Best Laptop in 2017 for medical school?

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Is a tablet+keyboard type computer really better than a plain old laptop for med school? During most lectures, should I anticipate a lot of diagram drawing that can't be done on a normal laptop?
 
Is a tablet+keyboard type computer really better than a plain old laptop for med school? During most lectures, should I anticipate a lot of diagram drawing that can't be done on a normal laptop?
You can buy a suface book and draw to your hearts content and type on a regular laptop keyboard as well. Other then that you can buy a window's laptop that has a digitizer built into the screen, there are a few models that do this. You should contact your schools IT department or atleast look at their requirements, sometimes they outline them.
 
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In other news,

When the F%$K is Apple going to release the new Macbook? I'm going crazy here.
 
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In other news,

When the F%$K is Apple going to release the new Macbook? I'm going crazy here.
??? They unveiled it around Halloween and realeased it shortly thereafter. Considering the fact that this dropped 4 years after the last generation, I wouldn't be holding my breath for a new one anytime soon.

The real question is when will the surface book 2/ surface pro 5 drop.

Edited for accuracy.
 
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Depends on the school. But most require laptops for testing purposes and you have to be able to run a certain exam suite software. Or you could be this guy.
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Huh well then i'd be concerned about a surface pro making it more difficult for me to take a test vs a normal laptop
 
Huh well then i'd be concerned about a surface pro making it more difficult for me to take a test vs a normal laptop
You would be fine. It runs windows and you can attach a usb keyboard / mouse.
 
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I've had my MacBook Pro since undergrad (I got it in 2012) and it still runs great.
My school requires ipads so I mostly use that for note taking and whatnot (have the smart keyboard and apple pencil).

While they're all definitely overpriced, the fact that my Pro is going on five years old and I've had no problems with it means I'd drop another grand on another one easily if I had to replace it.
@ciestar have you ever used the surface pro pen? If so, how does that compare to the Apple pencil? Do you happen to use OneNote? I am an Apple kinda gal and won't consider the surface because every PC I have had goes to crap in < 3 years.
 
@ciestar have you ever used the surface pro pen? If so, how does that compare to the Apple pencil? Do you happen to use OneNote? I am an Apple kinda gal and won't consider the surface because every PC I have had goes to crap in < 3 years.

Technically Macs are PC's too, not just those with Windows. The problem with Windows is literally every manufacturer and their grandma can make computers using it, so you have a bunch of cheap garbage but also premium products as well. If you get past the outdated "PC is crap" stereotype, you might even enjoy using a Surface because the fact of the matter is that's probably the best notetaking laptop/tablet you can get right now.
 
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While we are on the topic, Any recommendations for a phone. I want a phablet, open to whatever. Has to be decently priced.
 
While we are on the topic, Any recommendations for a phone. I want a phablet, open to whatever. Has to be decently priced.

Idk about reasonably priced, but the Galaxy S8 is coming out in about a month. They shrunk down the bezels so it's going to have a large screen while not being much bigger than an average phone. Otherwise, Huawei is making some damn good phones that are pretty well-priced
 
Idk about reasonably priced, but the Galaxy S8 is coming out in about a month. They shrunk down the bezels so it's going to have a large screen while not being much bigger than an average phone. Otherwise, Huawei is making some damn good phones that are pretty well-priced
Huwawei P9's look great, I am curious if it is worth paying the iphone 7 / 8 plus premium for performance. The s8 leaks look good, not sure what to think about them though.
 
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Huwawei P9's look great, I am curious if it is worth paying the iphone 7 / 8 plus premium for performance. The s8 leaks look good, not sure what to think about them though.

The P9 is good but it's almost a year old. They're also coming out with a new phone so that might be a better purchase. The iPhone 8 is supposed to be a major upgrade over the same blah we've been getting the last 3 years, but you'll have to wait until October and pay the typical "Apple tax". I'm running a Galaxy Note 5 right now so I'll probably wait for the new one later this year before I consider upgrading or not
 
The P9 is good but it's almost a year old. They're also coming out with a new phone so that might be a better purchase. The iPhone 8 is supposed to be a major upgrade over the same blah we've been getting the last 3 years, but you'll have to wait until October and pay the typical "Apple tax". I'm running a Galaxy Note 5 right now so I'll probably wait for the new one later this year before I consider upgrading or not
I was running a nexsus 6p, but I dont want to shell out the pixel tax. I might just go with a one plus one 3t or something.
 
While we are on the topic, Any recommendations for a phone. I want a phablet, open to whatever. Has to be decently priced.

What is decently priced in your opinion?
 
What is decently priced in your opinion?
200-500 range. High enough to get a quality product, low enough that you wont want to commit suicide when you drop and shatter the screen.
 
I was running a nexsus 6p, but I dont want to shell out the pixel tax. I might just go with a one plus one 3t or something.

Yeah Pixel is :thumbdown: Oneplus One 3t is pretty good, look up the ZTE Axon 7 too. About the same price as the 3t with some monster specs
 
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after the lenovo scandal, one of my main concerns with chinese made smartphones is spyware.
 
after the lenovo scandal, one of my main concerns with chinese made smartphones is spyware.
Yeah, I am a going to be a student with negative net worth for almost a decade, I am not concerned about china spying on me.
 
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after the lenovo scandal, one of my main concerns with chinese made smartphones is spyware.

That's hard because literally everything is made there. Technically even iPhones are Chinese-made smartphones ;)

But yeah, I'm a Sammy fanboy so I don't really look at any other manufacturers anyway
 
also, protip.

if you have an android smartphone, get the apps google opinion rewards ( google sends surveys which give you money to use in the play store) and slidejoy ( it puts an ad on your lockscreen. I make about 50 bucks a year off it and redeem it as amazon giftcards.)

Using apps like this can make your phone pay for itself over a few years.
 
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Yeah Pixel is :thumbdown: Oneplus One 3t is pretty good, look up the ZTE Axon 7 too. About the same price as the 3t with some monster specs
Yeah, the axon looks good too. I was thinking of focusing on getting a QC821 and above phone so I would get daydream, it might be nice for studying or watching lectures or something IDK. mostly for watching " stuff" .

The le eco pro 3 and le max 2 had decent specs for less than 250. Wasnt quite sure if i wanted that much le in my life though.
 
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Yeah, I am a going to be a student with negative net worth for almost a decade, I am not concerned about china spying on me.

its all fun and games until China gets your dick pics, credit card info, ssn.

That's hard because literally everything is made there. Technically even iPhones are Chinese-made smartphones ;)

But yeah, I'm a Sammy fanboy so I don't really look at any other manufacturers anyway

True but the important part is the software. Chinese software is sketchy af
 
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its all fun and games until China spreads around your dick pics.



True but the important part is the software. Chinese software is sketchy af

I would be famous for something even if it is my micropepe pics.

Just root the thing and put stock rom on.

Plus the nice thing about this strategy is that I can upgrade my cell phone often to the latest tech and it would still be cheaper than an Iphone.
 
I would be famous for something even if it is my micropepe pics.

Just root the thing and put stock rom on.

Plus the nice thing about this strategy is that I can upgrade my cell phone often to the latest tech and it would still be cheaper than an Iphone.

I personally wait a few months for the Samsung phone prices to drop ( I upgrade every 3 yrs). I bought my unlocked s7 last year for $420 ( lol blazeit) and the brand new price was over $700. and now the resale price for the s7 is around $350. It has so many features that are not found in phones in that price range, and their displays are the best on any android.

I'd rather do that than get a brand new midrange smartphone for that price which is gonna need an upgrade sooner
 
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BTW groupon had Surface pro 4's refurb for 530 for the 128 i5 versions. An absolute steal if people are interested.
 
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I'm thinking of getting a used (2014-2015) macbook pro 15" with 16 GB of RAM

I was planning on getting a surface pro or macbook air, but I expect to be using R Studio and possibly some other relatively heavy programs for research and I'm worried that the surface and air won't be able to handle them smoothly.

Thoughts? I really don't know anything about computers but this is what a friend of mine suggested
 
I'm thinking of getting a used (2014-2015) macbook pro 15" with 16 GB of RAM

I was planning on getting a surface pro or macbook air, but I expect to be using R Studio and possibly some other relatively heavy programs for research and I'm worried that the surface and air won't be able to handle them smoothly.

Thoughts? I really don't know anything about computers but this is what a friend of mine suggested

tbh, you'll get some informative responses on reddit.

Get laptop suggestions from geeks that know • r/SuggestALaptop

also, check out subreddits related to research and ask them what laptops they use.
 
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@ciestar have you ever used the surface pro pen? If so, how does that compare to the Apple pencil? Do you happen to use OneNote? I am an Apple kinda gal and won't consider the surface because every PC I have had goes to crap in < 3 years.

Ive never used the surface pro pen but all the people I know who have them LOVE them and use it over the ipads we're required to have. I use notability, but i have OneNote on my ipad and use it time to time. A lot of classmates use it, though.
 
I'm thinking of getting a used (2014-2015) macbook pro 15" with 16 GB of RAM

I was planning on getting a surface pro or macbook air, but I expect to be using R Studio and possibly some other relatively heavy programs for research and I'm worried that the surface and air won't be able to handle them smoothly.

Thoughts? I really don't know anything about computers but this is what a friend of mine suggested
What are you using R Studio for ?
 
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I'll be learning R over the next few months and plan to do a lot of stats-heavy research throughout med school (and maybe beyond)
Correct me if I'm wrong @libertyyne , but I believe he meant what kind of data are you dealing with. Super-large populations comparing multiple factors etc.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong @libertyyne , but I believe he meant what kind of data are you dealing with. Super-large populations comparing multiple factors etc.
Planning to pump out quite a few multivariable meta-analyses and retrospective chart reviews from pretty big databases. Is R overkill?
 
Planning to pump out quite a few multivariable meta-analyses and retrospective chart reviews from pretty big databases. Is R overkill?
Yeah, depends on how large your data set it, and where you are getting it from. IF you are performing metaanalysis of studies already published you rarely will get raw data. Its not a bad idea.
 
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Yeah, depends on how large your data set it, and where you are getting it from. IF you are performing metaanalysis of studies already published you rarely will get raw data. Its not a bad idea.
Makes sense. I'm gonna have a ton of free time until August, so I figured I might as well study up on stats and learn some powerful stats programs so I can do research way more efficiently in med school. Just want to make sure I don't get a laptop that slows me down too much, I'm getting really tired of crappy laptops haha
 
Makes sense. I'm gonna have a ton of free time until August, so I figured I might as well study up on stats and learn some powerful stats programs so I can do research way more efficiently in med school. Just want to make sure I don't get a laptop that slows me down too much, I'm getting really tired of crappy laptops haha
Honestly, the laptop hardware wont be the bottleneck for that kind of analysis. Getting the data and cleaning the data will be.
 
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In your guys' opinion, what are some good sources to learn stats for research? I am illiterate in statistics @walloobi @libertyyne
 
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Planning to pump out quite a few multivariable meta-analyses and retrospective chart reviews from pretty big databases. Is R overkill?
I'd R-gue (heh) that it's perfect. Just make sure you have a decent (8 gigs is plenty) amount of RAM and that shouldn't be the bottleneck.

Edit: Dammit @libertyyne
 
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I'd R-gue (heh) that it's perfect. Just make sure you have a decent (8 gigs is plenty) amount of RAM and that shouldn't be the bottleneck.

Edit: Dammit @libertyyne

8 gigs? 16 gigs or go home.
 
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8 gigs? 16 gigs or go home.
True, I use just about all 16 on my rig... but it's mostly due to my terrible tab-management in chrome.
 
I was planning on getting a surface pro or macbook air, but I expect to be using R Studio and possibly some other relatively heavy programs for research and I'm worried that the surface and air won't be able to handle them smoothly.

Statistics software isn't usually that memory intensive. 16GB is more than enough but you're right that the MacBook Air may not be able to handle it as well. If you're only running that software by itself on the computer then even 8GB should be more than enough. Multitasking would present a larger problem.

I think you should be more concerned about image editing/figure generation software that you'll use for research, as these tend to be very memory intensive, though you might not be using these programs since you're doing more of statistical analyses rather than basic science. The programs I use, for instance, include software packages like the Adobe suite, which runs on a lot of memory.
 
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Statistics software isn't usually that memory intensive. 16GB is more than enough but you're right that the MacBook Air may not be able to handle it as well. If you're only running that software by itself on the computer then even 8GB should be more than enough. Multitasking would present a larger problem.

I think you should be more concerned about image editing/figure generation software that you'll use for research, as these tend to be very memory intensive, though you might not be using these programs since you're doing more of statistical analyses rather than basic science. The programs I use, for instance, include software packages like the Adobe suite, which runs on a lot of memory.
Good to know! Yeah I'm not planning on doing basic science research so I'm glad to hear that.

Only other concern I have is that the surface pro seems like it has much better note-taking capabilities than the MBP which would be great for med school. Any idea if the surface pro could handle the stats stuff I want to do?
 
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