Laptop for Med School?

[CaramelSandiego]

Hey guys! I've been looking to upgrade to a new computer and was wondering if there are any laptops that are better suited for medical students? For instance, do many med schools use downloadable programs that work better on a PC vs a Mac? Are there certain laptops that med students recommend in general, or that you find has worked particularly well for you? Is it recommended that I purchase a tablet? Any features that you recommend I look for when making my decision?

Thanks so much! 🙂

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[Remy LeBeau]

If you are matriculating in the fall, check with your school to see if they have a certain preferred/required computer. Most schools will at least have minimum specifications for your computer, while some schools distribute loaners or "free" machines that your tuition will pay for.

 

[yehhhboiii]

get something cheap and light
i use foxit and google chrome mostly

 

[KindofBlue]

If you are matriculating in the fall, check with your school to see if they have a certain preferred/required computer. Most schools will at least have minimum specifications for your computer, while some schools distribute loaners or "free" machines that your tuition will pay for.

+1.
I haven't started school yet, but I saw school websites having all the required specs for laptops.
As for chromebooks, I would suggest actually trying them out in person before ordering them, as they do lack many features such as the ability to run MS Office or CD/DVD roms etc.

 

[deleted303591]

If your medical school requires you to use a computer with a certain set of specifications, then you must use the type of computer required by your medical school. Do not use anything else otherwise, even if you have technical experience. Some schools can require a tablet, too.

I use the Sony Vaio Duo 13", which is over-priced and made in Japan. It has mixed reviews but overall I love the computer. Here is a graduate student's review, in a STEM field, of the Sony Vaio Duo 13".

I switched from a Macbook Pro to this computer, and the computer is much more powerful in terms of functionality. OS Mavericks is outdated, even as the most updated operating system from Apple. OS Mavericks certainly lacks features, although the interface is nice.

1. If you value portability and need a decent battery life, get a computer with the Intel Haswell chipset.

2. If you desire a tablet, make sure to get a computer with some sort of digitizer, preferably a Wacom digitizer. There are basically two options with digitizer, Wacom or N-Trig. My computer uses an N-Trig digitzer, and N-Trig digitizers suck in general. They lack support with Adobe products and other software, and performance varies from which software you use. However, my computer performs exceptionally well in OneNote, and I can use this computer to replace paper, as a student, especially in conjunction with some sort of a scanner.

3. Consider the form-factor of the computer. My computer is a Ultrabook slider convertible tablet and I love my computer. It's like having an iPad, except bulkier, with full-featured Windows. Also, watching video on the screen in tablet mode feels just like watching TV.

4. So far there are no computers available on the market with both a Wacom digitizer and a Haswell chipset.

5. Remember if you drop money on a computer, once you spend that money, it's gone.

 

[GopherMD]

As long as it fits the med school's recommendations, get whatever you like (Mac or PC).

Personally, I own a MacBook Pro.

 

[darkjedi]

Macs have unparalleled battery life that has only been boosted by mavericks. I think the MacBook Air has something like 15 hrs of battery.

It is certainly more expensive, but I price I personally think is worth it. The MBA has no real close competitor on the market at all.

I believe the Mac/PC split at my school is something on the order of 95:5. Take that as you will too.

 

[Ismet]

Definitely way more Macs than PCs at my school. I'm a Mac fan myself.

 

[deleted303591]

Macs have unparalleled battery life that has only been boosted by mavericks. I think the MacBook Air has something like 15 hrs of battery.

It is certainly more expensive, but I price I personally think is worth it. The MBA has no real close competitor on the market at all.

I believe the Mac/PC split at my school is something on the order of 95:5. Take that as you will too.

Yes they do. They are called Intel Ultrabooks.

I am a former computer repair tech who also sold computers in the past.

I am a Mac fan too, but Apple is getting more and more "locked in" and they are losing their momentum in the market, as they are not pushing out groundbreaking products quickly enough.

 

[jm192]

I bought a cheap 500$ HP PC, it's done the job. Anti-Virus and malware it up for your movies/music/porn.

But: What do you really need? Web browser with Java/Flash, Microsoft Office, Adobe/A .pdf reader. Pretty standard stuff.

 

[yehhhboiii]

does the macbook pro run the deluxe version of powerpoint that teaches you 100 times better or something

 

[deleted303591]

does the macbook pro run the deluxe version of powerpoint that teaches you 100 times better or something

It must, as there is no full-fledged version of OneNote that can be used on a Mac!!! LOL!

 

[darkjedi]

Yes they do. They are called Intel Ultrabooks.

I am a former computer repair tech who also sold computers in the past.

I am a Mac fan too, but Apple is getting more and more "locked in" and they are losing their momentum in the market, as they are not pushing out groundbreaking products quickly enough.

I don't believe any ultrabook on the market approaches the specs and battery life of the MBA. Unfortunately apple is a full generation ahead in laptop performance/battery than equivalent windows laptops are. Full desktops are a much different story and I prefer PC as well. Hard to run a triple screen gaming rig with a Mac platform, haha.

 

[deleted303591]

I don't believe any ultrabook on the market approaches the specs and battery life of the MBA. Unfortunately apple is a full generation ahead in laptop performance/battery than equivalent windows laptops are. Full desktops are a much different story and I prefer PC as well. Hard to run a triple screen gaming rig with a Mac platform, haha.

2013 MacBook Air Battery Life vs. Windows 8 Ultrabooks

Just a handful of Ultrabooks that were compared against the Macbook Air.
I searched "benchmarks AND Ultrabooks AND "Macbook Air"" in Google.

If you want a tablet computer look at "2 in 1 Ultrabooks" in Google. This will direct you to an Intel website.

Otherwise, if you want a "tablet experience" on a Mac, be prepared to shell out $1600-1700 on a Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid, in addition to a Macbook Air.

I am sure my Sony is comparable to the Macbook Air. I picked the computer based on the form-factor and features (processor and digitizer--for tablet experience).

 

[Boolean]

Not a medical school student, but have a similar setup to most of my medical school friends. Surface (Personally an RT) + MacBook is a pretty much flawless setup. It'll set you back a decent bit, but it is well worth it imho. If you get a surface pro, it has a proper digitiser built-in, and is full fledged windows, so perhaps you could eliminate the need for another computer (such as a laptop). Be sure to get the type case if you get the surface (the touch case is such a pain)

 

[Pacna]

2013 MacBook Air Battery Life vs. Windows 8 Ultrabooks

Great link! Thank you!

 

[yehhhboiii]

I don't believe any ultrabook on the market approaches the specs and battery life of the MBA. Unfortunately apple is a full generation ahead in laptop performance/battery than equivalent windows laptops are. Full desktops are a much different story and I prefer PC as well. Hard to run a triple screen gaming rig with a Mac platform, haha.

well it's not like you're not surrounded by outlets

 

[darkjedi]

well it's not like you're not surrounded by outlets

Our lecture hall is old as heck so no outlets unfortunately. We are moving into a new building soon, so hopefully more outlets there...

 

[yehhhboiii]

Our lecture hall is old as heck so no outlets unfortunately. We are moving into a new building soon, so hopefully more outlets there...

jesus was it built before edison
no outlets wtf

 

[darkjedi]

jesus was it built before edison
no outlets wtf

It was built before radios were even a thing

 

[MDOnlyWillDo]

I believe the Mac/PC split at my school is something on the order of 95:5. Take that as you will too.

It's probably 80/20 at my school, but I see no real advantage- all the Mac users I know here in med school-lite had to buy Adobe Pro to take notes. I'll chime in as a PC person- I love my Dell XPS 12 and use Foxit to take all my notes. And we don't have outlets in most of the lecture halls, but I've never had an issue with battery life.

 

[darkjedi]

It's probably 80/20 at my school, but I see no real advantage- all the Mac users I know here in med school-lite had to buy Adobe Pro to take notes. I'll chime in as a PC person- I love my Dell XPS 12 and use Foxit to take all my notes. And we don't have outlets in most of the lecture halls, but I've never had an issue with battery life.

The included Preview app allows for notes taking on pdfs, not sure why people are buying Adobe Pro, not to mention all the tons of other free notetaking apps available on both platforms.

 

[wruruwr6u]

Thanks so much!

 

[ThunderBear]

I'm searching for a solution to this question as well. I am torn between a windows 8 laptop and a macbook.

I like Macbooks because:

• OSX has awesome window management, and I find the interface to be very fast to use.
• Great hardware, excellent trackpad.

I like windows laptops because

• OneNote.

I'm really curious of what people using macbooks are taking notes on. I've tried circus ponies notebook, but honestly, I don't think it's that good. This was still a quandary for me when I chose a laptop for undergraduate and I'm still searching for an answer.

 

[lunalight]

I'm searching for a solution to this question as well. I am torn between a windows 8 laptop and a macbook.

I like Macbooks because:

• OSX has awesome window management, and I find the interface to be very fast to use.
• Great hardware, excellent trackpad.

I like windows laptops because

• OneNote.

I'm really curious of what people using macbooks are taking notes on. I've tried circus ponies notebook, but honestly, I don't think it's that good. This was still a quandary for me when I chose a laptop for undergraduate and I'm still searching for an answer.

I have a MacBook Air with upgraded memory, processor and hard drive. I absolutely love it. I run windows 7 on parallels 9 (NOT bootcamp!) and use onenote that way. It's pretty much the only thing I run on that side. I just swipe back over to Mavericks for everything else. I also have a wireless Wacom intuos so I can write in onenote too.

This setup works flawlessly for me.

 

[JakeOgle]

Anyone have opinions on iPads? Looking to get a tablet for college but not sure what's good and bad. I like the apple interface, but I hear the surface 2 is super good but it's a little pricey (and sorry I posted here, I didn't want to start a new thread)

 

[MadRadLad]

Anyone have opinions on iPads? Looking to get a tablet for college but not sure what's good and bad. I like the apple interface, but I hear the surface 2 is super good but it's a little pricey (and sorry I posted here, I didn't want to start a new thread)

I have an iPad I got as a gift. It's nice, but I would never in a million years pay full price for it. Get yourself a Transformer or something more in the sub-$250 range and it will work fine.

 

[JakeOgle]

I have an iPad I got as a gift. It's nice, but I would never in a million years pay full price for it. Get yourself a Transformer or something more in the sub-$250 range and it will work fine.

eBay has a 4th gen 128gb for $600. Do you see that as a deal?

 

[NickNaylor]

I switched to a Mac from a PC a few months ago. I echo the seniments about the Mac battery life - there isn't a PC with a similar form factor and battery life that I've seen, and that really is valuable. It's nice to be able to whip out your computer at any point during the day and know you'll have some battery life. I still bring my power adapter with me, but unless I have times during which I really spend a lot of time on my computer - not so common anymore now that I'm on the wards - I'm usually able to get through the day without plugging it in.

Even though I love my Mac, you absolutely pay a premium for it. I got a top of the line, very upgraded retina Pro that set me back about $3k. Is the hardware worth $3k? Of course not. If money is a concern for you, then a Mac probably isn't your best choice. In terms of the overall package, though, I'm very happy with mine - expensive though it may have been.

 

[sazerac]

I'm searching for a solution to this question as well. I am torn between a windows 8 laptop and a macbook.

I like Macbooks because:

• OSX has awesome window management, and I find the interface to be very fast to use.
• Great hardware, excellent trackpad.

I like windows laptops because

• OneNote.

I'm really curious of what people using macbooks are taking notes on. I've tried circus ponies notebook, but honestly, I don't think it's that good. This was still a quandary for me when I chose a laptop for undergraduate and I'm still searching for an answer.

Lol I own a MacBook Air (for taking exams), but I take notes on my iPad, leaving the laptop at home.

 

[MadRadLad]

eBay has a 4th gen 128gb for $600. Do you see that as a deal?

$600? Is that the book?

I'm referring to this: http://www.amazon.com/Transformer-TF101-A1-10-1-Inch-Tablet-Separately/dp/B004U78J1G

You don't need more than 32gb or so on a tablet, ever. Plus the Transformers have a microSD slot anyway.

--

Also take a look at these: https://www.tabletninja.com/finding-the-best-tablets-under-200/

 

[FLICKER91]

I have a Macbook Air, it works quite well.

 

[moisne]

I recommend surface pro (mine was 575$).

You can write directly on the tablet. Best buy in my life

 

[ThunderBear]

I have a MacBook Air with upgraded memory, processor and hard drive. I absolutely love it. I run windows 7 on parallels 9 (NOT bootcamp!) and use onenote that way. It's pretty much the only thing I run on that side. I just swipe back over to Mavericks for everything else. I also have a wireless Wacom intuos so I can write in onenote too.

This setup works flawlessly for me.

Flawless answer! I was considering doing the exact same thing with vmware, but I had not heard of the wacom intuos up until now. If I may ask, what do you primarily use the Wacom pen for, and do you think that it's a suitable replacement for a laptop with an active digitizer like the Thinkpad Yoga (another of my candidates).

 

[ThunderBear]

I switched to a Mac from a PC a few months ago. I echo the seniments about the Mac battery life - there isn't a PC with a similar form factor and battery life that I've seen, and that really is valuable. It's nice to be able to whip out your computer at any point during the day and know you'll have some battery life. I still bring my power adapter with me, but unless I have times during which I really spend a lot of time on my computer - not so common anymore now that I'm on the wards - I'm usually able to get through the day without plugging it in.

Even though I love my Mac, you absolutely pay a premium for it. I got a top of the line, very upgraded retina Pro that set me back about $3k. Is the hardware worth $3k? Of course not. If money is a concern for you, then a Mac probably isn't your best choice. In terms of the overall package, though, I'm very happy with mine - expensive though it may have been.

I agree that apple makes excellent hardware, but I'm curious what programs you use to take notes and store information. Are you using Pages or Word?

 

[lunalight]

Flawless answer! I was considering doing the exact same thing with vmware, but I had not heard of the wacom intuos up until now. If I may ask, what do you primarily use the Wacom pen for, and do you think that it's a suitable replacement for a laptop with an active digitizer like the Thinkpad Yoga (another of my candidates).

I use the tablet pretty often. Its especially good for marking up histopath slides. I also use it to highlight and draw arrows from certain parts of the side to the notes I type on the side, so I know what goes together. I'll draw flowcharts/concept maps next to important stuff too. Sometimes its just better for remembering things if I can write.

The thing with OneNote is that its kind of stupid about its text boxes and likes to shift them around on you, but it doesn't do it that much with the digital ink. Plus the digital ink is much easier to control and looks better than when you use the mouse. I have to use OneNote b/c it's required by my school.

I can't really comment on if its a suitable replacement because I've never owned a tablet computer, but the Yoga was what I was going to go with when I decided to get the MBA instead. Some of my classmates have a little trouble with screen sensitivity and scratches and stuff, but I haven't really heard any huge complaints.

I sort of regret not going with VMware, but at the time I didn't know much about it. When I was setting everything up, I figured Parallels would be easier to get support on if I needed it since it appears to be more widely used.

 

[NickNaylor]

I agree that apple makes excellent hardware, but I'm curious what programs you use to take notes and store information. Are you using Pages or Word?

Haha, well unfortunately I'm past the days of strictly taking notes on things. 🙂 It depends on the use-case though. When I want something more functional or when I may be doing heavy formatting, I use Word. When I want something easier-to-use or am using more of a "design" mindset, I go with Pages. Word has great functionality but absolutely sucks at being easy to use. Pages is pretty easy to use, but I simply don't trust it to do advanced formatting.

That said, I don't think Pages is necessarily a terrible program. I'm just more familiar and comfortable with Word since this is my first Mac.

 

[Microglia]

Just got this as my laptop, it's pretty awesome and incredibly fast. Downside is it only has ~4 hrs battery life. I do lots of sound/video editing though so I needed portable and powerful (a Mac would take like...1000 hrs to do some of the tasks this guy pounds out in a min).

http://m.gigabyte.com/product/product.aspx?pid=4636&c=105000000

I also have a surface RT which I use for in class notes, because it has 8+ hours battery life. They tie together through the cloud seamlessly. Together, no downsides of staying with the PC life.

 

[surely]

I'm searching for a solution to this question as well. I am torn between a windows 8 laptop and a macbook.

I like Macbooks because:

• OSX has awesome window management, and I find the interface to be very fast to use.
• Great hardware, excellent trackpad.

I like windows laptops because

• OneNote.

I'm really curious of what people using macbooks are taking notes on. I've tried circus ponies notebook, but honestly, I don't think it's that good. This was still a quandary for me when I chose a laptop for undergraduate and I'm still searching for an answer.

Mac users rejoice: OneNote for Mac is being released later this month! Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57620224-75/microsoft-to-offer-onenote-for-mac-for-free/

 

[eliteeli]

FYI, if you are a curent student, best buy has 150$ off of any macbook

 

[Toadesque]

I paid about $1200 for a Macbook Air last year (128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM), best laptop I've ever owned. Unfortunately I missed the 2013 update which basically doubled the battery life, but oh well. I'll probably sell this thing in a couple of years for around $600-700 and then get another one. That's what I love about Macs, resale value is amazing.

My only worry is having to use software not compatible with OS X and having to buy another Windows machine.

 

[darkjedi]

I paid about $1200 for a Macbook Air last year (128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM), best laptop I've ever owned. Unfortunately I missed the 2013 update which basically doubled the battery life, but oh well. I'll probably sell this thing in a couple of years for around $600-700 and then get another one. That's what I love about Macs, resale value is amazing.

My only worry is having to use software not compatible with OS X and having to buy another Windows machine.

Or you can bootcamp for free/license cost

 

[knv2u]

I paid about $1200 for a Macbook Air last year (128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM), best laptop I've ever owned. Unfortunately I missed the 2013 update which basically doubled the battery life, but oh well. I'll probably sell this thing in a couple of years for around $600-700 and then get another one. That's what I love about Macs, resale value is amazing.

My only worry is having to use software not compatible with OS X and having to buy another Windows machine.

You can run Windows through a virtualization program such as Parallels from within the Mac OS. Moreover, you could use Boot Camp to partition and install Windows along side Mac OS X.

 

[allojay]

I have a MacBook Air with upgraded memory, processor and hard drive. I absolutely love it. I run windows 7 on parallels 9 (NOT bootcamp!) and use onenote that way. It's pretty much the only thing I run on that side. I just swipe back over to Mavericks for everything else. I also have a wireless Wacom intuos so I can write in onenote too.

This setup works flawlessly for me.

I had a few questions. Is it possible to upgrade an already purchased mac book pro? And how does the Wacom intuos work? I'm quite new to this style of note taking and was looking for the most effective way to take notes for when M1 starts. I'm hoping to get parallels and use oneNote that way. Though I'm unsure of how you're able to take consistent notes on your laptop during lectures. Any advice would be truly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Being]

Not a medical student yet, but I've been thrilled with my transformer book t100. Budget friendly ($400 includes keyboard and Microsoft Office/OneNote), ultra portable, excellent battery life, powerful enough for non-photo/video/intensive gaming applications, runs full windows and not RT (very important to me), and has HDMI output and USB for mouse/keyboard so you can hook it to a monitor and use it as a desktop if you so desire.

It doesn't have a digitizer so writing on it by hand is slow and mediocre. My handwriting is miserable anyways so I generally prefer typing my notes whenever possible, but I'm considering getting a Wacom Intuous or something to pair with it and trying to go totally paperless.

I'm really happy I went with a hybrid and I think this style of computer works out really well even if you don't plan to hand write notes. I love using just the tablet when studying, reading e-books/PDFs, etc, but the keyboard is a necessity for typing notes, word processing and general usability. I find that I use both "modes" regularly and now that I'm used to it, I can't imagine not having that option available. It's not as good at being a laptop as a real laptop, and it's not as good of a tablet as a real tablet... But it does a pretty darn good job at both while taking up very little real estate in my backpack.

Just another option to consider. I think this is a great little device that does almost everything I want it to at an impressive price.

 

[Laureatebarrel]

If you care about performance and durability go for thinkpad series. Nothing last longer than this beast.

 

[okokok]

I read a lot about different computers on these forums so I thought I'd just post some input. I had it narrowed down between the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga and the Sony Vaio 13 because each was an ultrabook tablet/laptop hybrid and each had the active digitizer pen for taking notes, although they each use different technologies (Lenovo uses the Wacom pen and Sony the N-trig pen). I decided to get the Sony Vaio because it was on sale at my local Best Buy and if I bought it through Best Buy I could purchase their damage warranty/tech support plan. I couldn't find the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga in any stores around me, and I was actually going to order it from their website before I ended up buying the Vaio, but once I started adding the options I wanted (Core i5 and the screen that read the digitizer pen input), it started to get really expensive (around $1,350) while the Sony was $1,099 at Best Buy (still expensive, I know).

So I've had the Sony Vaio a week and I've learned Windows 8.1 and I've read about the cons of it online, which seem to be that it has a noisy fan and the wifi is a little weak. I agree that the fan is slightly noisy but it's really not that big of a deal to me (just sounds like airflow) and the wifi I think is a little weak sometimes (which made me think I might return it to Best Buy originally). But the thing that has been annoying me is I can't find the n-trig digitzer stylus ANYWHERE. It's sold out of the Sony site, Best Buy, everywhere. There are a couple used ones on sale on Amazon and eBay but they're like $60+ with no guarantee. I called Sony to ask when they might get them back in stock and the person on the phone told me that Sony actually sold their Vaio line and they're no longer manufacturing them and so they're no longer manufacturing the stylus either. I think that's really odd. Why would they create this computer that has this digitizer technology if they're not going to continue manufacturing the one thing needed to take advantage of it? I'm sketched out by the whole thing and by Sony selling the whole line (although the employee said that they'll still have customer support for it), so I'm thinking about returning the computer back to Best Buy. I have one more week in which to make this decision. I'm annoyed because I spent like two hours today customizing the computer settings, but I guess at least I know now how to use Windows 8.1.

Soo, now I'm thinking about going ahead and getting the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga and hoping that it lasts long enough to justify the price. My fears are that without buying it from a big box store where I can go talk to someone face-to-face, I won't be able to get a response or help if the computer has a problem. Does anyone have any insight on the responsiveness and helpfulness of the Lenovo tech support line? I also can't find the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga sold anywhere other than the Lenovo site--is there a reason why the electronics stores don't carry it? Has anyone with this computer had any problems?

I'm not a big tech person so I don't know a lot about this stuff. I don't make big purchases very often so I've spent a lot of weeks researching the best computer to get that will hopefully last me all through med school and beyond. For those of you who have the Sony Vaio or have tech support experience, do you think it'll be fine if I just buy the expensive n-trig pen from Amazon or eBay and hope it all works fine?

 

[TreadLightly]

But the thing that has been annoying me is I can't find the n-trig digitzer stylus ANYWHERE. It's sold out of the Sony site, Best Buy, everywhere. There are a couple used ones on sale on Amazon and eBay but they're like $60+ with no guarantee. I called Sony to ask when they might get them back in stock and the person on the phone told me that Sony actually sold their Vaio line and they're no longer manufacturing them and so they're no longer manufacturing the stylus either. I think that's really odd. Why would they create this computer that has this digitizer technology if they're not going to continue manufacturing the one thing needed to take advantage of it? I'm sketched out by the whole thing and by Sony selling the whole line (although the employee said that they'll still have customer support for it), so I'm thinking about returning the computer back to Best Buy. I have one more week in which to make this decision. I'm annoyed because I spent like two hours today customizing the computer settings, but I guess at least I know now how to use Windows 8.1.

You've got to be kidding me. I just bought this thing and thought I'd pick up the pen before med school so I could take notes. If I can't find the pen, this is going to be a $1000 waste.

Protip: stay the hell away from the Sony vaio. The build quality is one of the worst I've ever seen on a laptop and I've owned a Compaq. Yeah. Not even worth $600 let alone $1200+. Just buy a surface pro or a macbook.

 

[chillaxbro]

I have a laptop but I don't want to bring it to class.

Are laptops needed literally at school or can I leave it at home?

 

[Microglia]

Get the new surface pro 3 in a month, it'll be a lot better and have more support, active digitizer, detachable keyboard, and lighter than a MacBook Air with more powerful components. Stay the heck away from vaio. Never ever lasts.