laptop suggestions

[addison_mont]

I was hoping for people to throw out some suggestions on laptops they used in medical school. I'll be taking all my exams on it so I definitely want a quality laptop.

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[LuluLovesMe]

Screen Size?

Pen functionality?

Touchscreen?

Weight/Battery Life?

Budget?

 

[addison_mont]

Screen Size?

Pen functionality?

Touchscreen?

Weight/Battery Life?

Budget?

Budget isn't a concern, and I'm open to anything. The only this is is that I need a battery life of about 7 hours.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

XPS 13 would be my default recommendation. If you don't like the design of it, Thinkpad Carbon X1 or the HP Spectre x360 are similar quality machines.

 

[addison_mont]

XPS 13 would be my default recommendation. If you don't like the design of it, Thinkpad Carbon X1 or the HP Spectre x360 are similar quality machines.

Thank you so much!!!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

XPS 13, Razer Blade Stealth, Macbook Pro, Surfacebook, etc are all decent ultrabooks with decent battery life. The Razer also can also be used for gaming as it can sync with an external gpu too.

Overall though most computers have decent battery life and you'll always be around an outlet.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

XPS 13, Razer Blade Stealth, Macbook Pro, Surfacebook, etc are all decent ultrabooks with decent battery life. The Razer also can also be used for gaming as it can sync with an external gpu too.

Overall though most computers have decent battery life and you'll always be around an outlet.

Surfacebook is getting a 2nd gen soon. Wouldn't recommend buying now. It's also expensive if you don't need tablet and pen functionality.

Razer laptops suffer from lots of quality issues in my personal experience with 5-6 units.

Macbooks are really unmatched in quality. Not sure if OSX will be a problem in med school though.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Surfacebook is getting a 2nd gen soon. Wouldn't recommend buying now. It's also expensive if you don't need tablet and pen functionality.

Razer laptops suffer from lots of quality issues in my personal experience with 5-6 units.

Macbooks are really unmatched in quality. Not sure if OSX will be a problem in med school though.

They've been hit or miss. However it seems like Linus really likes his Razer. But who knows. Macbooks are going to be about 80% of your class.

Personally looking back for the price I'd have gotten an MSI laptop with a gtx 970m so that I could game when I go home.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Not to hijack the thread but what are your guys' thoughts on Macbook Pros? Thinking of getting a new one with the 8gb Ram and intel i5 processor solely for notetaking and exams. Anybody do that?

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Not to hijack the thread but what are your guys' thoughts on Macbook Pros? Thinking of getting a new one with the 8gb Ram and intel i5 processor solely for notetaking and exams. Anybody do that?

Nothing will be as dependable as a Macbook Pro. If you do get one though, get the 13". The 15" Macbook is still using a CPU that is 3 years old.

 

[Mr Roboto]

Not to hijack the thread but what are your guys' thoughts on Macbook Pros? Thinking of getting a new one with the 8gb Ram and intel i5 processor solely for notetaking and exams. Anybody do that?

I've had my MBP for 5 years. Upgraded to an SSD and put in 16gb RAM. It still works perfectly, has never had a problem, battery lasts for hours. I'd buy another without hesitation (if it is compatible with your exam taking software at school).

Meanwhile I've had three different Windows laptops at work in the past 6 months... first two crashed and burned without warning.

 

[Petypet]

I have owned 2 MBP in the last 10 years with my only issue is needing 1 new charger due to a frayed cord, highly recommended. Conversely, I've had 2 gaming desktops with windows and 1 dell laptop, all of which suffer from crashing issues.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Nothing will be as dependable as a Macbook Pro. If you do get one though, get the 13". The 15" Macbook is still using a CPU that is 3 years old.

Ah I see. Appreciate the advice. I do have my sister's macbook pro but it is 4gb ram and is about 7 years old. I have been saving up a ton of cash and have some friends that work at the apple store that can possibly get me a good price on a macbook product. What is your guys' take on having 2 laptops in school? one solely for notetaking and exams and the other for regular usage and music and phone syncing and all that jazz?

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Ah I see. Appreciate the advice. I do have my sister's macbook pro but it is 4gb ram and is about 7 years old. I have been saving up a ton of cash and have some friends that work at the apple store that can possibly get me a good price on a macbook product. What is your guys' take on having 2 laptops in school? one solely for notetaking and exams and the other for regular usage and music and phone syncing and all that jazz?

That seems like such a waste. If you must have a dedicated device only for note taking get an iPad pro with your laptop.

I would still recommend getting something that can do both though like the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, Spectre X2 or Lenovo Miix 700

If you game though that is a different story.

 

[dogemeow]

If you are the type that wants a tablet component to your laptop to write out notes and draw out pics:

-Microsoft Surface Book
-Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga X1
-Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 460

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Budget isn't a concern, and I'm open to anything. The only this is is that I need a battery life of about 7 hours.

get an acer chrome book. it's priced at under 200, nimble with an SSD, and boasts a 7 hrs battery life at regular use.

I've had mine for about 2 yrs now and still use it often as a take around for web surfing and note taking.

 

[cjfarrell21]

Not to hijack the thread but what are your guys' thoughts on Macbook Pros? Thinking of getting a new one with the 8gb Ram and intel i5 processor solely for notetaking and exams. Anybody do that?

I'm switching to a MacBook Pro after being a dedicated PC guy. I can't get over the dependability. I'm just hoping they release the 2016 model before I start in August -_-

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

get an acer chrome book. it's priced at under 200, nimble with an SSD, and boasts a 7 hrs battery life at regular use.

I've had mine for about 2 yrs now and still use it often as a take around for web surfing and note taking.

Any problems with is thus far?

 

[CoomassieBlue57]

I'm switching to a MacBook Pro after being a dedicated PC guy. I can't get over the dependability. I'm just hoping they release the 2016 model before I start in August -_-

Rumors are it's coming out 4th quarter.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Any problems with is thus far?

nope. I'm writing this comment on my chromebook as we speak and its as quick as the day I got it.

 

[dogemeow]

I hate to argue, but I have had a Chromebook for the past 2 years and although it is a great little device (great battery life and super light), I would definitely not recommend it for medical school. Yeah, I know I haven't started med school yet but I bought a Lenovo Yoga after being accepted because I know that I will not be happy with my Chromebook in medical school. The screen is too tiny, I can't write on it like a tablet to draw out pictures/charts, it frequently crashes if I have too many tabs open because of memory issues, and I really can't install any programs because it's a Chromebook.

It was a great device for undergrad notes, but I would not recommend it for anything more rigorous.

 

[cjfarrell21]

Rumors are it's coming out 4th quarter.

I read this soon after I posted -______________-
I feel like I could wait out two months till October for the new one... maybe I just don't know if that would be smart...

 

[AzizImSorry]

If you can wait for a few months, you can get a non-touch screen laptop and use AirBar when it comes out. If it actually works well, it would be a great investment at $69

http://www.air.bar/

 

[ButterButter]

I'm a Mac person, so I would recommend the Macbook Pro without hesitation. I've had 3 over the past 12 years or so and my current one is just over 4 years old. It runs so perfectly and is solid as a rock. Most of my class has Macbook Pros and there are no issues with our testing software or any compatibility issues with school. This shouldn't be a problem like it was in the 90s (I still chuckle when people say stuff like 'I wonder if it's compatible with Mac' for basic stuff). I'm not someone that needs to draw stuff out on a computer. I go with sketchbooks for that. If you like drawing on your device, then you can pair it with an iPad (like most of my class does) or go with one of the other notebooks mentioned above.

 

[D4C]

Macs are overpriced. Drop some money into a solid PC and you won't go wrong. Just don't buy a dinky 300$ dell/HP. Or an HP period.

 

[sharpstickie]

Just got a 2015 13" MacBook Pro with Retina for $950. I know that the 2016 model is coming out later this year, but at this price (it included the Adobe CS6 Suite and Microsoft office) I couldn't refuse.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Just got a 2015 13" MacBook Pro with Retina for $950. I know that the 2016 model is coming out later this year, but at this price (it included the Adobe CS6 Suite and Microsoft office) I couldn't refuse.

Is that with 8gb RAM? What other specs did you get and mind sharing if you used any discounts or promotions?

 

[addison_mont]

I think I'm going to stick to a PC over a mac, I've always had a PC and they've been pretty reliable. Although, my last two laptops were HP's and they tend to crash spontaneously the older they got.