2 in 1 laptop for dental school

[Dr.Payne]

I'm set to begin dental school soon, my current cpu has issues (Toshiba). I'm liking these new 2 in 1 laptops (both laptop and a tablet, usually work with either a swivel or a detachable keyboard). Has anyone had any experience with these laptops? How good are they for taking notes in dental school? I like the tablet form becuase I can draw structures of whatever may arise in class but I also like the keyboard aspect so I can type faster. Currently, I'm looking at the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 or the Dell Inspiron but I could really use any type of feedback. Or if you're not using a 2 in 1 laptop, what type are you using? Thanks in advance!

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[ncide]

I've got a Surface Pro and really like it. Touch screen is surprisingly very useful when you get used to it.

 

[Incis0r]

OP, I currently operate a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (1st edition). I LOVE it. I can import PPTs and PDFs, mark them up, e-mail them to myself and review, record audio notes while writing, take pictures of anything the prof puts up on the chalkboard and immediately insert it into my notes, etc. etc. My only critique is that it is on the android OS....and I wish it had the Windows OS like Surface did. But that's a very very very minor thing.

I went and played around with the newer Samsung Galaxy Note at Best Buy...but I was not satisfied with it. Too buggy for me.

I've got a Surface Pro and really like it. Touch screen is surprisingly very useful when you get used to it.

How's the palm rejection when you're using a stylus?

 

[MahiMahi]

I recommend the Surface Pro 4, XPS13, or a Lenovo Thinkpad. Dell's business line is also decent as well.
Make sure that whatever you buy has an SSD (it's a type of hard drive that's significantly faster than a spinning mechanical drive), and 8gb of RAM.

 

[BYU4you]

I'm debating between surface pro 4 and the surface book.


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[Streax1]

I bought the surface pro 4 and used it this last semester. It was worth every penny. The note taking capabilities with onenote are impeccable, and I feel it's a bit more portable than the surfacebook. You definitely don't need the power of the surfacebook if you're simply using it academically, but if you like the idea of a better laptop feel, that might be a more ideal route.

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[JLT223]

Get a surface pro instead of a 2 in 1. I never use my touchscreen on my laptop because the construction of flipping the laptop into tablet mode is just flimsy and it seems like the thing will break after repeating this over and over (it's also an ultrabook....). A lot of 2 in 1's can't even support a stylus.

 

[ncide]

Also check your dental school for computers that are provided in the tuition. At VCU, we get the touch screen XPS computers since they are preloaded with dental school software and are required for class. If this is the case at your school, hold off on purchasing a computer.

 

[Zeekz]

Don't know if this has been addressed but the iPad Pro is essentially a laptop. It's the closest technological device to pen and paper I've used and can still run Microsoft office and other things you may use. Frankly, the iPad + notability can hang with the best of them (probably is the best)


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[Incis0r]

I bought the surface pro 4 and used it this last semester. It was worth every penny. The note taking capabilities with onenote are impeccable, and I feel it's a bit more portable than the surfacebook.

How's the palm rejection on SP4?
Also, do you use the keyboard/typing more or do you handwrite your notes more?

 

[Dr.Payne]

The surface pro is too small for me, I'm a pretty broad shouldered guy so when the screen is 13 in or less it actually puts strain on my shoulders. I'm looking at the asus 2 in 1 now, pretty affordable and reviews are pretty solid

 

[FT8]

iPad Pro + iPencil.

Applications:
-Good Notes for written notes.
-OneNote for powerpoint slides (convert them to PDFs and insert)
-PDF Expert for readings

.... Trust me.

 

[Dr.Payne]

iPad Pro + iPencil.

Applications:
-Good Notes for written notes.
-OneNote for powerpoint slides (convert them to PDFs and insert)
-PDF Expert for readings

.... Trust me.

But does it have an actual keyboard? I can't stand typing on digital keyboards

 

[FT8]

But does it have an actual keyboard? I can't stand typing on digital keyboards

they're available separately & act as cases.

I can genuinely say I'll never have to pull out a pencil case or pack of loose leaf papers ever again because of the iPad Pro set up

 

[JLT223]

they're available separately & act as cases.

I can genuinely say I'll never have to pull out a pencil case or pack of loose leaf papers ever again because of the iPad Pro set up

This is great to hear. My school provides us with ipad pros. Any suggestions for keyboard cases?

 

[biochem5]

Everyone in my class either has a Macbook (using Preview to type on PDF's) or an ipad with keyboard. I like to type a lot of notes so I used a macbook air.

 

[FT8]

This is great to hear. My school provides us with ipad pros. Any suggestions for keyboard cases?

I don't use the keyboard on iPad because I have a Macbook - but have heard good things about the Apple keyboard

 

[Streax1]

How's the palm rejection on SP4?
Also, do you use the keyboard/typing more or do you handwrite your notes more?

The palm rejection is solid. I used onenote with the stylus 100% of the time in my classes.

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[BYU4you]

I don't like the lack of a good file manager system in the iPad pro or I would probably go that route. I also like how the surface book I can just turn the screen around and close the book so it is a nice sturdy almost flat surface to write on instead of going straight tablet.

 

[DrDreams]

Go to the DO med student forum and read the one with the iPad vs surface pro 4. I've written really extensive review etc for which device to get

 

[Bootes]

Personally, I've been taking notes on a 1st get Surface Pro throughout my postbacc (wasn't originally pre-health). There are a lot of things I like about it, but it had issues with reliability. Wouldn't recognize the pen without a restart or restarting the Wacom drivers, crashes, wakes itself up and runs down the battery before class, etc. Screen size, battery life, and inaccuracy of the pen near the edges were also annoying, but supposedly solved by more recent versions.

I've become a big fan of digital notes and would suggest them to anyone. However, I'm considering switching over to an iPad Pro for dental school. It's a tablet instead of a laptop, so you're more limited in what you can do. Personally, my main use case is to take notes and having it work reliably is what is the most important.

This is the thread DrDreams was mentioning.iPad Pro 9.7 or Surface Pro 4

 

[jayyyohwins]

For those with the surface pro, do you have the i3 or i5 & how well does that one work for you??

 

[escanoke]

Don't know if this has been addressed but the iPad Pro is essentially a laptop. It's the closest technological device to pen and paper I've used and can still run Microsoft office and other things you may use. Frankly, the iPad + notability can hang with the best of them (probably is the best)


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Do you have the 12.9"? I was looking into it but it just seemed too big, at the same time that screen space would be great having 1/2 PPT and the other 1/2 note app. Can you record audio/video while taking notes? I saw that onenote can do that on a surface pro but can't with the iPad because the onenote app is the mobile version, which has limited functionality. I'm leaning towards the iPad Pro since I'm already in the apple ecosystem but the surface pro looks like it has more capabilities like searching notes you took at a certain time during recorded audio/video, having multiple word docs open at once, and being able to use microsofts onenote full capabilities of its desktop version.


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[Streax1]

For those with the surface pro, do you have the i3 or i5 & how well does that one work for you??

I got the i5. I'm kind of a browser tab ***** and I often have multiple programs open at a time, so I just wanted to be sure that it could keep up with me. The fan will run on me maybe once a day for just a few minutes.

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[Zeekz]

Do you have the 12.9"? I was looking into it but it just seemed too big, at the same time that screen space would be great having 1/2 PPT and the other 1/2 note app. Can you record audio/video while taking notes? I saw that onenote can do that on a surface pro but can't with the iPad because the onenote app is the mobile version, which has limited functionality. I'm leaning towards the iPad Pro since I'm already in the apple ecosystem but the surface pro looks like it has more capabilities like searching notes you took at a certain time during recorded audio/video, having multiple word docs open at once, and being able to use microsofts onenote full capabilities of its desktop version.


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Yes I have the 12.9" and love it - the iPad is EXTREMELY functional with the proper applications. To answer your question, yes you can record and take notes at the same time using Notability (best $6 you'll ever spend). To me the iPad Notability + MacBook/iMac notability is far superior to OneNote. Bottom line, the Microsoft apps work best with Microsoft products and the same is true with apple and 3rd party apps from the App Store - just gotta know what you're looking for.


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[rebgii]

iPad Pro + iPencil.

Applications:
-Good Notes for written notes.
-OneNote for powerpoint slides (convert them to PDFs and insert)
-PDF Expert for readings

.... Trust me.

Imc considering this option but can it replace the laptop completely? What about test taking?