No ASUS for NBME?

[MedSD123]

I'm about to start MS1 and am trying to pick a laptop. I found a nice ASUS one that meets all my school's requirements and is affordable, but the NBME web-based testing requirements explicitly say, “ASUS laptops with touchpad/touchscreen are not allowed.” Anyone know why? And what exams do I take on NBME? I don’t want to have to shell out $200+ more if it really doesn’t matter. Thanks!

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[Mouzer]

I have an ASUS laptop that I've taken shelf exams on with no issues, but I would email your school's IT department with the laptop you're planning to buy and its specs so you know for sure before you spend the money. Actually, the laptop I bought didn't meet my school's requirements either, but when I reached out to IT they told me the requirements hadn't been updated in a while and the one I was buying would be fine.

 

[SooConfused]

I'd reach out to NBME before spending any money. The school might or might not give you correct information.

My guess is there is something in the ASUS BIOS that prevents NBME from doing whatever exam proctoring it does. Otherwise, since you had the foresight and went to the trouble to hunt down the technical requirements, which few of us would be sharp enough to do, (it would never occur to me to go beyond what the school told me), why not just take them at their word and stay away from ASUS?

I sure wouldn't rely on anything you are told on SDN that contradicts what NBME itself is telling you, since that won't help you on exam day if you have an issue.

 

[daolso]

I have an ASUS laptop and never had any issues with it until an NBME software update a few months back. My surgery shelf crashed after like 5 minutes because the NBME browser did not like the asushotkeys.exe program which is not able to be disabled on my G15. I had to switch to a different laptop for that exam. Fortunately that was the end of MS3 for me, so no more shelf exams. Not sure if that particular bug is still an issue.