Labtop for Medical School

[envelope]

Hi ya all,

Im about to buy a labtop since my computer died and i was wondering if med schools prefer macs versus pcs....

anyone out there with an opinion?

thanks!

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[spaz]

sorry to be picky, but i've always wondered why people called them 'labtops' instead of laptops.

 

[rmp]

Hi envelope,

Before you purchase a laptop, inquire at your future school if they have a laptop purchase program. A school I recently interviewed at requires students to purchase a laptop from them (it is built into student fees) because they are set up to be compatible with the school's wireless network. I would hate for you to buy a laptop in Feb. and then find out over the summer that you need to buy one in the fall. They say you can bring your own and download the necessary software but they won't support it (ie. service it) when there is a problem, or it needs upgrades. Plus there tends to be incompatibility problems. So bottom line check with your school of choice before spending unnecessary money.

Cheers!
rmp

 

[envelope]

thanks rmp for the head's up =) which school was that btw?

im definitely ending up in a california med school, so does anyone know of any cali med schools with laptop requirements?

 

[dan0909]

Originally posted by spaz
sorry to be picky, but i've always wondered why people called them 'labtops' instead of laptops.

Prolly cuz that's how everyone pronounces it.

 

[LoneCoyote]

Davis did mention a laptop requirement. They said it is a wireless campus and a lot of the exams and notes are online. Stanford also mentioned it at the interview. Neither school was specific about what to get. That will probably come later.

 

[beastmaster]

Dartmouth told me that next year there will be laptop requirements.

Personally I am waiting until the last possible moment to give the prices a chance to go down and the quality to go up. In fact, it may be even more cost-effective for you to buy a pc for the interim, and a laptop later on.

 

[jlee9531]

laptops are required at davis...

laptops are provided for you at uvm (they are nice too) but included in cost of tuition.

 

[jlee9531]

oh and i have never seen them called labtops before.

 

[mlw03]

so to the original poster - most med schools i interviewed at were PC-ville. the rest of the world is (bill gates ain't rich cuz of his athletic prowess).

like the others, i agree that you should call the specific schools and ask. most will have similar requirements (ie, fast PC with high-speed internet access and probably Office). also, some schools may have deals with companies (ie, Dell).

 

[Entol]

I know there are a handful of medical schools out there that provide laptops for you and others that give huge discounts if you purchase their "recommended" laptop. I'd definitely suggest waiting until the fall unless you're pressed to make a decision now.

If you have to buy now, most schools that have wireless will support both PCs and Macs, but as a frequent computer user myself, I would recommend a PC if you are fairly familiar with computers and a Mac if you are a novice.

Hope this helps

-Entol

 

[efex101]

Mayo is one of the school requiring that you purchase the laptop that they will provide. It will be budgeted for and this is the first year that they are requiring this..

 

[Brickhouse]

If you get a labtop, make sure it's flame ******ant and has at least two gas nozzles for bunsen burners.

 

[AlternateSome1]

Originally posted by Brickhouse
If you get a labtop, make sure it's flame ******ant and has at least two gas nozzles for bunsen burners.

~AS1~

 

[Jalby]

I'd wait til august or even the start of school to buy a laptop. My school is 100% PC (Keck, in case you don't know) and we have a guy who does all the computer work. Just buy it the first weekend of school so you know what the requirements are and you will get the best computer for the $$$.

 

[Eraserhead]

i already got my laptop, i highly doubt that i will be required to get a certain PC, that's not really reasonable.

powerbooks kick ass

 

[g3pro]

i hope my future med school likes macs.

 

[g3pro]

Originally posted by rmp
A school I recently interviewed at requires students to purchase a laptop from them (it is built into student fees) because they are set up to be compatible with the school's wireless network.

unfortunately, any laptop with 802.11b networking capability will be able to connect to the wireless network.

it comes down to whether the tech guys want to work with only one kind of computer.

oh, how i wish i had a g4 powerbook now.

 

[deleted36260]

Originally posted by g3pro
unfortunately, any laptop with 802.11b networking capability will be able to connect to the wireless network.

it comes down to whether the tech guys want to work with only one kind of computer.

oh, how i wish i had a g4 powerbook now.

Not true at all, atleast when discussing Macs. If the school is running anything but a DNS server (and even then, depending on the server controlling the domain) you will have problems with your macintosh connecting.

Having the right networking card will get you talking to the access point or nearest router, but then there's the issue of name resolution, protocols, and security (both handled drastically different between macs and PC's, with the exception of the TCP/IP centered technologies )



P.S. that is unless I have missed something suddenly and now MACs will run using a WINS server,etc (always a possibility as macintosh futher adapts to join the rest of the world ;p ) but even then security, and inherently, protocols still can play against you.