I didn't see any recent threads so I wanted to get some more information from peeps that might be up to date on tech stuff. I'll be starting med school this fall and I have been out of school for several years. My macbook pro is pretty much dead, but I used to take notes on it. I'd like to get a new computer that's not too too expensive and hopefully some powerful note-taking tool. I already have an iPad mini, but maybe I don't know the best apps to take notes on. Anyone have any recommendations for some cool/good gadgets that work for you?
Best computer/note taking tool for med school
- Thread starter C@lidoc
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I used my ipad throughout medical school, but not so much for notetaking, more for viewing pdfs and lecture slides on the go (or textbooks that i had electronic versions of). Even after trying a few different note taking apps, i found it to be too time consuming compared to using a paper and pen (especially when you're in class and the lecturer is speaking fast). I found the best method of note taking to be on a laptop (I used a macbook). Have the powerpoint open and take notes underneath it (or add notes ontop of a PDF). It proved to be the quickest method.
And yes macs are obviously more expensive, but I felt it was worth the investment. Every PC I've had has ended up crashing. (not trying to make this a PC vs Mac debate, I've liked and used both).
The Ipad was definitely the best investment for 3rd and 4th year, especially if you have a mini since it'll fit in your white coat pocket.
Hope this helps, good luck!
And yes macs are obviously more expensive, but I felt it was worth the investment. Every PC I've had has ended up crashing. (not trying to make this a PC vs Mac debate, I've liked and used both).
The Ipad was definitely the best investment for 3rd and 4th year, especially if you have a mini since it'll fit in your white coat pocket.
Hope this helps, good luck!
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Except Macbooks cost like 3-4x the price of a similarly powerful PC. I think most people use a laptop for around 4 years. So you can literally buy a new PC each year for the price of a Mac.
I think there is not much of a difference between PC and Mac. Both operating systems are so developed by this point that for the types of applications most people use (i.e., Microsoft Office & Chrome/Firefox), either is more than sufficient.
Btw: I'm curious. What do you use iPads for in 3rd/4th year? Are they like essential nowadays?
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More like 1.5-2x the price.
So if you use a macbook air which is 1k for 4 years, you're saying you could buy a 250 dollar PC that compares favorably every year instead? Intriguing.
Nah he means power.
Sure the screen looks washed out and has poor contrast
Sure the keyboard creaks and feels mushy
Sure the battery life is 2 hours
Sure the trackpad fails to track
Sure the fans are loud
Sure the wifi isn't ac/cuts out
Sure the hard drive isn't a PCIE SSD
Sure the integration with your iPhone is mediocre (analogous situation is windows PCs are pretty eh with windows phones)
BUT! WAIT! The price is indeed cheaper 😛.
I enjoy building desktop PCs, and using my laptop mac...but they are very different machines with very different goals. The one gripe I have about macs is their window management remains atrocious relative to windows 7.
By the time you spec out a windows PC that actually is comparable to a mac you come up with something like the surface which is just as "overpriced" (and incidentally, very attractive for medical school...probably will pick one up).
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The 3-4x may be a bit of an overstatement, probably more like 2x, but I agree with your overall point. Apple's prices are obscene for what you get. Years ago they could justify the prices because they used premium parts, but from what I have seen in opened up macbooks these days, now their components seem of the same general quality as Dell. Not to mention you can't even service your own system, you have to take it to an Apple store and over pay them to fix it if your warranty is up. With a PC laptop, if RAM goes bad, its 4 screws out of the back, RAM removed, 5 minutes on newegg buying new RAM then problem solved. Unless someone is in love with Mac OS I don't really see the value in buying Apple. But that's just me...people have different preferences.
The reason I don't use pen and paper is because my hand writing is terrible and not the most legible. It's so bad, I'm ashamed to ever show people my notes so I prefer some type of electronic device. I might look into getting a refurbished MacBook Air
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That seems a fair representation of a $300 budget PC laptop
, but in all fairness if you get a custom laptop from a smaller vendor you can usually run circles around a Mac for the same price. My current laptop is 2 years old, cost about the same as a Macbook and still largely outperforms newer Macbooks with the exception of the PCIE SSD. Screen is robust, keyboard is crisp, trackpad works great and have no WiFi issues. The battery life is so so and the fans are loud. I don't care at all about iphone integration because I use an Android phone...The thing I like though is that the majority of it's parts are standard. I can pick up replacement parts if they are needed or I want some upgrades and change them myself. As I said before, to each their own, I prefer power to fan noise and Windows 7 to the uncustomizable sterile environment of Mac OS, but other folks may have different likes or needs.Have you ever upgraded your laptop though? It seems like a crazy pain, and these days it's getting harder and harder (as more laptops have everything soldered in). I upgrade my desktop every couple years with a new GPU, but never did with my old PC laptop.That seems a fair representation of a $300 budget PC laptop
FWIW I have never used a single PC laptop that had a trackpad as good as any macbook which is straight up pathetic. I was a PC zealot in HS, and reeeeeaaaally didn't want a macbook for college but eventually I caved after I couldn't find a decent trackpad.
I moreso was referring to 600 dollar laptops that indeed have better "specs" than 1000 dollar laptops but usually compromise on anything that isn't a spec. They cut costs in cooling, battery life, build quality, color accuracy, thickness, low light webcam performance etc. There are PCs that check the vast majority of the boxes apple does (surface pro 3/4 plug again) but look at their prices! "overpriced" just like apple 😛.
Once you price out a comparable laptop you usually see them matching up quite evenly. At least, until recently...I think the Dell Studio XPS 13 is solidly better value than the air if you don't feel strongly about OS X vs windows. Except I heard the trackpad is wonky. Some things never change 🙂.
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My computer has truly comparable screen, RAM, size, weight, processor, SSD, etc to a Macbook Pro. It also has a touchscreen with a built-in digitizer so that I can use a n-Trig stylus (with palm rejection and pressure sensitivity), and a specialized hinge which allows the screen to swivel into any number of conformations for ease of use.
When I line it up against the 13" MacbookPro, it has a bit better processor and of course the touchscreen components. The MBP has slightly (and I mean slight) better resolution with Retina, but probs not enough for me to notice.
It also costs a bit less than the cheapest one.
This is what I bought for med school: my fav of the new gen of Win8.1 tabPC convertibles. The screen does not detach like the Surface, but it is cheaper and more powerful, and in the end I decided I wanted a powerful laptop with new capabilities for now, and will maybe pair it with a good note-taking tab like the aptly-named Note when I get to that stage.
When I line it up against the 13" MacbookPro, it has a bit better processor and of course the touchscreen components. The MBP has slightly (and I mean slight) better resolution with Retina, but probs not enough for me to notice.
It also costs a bit less than the cheapest one.
This is what I bought for med school: my fav of the new gen of Win8.1 tabPC convertibles. The screen does not detach like the Surface, but it is cheaper and more powerful, and in the end I decided I wanted a powerful laptop with new capabilities for now, and will maybe pair it with a good note-taking tab like the aptly-named Note when I get to that stage.
Ipad minis (or any kind of tablet you prefer) for 3rd/4th year are good to carry around in your white coat for a few reasons:
1. great to keep ebooks on, you can keep up on your reading for shelf exams. You'll find that you'll have quite a bit of downtime while you're in the hospital (depending on the rotation), and instead of sitting around and doing nothing, you can read your review books on there without having to carry them around
2. keep reference resources on there to look up things quickly (ie pocket medicine, washington manual of surgery, etc)
3. reading journal articles (instead of printing them out and carrying them around, which I tend to lose more often)
4. if you're at a place that has EMR, you can usually access it through your ipad/tablet (we use Epic at my school and it was really helpful to have access on there to read pt notes, check up on labs, etc)
5. Uptodate
6. Uworld
7. Flashcards
I know that a lot of these things can also be done on your phone, but it's just nicer having a bigger screen (especially for reading textbooks/review books). And yes you can just carry around the physical books too, but your white coat gets really heavy, and you'll find yourself trying to carry around less and less as the year progresses.
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Chiming in to say that one of the schools that I'm interested in specifically requires a laptop device and in the same requirement description specifically says "no Apple product." Nothing that runs iOS. Something to do with the testing software, I think? Does kind of shoot in the foot my interest in investing in an Air at some point.
My school actually told us the same thing before we started. It was mainly because our IT dept doesn't really support apple. But I'd say more than 50% of our class used macs and had no problem with it. I would call the school IT dept before your start and ask the reason why they don't support it. We used Exam Soft for taking tests, and it worked fine with both macs and PCs
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Good to know!
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Acer R13
Macbook air was king, although recently I'd say windows has caught up.
I'd recommend the air if you like OS X, have an iPhone or are particularly picky about your trackpads.
I'd recommend the surface pro 4 if you want to take notes on your computer/draw in diagrams etc.
I'd recommend an XPS 13 (non-touch) if you want a crazy amount of battery without it costing a ton
I'd recommend an XPS 13 (crazy HD + touch) if you want a touchscreen laptop with insane resolution/high quality colors but aren't really into the whole surface thing.
I'd recommend the macbook (non-pro/air) if you're interested in having to decide between charging, plugging in a usb stick, or using an external monitor.../s
D
deleted436726
Surface Pro 3 (or the upcoming 4) for the win.
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I'd skip the XPS 13 touch for one of the more tailored tabPCs if you want note-taking + laptop. I thought it was a bit silly when I was looking into it, but I honestly can't imagine not having a swivelable screen now that I've got one. What's the point of having touch if you can't hold the computer in a way that maximizes it? And again, if you're gonna get touch, make sure you get a digitizer. The difference cannot be overstated. I'll throw my hat in again for the Acer R13 on that front...more processor and touch-screen usability than the XPS, excellent screen res, weight, battery life, etc.
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Can you read your own writing? If so, that's all that matters.
I can, but I have a much better time reading well written, neat and organized notes. I was hoping to find an app that makes my hand writing into some digital nicely formatted text too.
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Win8.1 automatically turns your handwriting into type...it's one of the keyboard options. It works pretty well out of the box (pre-training), though I've never been one for handwritten notes, so I don't use it much.
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I just picked up the new 12" MacBook, just received it yesterday in fact, and I'm totally in love with it. I seriously considered the xps13, but the durability of the Mac won out in the end. The single sub-c port isn't anywhere near the issue that most will make it out to be, it is an expandable port after all so at home I'll have what amounts to a docking station with monitor, keyboard, mouse and charger on a single plug. On the move everything is wireless now. I can't remember the last time I wanted to plug something into a laptop while mobile except the charger or a thumb drive.
For the past 2 years I've been actually using my ipad+zagg keyboard combination for all my mobile computing with great success, and this does everything better so far. I've been a PC fan since before most of you were born (yes literally, and a real power user former engineer working in electronics mfg and automation) and the fit/finish on a Mac has always been head and shoulders above anything the PC side has had available at the time. The XPS13 comes close but still fell short on quality, plus in a real Apple to Apples comparison (lol) was only $200 less at $1099 for the dell vs. $1299 for the MacBook. Totally worth the price difference in my ledger.
For the past 2 years I've been actually using my ipad+zagg keyboard combination for all my mobile computing with great success, and this does everything better so far. I've been a PC fan since before most of you were born (yes literally, and a real power user former engineer working in electronics mfg and automation) and the fit/finish on a Mac has always been head and shoulders above anything the PC side has had available at the time. The XPS13 comes close but still fell short on quality, plus in a real Apple to Apples comparison (lol) was only $200 less at $1099 for the dell vs. $1299 for the MacBook. Totally worth the price difference in my ledger.
As a long-time mac user, I strongly believe the SP3 is the device ever built for getting things done. It took about a week to get used to everything (just as it did when I started using a mac 8 years ago), but since that adjustment I have had zero regrets.
Win 8.1 is still wonky, but the quirks are expected to go away with Win 10 this summer. The wonkiness definitely does not outweigh the benefits of having a fast and functional laptop (big SSD, ports, 8gb ram), a great tablet, and a perfect hand-writing note taking device (OneNote for free form, and Drawboard for PDF).
In my experience, everyone who has used the SP3 for more than a few days agrees with me. Yes it's expensive, but consider you're getting a premium laptop and a fully useful tablet in one device.
Win 8.1 is still wonky, but the quirks are expected to go away with Win 10 this summer. The wonkiness definitely does not outweigh the benefits of having a fast and functional laptop (big SSD, ports, 8gb ram), a great tablet, and a perfect hand-writing note taking device (OneNote for free form, and Drawboard for PDF).
In my experience, everyone who has used the SP3 for more than a few days agrees with me. Yes it's expensive, but consider you're getting a premium laptop and a fully useful tablet in one device.
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The SP3 is a great option too, it was the keyboard that killed it for me and I already had my iPad for tablet specific stuff. I prefer to type my notes rather than writing them.
If you are starting from scratch or really like to take pen-style notes then the SP3 may be for you. The pricing is the same as the new macbook once you get soup to nuts about it and factor in the usb-c adapters and such.
If you are starting from scratch or really like to take pen-style notes then the SP3 may be for you. The pricing is the same as the new macbook once you get soup to nuts about it and factor in the usb-c adapters and such.
I'm looking at a surface myself but how easy is it to keep up in lecture? In college it was nice to be able to type verbatim what a professor said if I needed to. I type at like 100-150 and write at 20-30 so maybe I'm just below average in writing speed and above average in typing so the discrepancy is unusually large.
Do you guys just briefly write in info on the slides or do you try to take more detailed notes?
Do you guys just briefly write in info on the slides or do you try to take more detailed notes?
If you type accurately that fast and don't like writing on slides, then you have no need for a stylus device during lecture.
That said, I don't know why anyone would need to type that much during class or what they'd even be writing.
That said, I don't know why anyone would need to type that much during class or what they'd even be writing.
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I have yet to figure out what it is that people take notes on in lecture, period. 😵
I mostly circle things and draw arrows to make connections, annotate when something isn't clear, and write things I want clarification on. If the lecture is recorded, I do much less note taking.
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150? 😱
Nerd story: I type damn near 100% accurately at 95-105 WPM and always turn heads (lol). I can't imagine being able to type 150 WPM (maybe I should use more than just my index finger on my right hand? lol).
Haha yeah, but in order to get that superpower you also have to have my weakness...extremely slow handwriting! I can't use a mechanical keyboard because it's just too loud.
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Yah, I thought I was good at 90-100. Damn!
Jumpstart typing ftw!
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I'm not even kidding about Jumpstart typing. Used it as a kid, it was great.
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How do you get better at anything? Practice.
I meant like technique. I think I could learn a better way. I recently heard about a different type of keyboard setup that is meant to be more efficient. I forget the name though.
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Are you placing your fingers in the correct home row position?
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MAJOR NERD STORY: I used to play a particular PvP MUD a lot back in middle/early high school, and it demanded fast typing to compete. This is where I learned to type fast. 😛
I only use 5 fingers: 4 on my left hand, 1 on my right. It's weird, but I physically can't use more than my index finger on my right hand, lol.
/nerdisms
