New Laptop for Incoming Medical Student- 2016 edition

[whatsupdr]

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Guys, hate to revive a dead thread but Imma bump instead of new threading.
So I just realized the MBP has a potential new release for Q4 and most likely will leave the 2013/14 model in the dust in terms of specs. Kinda annoyed about this because I was about to buy the 13" but would probably feel slighted in a few months when the better processor/ram/etc model came out.

I suppose question for those who are in the know:
Do you think there will be an appreciable difference between the two?
I really like aluminum/alloy bodies, what other models are comparable to a MBP's chassis build?
Most ASUS gaming rigs blow the MBP specs out the water, but I see a lot of overheating issues. I don't want a DoA or dead in 12 months again. (For reference, my 09' MBP is running wonderfully but it's 17in and is a pain in terms of portability)

EDIT: No touchscreen BS, please, if suggesting something else. I enjoy my track pad or an external mouse and hate fingerprints on screens 😀

I am glad you bumped this thread. I looked at the MBP yesterday. My old MBP is a 2010 and running but wanted a new one for the next 4 years. Do you think its worth getting the upgrade to the 256 GB or do you guys think I could get away with the 13" base 128 GB MBP?

 

[TheRhymenocerous]

I am glad you bumped this thread. I looked at the MBP yesterday. My old MBP is a 2010 and running but wanted a new one for the next 4 years. Do you think its worth getting the upgrade to the 256 GB or do you guys think I could get away with the 13" base 128 GB MBP?

Just replaced my 2010 Macbook with a Macbook Air and went with the 128 GB, which will be more than enough space for me. I'm not a very heavy user so it's mostly music that eats up my space. I imagine if you're going to be using big programs you might need the extra space, but if it's mainly going to be files taking up your hard drive, you can just invest in a backup drive if it starts to fill up. The 256 GB definitely wasn't worth the money for me, but it just depends on how you're planning to use your laptop!

 

[breezy16]

^^ Mirroring what @TheRhymenocerous says about size; I think the 128GB will be fine. (Most text files are like what, 30kb at most? PDFs in the 1-50MB range) I use Spotify so that reduces my need for .mp3s or whatever. Use the PS4 for TV/shows/movies.. Furthermore, Clouds are becoming so much more popular so you can save your stuff on that or Dropbox (as long as its not personal info).

 

[Aubrey Graham]

New MBPs coming out it two months...I would wait if I were you guys..

 

[TheRhymenocerous]

New MBPs coming out it two months...I would wait if I were you guys..

Such annoying timing! I'm starting in August and want to have all my technology squared away before then (and my old white Macbook is ready for a comfortable retirement), so it wasn't worth it to wait. Plus the person at the Apple Store convinced me there was no reason for me to get a Pro.

 

[breezy16]

They're rumored is the problem; it could be delayed all the way into Q1.

 

[TaupePremed]

There is absolutely no indication when new MacBook Pros are coming. There are no credible rumors.

If you check MacRumors, you will see very few rumors about MacBook Pros. It will almost certainly be a redesign, which means there will likely be a flurry of rumors before they come out.

It is mid-July and Apple hasn't even announced new laptops, so they almost certainly cannot hit the back-to-school crowd. If they thought they could hit the back-to-school crowd, they would have announced already.

Most likely is a quiet refresh prior to the holiday crowd. Apple will be very sad if they miss the holiday crowd, but of course they might. They also might do a press event before the holiday crowd if they are very proud of the redesign. Press events are common in September and often involve a launch that is not immediate (unless they announce an iPhone and laptops at the same event, in which case the laptops sometimes go on sale that day).

 

[Gurby]

(Most text files are like what, 30kb at most? PDFs in the 1-50MB range).... Furthermore, Clouds are becoming so much more popular so you can save your stuff on that or Dropbox (as long as its not personal info).

Lecture videos could be anywhere from 0.5 - 2gb a pop, and uploading/downloading from the cloud with such large files can be awkward. Maybe you can stream the videos, but the embedded video player is likely to be mediocre and may not let you speed up the videos - you may need to download it and use a different media player to adjust the playback speed. Also you may want to work somewhere that doesn't have internet access, or that has slow internet access - nice to have the files physically present on your machine.

This is just based on my experience with recorded lectures in undergrad. Of course you can always just get an external hard drive or big flash drive if you need more space for something like this. You can get 64 gig flash drives for like $10 these days...

 

[TaupePremed]

Some general tips:

1. Apple laptops are definitely more expensive, but how much do you use your laptop? A lot? Is $2,000 really so much to ask for this thing you use heavily on a daily basis?

2. Use free antivirus software for a Windows machine. Which program is best changes rapidly, check the computer-specific forums, not SDN. Paid-for antivirus programs are one of the major reasons Windows machines get slow.

3. Use COMMON SENSE to avoid viruses on both Mac and Windows. On Windows, that means use Firefox or Google Chrome, do NOT use a Microsoft browser, they are vulnerable and they do not warn you about sketchy sites. Especially on Windows, keep Microsoft Office and Adobe Flash Player up to date, those have a lot of very bad exploits that come out several times each year (in the case of Flash).

 

[y123]

I sold my old Macs and got a MacBook Pro when it was on sale. Macs have better resell value. Could not resell my old PC at all.

 

[oznefu]

Sooooo....a couple months down the road now and the new MacBook pro was announced several days ago. What is everyone's thoughts on this laptop and any new recommendations regarding one? I am discouraged by the lack of ports on the new pro and am considering a switch to a windows laptop (currently a MacBook owner) Figured a 2 in 1 hybrid would be the best bet for medical school next year as the ability to write on my computer would be pretty useful. Do any current medical students find that they do this quite often as opposed to using a pen and paper? The surface book and spectre x360 both look good.

 

[kb1900]

Sooooo....a couple months down the road now and the new MacBook pro was announced several days ago. What is everyone's thoughts on this laptop and any new recommendations regarding one? I am discouraged by the lack of ports on the new pro and am considering a switch to a windows laptop (currently a MacBook owner) Figured a 2 in 1 hybrid would be the best bet for medical school next year as the ability to write on my computer would be pretty useful. Do any current medical students find that they do this quite often as opposed to using a pen and paper? The surface book and spectre x360 both look good.

I have been a mac person since the 6th grade and HATE the fact that if I were to pick up one of the new MacBooks, I'd need to buy and use dongles and adapters for 2-3-4 years.

Having said that, every single mac I've used has Lasted me or my family 6-7+ years and are still going strong. Can't say that about the pcs I've had over the years.

 

[NotAnotherPreMed]

OP here: I ended up getting the new Dell Inspiron 15 inch version. It's touchscreen and can be folded to tablet form, 8 gigs RAM, 256 gigs SSD, i7 and decent battery life, looks decent but the best part was I got it on a sale on bestbuy for $850. Realized I probably don't even need this much computing power leave alone anything else. I have friends using surface books and they love it too!

 

[aldol16]

OP here: I ended up getting the new Dell Inspiron 15 inch version. It's touchscreen and can be folded to tablet form, 8 gigs RAM, 256 gigs SSD, i7 and decent battery life, looks decent but the best part was I got it on a sale on bestbuy for $850. Realized I probably don't even need this much computing power leave alone anything else. I have friends using surface books and they love it too!

Excellent choice! Macbooks, while stylish, don't quite live up to the hype in terms of hardware. The one thing going for them is the seamless integration of software and user interface since Apple is a company that can control all aspects of user experience through its OS, while makers of PCs rarely are the ones who design the OS the PCs will run on as well.

8 GB of RAM is becoming industry standard now and many notebooks now have 16 GB, so you made a good choice there. 256 GB SSD is just the right spot to last you for at least 4-5 years. 128 GB might sound like a lot but once you download a few programs and a few games, they'll eat up a chunk of your hard drive. To give it perspective, the old iPods had that kind of storage.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

What do you guys think about the MacBook Pro? Is it necessary or would a MacBook Air / MacBook be sufficient?

There is a reason macs are expensive. I just bought one senior year and I haven't regretted since.

Battery life - check
Power - check (wont play high end games, but your getting it for Med school right?)
Portability - triple check
iPhone integration- check
Reliability- check

I have a brother in law, and like 5 people I know in dental school all with MacBooks air or pro. Not one complaint from anyone. (Brother in laws MacBook was 3 years old at the time)
Best friend in pharm school with a new MacBook Pro, all smiles.
Sister in nursing school with a 5 year MacBook Pro that she used in college, loves it.
Professor with 2 Mac computers and a MacBook Air. Can't stop recommending them.

I work off the recommendations of others I know and I love my MacBook Pro. I have a early 2015 model. Plenty powerful, never lagged or freezed on me yet. I have the base model.

Oh did I also mention that it doesn't have that stupid ass Windows 10?

 

[Lnsean]

There is a reason macs are expensive. I just bought one senior year and I haven't regretted since.

Battery life - check
Power - check (wont play high end games, but your getting it for Med school right?)
Portability - triple check
iPhone integration- check
Reliability- check

I have a brother in law, and like 5 people I know in dental school all with MacBooks air or pro. Not one complaint from anyone. (Brother in laws MacBook was 3 years old at the time)
Best friend in pharm school with a new MacBook Pro, all smiles.
Sister in nursing school with a 5 year MacBook Pro that she used in college, loves it.
Professor with 2 Mac computers and a MacBook Air. Can't stop recommending them.

I work off the recommendations of others I know and I love my MacBook Pro. I have a early 2015 model. Plenty powerful, never lagged or freezed on me yet. I have the base model.

Oh did I also mention that it doesn't have that stupid ass Windows 10?

This was probably true 10 years ago. The new updated MBPs are very disappointing...Apple is really abandoning their fans on this one. I am seeing alot of people going for surface pros instead of mbps and surface beats mbps in all those categories.

 

[ScottTenorman54]

iPhone integration- check

Don't think this one applies that much anymore, seeing as how you can't even charge your new iphone from your new macbook. Or use your new lightning headphones with your macbook. Apple's fall products this year have been very disappointing for people who don't want to carry around a handful of dongles.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Don't think this one applies that much anymore, seeing as how you can't even charge your new iphone from your new macbook. Or use your new lightning headphones with your macbook.

Stick to 2015 models... Plus you can find them for cheaper anyways.
The current lack of ports is probably b/c they're going to introduce wireless charging/syncing eventually.

 

[CoomassieBlue57]

Don't think this one applies that much anymore, seeing as how you can't even charge your new iphone from your new macbook. Or use your new lightning headphones with your macbook.

This right here is why apple is disappointing. One of the reasons many people liked apple products is because of the smooth transition between devices. I still use all my older Apple devices, but I don't know if I will upgrade to any of the newer stuff.

 

[oznefu]

I wish they added at least one regular USB port...

What a shame.


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[RunawayGrape]

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