Computers/MACs in Optometry School

[Grover3060]

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Hey y'all,

Question on computers. For those of you in school, what kind of laptops do you have? I was planning on getting a MacBook but then was considering the fact that most professors at school would be using Microsoft software. Anyone have any input on this? Would a Mac be a good investment to get or would be it be better to just go with an HP or something along those lines.

Brian

 

[blysssful]

For general purposes it shouldn't make a difference. I just ordered a new Mac and I'm not worried at all. As long as you get Microsoft Office for Macs, you should be fine. (But obviously someone correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Macs are very good. Even though im not in optometry school im an expert when it comes to technology things like this. First of all...macs are a good investment, and you can dual boot windows (for free all you need is a windows xp/vista whatever cd) and just use windows that way.

Also if you dont like dual booting, you can always get programs such as Parallels desktop or VM ware fusion that lets you create a virtual Pc where you can run windows. Except for that...i cant imagine them using any programs that would not be available for mac. Mac has a widespread collection of programs..but in the case that there isnt the dual booting is always an option, just so you will never be screwed.

 

[jefguth]

doesn't matter. You won't have to use your computer for anything other than word processing, acrobat, or audio/video playback.

I would probably consider a netbook. They're cheap, portable, and have enough computing power for the average person.

 

[Eye-Spy]

It's not even really that important to have a laptop for optometry school. I got an iMac to save some money over a Macbook and it has worked out great. There's no reason to ever have to bring a computer to school, at least at ICO. Basically, just get whatever you want!

 

[PrivateOD]

It wont make much of a difference. Half the guys in my class had a mac, the other half had a PC. I had a Mac.

 

[WoodyJI]

I was planning on getting a MacBook but then was considering the fact that most professors at school would be using Microsoft software. Anyone have any input on this?

I would recommend against buying the MS Office Suite. Apple's iWork suite is far superior, and it can read and produce powerpoint, excel, and word documents. I have almost never had conversion problems opening up documents created with windows.

The main reason I think iWork is better is b/c the comment and markup features are more user-friendly, and standardized across the applications. The programs also start up faster and run more smoothly. Keynote (i.e., powerpoint) allows you to group your slide thumbnails into tiers, which is fantastic for large presentations. Numbers (i.e., excel) is much more flexible because of the sheet layout, and Pages (i.e., word) runs much more smoothly than MS Word does. You can see examples of all that great stuff at http://www.apple.com/findouthow/iwork/



As for those of you who don't think your computers are necessary for optometry school, think of it this way: wouldn't it be great if you could take that stack of course packets and search through every note you ever took (instead of paging through incessantly to find that reference your professor made to the new Daily SiHy lens from Acuvue that the college will be in the test market for...what was it called again?)? Does learning/studying color vision with black and white handouts really make any sense? How useful are your 1/6 a page sized ocular disease slides at showing you a Krukenburg spindle in retro-illumination off of the iris? What about that note in your outline that you wish you could move two bullet points up because it would make more sense in that spot? Are you really going to have time to go home and type up your notes after class, or is that going to fall by the wayside as things start heating up and midterms begin to approach?

 

[yOyOYoo]

I agree with the above posters. I had a mac without problems.

The only programs you really need are: word processing, powerpoint, maybe excel.

Seriously there's no real need for a laptop in optometry school, unless you need something to type notes on in class. Half the people in my class who brought laptops to class were only using them to surf the net or chat online.

 

[PrivateOD]

Half the people in my class who brought laptops to class were only using them to surf the net or chat online.

LOL, aint that the truth. One guy in my class was always on PokerStars.com and he sat in the front.. we could always watch him play in the back. And get pissed when he lost a big hand.

 

[WoodyJI]

LOL, aint that the truth. One guy in my class was always on PokerStars.com and he sat in the front.. we could always watch him play in the back. And get pissed when he lost a big hand.

The other half of the class was playing sudoku from the campus newspaper, 😀.