Anyone getting a tablet laptop for pharmacy school?

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mrd1080

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Hey everyone!

I was just curious if anyone if planning to get a tablet PC for pharmacy school? I was talking to my friend from UOP and she says that its really useful for school. Does it really replace just using pencil and paper? tell me what yall think
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mrd1080 said:
Hey everyone!

I was just curious if anyone if planning to get a tablet PC for pharmacy school? I was talking to my friend from UOP and she says that its really useful for school. Does it really replace just using pencil and paper? tell me what yall think
Click to expand...

I have a tablet, and I'm not sure if it can replace pen and paper. It may be because I haven't mastered writing with a stylus. But I know people who can use it effectively.
 
mrd1080 said:
Hey everyone!

I was just curious if anyone if planning to get a tablet PC for pharmacy school? I was talking to my friend from UOP and she says that its really useful for school. Does it really replace just using pencil and paper? tell me what yall think
Click to expand...


What would be the benefit of getting a tablet PC vs. regular laptop. My stupid sony keeps acting up and I am about to buy a new laptop. Do tablet PCs really live up to all the raves ?

P.S. I am one of those people that like to go to class and take detailed notes.
 
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I'm looking into it (probably a Fujitsu lifebook or a Lenovo X60/X61)... but I"m going to do the old fashioned "pen/paper" technique for my fall semester and make a determination from there.
 
cheburashka said:
What would be the benefit of getting a tablet PC vs. regular laptop. My stupid sony keeps acting up and I am about to buy a new laptop. Do tablet PCs really live up to all the raves ?

P.S. I am one of those people that like to go to class and take detailed notes.
Click to expand...

See, I'm wondering the same thing. My HP laptop died 4 weeks ago (stupid power issues), and I know I'm getting something, just don't know what. And don't want to make up my mind any sooner than I have to.

Anyone have one that they use and would recommend?

Can you rent one anywhere to try it out???
 
Creighton students get one for free - don't buy one!
 
pharmpilot said:
See, I'm wondering the same thing. My HP laptop died 4 weeks ago (stupid power issues), and I know I'm getting something, just don't know what. And don't want to make up my mind any sooner than I have to.

Anyone have one that they use and would recommend?

Can you rent one anywhere to try it out???
Click to expand...


Well I'll tell you what not to get. Do not get a sony - mine is only 2 years old and it broke 3 !!! days before the warranty expired👎. I reported it the same day - they refused to fix it. Apparently in order for the to fix it - I should have extended my warranty a month prior - so even though my laptop broke when it was still covered because I didn't extend my warranty they did nothing. 😡


The estimate to fix it I got ranked up over $ 400 - so I saving money right now to buy a new laptop. I guess instead of buying a KOOBA bag I'll have to shell out money for a new laptop.:cry:
 
Tablets that are under $1500 generally suck because they are expected to do so much, and most come with Vista, and most of these don't have top notch components.

I have an ASUS F3 Series Laptop. It's much more powerful than my desktop.

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz
2 GB DDR2 RAM
nVidia Geforce 8600 GS

I usually type all my notes, but the downside of this is that I am screwed in classes when the professors start drawing things. Well, either way I am screwed because my artistic skills blow.
 
I have a macbook and plan on getting a small Wacom tablet to annotate--downside is I think it only works in Office 2007 (which is buggy as hell) so I'll have to upgrade. I hate stupid .docx, .exex, .pptx files!! Even though every mac can convert them, other computers running anything pre-2007 have to download an extra converter.
 
well I have a tablet PC by Acer that I've been using for almost my whole undergraduate education. It really does replace your pen and pencil, well at least until it comes down to exam time. Every tablet I've seen has microsoft journal which allows you to write on notebook paper (you can also do anything that you usually do when you write on regular paper like highlight, draw, ect.) The best thing is that when you need to squeeze some more notes onto a page that is already full, you can add space to fit in whatever you need. Also, I don't know if you guys have had professors who make mistakes after writing so many notes and that means you have to erase everything .. but on a tablet, you can just erase with a touch of the erase tool. There is also different note paper like graph paper and even music paper if you need it. I can also annotate (with a writing tool) my Word and Powerpoint documents which I love. There's many other things you can do with a tablet, I'm actually still learning new things everyday. I really don't carry anything else with me, and this Acer tablet is only 10 inches so its very portable. Thought I'd give my two cents, hope it helps! 🙂 (oh an I didn't spend anything like 1500 in this lol)
 
Kinda like "free universal healthcare" ?
 
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Alright, you guys seduced me into buying this tablet PC. So can somebody reccomend a particularly good or ok one ? It needs to be about 13.3 - I can't have anything smaller as my eyes get tired easily. Maybe about 1500 $ ?

Am I asking for impossible ? 😳
 
Got me a $479 Acer, it's no tablet PC but it also wasn't $1500. It suits me: it's fast enough and not too big (14.1"). Not sure if I need one for UT, but I know I will use it.
 
mrd1080 said:
Hey everyone!

I was just curious if anyone if planning to get a tablet PC for pharmacy school? I was talking to my friend from UOP and she says that its really useful for school. Does it really replace just using pencil and paper? tell me what yall think
Click to expand...

This is a topic I've spoken to in other threads. I'm a big tablet fan.

I am 100% paperless. We have the occasional professor who hands out paper for activities. I just write on it, scan it later and throw the paper in the recycle bin.

In addition, I also have Dipiro and the Handbook of Non-prescription Drugs on my tablet

My tablet weighs four lbs. Dipiro, the HONPD and binders full of notes combined easily weigh 10 times that.

Cheburashka, I paid about $1500 for the "lower end" Toshiba Portege. The hard drive is smaller and the processor a little slower than the upper end machines, but I don't feel that performance is lacking. Don't upgrade the RAM from Toshiba, you'll pay twice as much. Just get the minimum amount (1GB) and upgrade it when RAM goes on sale at Best Buy.
 
If you're gonna do gaming, build a performance desktop for that...if you try running games on a laptop, you're always going to have heat and performance issues, or size issues at that point.

The fujitsu i looked at was about $2200...damn that was sexy. Apple doesn't put out a tablet (makes me sad, because I've never had a problem with their laptops), but a company created ModBook, which is an uber overpriced Macbook converted into a tablet using a Wacom overlay on the screen. It's custom made and approaches $3000 last I checked.
 
confettiflyer said:
If you're gonna do gaming, build a performance desktop for that...if you try running games on a laptop, you're always going to have heat and performance issues, or size issues at that point.

The fujitsu i looked at was about $2200...damn that was sexy. Apple doesn't put out a tablet (makes me sad, because I've never had a problem with their laptops), but a company created ModBook, which is an uber overpriced Macbook converted into a tablet using a Wacom overlay on the screen. It's custom made and approaches $3000 last I checked.
Click to expand...


AHHHHHHHHHH, so I can't buy anything good with 1500 $ ?

I guess I won't have an extremely sexy laptop and just have to rely on my own sexyness. 🙁:cry:


Too bad I was already making plans how I am going to sit in starbucks by my house and look important and very occupied while going over my anatomy notes and sipping a low fat frapuccino. 😎
 
I am thinking about getting a tablet, also somewhat holding out for an Apple version (so I can dual-boot OSX and XP); but am also keeping the ultramobile pc's in mind. Just out of curiosity, has anyone here used an Asus eeePC? From what I've read, the small keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, but I could see the small footprint really allowing me to take it everywhere. I would love to hear some more recommendations on tablet pc brands and models, thanks for a great thread!
 
confettiflyer said:
If you're gonna do gaming, build a performance desktop for that...if you try running games on a laptop, you're always going to have heat and performance issues, or size issues at that point.

The fujitsu i looked at was about $2200...damn that was sexy. Apple doesn't put out a tablet (makes me sad, because I've never had a problem with their laptops), but a company created ModBook, which is an uber overpriced Macbook converted into a tablet using a Wacom overlay on the screen. It's custom made and approaches $3000 last I checked.
Click to expand...

I did build my own desktop. But the laptop I bought, was $1300 on Newegg 2 months ago and performs a hell of a lot better than my desktop.
 
twester said:
This is a topic I've spoken to in other threads. I'm a big tablet fan.

I am 100% paperless. We have the occasional professor who hands out paper for activities. I just write on it, scan it later and throw the paper in the recycle bin.

In addition, I also have Dipiro and the Handbook of Non-prescription Drugs on my tablet

My tablet weighs four lbs. Dipiro, the HONPD and binders full of notes combined easily weigh 10 times that.

Cheburashka, I paid about $1500 for the "lower end" Toshiba Portege. The hard drive is smaller and the processor a little slower than the upper end machines, but I don't feel that performance is lacking. Don't upgrade the RAM from Toshiba, you'll pay twice as much. Just get the minimum amount (1GB) and upgrade it when RAM goes on sale at Best Buy.
Click to expand...

Isn't the RAM now packaged inside the laptop these days and hard to upgrade? I just bought an HP and I was shopping for toshibas as well and found out about the RAM unlike my old Acer where the RAM was like a plug and play..
 
cheburashka said:
AHHHHHHHHHH, so I can't buy anything good with 1500 $ ?

I guess I won't have an extremely sexy laptop and just have to rely on my own sexyness. 🙁:cry:


Too bad I was already making plans how I am going to sit in starbucks by my house and look important and very occupied while going over my anatomy notes and sipping a low fat frapuccino. 😎
Click to expand...

Are you some bimbo? :idea:
 
Sparda29 said:
I did build my own desktop. But the laptop I bought, was $1300 on Newegg 2 months ago and performs a hell of a lot better than my desktop.
Click to expand...

really? that's weird...unless you built your desktop ages ago, then that would make sense.

I remember having a PDA/keyboard set up a while back for notes, I don't know if that will fly though.
 
confettiflyer said:
really? that's weird...unless you built your desktop ages ago, then that would make sense.

I remember having a PDA/keyboard set up a while back for notes, I don't know if that will fly though.
Click to expand...

I have a decent amount of RAM and a kick *** video card, but my chip is a measly AMD, 2.0 Ghz, 64-Bit. So, if I want to do an upgrade on it, I gotta change the motherboard and the chip, which is not cheap.
 
Are you sure? Check the motherboard specs first. You may be able to jump up to a decent speed processor for cheap. When I build my systems I always go for a very high end motherboard, but a lower end processor, simply because it does allow me to do a processor swap later on and toss in some more ram for a cheap upgrade.

I'm definitely interested in going the tablet laptop route and going paperless if possible. Even so, I'd still have a dedicated gaming rig at home. A laptop good enough to game on is twice what a desktop would cost.
 
panzer said:
Isn't the RAM now packaged inside the laptop these days and hard to upgrade? I just bought an HP and I was shopping for toshibas as well and found out about the RAM unlike my old Acer where the RAM was like a plug and play..
Click to expand...

Nope, I just opened the little panel on the bottom and popped it in. Now, if I wanted to upgrade the hard drive or the video card, I'd be strictly out of luck.
 
Hard drive is upgradable also. Not quite as easy as the memory, but definitely doable by anyone with a screwdriver and a few minutes of time. I have a Pavillion zv5000 and replaced the original hard drive with an 80gb and faster speed version. Much nicer now!
 
^ You must be a genius with computers then 😛

PS Don't the computers come standard with 120-160 GB drives these days or is it that zv is an older series compared to dv6000 series?

PS 2 Coming to think of it, why go such a hard way for storage when nowadays you can buy 200-250 or even more GB hard drives that can be plugged into your USB port? :idea: :idea: :idea:
 
azPharmD2B said:
Are you sure? Check the motherboard specs first. You may be able to jump up to a decent speed processor for cheap. When I build my systems I always go for a very high end motherboard, but a lower end processor, simply because it does allow me to do a processor swap later on and toss in some more ram for a cheap upgrade.

I'm definitely interested in going the tablet laptop route and going paperless if possible. Even so, I'd still have a dedicated gaming rig at home. A laptop good enough to game on is twice what a desktop would cost.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the socket on the motherboard is no longer made so I have to do the full upgrade.

The downside of a regular laptop versus a tablet is that if you have to draw structures, you can't. But you could buy a tablet and plug it into the USB port and just use that instead.
 
So are the regular tablets work as well as the tablet computers? There must be some missing features, right???
 
panzer said:
^ You must be a genius with computers then 😛

PS Don't the computers come standard with 120-160 GB drives these days or is it that zv is an older series compared to dv6000 series?

PS 2 Coming to think of it, why go such a hard way for storage when nowadays you can buy 200-250 or even more GB hard drives that can be plugged into your USB port? :idea: :idea: :idea:
Click to expand...

Well yah, before pharmacy I was in IT. But seriously, swapping the hdd isn't difficult. The bottom of the laptop should have a little hdd symbol to tell you which cover to open. You just need a smaller philips screwdriver. HP's website actually has decent walk throughs for these things if you need pictures. This z5k is probably 2.5 years old. I have a file server for storage, the main reason to replace the drive was to get a faster one, with a bit more storage.


And to anyone thinking of getting a laptop, get a 3 year warranty and pay the extra for the 'drops and spills' coverage. Those are the two most common things to happen to a laptop and the normal warranty wont cover the damage. Plus, if you don't have the extra warranty, chances are it will be cheaper to replace the laptop than what it will cost to fix. Laptops are very expensive to fix, especially those with touch screens.
 
panzer said:
Are you some bimbo? :idea:
Click to expand...

It was clearly a sarcastic comment/ joke in response to confettilayer's comment about tablet PC's being sexy. Are you a ***** ?:idea:
 
cheburashka said:
It was clearly a sarcastic comment/ joke in response to confettilayer's comment about tablet PC's being sexy. Are you a ***** ?:idea:
Click to expand...

Hey nothing wrong with being a hot bimbo.. 👍

Though i would not prefer one to be in pharmacy..
:hardy:
 
panzer said:
Hey nothing wrong with being a hot bimbo.. 👍

Though i would not prefer one to be in pharmacy..
:hardy:
Click to expand...


Out of curiosty may I ask you to elaborate on why not ?

We have one extremely hot bimbo in our science department.( I live in SF and bimbos here are rarities ) She turns heads as she walks by. She always seems to look near perfect - hair/make up done complete with a semi-slutty outfit. If the girl wasn't doing sooo bad in school I think I'd be jelaous.
 
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