Do I need to get a laptop?

[Lil IceBoy]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, from what I understand schools give you all the notes at the beginning of the year. Then why is it a lot of people get laptops still? Is it necessary for some other form of learning?

Thanks

 

[Chronotropic]

Alot of people go home during breaks. And it's much easier to bring a laptop back and forth rather then lugging back a desktop.

 

[CANES2006]

The answer: No, you don't need a laptop.

 

[Dr Chooch]

Out of every school I visited, I didn't see one where having a laptop was a necessity. Laptops, like anything else (in relation to medical school) are merely a matter of personal preference. If you have always had a laptop and cannot do without one, then go buy one. But tons of people never get them and are completely fine. Part of this decision lies in the type of education material and course structure that your medical school will provide. If you go to a school with a curriculum where almost all of the class material can be found online (I remember Harvard had a ton of stuff online, Penn did too...and a bunch of schools have lecture videos online) it may be easier and more comfortable to have a laptop. It's not a necessity though, cause every school has tons of computers where you can do the same stuff. But if you're the type of person that likes to be able to do everything wherever YOU want to do it and not have to worry about relying on campus computers, you will like having a laptop.

And then there is always the most important reason to get a laptop: you can check your email and talk on IM while you are in class. The people at Duke know what I'm talking about. If you go there, a laptop may be a necessity for just that reason. 😉

 

[Winston Smith]

The way I look at it, why not get a laptop? You're taking out all of this money for education anyway, might as well get a cool toy to play with 🙂

 

[Sweet Tea]

the school i'm going to requires you to buy a lap top from the bookstore.

 

[Explosivo]

Well think of it this way. Space for me is a precious commodity especially if I'm going to be living in a studio apartment. A laptop is small and you can easily move it around in a cramped place. Plus you have the ability to take it around with you, to a friend's or classmate's place. I wouldn't bring it to class though as I'm sure the typing will drive your classmates crazy.

But no it's not necessary to have just convenient and with prices for laptops being so low right now it's not a bad idea to pick one up.

 

[xaelia]

The number of schools integrating information technology into their curriculum and classroom settings is definitely rising. More than one school either provides you with a laptop or requires you to purchase one. Off the top of my head, CWRU and Wake Forest provide you with one, and Ohio State requires you to purchase one. On top of those, other schools that have some facility for wireless internet access that could be used by a laptop include Columbia, Vanderbilt, and USC-Keck.

So, the next time you're shopping for a computer...I'd buy a laptop instead of a desktop.

 

[brats800]

another thing to think about, however, is that for the same cost of whatever laptop you look at, you could get a faster, more powerful, desktop computer. i bought a laptop for undergrad and would probably get a desktop if i had it to do over again. the extra space the laptop saves isn't worth the sacrifice in speed and power. (now if you were going to get a really fast laptop...😀 )

 

[Yogi Bear]

a laptop is a good idea.

i just got the inspiron 1100 from dell w/ 2.2 ghz celeron, 15" xga screen, 30 gb hd, 24x cdrw/dvd combo, 256 mb ram for $1024 after coupons. There's also a dell $350 rebate, 1% discover cash back, and a 3% fatcash rebate that's coming up so the total price for this laptop should come out to be $633. bad thing about it is: 1) no serial port, parallel port, ps/2 ports so u'll need to use a usb mouse and usb printer. 2) no floppy drive (who the heck uses floppy these days?)

 

[VienneseWaltz]

The big advantage of a laptop (which I saw especially at Case, Wake Forest, and USC) is that a lot of profs provide the lectures on PowerPoint beforehand, so you can just add notes directly to the ppt file while in lecture. The students seemed to like doing it that way.

 

[Street Philosopher]

Originally posted by Yogi Bear
a laptop is a good idea.

i just got the inspiron 1100 from dell w/ 2.2 ghz celeron, 15" xga screen, 30 gb hd, 24x cdrw/dvd combo, 256 mb ram for $1024 after coupons. There's also a dell $350 rebate, 1% discover cash back, and a 3% fatcash rebate that's coming up so the total price for this laptop should come out to be $633. bad thing about it is: 1) no serial port, parallel port, ps/2 ports so u'll need to use a usb mouse and usb printer. 2) no floppy drive (who the heck uses floppy these days?)

wow that's a great deal. i'm so tempted now.... what to do...

 

[Street Philosopher]

dude that deal is dead. i hate you

 

[Yogi Bear]

Originally posted by Street Philosopher
dude that deal is dead. i hate you

lol. i'll let u guys know if i find another great deal like that. however, there's some debate as to whether the deal's gonna go through through dell, particularly w/ the 350 rebate.... i got an email verification from customer service so it should be sound for me.

 

[ironey]

Some schools require a lap-top, some schools recommend having one, and some schools don't seem to care. Dartmoth, for example, will require entering students to own a laptop starting 2004. In the mean time, it is strongly recommended. I also know that Dartmouth has very specific recommendations for what features the lap-top should have.

If you can, I think you should wait until you know where you'll be going for medical school and then find out what their suggestions (or requirements) are.

 

[thackl]

Texas Tech is requiring them now too. I just got on so I hope they don't require me to get one from thier bookstore like someone else mentioned here?

 

[Doc Ivy]

You might also look into getting a "gently used" laptop. I just got a nine month old Toshiba for $1500, it retails new for $4500-5000. They told me it was leased by an accounting firm for tax season, and then they wanted to get rid of it. You can get pretty good deals like that if you go to a reputable used computer store...

hope that helps
Peace ~ Doc

 

[JDENTHOPEFULL]

check out sagar laptops....i think its www.sagarnotebooks.com i hear theyre decent..or dell or ibm are always decent

 

[Dr Trek 1]

I don't think medical school is like law school where every student has a laptop that they bring to class. Also remember that there are a lot more diagrams and they are hard to quickly type on a laptop.

Another alternative is using your palm pilot with a keyboard and uploading it back into your main PC.

I am anti-Mac, but the Mac laptops seem to be pretty popular these days, run well, don't freeze as much as my Dell.

Thoughts?

 

[Guarino3]

Blitz, I couldn't agree more. Well actually, I think the 17 inch is a little too big, the 15 is much more portable, IMO.

 

[Yogi Bear]

here's a repost from the lounge:

u can get a dell inspiron 1100 for $699 after $250 rebat that expires 8/12. if u use fatwallet, u'll get 3% back for $670.53.


Processor & Screen

Intel? Celeron? Processor,2.0GHz,14.1 XGA

Memory

256MB 266MHz 2 DIMMS

Hard Drive

30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive

Fixed CD/DVD Drives

24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive

Modem

Internal 56K Modem

Productvity Software

WordPerfect? Productivity Pack

Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options

1 Year Limited Warranty2 plus 1 Year Mail-In Service

Dial-Up Internet Access

6 Months America Online Internet Access3 Included


pretty good deal.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/offers/specials_bts_inspn1100.htm

if u're into squeezing every penny out of dell, order through fatwall.com cashback program and u can get the 3% rebate. to look for that webpage, go to dell home, click "search", enter "bundles", and click on the "Featured Systems & PC Bundles". then select the 1100.

 

[Sean2tall]

I agree Macs are awesome. Mine has never frozen or crashed (unless I did something stupid), but can you really get Virtual PC to run that well? I have a two or three year old G3 and Virtual PC is so slow that I don't even try.

-Sean😀