 laptop, you get what you pay for. I had friends try it for undergrad. Yikes. I don't want to rely on something like that that I will need every day.

I'd rather not go through the hassle and stress of having a computer die on me. A new Mac can and will stay relevant for 6 years, especially if you load it up when you buy it and take relatively good care of it. A Mac will be lighting fast to begin with, and it will still be pretty dang fast when you retire it. It'll still work well.

 

[chill45]

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic ^^ but I have never had any overheating issues with my Air. It has gotten hot a couple times while charging and watching a movie, but if you google it that's normal and they will shut down before any damage is done, which mine never has. Just sitting in class going over powerpoint it won't heat up at all. Plus they have built in fans to help. I guess what I'm trying to say is the overheating is not really an issue to worry about or Apple would change the design. You get what you pay for with Apple and I don't think they would keep producing a product for over 6 years if it wasn't up to par with their standards.

 

[ModifiedBass]

If your computer is dying after a couple of years of use, regardless of whether it's a mac or pc, it's most likely your fault. I've never had an issue with a pc which is why I'm not gonna spend the money on a mac until these "issues" start popping up.

 

[Mediumrare]

I considered getting a new computer, however, I decided to upgrade my 2009 macbook pro and will hope that it lasts. I upped the Ram to crucial 8GB, put in a new battery and new 2TB Western Digital HD. Did it all for less than $250. I'm looking at a tablet for though, and will decided if its worth the investment or not. For those in dent school, do you have a tablet?

 

[free99]

I considered getting a new computer, however, I decided to upgrade my 2009 macbook pro and will hope that it lasts. I upped the Ram to crucial 8GB, put in a new battery and new 2TB Western Digital HD. Did it all for less than $250. I'm looking at a tablet for though, and will decided if its worth the investment or not. For those in dent school, do you have a tablet?

How's your new battery working out? What brand did you land on, anker? I swapped an anker battery out for my stock apple battery in a 13" mbp and am a little disappointed with the results. Better than before, but I only get about 1.5-2.5 hours, depending on what I'm doing.

 

[sgv]

Thanks for the suggestions. Are a lot of software/programs used in dental school? Or is it mainly studying off of powerpoints?

just powerpoints pdf patient records browsing

 

[Glimmer1991]

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

One would hope... but I've heard multiple PC users give similar logic.

 

[Glimmer1991]

If your computer is dying after a couple of years of use, regardless of whether it's a mac or pc, it's most likely your fault. I've never had an issue with a pc which is why I'm not gonna spend the money on a mac until these "issues" start popping up.

I had two Dell laptops consecutively before I switched to my MB Pro. I treated them all the same. BOTH of the Dells had completely crapped out by the two year mark. The Pro is still going strong after 6 years.

I promise I didn't abuse them! And my boyfriend's first PC that he got in high school crapped out after 2 years, too. He didn't abuse it. His Lenovo did last him throughout undergrad without dying, but it sure as heck didn't do a good job of it... slow, slow, slow, even after help from multiple venues. Unfortunately, it wasn't a cheap Lenovo, either.

I know there are some good PCs out there, though! My parents had a Sony Vaio desktop that was maxed out (at the time) and it lasted a solid 6 years. However, you won't ever sway me back. If you start using a Mac, you might feel the same way, too...

 

[Mediumrare]

How's your new battery working out? What brand did you land on, anker? I swapped an anker battery out for my stock apple battery in a 13" mbp and am a little disappointed with the results. Better than before, but I only get about 1.5-2.5 hours, depending on what I'm doing.

I purchased an apple brand battery from amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWO7KNY/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I havent had any problems at all with it, although it considers a "recharge cycle" if it goes below 92%. I like to keep on top of my computer info so I downloaded coconut battery to monitor the health of the battery and I run between 95-100% of charge capacity as it cycles.

 

[sacapuntas]

How's your new battery working out? What brand did you land on, anker? I swapped an anker battery out for my stock apple battery in a 13" mbp and am a little disappointed with the results. Better than before, but I only get about 1.5-2.5 hours, depending on what I'm doing.

I put this battery in a 2009 MBP and I am getting 3.5-4.5ish hours of battery life on that computer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AJ9QY52/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I am pretty happy with that, because my Mac battery was completely shot and it died when you unplugged it.

I also put a SSD into it instead of a HD and that actually did help quite a bit. Overall the computer was sluggish and unresponsive, but it's at least useable again.

If your computer is dying after a couple of years of use, regardless of whether it's a mac or pc, it's most likely your fault. I've never had an issue with a pc which is why I'm not gonna spend the money on a mac until these "issues" start popping up.

I agree with this. There is nothing magical about Mac's and the more you use a variety of computers over the years, the more you realize this.

I never would have bought a Mac except my school required it due to cost and past negative experience. The most problematic computer I have ever owned is a Macbook Pro (within a few years of owning it had to replace HD, CD Drive, Battery, Logic Board and send it into Apple 2 different times for unknown issues as it would do the rainbow wheel constantly.

The best laptop I have owned is a Toshiba. Problem free from day 1 until I finally screwed it up with a glass of water.

 

[Mediumrare]

I put this battery in a 2009 MBP and I am getting 3.5-4.5ish hours of battery life on that computer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AJ9QY52/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I am pretty happy with that, because my Mac battery was completely shot and it died when you unplugged it.

I also put a SSD into it instead of a HD and that actually did help quite a bit. Overall the computer was sluggish and unresponsive, but it's at least useable again.



I agree with this. There is nothing magical about Mac's and the more you use a variety of computers over the years, the more you realize this.

I never would have bought a Mac except my school required it due to cost and past negative experience. The most problematic computer I have ever owned is a Macbook Pro (within a few years of owning it had to replace HD, CD Drive, Battery, Logic Board and send it into Apple 2 different times for unknown issues as it would do the rainbow wheel constantly.

The best laptop I have owned is a Toshiba. Problem free from day 1 until I finally screwed it up with a glass of water.

I actually agree. My best laptop was a Toshiba Satellite and it lasted for 7 years. This macbook pro that I have I kind of "borrowed it permanently" from my wife. As such, since it was free I figured I will hope that it lasts for the entirety of D-School.

 

[DanielLee5]

Macbook is great but I decided to buy Sony Vaiao, as I am not going to use all the advantages of Macbook. I need the simplest programs for studying, good computer glasses and reliable computer. Japanese gadgets are very reliable and durable, and the prices are usually more affordable.

 

[THS]

It honestly doesn't matter. You won't have any different dental school experience with a $700 hp laptop or a $2500 macbook pro