Laptops in Med School?

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E

Eraserhead

Hey,

My PC just crashed (for good) and I'm trying to decide between a laptop or another desktop to have for med school (starting in the fall). Does anyone think having a laptop is a great advantage in terms of being useful as a med student? Its a bit cheaper to replace the desktop but I would rather have a laptop...

thanks.
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At our school we were required to buy laptops. The school chose the computer model, Toshiba satellite pro 2 GHz, and we purchased them during registration. The cost was included in financial aid. Having a computer is necessary for us b/c all are notes and powerpoints are online and we do alot of communication via e-mail. I literally study by reading off my computer. Our school has wireless internet too. If we have a problem with our computer we take it to the schools computer gurus and they handle everything for you. If it needs repair they ship it for you and give you a spare computer with everything on it until yours is fixed. This is a huge benefit.

My opinion,
If you think you would use your laptop outside your home, i.e. if your school has wireles or powerpoint notes, go for it; otherwise save some money and go w/ the desktop.
 
huge advantage, for all the reasons you can think of. we get CDs of powerpoint presentations & lab slides so not only do I use it for class, I can take it wherever I study and not have to worry about going to a computer lab...
 
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Alright, well i'm pretty settled on a laptop in general...

but do you guys think it is wise to decide on a school (which may be after May 15th) before I buy one? UCSD is my plan right now and they don't have a specific computer recommendation or program like the one mentioned above, but if my school will pay for it with FA I'll feel dumb buying one now.
 
NEW QUESTION: I'm buying this laptop soon, and thoughts about Mac versus PC? Any problems getting an Ibook would pose for me in med school (i.e., some program everyone uses that is only PC compatible??)?
 
I would NOT get the ibook. I had one, and now I am using a Dell. I got the ibook since my lab is all mac, but ibooks are not very upgradable, and tech support is more difficult to obtain. Also, macs have little quirks in powerpoint and word that will drive you nuts. For the price, I would get a PC. I think that at Dell or Gateway you can get something with the following specs for ~$800:

Pentium or celeron 1.x (never noticed the difference)
30 GB harddrive
CD-RW/DVD combo (24x)
64 MB RAM (get more if you do a lot of gaming, but MS office, etc. is perfectly ok and will work great with this amount)
15 in monitor (definitely upgrade from 14, if you will be reading off it a lot)
Wireless G or Intel Centrino networking
XP

Get MS office, not works. You will need word and powerpoint, possibly Excel. If you will be wireless a lot at home, you need a wireless router, otherwise you can plug into a wired router. Get an external mouse. Get a security cable from a reputable brand. Get a laptop backpack. You will be set!

Also, don't forget to remove the battery if you will be working plugged in; it will really extent the life. I never have my battery in, since I just bring the cord with me.

I hope that helps!

Treg
 
Originally posted by Treg
I would NOT get the ibook. I had one, and now I am using a Dell. I got the ibook since my lab is all mac, but ibooks are not very upgradable, and tech support is more difficult to obtain. Also, macs have little quirks in powerpoint and word that will drive you nuts. For the price, I would get a PC. I think that at Dell or Gateway you can get something with the following specs for ~$800:

Pentium or celeron 1.x (never noticed the difference)
30 GB harddrive
CD-RW/DVD combo (24x)
64 MB RAM (get more if you do a lot of gaming, but MS office, etc. is perfectly ok and will work great with this amount)
15 in monitor (definitely upgrade from 14, if you will be reading off it a lot)
Wireless G or Intel Centrino networking
XP

Get MS office, not works. You will need word and powerpoint, possibly Excel. If you will be wireless a lot at home, you need a wireless router, otherwise you can plug into a wired router. Get an external mouse. Get a security cable from a reputable brand. Get a laptop backpack. You will be set!

Also, don't forget to remove the battery if you will be working plugged in; it will really extent the life. I never have my battery in, since I just bring the cord with me.

I hope that helps!

Treg
Click to expand...

all that for 800!?!?!? either that was just pulled out of nowhere or... I don't know what... i paid 14 for mine (with XP pro) and it's about what you described. ouch.
 
I just priced one out on Dell, with 2.4 celeron, 15 in monitor, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB harddrive, CDRW/DVD, 64 MB USB memory key, wireless card, for $1000. (regular US website, inspiron 1100)

Check out their outlet-everything comes with the same warrantees, and there are some good deals!!

Treg
 
So you can't really get all that with a Mac?

I think I just want a Mac bc it looks cooler, but I'll probably go with a Dell PC...

wireless card... very important.
 
I'm not going to re-iterate all of my arguments from the Louge thread here: Who uses Macintosh?

Check it out. Personally I think that you are more than a bit foolish if you don't try the newest PC and Mac notebooks and see what you like better. See for yourself. The Mac will cost more, but _especially_ for a notebook, I would gladly pay hundreds more for something I will use every day for 4+ years. I am much happier with my Mac Powerbook than my Sony Vaio notebook.
 
If you get a laptop stay away from Gateway. They sent me mine and when I turned it on it has a squeeky fan. I waited on hold forever with them, and when I finally got to talk to someone, they told me I would have to pay $50 to ship it to them to be fixed. They sent me a defective product and wanted me to pay them to fix something that was broken before I got it. Total bulls**t.
 
so powerbook or ibook??

do i need a powerbook, i don't play videogames, etc....
 
Originally posted by DoctorKevin
so powerbook or ibook??

do i need a powerbook, i don't play videogames, etc....
Click to expand...

Now that the ibooks are G4 processors, it's really a matter of preference. I love silver, shiny things with big screens, but the ibooks are solid too. Check apple.com carefully, decide which features you want. The powerbook has a number of standard features which the ibook doesn't, but costs more. If you don't need a particular feature set, it's not worth the cash.
 
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Hey,
I would still say to wait it out b4 you decide to get a laptop cos at my school, we were also required to get one and a few of my classmates who already had one b4 school started ended up being stuck with 2 computers.
Besides, I think you can get really cool deals in August during the back to school sales regardless of what type of computer you choose to get.
Bottomline, if you have already been accepted to a school and they do not have requirements fot getting one, then by all means, get one of your choice but if not, I would say to wait it out.
 
I have an iBook and I love it. I'm not in med school yet, but I did use it in undergrad and it was very handy and portable the semester I was writing my thesis and lugging it back and forth from the library. I've actually played some computer games on it, too, and it generally runs fine. Just be prepared to invest in another battery, because the rechargeable battery typically declines after about six months or so.
 
Well I can't wait to buy a computer, I can't really live without one....

Does anyone know which schools have specific requirements, I've been accepted to 4 and interviewed with 11 total, and no school has ever said you must have X or Y laptop... UCSD has a list of basic requirements that any new computer will basically fulfill... etc.
 
I interviewed at 7 schools and only two, Duke and Wake, have stringent laptop requirements (all students have the same kind). Most schools will give you specs for PCs and Macs and you can choose what you want. I would just call the schools you could potentially end up at and ask them what their requirements are. Usually you can find this stuff out on their websites.
 
Yeah, most schools don't care. From my hazy memory of 4 years ago, I recall that U of MD they all had the exact same computer. That may have changed by now.

For those of you thinking of getting an Apple, be aware that there are educational discounts for college student / med students. You can check the prices on the "educational pricing" part of apple.com. Might save you $100-200.

Personally I like smalldog.com (an apple reseller), for big ticket items like a computer you get no sales tax and often free or cheap shipping. Plus you can keep an eye out for "refurbished" Macs (same warranty as a new one). That's how I got my Powerbook almost 2 years ago and I've been very pleased. A slight gamble, but I buy a lot of my tech gear refurbished (Firewire CD burner, Sony Clie, Powerbook) and have yet to have a problem. And it cuts a few hundred dollars off of a big purchase.
 
you should call the school financial aid office (med school) to see if they will reimburse your computer purchase (although it's another loan). they usually have a date when you can purchase the computer so that they will know that it's for educational purposes. if you have the money then i guess that's not an issue.

i bought an IBM T40 1.3 GHz (centrino) and have been very happy. it is a great computer and i also got a great deal (25% off with my friend's employee discount).

good luck
 
Originally posted by DoctorKevin
Well I can't wait to buy a computer, I can't really live without one....

Does anyone know which schools have specific requirements, I've been accepted to 4 and interviewed with 11 total, and no school has ever said you must have X or Y laptop... UCSD has a list of basic requirements that any new computer will basically fulfill... etc.
Click to expand...

get a toshiba protege 3505 like me. just like any other laptop, with pretty much everything you need on it, with a big difference. its a convertible tablet, so you can use it as a regular laptop, or you can flip around the screen and write directly on it. i have found this to facilitate note-taking immensely, esp for powerpoint lectures (in the time it takes me to draw out an arrow and a label someone else needs to furiously pound out a description of what an arrow should be pointing to in the notes window).
 
I am pretty content with my windows 1.0 and my 15 year old processor... and you are debating on whether to have a laptop or a desktop for med school. Funny peeps:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
Before you buy, the best deals online are usually posted on one of these three sites. For $800, you can get more than what was previously listed.

http://www.techbargains.com

http://www.slickdeals.net

http://www.fatwallet.com

The other option is to look out for a retail deal (usually with mail-in rebate), because Circuit City and Best Buy have interest free financing for a year. Good Luck.
 
Regarding desktop vs. laptop, even though I rarely travel around with it, the laptop is nice to have because it takes up less space in my apartment. It is nice to fold it away and not have the thing "there"all the time when I study. Upgrading isn't a big deal...with pc cards, you can add new features like wireless (now built-in on most machines) etc...

I think the iBooks are great laptops. Apple makes a much more sleak OS then XP (imho). The downside, as mentioned earlier, is the quirky differences between powerpoint presentations on the two platforms (usually only a problem when moving them from mac to pc).

The other issue which was not mentioned is that there are a few things from the USMLE for practice are in pc-format. 99% of stuff is on the web though, and things work pretty well on either platform. you can get virtualpc to run the rare windows program you'd need.

Go with what you want, I don't think it will cause a huge problem for you.
 
get the Mac. I use a Powerbook, but I think the iBook should be okay. Most schools have PC labs, so whatever you need to do for Windows, head over to the lab. Unless of course, 75% or more of what you'll need is PC-based. BTW, Apple gives student discounts. When I got my Mac, I pretty much got the iPod (the bigg'un) free w/discounts + rebates.
 
can med school force you to buy a laptop? what if u have one and u don't want theirs?
 
yah they sure can, my skool made us all get the same IBM T40 Thinkpad, and I HATE it with a passion. I wanted a dell, but they wouldn't let us get it. I can't wait till I get rid of this piece of junk! The hard drive is failing, the fan sounds like a freaking helicopter, it's had BSOD like 3 times, which is lucky for me, because everybody else in my class has gotten it a few times every month. On top of that, the IT guys don't know how to do jack, and if u have a prob, bring it to them, all they do is an administrator scan. Please. :mad:
 
I saw a previous post about the covertable tablet. Has anyone else beena ble toplay wiht one in school? What do you think?
 
why do u all have to have the same laptop?? I'm about to purchase one so that is why i'm asking. I don't get why they would be so anal about that.
 
Well, in my school, the laptops are set up with specific accounts that can lot in to the server for exams. That's why the computer guys need the same kind of computer, they don't want the hassle of dealing with a hundred different kinds of computers. It's easier to have one model, then put all the accounts on each without having to worry about differences.
 
You can get by without a laptop but I absolutely LOVE having one! Almost all lectures are through blackboard at most schools (an online course material company, for those not familiar. I think most schools use them now.)

Anyhow, as others have said, there are resources for histology, neuroanatomy programs and it's really nice to be able to access that stuff anywhere.

Also, make sure you get a wireless internet card! Especially if you're in a big city! That lets you study at many places. I live in Chicago and there are several coffee shops that offer free internet access!

I'm at one right now! :)
 
http://www.vprmatrix.com/products_notebook_220A5.asp

Performance
2.2GHz Intel ? Mobile Pentium ? 4 Processor-M
15.2" widescreen LCD display
40GB hard drive capacity
512MB DDR memory
DVD/CD-RW combo drive
32MB nVidia GeForce4 420 Go Graphics
Weighs only 6.4 lbs.

Bare-bones in terms of software but that was really no problem since I already had Windows XP professional and Office XP. More bang for your buck basically (it ended up costing a little over a thousand dollars) and having a laptop is pretty useful if you type faster than you write - also, my school's lecturer's tended to use powerpoint slides a lot - so you could take notes as well.

A number of people had tablet PCs - so they could actually write on the slides. So I 'ghetto-ed' things up by buying a WACOM graphics tablet for $60 - smoothed up the powerpoint labs a bit.

Tablet PCs tend to cost around $2,000 - my choice for a regular laptop was basically that tablet PCs are relatively new technology - so they're priced more; might as well wait until they're 'improved' after a trial run, and after the price has gone down a bit.

Anyway, I just felt the need to get in a post somewhere - so this information is probably nothing new. Haha. Laters!
 
i'm the kind of person who likes things as small and light as possible (e.g. i have a canon digital elph) so i'm thinking of buying the Averatec 3225 HS notebook (only 4 lbs! and under $1000!). my dad keeps bugging me though cuz he thinks bigger is better (typical guy)... just wanted to see if any of you had any experience/advice regarding sub-notebooks.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50570886&pfp=srch1

some specs:

processor - 1.53 GHz AMD Athlon
ram - 512 Mb
hard drive - 40 Gb
screen size - 12.1"
includes integrated wireless card, CD-RW/DVD combo drive

i'm not a gamer, and really don't plan to use my laptop to watch movies or anything. just need something for email, aim, winamp, ms office and surfing.

thanks!
 
spaz said:
i'm the kind of person who likes things as small and light as possible (e.g. i have a canon digital elph) so i'm thinking of buying the Averatec 3225 HS notebook (only 4 lbs! and under $1000!). my dad keeps bugging me though cuz he thinks bigger is better (typical guy)... just wanted to see if any of you had any experience/advice regarding sub-notebooks.
Click to expand...
I just bought that notebook ~6 weeks ago. I think it pretty much rocks. My only complaint is battery life. Supposedly 3 hours, but closer to 2. Keep your eye on prices and rebates. I got mine for $800 after rebates from Circuit City.
 
I went back to a Mac G4 laptop after 2 years on a Dell 8100 laptop. I love it, it works perfectly with all our stuff at school, etc., and I am not dealing with wretched MS crap or infinite viruses. From opening the box to internet connection took 15 minutes with the Mac, unlike 2 hours with the Dell.

Absolutely wait until you figure out where you're going to school, then call up the IT people and get the specs.

For example, for us a wireless card is optional but useful in the library; a DVD player is essential for the anatomy software; be sure to buy the academic MS Office. Be sure to get the academic discount if you buy a Mac online.

Also, people in my class are suffering because they don't have internet access at home, or have 56K dialup. I download 40 MB of notes etc. off the internet every day. The high speed internet is absolutely essential for a situation like ours, so you will need an ethernet card and/or USB 2.0.

it would be nice to be at a school where the lecturers would lecture coherently instead of just flying through powerpoint slides, and we wouldn't need to do so much by computer.
 
I love my laptop for working at school. It's also great if I want to study at my fiancee's. Wireless access has definitely made it worth it. That and the fact that we may not get the PDA's we have to pay $500 for until the end of the semester. :(:(
 
dankev said:
I just bought that notebook ~6 weeks ago. I think it pretty much rocks. My only complaint is battery life. Supposedly 3 hours, but closer to 2. Keep your eye on prices and rebates. I got mine for $800 after rebates from Circuit City.
Click to expand...


so screen size is ok? and you don't feel like you're sacrificing much in the way of performance (e.g. speed)?
 
I definitely have to shill for the Mac G4 Ibook, too. A couple reasons, some of which were already mentioned:

- plenty fast for most anything med-school-related one has to do, include watching movies to waste time
- NO FAN! I can't even begin to say how much I'm in love with this feature... the thing is totally silent.
- more secure; comes w/ own firewall, draws less hacker attention, etc. (needless to say, don't use IE if you can help it anyway)
- I've owned it for 3 weeks and haven't had to reboot it YET!
- I take nerdish satisfaction in the fact that OSX is now BSD Unix-based, and I can get a shell to move files around.

There are some class CDs they handed out from last semester that aren't Mac-compatible (had Gross Anatomy pics on them), but on the whole I don't think compatibility will be a major problem for me. That said, make sure you know what's expected/accomodated at your school.
 
daria said:
- NO FAN! I can't even begin to say how much I'm in love with this feature... the thing is totally silent.
Click to expand...
In case any picky computer people are out there, the iBook does have a fan - it just doesn't turn on unless it has to. You can listen to it turn on by putting the laptop on the pillow and running some processor-intensive applications.

Just take it off soon, please. This is bad for the computer. :)
 
spaz said:
so screen size is ok? and you don't feel like you're sacrificing much in the way of performance (e.g. speed)?
Click to expand...
The screen is fine for everything I've done so far. Even for movies (the speakers are another issue, but welcome to the world of laptop ownership). It is also plenty fast for me, but I don't play games or run crazy software. Internet, Office, etc are all very fast. The wireless is great, too. Zero setup. And of course, the great thing is I can put it in a case in my backpack, and it takes up less space than Moore.
 
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