Technology Laptop for student beginning medical school

[bharms]

I'm beginning my first year of medical school (University of Washington, if anyone can speak to specifics of that program) this August and need to buy a laptop, as the one I used in college is very dead. Right now I'm looking around and have a few questions.

1.) What screen size would be ideal? I'm thinking in the 14-15.6" range, and keep changing my mind as to which end would be better. I don't want it to be heavy/awkward to handle as I will frequently be taking it with me, so maybe 14" would be best, but I also don't want to suffer a cramped viewing/working area, so maybe 15.6" would be best (especially since the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio really minimizes vertical screen room). Any opinions/tips?

2.) What are all the school purposes I might expect to use my laptop for? I'm sure there will be plenty of powerpoints to look at and other things using productivity software, as well as e-mail and logging into some sort of centralized course website, but are there any other school related purposes that I might expect to use my laptop for?

3.) Any other helpful things you can suggest or information you can share?

Thanks!

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[TMP-SMX]

I use 13.3 but 14.1 is fine too. I have an aluminum Macbook (before it became the MBP). Depending on how thin a 15.6 is it can get heavy. Many schools have online streaming lectures. Not sure about UW.

 

[bharms]

So in your opinion (or anyone else's) then it won't be cramped trying to work on/view powerpoints and other productivity software? Especially since the screens are stretched even wider now (16:9 aspect ratio), it seems like the vertical viewing space is very slim. That isn't helped at all by the bulky toolbars the productivity software like Powerpoint insists on displaying at the top, if only they could be displaed vertically on a side.

 

[AMeanCupOfTea]

I use 13.3 but 14.1 is fine too. I have an aluminum Macbook (before it became the MBP). Depending on how thin a 15.6 is it can get heavy. Many schools have online streaming lectures. Not sure about UW.

Macbooks/MBPs are a treat for pretty much any academic work. Great battery life and performance, it should do much of anything you throw at it.

I would recommend it, even more now that Windows Seven is out angering its users.

Personally, I have the MBP with aluminium casing and 13.3 inches screen and it's well enough for heavy usage of productivity software. Good cost/quality ratio.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

So in your opinion (or anyone else's) then it won't be cramped trying to work on/view powerpoints and other productivity software? Especially since the screens are stretched even wider now (16:9 aspect ratio), it seems like the vertical viewing space is very slim. That isn't helped at all by the bulky toolbars the productivity software like Powerpoint insists on displaying at the top, if only they could be displaed vertically on a side.

I had a 12" compaq in my first year. It worked great for pretty much everything including reading pdf files, ebooks, powerpoint presentations, etc. I now have a 15" Toshiba. The bigger screen size didn't make that much of a difference to me.

 

[TMP-SMX]

I've used this machine for two years. It works great still in terms of performance, battery life, portability, heat, and the size of the screen is sufficient. I view pdfs and powerpoints without any problems.