Technology Little help? (Re: laptop)

[fantasty]

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A few of us posted in the Clinical Rotations forum but had no answers:

http://forums.drslounge.com/showthread.php?t=235474

Basically, do you have any advice on why a laptop would be preferable during the clinical years? The main thoughts presented were for use getting to and from work, or during general travel. But, while in the hospital, wouldn't you almost exclusively use the hospital's system (and/or PDAs)?

I know someone who outfits notebooks for residents, but I haven't been on the wards long enough to see the usefulness yet.

 

[sunny123]

Please use the following questionnaire, and I'll give you my two cents:

General Usage

What will you be using the notebook mainly for? Will you be using it to play games? Will you be using it for word processing / general productivity? etc.

Are you looking more at a very small notebook, a standard notebook, or a large desktop replacement?

Will you be carrying the notebook around a lot or be keeping it stationary most of the time?

How important is battery life to you?

How long do you intend on using this laptop?

Features

Do you need lots of hard drive space?

Will you be burning DVD's or just CD's?

Do you tend to work with a lot of applications at once?

Graphics & Display

How big would you like your screen to be? Do you care if it's widescreen or not?

Are you willing to pay more for premium screens enhanced by XBRITE, Crystal View, or Bright View? (Go to the bottom of this post for an explanation)

(If applicable) Will you be playing casual games or the latest games?

(If applicable) Will you be doing work in a 3D modeling program like 3D Studio Max or Maya?

Miscellaneous

Do you care if your notebook looks good or not?

Are there particular brands you prefer or won't buy from?

How much are you willing to pay for this notebook?

Are there particular models you have already looked at?

 

[fantasty]

Wow - that's pretty detailed and nice of you to offer suggest a detailed analysis. I'll play along, though, if you think it'll help.

General Usage

What will you be using the notebook mainly for? Will you be using it to play games? Will you be using it for word processing / general productivity? etc.
Mostly general productivity stuff. (Basically, my question is about functionality, and applications, that would be helpful for students/residents who do not have their own offices but have clinical responsibility, as well as other "office" type needs such as word processing, authoring presentations, etc).

Are you looking more at a very small notebook, a standard notebook, or a large desktop replacement? Standard size

Will you be carrying the notebook around a lot or be keeping it stationary most of the time? Tough call. I'd say stationary, but I that would probably depend on whether or not there were team work rooms or a call room that residents could safely leave things. (So maybe "carrying" is a more reasonable choice?) - For me personally (researching md/phd student), I would be thinking stationary for the short term (<1 year), then this clinical scenario for the following few years for M4, R1-R2.

How important is battery life to you? Average (a few hours seems reasonable for plane trips, I'm not sure I've seen a resident carrying a computer all day during work rounds (hence the "what can a laptop provide that you can't get from a decent PDA).

How long do you intend on using this laptop? At least 4-5 years (keeping in mind low-end use, so it doesn't matter if it's a little outdated come 2009).

Features

Do you need lots of hard drive space? 40 GB is fine

Will you be burning DVD's or just CD's? Just CDs

Do you tend to work with a lot of applications at once? Yeah

Graphics & Display

How big would you like your screen to be? Do you care if it's widescreen or not? Although I think 17" are cool, it's not necessary.

Are you willing to pay more for premium screens enhanced by XBRITE, Crystal View, or Bright View? (Go to the bottom of this post for an explanation) Don't know what this is, so no.

(If applicable) Will you be playing casual games or the latest games? Causal

(If applicable) Will you be doing work in a 3D modeling program like 3D Studio Max or Maya? No

Miscellaneous

Do you care if your notebook looks good or not? No

Are there particular brands you prefer or won't buy from? No

How much are you willing to pay for this notebook? Low end (but this isn't the deciding factor)
Are there particular models you have already looked at? No [/QUOTE]

 

[sunny123]

Didn't think you'd respond fairly quickly, and I'm on my way out to work, so I'll respond later on in the evening. So sit tight dante, and I'll see what I can come up for you 😉.

 

[data]

Get an ultraportable. Sony if you have the money. They are so sexy. Don't get an apple, wait till the Yonah chips to come out which is next year.
I think you should really look into the Asus line of laptops. Solid beautiful and great price for the laptops. You just can't go wrong. Look at the Z33a.

 

[sunny123]

17" are out of the question for you, only because you are gonna be moving about a lot, and the battery life on those babies are not as good. So you are looking at a 15.4" or less, screen.

From what you told me, it looks like you'd be happy with any brand of notebook, which makes my job of finding something for you, that much more difficult. Like Data said, the ASUS brand of notebooks is something you should consider. I'm going to be making a purchase on a 15.4" 2ghz w/ 2gb RAM (model z70VA), and the battery life is between 4-5 hours.

If you could let me know as to what kind of resolution in screen you prefer:
XGA
SXGA
WXGA
WSXGA
WSXGA+ ( <- my ASUS is going to be this resolution, the highest I can get)

Also, can you tell me if you prefer having 12" notebooks, or would prefer something larger. In addition to this, can you tell me if you care if the video card has shared or dedicated memory, and also, if you prefer something with 64mb/128mb/256mb of DDR RAM.

If you don't care about brand, and wanna go cheap, try ACER or DELL's websites, and have a look around. DELL just came out with a new 14" notebook, starting at $899-$999 I believe, and it is a budget model for a student. It'll do what you want it to do, except for the heavy gaming (so no Quake 4/Half-life 2/etc.).

Also, Sony came out with the new BX series (a business class series), and this is something that I could easily recommend to you. It may be slightly pricier, but has decent specs that I can vouch for (this was going to be my notebook purchase, only if I didn't have to cross the border to get it).

Take a look at a few company websites (Toshiba, Fujitsu, Acer, Asus, Sony, Gateway, and even Apple). Look at a few models, and post the ones that you like here, and I'll be able to head you in the right direction.

 

[sunny123]

Are you willing to pay more for premium screens enhanced by XBRITE, Crystal View, or Bright View? (Go to the bottom of this post for an explanation) Don't know what this is, so no.

BTW, what that quesiton was asking was whether you prefer a glossy-type screen or not. Those names provided in the question are different types of glossy screens.

 

[fantasty]

Wow. I'm really glad about the detail, and I'd certainly consider going through you if I were putting an order in, but I think you've missed the point of my post 🙂 I wanted to know WHY I would need a laptop as a resident. I know some folks (perhaps just the early adopters) want to have them, but I was trying to figure out the advantage (over just using the hospital's computer or a PDA). I'm sorry I put you through all of that.