Additional Monitor/Tablet?

[enantio1988]

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What do you all think about investing in an extra monitor as well as a tablet, in addition to the laptop I will be primarily using for class (Macbook Air)? Are a monitor and tablet overkill, or should I just invest in one of each? For those of you in med school, what sorts of tech tools do you find most useful?

 

[masaraksh]

Get a VHS player and a blackberry

 

[Rajayray2019]

What do you all think about investing in an extra monitor as well as a tablet, in addition to the laptop I will be primarily using for class (Macbook Air)? Are a monitor and tablet overkill, or should I just invest in one of each? For those of you in med school, what sorts of tech tools do you find most useful?

Get an external drive for the air, for sure. You'll likely wind up with tons of files from future classmates. I'd suggest using notability and google drive for notes. It will allow you to invite other people to work on them, so you can get a good note pool running. Also, you don't have to worry about losing files if your hardware explodes or something crazy.

As far as an additional monitor...I didn't find it necessary. Tablets can be nice for apps like essential anatomy, and things like that. But...not hugely important. Check in advance and see if your tuition includes a tech package. many schools are moving that direction, so you wind up with a new computer/tablet when you matriculate.

Most important...be versatile early on. Look at the systems other people are using initially, and find one that works for you. I'm a big fan of One Note. I would take heavy notes on my laptop, and kept my iPad mini with me everywhere. Sometimes it's nice just to have something small that you can read from instead of working on a computer.

 

[mik30102]

I love a second monitor, highly recommend. Don't see the point to tablets.

 

[Jabbed]

I love a second monitor, highly recommend. Don't see the point to tablets.

e-books

 

[Psai]

I love a second monitor, highly recommend. Don't see the point to tablets.

im walking around doing uworld while you're sitting on your second monitor

 

[DeucesHigh3]

Get both. The second monitor is crucial, and not terribly expensive. The tablet will be a bit silly for MS1 and MS2, but fantastic for Epocrates/UWorld/ebooks/surfing during your clinical years -- just make sure it'll fit in a white coat pocket.

+1 to OneNote. You can have your whole life on there, not just medicine stuff.

 

[Rajayray2019]

e-books

I will tell you...if your purpose is ebooks...they're a pain in the butt on tablets. A lot of them are just pdf's and you get a lot more versatility from an additional monitor. A lot of the schools don't use the books so much as they use powerpoint and lecture print outs. For books like R's Pathology...you'll want the actual book. Same with first aid.

 

[DeucesHigh3]

I will tell you...if your purpose is ebooks...they're a pain in the butt on tablets. A lot of them are just pdf's and you get a lot more versatility from an additional monitor. A lot of the schools don't use the books so much as they use powerpoint and lecture print outs. For books like R's Pathology...you'll want the actual book. Same with first aid.

To clarify, I meant review books during M3 -- the best time to study is the afternoon when your resident forgets to send you home, but you'll never be carrying around a physical book to actually utilize. Agreed that a lot of them aren't formatted well (I'm looking at you, Blueprints: Pediatrics), but it's way better than nothing. Plus, most tablets will have wayyyy better battery life than phones, so you can use the tablet 90% of the time and just drain phone battery for calls or if there's spotty wifi.

That said, if you have to choose between the two, pick the second monitor! It's life-changing to be able to have Wikipedia, Word, OneNote, and a PDF open at the same time to prepare for a presentation without having to alt-tab between things.

 

[Jabbed]

I will tell you...if your purpose is ebooks...they're a pain in the butt on tablets. A lot of them are just pdf's and you get a lot more versatility from an additional monitor. A lot of the schools don't use the books so much as they use powerpoint and lecture print outs. For books like R's Pathology...you'll want the actual book. Same with first aid.

Strongly disagree, it comes down to personal preference. I have 67 pdf textbook/review books on my 10 inch tablet which I can annotate with a stylus (galaxy note series). It's significantly more portable than a laptop and infinitely more so than a textbook. I can't even imagine lugging around Robbins in its 1500 page glory. I also have a compulsion about not annotating/highlighting physical textbook and everytime I see someone carrying around a torn-up FA I wince inside.

Anyway I don't see why getting a tablet would preclude anyone from getting a second monitor as you can grab one for under $100 these days.

 

[MedMinded]

Neither is essential, but I recommend both.

A 2nd monitor drastically increased my productivity during MS1 and MS2. Think about typing up notes, going through QBank, etc. and not having to flip between your internet browser and application. It's much more streamlined.

As anyone will tell you, a tablet is nice to have for clerkship because of portability and ability to keep textbooks/take notes. It's definitely not essential, but I get plenty of use out of mine, especially if thinks are slow that day and I've got extra time study. I can fit the tablet in my white coat and use it whenever I need it.

If you only want to buy 1 or the other, you can actually buy a tablet and use it as a 2nd monitor (albeit a very small one).

 

[snowflakes]

I love my second monitor. I have a super old one I found in my parents garage, and it does the job just fine. Ebay has tons of them for like $15 if you get a super ordinary one. It makes a huge difference to be able to play my lecture videos in one screen and annotate slides in the other, or read a paper in one and type notes in the other.

Don't know why you're considering tablet vs monitor as one or the other since a monitor can be pretty cheap. That said, don't know if a tablet is really necessary. More of a personal preference thing, I think.

 

[NickNaylor]

My setup at home is a quad monitor setup. It rules. I'm all about additional monitors.