Technology Suggest a good 14/15"" laptop for med school

[bluefalcon32]

I am sorry if this topic has been regurgitated a ton of times but I need some suggestions. I am looking to purchase a 14/15" laptop for med school. I don't need to write on the screen or for it to be a convertible. I find it easier typing as I go and will most likely use OneNote to annotate my notes. I have tried EverNote and was not too happy by its limitations, specifically lack of formatting that exits in the MS Suite and inability to import slides for annotating.

I was considering a Mac Pro but the new free version of OneNote has several limitations-- one in particular being lack of printing. There may be more. I was considering if one where to annotate notes/create notes in OneNote for Mac, to upload them to Skydrive and then use a Windows PC with OneNote to download them and print them. Not sure if such can be done to bypass this issue.

Personally, I am not a fan of Windows 8's Metro UI. I would much prefer to use Windows 7. I do have a Windows 7 installation CD but the issue is that all of the laptops right now on the market lack Windows 7 drivers if they come with Windows 8. The lack of a start menu is daunting but there are 3rd party programs (like Start8) that cam possibly remedy this issue. Also, the key appeal of Windows is the fact that Office works well.

I am considering buying a Lenovo Flex 2 (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/flex-series/flex-2-15/?sb=:000001C9:000120A7, but wanted some opinions.

Thank you and sorry for the long thread.

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[sudo]

Flex 2 is a good choice... Personally I absolutely LOVE Lenovo and always have.

I currently have a X1 Carbon and love how portable/thin/light it is and it's still super fast....not to mention it's a ThinkPad and built for taking care of business

the X1Cs are pretty expensive though - I was able to score one on eBay for about $600 luckily.

 

[bluefalcon32]

What's your view of the new keyboard that they installed? Is print screen easy to use? How is the new trackpad? I am looking at the T440s. It is about 3.6 lbs but has a removable battery.

 

[sudo]

Personally, I like the keyboard. I've read a lot of stuff out there by people hating on the keyboard...but I actually really enjoy it and think it works fine. The only reason I would even start to think about not liking it is based off the reviews of if that I've read giving me a sour taste about it.

Some people have said they're going to the T440s because of the keyboard....meh. I'd rather have a ultra thin and light laptop. The battery life is nice. Though Lenovo advertises 8 hours or whatever, it's more like 4 hours on a good day (typically 3-3.5hrs).

The trackpad is nice. I'm starting to use it more and more though I primarily use the touchpad.

The only thing that stresses me out about this laptop is the fact that it doens't have a removable battery. I'm 90 days away from my warranty ending and I'm not sure what I should do... part of me wants to get a new battery under warranty to calm my nerves but we'll see.

 

[sudo]

Oh, the X1C charges super quick. That's been really nice for me.

Sent from my XT1056 using Tapatalk

 

[bluefalcon32]

The removable battery thing is what swung me toward the T440s. With the 3 cell, I get 8-9 hrs and with the 6 cell I could get 12-14 hrs. That is beast as a whole. Batteries are also removable and easily swapable. The T440s is an ultrabook and weighs just 3.6 lbs not that much more than the Carbon. I agree it is not as thin but it has what I need.

 

[bluefalcon32]

Btw are the touchpads are same for the T440s and Carbon x1?

 

[Beargryllz]

My unwashed, godless, plebian class voted Macbook

I literally **** myself then saw the tally and it wasn't even close, like 90% voted Macbook, so then I hung myself

Embrace your opportunity here and don't let democracy tear you down like it did me

 

[sudo]

Btw are the touchpads are same for the T440s and Carbon x1?

on my x1c the trackpad buttons are right above the touchpad.

My unwashed, godless, plebian class voted Macbook

I literally **** myself then saw the tally and it wasn't even close, like 90% voted Macbook, so then I hung myself

Embrace your opportunity here and don't let democracy tear you down like it did me

this was really funny. I'm sorry your class voted for the macbook...


My curriculum is centered around iPad (all students receive an iPad and we HAVE to use it for some tasks including taking exams). my problem is how I'm going to integrate my thinkpad, iPad, and android phone together in the most efficient way. ....kinda nervous about it but in hoping it all turns out well.

Sent from my XT1056 using Tapatalk

 

[sudo]

Did some more research on the T440s and it looks legit! I like it a lot. Personally I don't mind the battery trade off for a thin profile laptop.

Seems to be a matter of personal preference at this point. Let us know what you decide though!

 

[Stroganoff]

Personally, I am not a fan of Windows 8's Metro UI. I would much prefer to use Windows 7.

Same. I run Win7Pro at home but my work laptop (Lenovo T440) is on Windows 8.1, and I'd never learned Windows 8. I hate it so much. What's hilarious is even the hardcore enterprise Windows Server 2012 uses the Metro UI Start Screen.

I do have a Windows 7 installation CD but the issue is that all of the laptops right now on the market lack Windows 7 drivers if they come with Windows 8.

Interesting. One would think Win7 drivers would be out there. I plan on buying a new personal laptop this year or next and am hell bent on putting Win7 on it.

Pro Tip: If you order from the "Business" or "Small Business" section, you can often specify for Windows 7 to come pre-loaded on your laptop instead of Win8, and there's less bloatware. That's how I bought my current Dell.

I am considering buying a Lenovo Flex 2 (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/flex-series/flex-2-15/?sb=:000001C9:000120A7, but wanted some opinions.

Thank you and sorry for the long thread.

I'd always respected the IBM Thinkpad line-up. I've had a few Lenovo Thinkpads through work, and my current is a T440. I don't like that it doesn't have a backlit keyboard, and switching the Fn/Ctrl keys is awkward, although you can swap them back in the BIOS. I dunno, I'm a Dell fanboy still, at least for business-grade laptops. I had an HP EliteBook at my last job and it was surprisingly awesome for a business laptop.

I really want a 10-key keyboard on my next laptop. I love how the 15.6" laptops come with them now.

Sorry I couldn't provide more suggestions. The dual-battery on my T440 says it can handle 12+ hours, but I have yet to test it. Screen resolution is 1600x900 which is way too low -- but I think mine has a small screen.

 

[dale.gribble]

I was considering a Mac Pro but the new free version of OneNote has several limitations-- one in particular being lack of printing. There may be more. I was considering if one where to annotate notes/create notes in OneNote for Mac, to upload them to Skydrive and then use a Windows PC with OneNote to download them and print them. Not sure if such can be done to bypass this issue.

Personally, I am not a fan of Windows 8's Metro UI. I would much prefer to use Windows 7. I do have a Windows 7 installation CD but the issue is that all of the laptops right now on the market lack Windows 7 drivers if they come with Windows 8. The lack of a start menu is daunting but there are 3rd party programs (like Start8) that cam possibly remedy this issue. Also, the key appeal of Windows is the fact that Office works well.

My first recommendation is going to be a MacBook Pro. Personally, I don't see the OneNote issue as something that should act as such a guillotine for a platform (esp. since you could just use Remote Desktop, parallels, or a universal note taking app), but to each their own. Though I will say I'd bet $100 there's a way to solve that issue and someone's already come up with it.

But anyway, I work between basically all platforms. I HATED the Windows 8 UI at first, but once you get used to the shortcuts and learn how to set it up to suit your preferences, I actually like it more than Windows 7--it makes everything more accessible. Add a good, non-stock mouse and/or keyboard to the mix and you can fly through the start menu and the programs menu. Even still, all you have to do is press the windows button and you can just start typing the name of the program you want--it's way faster than 7. Of course, I should note this doesn't make me a Windows 8 fanboy (or a Windows fan at all), I'm just glad when things are made to be less inconvenient.

I have an ASUS 11.6" touchscreen that I actually really love. It's superlight and is the perfect bridge between all the crap I do in the office (some of which requires windows) and doing said crap at home. I would recommend an ASUS laptop for sure. Their products are very low-priced, but not cheap at all--ASUS makes a lot of parts for other companies (e.g., they make the Nexus 7 for Google) but many people don't know that, so they assume it's just a cheap crap brand, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. For instance, I used to have a Nexus 7, but replaced it with an ASUS MemoPad for over $125 less. Same size, same screen, it's basically a Nexus 7 scrubbed clean of anything related to the word "Google." And you can have twice as much memory as the largest Nexus. And you can download apps to make it literally identical to the Nexus. So, yeah, I recommend an ASUS.

Don't know much else about other brands that run Windows; it's been a while since I owned a windows device. But I also recommend paying hundreds of dollars for a bag of dog crap before you pay hundreds of dollars for an Acer machine, if that helps.

 

[sudo]

Lololol about the Acer comment. So true. I once bought one from best buy a LONG LONG time ago. The darn thing wouldn't even power on after two days!! Like what??

Anyway, Asus is a great quality brand too...though I am a Lenovo fanboy at heart. Plus, I don't think it's worth dedicating system resources to running a virtual machine...but I understand the tradeoff is justified based on OS personal preference.

 

[Stroganoff]

Even still, all you have to do is press the windows button and you can just start typing the name of the program you want--it's way faster than 7.

This functionality started in Win7.

...so they assume it's just a cheap crap brand

Asus has been around for decades and is known for quality. They've only recently branched out from just being a motherboard maker.

 

[ketosisevangelist]

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