Laptop + tablet for medical school

[Lifeblood_20]

Hello, I am an incoming M1 looking for recommendations regarding electronics for med school.
I want to get a new laptop for watching lectures (I've been using a 2013 MacBook Pro and am feeling its age). Maybe an Intel core i6 Lenovo for ~ $800. What kind of memory and storage is good? I probably won't be using the laptop much outside of schoolwork.
I also want a tablet for taking notes. I am seeing people directly writing on Powerpoint slides with tablets and think it seems convenient to be able to save that directly as files. Can you write on PPt on an iPad? Or Surface? Which models are cost-effective?

What are you guys using?

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[Redpancreas]

Hello, I am an incoming M1 looking for recommendations regarding electronics for med school.
I want to get a new laptop for watching lectures (I've been using a 2013 MacBook Pro and am feeling its age). Maybe an Intel core i6 Lenovo for ~ $800. What kind of memory and storage is good? I probably won't be using the laptop much outside of schoolwork.
I also want a tablet for taking notes. I am seeing people directly writing on Powerpoint slides with tablets and think it seems convenient to be able to save that directly as files. Can you write on PPt on an iPad? Or Surface? Which models are cost-effective?

What are you guys using?

Forget the tablet. For all the noise these made in the mid 2010's, no one actually used Ipads during rounds. Similarly, I believe the laptop/tablet hybrids Microsoft has out are underpowered. Your phone will be the best portable tool for you as even when you are in residency, most EMRs will have phone-based orders. For M1-M2, if you're looking to take notes, your current laptop (Mac/windows whatever) is good enough unless you feel it needs an upgrade. Oh also, use OneNote. You can upload your class lectures, type notes in the margin, snip screenshots from review books, etc. When you come home, fire up your desktop with multiple monitors with one having First Aid another with Lecture Notes, etc. That's the way to do it IMO.

EDIT: If you need to take notes by hand I would stick to a pen/paper vs. the tablet and "apple pen".

 

[Cornfed101]

Hello, I am an incoming M1 looking for recommendations regarding electronics for med school.
I want to get a new laptop for watching lectures (I've been using a 2013 MacBook Pro and am feeling its age). Maybe an Intel core i6 Lenovo for ~ $800. What kind of memory and storage is good? I probably won't be using the laptop much outside of schoolwork.
I also want a tablet for taking notes. I am seeing people directly writing on Powerpoint slides with tablets and think it seems convenient to be able to save that directly as files. Can you write on PPt on an iPad? Or Surface? Which models are cost-effective?

What are you guys using?

Memory and storage are overrated. Get the least that is offered. Everything can be stored on the cloud these days for much cheaper than having it physically.

you can take notes over pdf on iPad. I use goodnotes, notability is also very popular. I like writing physically as I think it helps me remember things. Also I often include my annotations in Anki cards (both premade and original cards)

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Forget the tablet. For all the noise these made in the mid 2010's, no one actually used Ipads during rounds. Similarly, I believe the laptop/tablet hybrids Microsoft has out are underpowered. Your phone will be the best portable tool for you as even when you are in residency, most EMRs will have phone-based orders. For M1-M2, if you're looking to take notes, your current laptop (Mac/windows whatever) is good enough unless you feel it needs an upgrade. Oh also, use OneNote. You can upload your class lectures, type notes in the margin, snip screenshots from review books, etc. When you come home, fire up your desktop with multiple monitors with one having First Aid another with Lecture Notes, etc. That's the way to do it IMO.

I 100% need to take notes by hand in order to learn anything and cannot stand typing notes with a kepyboard so I think I’ll be going with the tablet. Don’t think I can afford a desktop on top of a laptop and tablet unfortunately.

 

[Dr. Trafalgar Law]

MS1. I personally splurged and went for a Macbook + iPad combo, notability has worked well for me across both platforms.

I will say though, like you throughout all of undergrad I was a huge note-taker but by the time winter came around I was barely using my iPad for school. It very quickly became overwhelming to take notes for everything so I just stopped and switched to just using AnKing and making my own Quizlet flashcards for course minutiae that I would need to hammer down for in-house exams.

I won't suggest not getting a tablet for notes if that's your thing, but it's a hefty price that just wasn't worth the squeeze for me anyway.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

I'm an M2 and have used the surface pro throughout college and med school. It's great for taking notes on PowerPoint and I obviously save everything to OneDrive so I have access to my notes on all my devices. I'd definitely recommend a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop. I also 100x prefer the feel of the Surface Pen vs Apple Pen. Much more realistic (I also have an iPad that my med school gave me that I barely use).

I've also seen manyyy people that like the iPad, so I suppose it's personal preference.

As for memory, 256gb is pretty standard for a laptop. But you can save things to something like OneDrive to save a lot of storage which is nice!

 

[ciestar]

I have a Macbook Air and ipad i used for med school. Used Notability for M1 and M2, but ive hardly used it for like 3 years

 

[theendisnigh]

Highly recommend the surface pro line. I've had the Pro 5 since sophomore year of college and it still works amazing. OneDrive stores all the ppts and you can edit across computers. Also the pen for note taking I've found is a must, simply because I annotate radiologic pics and anatomy photos all the time. I got the 256 gb version but 5 years later I've only used half of it, since OneDrive will store all your lecture notes.

If you have an apple ecosystem, you should go the iPad route, if not the Surface Pro has been a reliable piece of tech.

I personally use my tablet and have a laptop that I hooked up to a large monitor (28 inch) for dual-screening. I use the large monitor to watch lectures or read textbooks and the tablet to write.

 

[Redpancreas]

I 100% need to take notes by hand in order to learn anything and cannot stand typing notes with a kepyboard so I think I’ll be going with the tablet. Don’t think I can afford a desktop on top of a laptop and tablet unfortunately.

Have you tried taking notes with a stylus or "apple pen" though? I felt the same way about hand writing and got a tablet and I tried it for a week and didn't like it. If you want to do hand notes, why note print the notes or use the course pack notes given to you. Much more effective IMO given my experience. Don't buy into the tablet hype.

Anyhow other M1/2 are probably better resources for what works for lectures these days but I will say I don't think the technology's there yet this year to surpass pen/paper notes. Maybe next year something will change.

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Have you tried taking notes with a stylus or "apple pen" though? I felt the same way about hand writing and got a tablet and I tried it for a week and didn't like it. If you want to do hand notes, why note print the notes or use the course pack notes given to you. Much more effective IMO given my experience. Don't buy into the tablet hype.

Anyhow other M1/2 are probably better resources for what works for lectures these days but I will say I don't think the technology's there yet this year to surpass pen/paper notes. Maybe next year something will change.

Yeah, it’s true that I have never actually enjoyed writing with a stylus on a screen. I can see myself not liking the tablet. In undergrad, I printed ppt to write on and took old school pen-and-spiral-notebook notes. I’d like to do the same in med school IF possible, but feel like there’s gonna be way too much paper to keep track of. Even in undergrad I ended up with a boatload of paper every semester.

MS1. I personally splurged and went for a Macbook + iPad combo, notability has worked well for me across both platforms.

I will say though, like you throughout all of undergrad I was a huge note-taker but by the time winter came around I was barely using my iPad for school. It very quickly became overwhelming to take notes for everything so I just stopped and switched to just using AnKing and making my own Quizlet flashcards for course minutiae that I would need to hammer down for in-house exams.

I won't suggest not getting a tablet for notes if that's your thing, but it's a hefty price that just wasn't worth the squeeze for me anyway.

I’m glad that flash cards work out for you. I never got the point of Anki in undergrad and still not a fan of it. I’m told that this means it’ll be pretty difficult for me to adjust to med school...

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far!

 

[Cornfed101]

If I had to choose a laptop or a tablet I would choose a laptop 10 times out of 10. ExamSoft (or most likely any testing software your school uses) probably won’t work on a tablet so it’s not even a question.

have you ever tried rocket books? They are reusable smart notebooks that you can scan into your computer pretty easily. Maybe a compromise

 

[Redpancreas]

Yeah, it’s true that I have never actually enjoyed writing with a stylus on a screen. I can see myself not liking the tablet. In undergrad, I printed ppt to write on and took old school pen-and-spiral-notebook notes. I’d like to do the same in med school IF possible, but feel like there’s gonna be way too much paper to keep track of. Even in undergrad I ended up with a boatload of paper every semester.

I’m glad that flash cards work out for you. I never got the point of Anki in undergrad and still not a fan of it. I’m told that this means it’ll be pretty difficult for me to adjust to med school...

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far!

Don't worry about all the paper. You can always get a binder and have the lectures split with tabs, but most places already have the syllabus/course notes/course pack bound and ready for you so that is all you need. Where I went, we had "course packs" printed and bound for us as well as PDF copies of the notes available online so we never lost track of paper. At the end of M2, people posted pictures of their course packs stacked up on social media so clearly they kept track of all the paper. I tried to use a tablet in medical school for the sake of upgrading and creating a more sophisticated/indexed study method and it failed. One thing I'd wished I had done was create a OneNote compilation that puts everything together in one place. I think OneNote's a great tool regardless.

I still fail to why Anki is a religion on these forums. I had a lot of Spanish in high school and flash cards were a huge help for me. In medicine there is a lot of stuff like drugs (mechanism of action, indications, etc.) that can be made into flash cards, but then sometimes there isn't as much of that in other courses/lectures so forcing myself to use ANKI for everything was a mistake and I did reasonable well in class and better on Step 1 without using Anki (although I made some flashcards from index cards for pharm/micro). All the information just does not always fit into ANKI format even with all their media features and sometimes just immersing yourself in material and making your own tables/flashcards was more helpful than trying to make a flash card for everything you needed in medical school.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

If I had to choose a laptop or a tablet I would choose a laptop 10 times out of 10. ExamSoft (or most likely any testing software your school uses) probably won’t work on a tablet so it’s not even a question.

have you ever tried rocket books? They are reusable smart notebooks that you can scan into your computer pretty easily. Maybe a compromise

Examsoft works with the Surface Pro, so it still is an option. Here's proof if you still do not believe. But you're right about tablets, in general

And I actually had a Rocketbook in college! Cool concept but didn't really like it much tbh

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Thanks for all suggestions, I think I will look into a Surface Pro + Windows laptop! 🙂

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

Get your electronics for what you do outside of med school. For med school, I use my computer for watching and/or reading lectures - something every device can easily do. So when picking a PC I'd go with making sure it can meet the needs of what I do the other 80% of the day.

I have a Surface Pro 4 for what it's worth. When deciding between a Surface Pro and a Windows Laptop the thought you should have is do you want a laptop that can act like a tablet (Windows laptop) or a tablet that can act like a laptop (Surface Pro). One is more powerful, while one is lighter and easier to laydown and read lectures with.

 

[deleted1082375]

M1 MacBook air. The new ARM chips are great.

iPad air paired with it if you want a tablet, though it's not totally necessary. You can write directly on the slides with an iPad and can use it as a second screen alongside the laptop.

8gb ram and 256 gb storage should be good on the computer.

 

[PapaGuava]

I had bought a surface pro which was neat for annotating on power points or drawing but besides that I used it as a regular laptop and it had pretty good capability. If anything, make sure you use the OneNote program like others have said.

 

[PipetteDreams]

If you have an iPhone, Macbook + iPad is unbeatable for seamless integration of resources across devices. It's the bread + butter at my school and what the vast majority of people use. Added convenience for sharing notes with people using Notability.

For M1/2, I personally printed all our slides and highlighted/took notes (even at 4 slides per page, double sided, it was a LOT). Wish I switched over to the iPad sooner

 

[Lifeblood_20]

If you have an iPhone, Macbook + iPad is unbeatable for seamless integration of resources across devices. It's the bread + butter at my school and what the vast majority of people use. Added convenience for sharing notes with people using Notability.

For M1/2, I personally printed all our slides and highlighted/took notes (even at 4 slides per page, double sided, it was a LOT). Wish I switched over to the iPad sooner

I do have an iPhone. Do you think the Mac + iPad route is better? Isn’t it harder to access windows programs such as OneDrive?

 

[PipetteDreams]

I do have an iPhone. Do you think the Mac + iPad route is better? Isn’t it harder to access windows programs such as OneDrive?

I haven't had a problem with it - my school uses OneDrive/Outlook. While I mostly use the browser, the downloaded app worked well when I was using it a lot more during the height of the pandemic.

Personally, I do think it's really nice to have all my devices talk to one another.

 

[Redpancreas]

I do have an iPhone. Do you think the Mac + iPad route is better? Isn’t it harder to access windows programs such as OneDrive?

Windows/Mac compatability should not be an issue. OneNote works just as well on my IPhone as it does on my Acer Windows desktop. If I were in your position I would upgrade to a new laptop/desktop simply as a treat for yourself. Focus on processing speed/RAM as opposed to memory as others have said. You can try the IPad but I bet you'll stop using it within a month. It really serves no purpose in medical school. The IPhone allows for portability and convenience and when you need to study at home, the desktop allows you to dig deeper. The Windows Surface Pro is built to emulate a laptop/desktop interface, but it's underpowered meaning most tasks will take longer and you're going to have to keep logging in unless you turn off that setting watch battery life is going to get drained. Tablet/Notebook hybrids have a smaller screen and they restrict you from seeing every detail. I can see how appealing it may seem to just have to carry around one thing, but it's not efficient in the long run. I recommend taking paper notes and coming home to a multi-large monitor set up (think day-trader) where you can do ANKI, rewatch lectures, etc.

day trader set up - Google Search

 

[Redpancreas]

If you have an iPhone, Macbook + iPad is unbeatable for seamless integration of resources across devices. It's the bread + butter at my school and what the vast majority of people use. Added convenience for sharing notes with people using Notability.

For M1/2, I personally printed all our slides and highlighted/took notes (even at 4 slides per page, double sided, it was a LOT). Wish I switched over to the iPad sooner

Don't you feel like you're not able to annotate as quickly or see the pages as well even with the larger IPad or Surface Pros? Additionally, if you have to erase it's a hassle. Colors/highlight annotation is a plus, but then there are such things are four-colored pens with a highlighter tip on the other end. I am someone who needs to write on physical paper so maybe I'm biased?

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

Don't you feel like you're not able to annotate as quickly or see the pages as well even with the larger IPad or Surface Pros? Additionally, if you have to erase it's a hassle. Colors/highlight annotation is a plus, but then there are such things are four-colored pens with a highlighter tip on the other end. I am someone who needs to write on physical paper so maybe I'm biased?

How is erasing a hassle on the surface pro? You literally flip the Surface Pen around and erase like a normal pencil. It's honestly easier and faster than normal erasing. The screen size is close to 11x7" in length, again how is that a huge issue? I annotate much quicker and much more neatly than on paper, and this is coming from someone that used paper through much of college until I realized how inefficient it truly is. You just have to get used to the tech.

The erasing feature is much more annoying for iPad though.

I also upgraded to a 4 monitor PC last year but still use my surface for note-taking in school, so I approve of your day trader setup in your post before haha.

 

[Redpancreas]

How is erasing a hassle on the surface pro? You literally flip the Surface Pen around and erase like a normal pencil. It's honestly easier and faster than normal erasing. The screen size is close to 11x7" in length, again how is that a huge issue? I annotate much quicker and much more neatly than on paper, and this is coming from someone that used paper through much of college until I realized how inefficient it truly is. You just have to get used to the tech.

The erasing feature is much more annoying for iPad though.

I also upgraded to a 4 monitor PC last year but still use my surface for note-taking in school, so I approve of your day trader setup in your post before haha.

Fair, M2 was >4 years ago for me so maybe the pens/etc. got more fluid. Whatever you do OP, try things aggressively early so you settle on something before things get busy and try not to switch systems too much.

 

[PipetteDreams]

If I were in your position I would upgrade to a new laptop/desktop simply as a treat for yourself. Focus on processing speed/RAM as opposed to memory as others have said. You can try the IPad but I bet you'll stop using it within a month. It really serves no purpose in medical school. ...

Respectfully disagree. The vast majority of my class used an iPad by the middle of M1. They imported the professor's slides and took notes using Notability. Also had PDFs of FirstAid, Sketchy, etc. A few students typed onto slides.

I was probably in the <15 people in my class who used physical paper to print out slides or take hand-written notes. You're right that for me it helped with the big picture, but a lot of my friends who swore by physical notes switched to an iPad and never went back. While I cannot re-do preclinical to compare, I was the only person in my group who used paper.

Finally got an iPad near the end of preclinical. Wish I made the switch sooner - I haven't printed notes since early M2. Only exception was a hard copy of FirstAid for Step 1 (using iPad/e-books for Step 2 and Shelfs).

Like all things, it comes down to the individual person. Most important thing is to listen to your gut and go with whatever works for you.

 

[Redpancreas]

Respectfully disagree. The vast majority of my class used an iPad by the middle of M1. They imported the professor's slides and took notes using Notability. Also had PDFs of FirstAid, Sketchy, etc. A few students typed onto slides.

I was probably in the <15 people in my class who used physical paper to print out slides or take hand-written notes. You're right that for me it helped with the big picture, but a lot of my friends who swore by physical notes switched to an iPad and never went back. While I cannot re-do preclinical to compare, I was the only person in my group who used paper.

Finally got an iPad near the end of preclinical. Wish I made the switch sooner - I haven't printed notes since early M2. Only exception was a hard copy of FirstAid for Step 1 (using iPad/e-books for Step 2 and Shelfs).

Like all things, it comes down to the individual person. Most important thing is to listen to your gut and go with whatever works for you.

Fair. We've provided different perspectives. Good news is OP is aware and can try things and quickly find out what suits her.

 

[14_karat]

I plan on finally completing the full Apple ecosystem by getting a Mac and an iPad. Heard that there is a screen protector thing for iPad that makes writing feel more like you're writing on paper.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I plan on finally completing the full Apple ecosystem by getting a Mac and an iPad. Heard that there is a screen protector thing for iPad that makes writing feel more like you're writing on paper.

I have that type of screen protector, got it for drawing. I like it a lot.

 

[anonymouskoala28]

BIG Lenovo fan!!! Their 2 in 1s are fantastic. Both my roommate and I have them. Easily switch from typing to flipping it over and writing. I used one note and upload all ppt slides there and write on it. We both have Lenovo yoga!

 

[FutureSurgical]

I have a Lenovo + iPad. Tbh, 90% of what I do is anki, but having the iPad to use with notability has helped me a lot. Anki is only good for the details and I need to draw/write out the overarching details so I can better understand WHY a card says what it says. I think the tablet is worth it

 

[dienekes88]

During medical school. I liked pen and paper directly on the power point printouts.

I now use an iPad primarily to take notes and store documents because it allows me to subsequently review stuff on my phone between cases.

I have a Lenovo computer that performs well but I pretty much just use it for research.

 

[aldol16]

I would highly recommend against Lenovo. Their warranty is trash. After the warranty runs out, they won't even service their own computers. You have to take it to independent computer repair shops.

Although Apple is expensive (you pay some for the brand name), I have to say that their integration and support is top-notch. You can take your computer in to any Apple store even after the warranty and they can service it (for a price).

 

[boulder48]

Does Mac run a fully functional version of Office? I’ve felt limited by OneNote in the past.

If this is still a popular note taking app, does it have the same features on both a Mac and PC?

 

[Ganon]

Does Mac run a fully functional version of Office? I’ve felt limited by OneNote in the past.

If this is still a popular note taking app, does it have the same features on both a Mac and PC?

Mac has had Office software since the 1980s. Lol.

My Mac from a decade ago runs circles around almost all Surface products!

The deal with Mac is that you pay an insane amount, but for the added reliability it quickly became worth it for me. My buddy had a brand new Surface Pro and the thing required multiple repairs.

Also, if you look at the recent FaceBook drama and ask *why* it happened, it makes Apple look better in my eyes.

I bought a refurbished iPad Pro, used it through Step 2, then sold it for what I paid for it. Worked flawlessly for OneNote/Anki/lectures.

 

[boulder48]

Mac has had Office software since the 1980s. Lol.

My Mac from a decade ago runs circles around almost all Surface products!

The deal with Mac is that you pay an insane amount, but for the added reliability it quickly became worth it for me. My buddy had a brand new Surface Pro and the thing required multiple repairs.

Also, if you look at the recent FaceBook drama and ask *why* it happened, it makes Apple look better in my eyes.

I bought a refurbished iPad Pro, used it through Step 2, then sold it for what I paid for it. Worked flawlessly for OneNote/Anki/lectures.

Haha you’re right, office has been around forever, but OneNote has been a stripped down version on Macs historically. Not sure if this has made a difference for you or anyone else?

 

[Ganon]

Haha you’re right, office has been around forever, but OneNote has been a stripped down version on Macs historically. Not sure if this has made a difference for you or anyone else?

I didn't know there were differences between Mac one note and MS... What functionality is different?

I haven't used it for a year (MS4, woot), but it was flawless between my phone/tablet/laptop.

I downloaded the lectures and drag+dropped them into OneNote, and it would then just appear on my iPad.

 

[boulder48]

I didn't know there were differences between Mac one note and MS... What functionality is different?

I haven't used it for a year (MS4, woot), but it was flawless between my phone/tablet/laptop.

I downloaded the lectures and drag+dropped them into OneNote, and it would then just appear on my iPad.

Thanks what operating system were you on?

 

[Ganon]

Thanks what operating system were you on?

I believe Mojave