15 Inch Screen For Notes?

[LakersFan]

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[plane]

Hey! I've been using a 15 in MBP for 3 years now (for undergrad though) and I'd say it definitely works well for taking notes. You can have your notes and slides side by side without any appreciable loss in text size.

 

Major drawback: it is 2x as heavy as Macbook Airs.

[dmleo]

Its good enough

[amichel]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say go for a 13 (or an air!) and then buy a cheap big monitor for studying at home.

 

Best studying decision I ever made.

[LakersFan]

Is that because you didn't like the bulkiness of the 15 inch, or because it's a more affordable option?

[amichel]

Is that because you didn't like the bulkiness of the 15 inch, or because it's a more affordable option?

Bulkiness mostly! Plus it's cheaper and most people don't need the extra specs.

[Wesley]

As someone who's worked at Apple for the last year, unless you plan on doing some serious video editing, gaming, processing huge amounts of data or other similarly processor/graphics intensive applications, you really don't need a 15" MBP for school. The only reason to get it is if you really really prefer the larger screen, otherwise a 13" MBP or 13" Air will be totally fine for school.

[LeBronto2019]

13" air is a beauty! 

[Friendly Magpie]

I had a 15" MBP that I was lugging around to school. My spouse needed a laptop for work so that machine became a hand me down. I went with a 13" one since it was a bit lighter and easier to takes notes on (Hello Tory building  ). I know that as a med student, you'll have access to more desk real estate, but the weight becomes a factor when you're carrying it around all day.

[LeBronto2019]

I had a 15" MBP that I was lugging around to school. My spouse needed a laptop for work so that machine became a hand me down. I went with a 13" one since it was a bit lighter and easier to takes notes on (Hello Tory building  ). I know that as a med student, you'll have access to more desk real estate, but the weight becomes a factor when you're carrying it around all day.

 

haha oh tory, why do you torture us so? 

 

From what I heard, a lot of med students like to carry around their books, lunch, gym clothes, etc. so saving some weight on a laptop might do wonders. 

[dmleo]

I found during my pre-clerkship the bigger the size of screen that I'm studying off of, easier it was on my eyes. Still, I only had 13' mac

 

because I was too cheap to go for 15'. Regardless, either is fine. In clerkship though, I found carrying a 15' would have been more

 

difficult whereas my 13' was perfect since I started carrying a messenger bag instead of a backpack

[LakersFan]

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[thatonekid]

I honestly want the 15 inch for the bigger screen and the reliability of its faster operating system (which is what I've heard).

 

I don't mind the extra weight. It will fit in the med backpacks, right?

 

I just wanted to make sure it's not too bad for taking notes..

 

The MD financial backpacks fit a 17in laptop.

[LakersFan]

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[dmleo]

So the desks in Katz and ECHA won't be a huge deal for a 15 inch?

 

No 

[Renoir]

So the desks in Katz and ECHA won't be a huge deal for a 15 inch?

 You'll almost exclusively be in a lecture hall that has long, continuous desks or else you'll be at small session tables. The tables are where an obnoxiously large computer might be annoying to lug around.

 

I had a laptop for all of my academic career, and actually stopped using laptops for notes entirely in my first year med. I would suggest buying after your first few weeks of school so you have an idea of your needs given the context. Most people hadn't sorted out SP3s vs. paper vs. MacBooks until October.

[LakersFan]

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[Renoir]

Which small session tables are you talking about? The ones in the seminar rooms in ECHA?

 

I don't think 15 inch screens are too "obnoxious"... maybe I'm trying to convince myself because I'm about to go buy it right now haha

I'm thinking of the small groups rooms where you have 10 people around tables. I guess I didn't really mean obnoxious, but I suppose I was thinking of something ridiculous like a widescreen movie-viewing laptop - might just be annoying to lug around or position out of the way when you're doing small group stuff. (Although tons of dota players, so maybe you DO want a gaming laptop  ) I wouldn't worry too much about your choice - probably the biggest thing will be getting a good software setup so you can efficiently write over pdfs and ppts, or somehow encapsulate all the notes you'll be summarizing... I like OneNote, others use a word doc, quite a few type notes directly onto their ppts...