Desktop+netbook vs. Laptop???

[Caight8]

Hi, I just got accepted and am wondering what type of ‘computer setup’ most med students use. I used a laptop throughout undergrad but I didn’t really take advantage of its portability (it basically sat on my desk for 4 years) and I regretted not buying a desktop instead.

 

For med school, I am considering buying a desktop computer for home use along with a netbook to take to class. Would this be practical, or would it be better to just use a laptop for everything?

 

Any advice from current med students is appreciated! Thanks!

[astudentis]

I prefer macs over pc, so here is my situation:

 

I currently have a 15in MBP hooked up to a 24in monitor. I use it pretty much as a desktop. I feel like the 15in is too big to carry around everyday. Some students have laptops with them in class to look up things in problem based learning (but for that I feel that my iPhone is sufficient to look things up). In retrospect I wish I had gotten a 13in base MBP with a 27in iMac. But I am content with my current setup and I think it should suffice for the first 2 years of med. I feel like I would need a more portable laptop in clerkship (but again i think iPhone should still be sufficient in the clinic)... so maybe I wont need to update.

 

I dont think you need any specific setup that is different from undergrad, as long as you think your tech is no longer up to date or fast enough for daily activities. What I would definitely recommend is some sort of a smartphone though, it is really useful (i.e. if you are moving to a new city, the GPS prevents you from getting lost, helps looking things up on the net when in PBL sessions/clinic, you get a lot more email in medschool compared to undergrad-it helps you stay on top of them as soon as they come in, etc.)

[ontariostudent]

Hi, I just got accepted and am wondering what type of ‘computer setup’ most med students use. I used a laptop throughout undergrad but I didn’t really take advantage of its portability (it basically sat on my desk for 4 years) and I regretted not buying a desktop instead.

 

For med school, I am considering buying a desktop computer for home use along with a netbook to take to class. Would this be practical, or would it be better to just use a laptop for everything?

 

Any advice from current med students is appreciated! Thanks!

 

What school are you going to?

 

U of T gives out paper notes for all classes so there's no need to bring a computer to school. Only a minority of students use them during class. Outside of class there are computer labs that are more than adequate for looking up stuff on the internet and checking email. We only had one essay and two presentations all year (I prob worked for 5 days combined on all of them) so really any basic computing power is sufficient. I'd say you should just get a regular laptop that is small enough to bring to school when necessary but big enough to use as a primary computer. If your school relies on computer use for more than email and internet things and you need a computer with you all the time, a netbook plus desktop might be a better option. I personally hate being tied down to one spot, so I'd never buy a desktop for med.

[Caight8]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to be at UBC, but I'm not sure whether the notes are paper or electronic based.

[TeaHatingBrit]

A number of people in our class started off using paper to take their notes.

 

And within a few weeks they all switched to laptops. I think 1-2/180 people in our class take notes on paper.

 

The amount of lectures you have, and amount of notes make it almost impossible to take notes on paper.

 

Go for the laptop.

[rmorelan]

I have a pretty powerful laptop that I can use to connect to a traditional moniter/keyboard/mouse at home with a large external HD as well. Works for me, kind of the best of both worlds

[ontariostudent]

A number of people in our class started off using paper to take their notes.

 

And within a few weeks they all switched to laptops. I think 1-2/180 people in our class take notes on paper.

 

The amount of lectures you have, and amount of notes make it almost impossible to take notes on paper.

 

Go for the laptop.

 

As I mentioned, my experience at U of T is REALLY different. I think the OP should speak to someone at UBC to find out what the norm is there.

[cococrisps]

my laptop is 4yrs old (got it after high school grad) and I plan to switch to a mac when they have the back to school sale so i can get a free ipad. Im thinking the cheapest 13inch pro and then buying an external monitor. The macbook external display is so expensive ~900 bucks so I think I will just get a regular monitor for less than half the price.

[HBP]

Where have you heard that there is going to be a free iPad with the mac this year?

[cococrisps]

sorry, i meant to say ipod. Thou, if they were to offer $200 rebate towards an ipad, I would probably consider it.

[shakko]

Hmm, this question is not easy to answer. I am a fan of laptops and netbooks and so I have a "normal" notebook and a netbook. But I would say it's good enough to have a laptop for home use and taking to class if necessary. The advantage of a netbook is the size and portability, I can easily get my netbook in my backpack along with the books and sheets I need for class. It can be helpful to access some personal files at university so I will stick with my netbook.

[itimebomb2]

At Mac, I've found that I hardly ever use my laptop from UG (even though its in great working condition), and that the 800 bucks I spent on my desktop with a big monitor is the best purchase Ive ever made. No netbook.

[skp1187]

i have a 15inch MBP with a 27 inch Apple cinema display....works wonders! You get the best of both worlds

[kzea]

I think having a desktop and a laptop is ideal. I'm not a big fan of netbooks, but there also isn't a decent true tablet netbook out there that I would be willing to use. There is a trade off in screen size, battery life, and outright computing power when you try to save money with a netbook and a decent business line ultralight laptop (Lenovo's X series, Dell's E series, and Fujitsu and HP have a couple I think) doesn't weight that much more than the commonly used netbooks.

 

I'm also a big fan having another computer to use as a backup (and a place to have data backups although you could use a external drive or something like Time Capsule) if I have a hardware failure or something critical on one of the two.

 

Plus, having two machines where things seamlessly sync between the two so it really doesn't matter what machine I use yields some variety and flexibility in where I study. For example my bookmarks, cookies, saved passwords, calendar, and email syncs via the cloud and OneNote syncs whenever I'm on my home network. And if I pop my tablet in its cradle I basically another monitor to use as I use some software to use my desktop's mouse and keyboard to control the laptop (and copy/paste buffers are shared) as if it was another screen right of my monitor which is good for reference material.