Touch screen vs. normal laptop

[AcreWoods]

Does anyone want to weigh in on the pros and cons of laptops with touch screens/drawing abilities vs. regular laptops? I have a MacBook Pro right now and it's still functional and fairly newish (2013). I didn't draw too much in undergrad and haven't felt a need for it, except for studying after class, in which I used paper. But I'm not sure how the need for drawing differs in the vet school curriculum. I've looked at the other threads, but they were mostly asking which tablet/touch screen laptop to buy, not whether or not to buy one (unless I'm searching under the wrong terms!)

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[JaynaAli]

This was a recent discussion that may help. I'm sure there are others if you use the search function.
Tablets For School

Edit: I see that you mention that you found threads about which ones to buy, and the link may be similar, but I think those threads can provide some good insight about what features people are looking for. I think it's going to come down to your preferences. I cannot draw to save my life and went through vet school with a macbook pro only. Other people make like it and use features like that more.

 

[Balesofhay]

I like touch screen mainly because I can get lazy and touching the screen to navigate is easier than using the track pad

 

[AcreWoods]

This was a recent discussion that may help. I'm sure there are others if you use the search function.
Tablets For School

Edit: I see that you mention that you found threads about which ones to buy, and the link may be similar, but I think those threads can provide some good insight about what features people are looking for. I think it's going to come down to your preferences. I cannot draw to save my life and went through vet school with a macbook pro only. Other people make like it and use features like that more.

I guess I was looking more for perspectives from those who do use normal laptops (like you!), because many of the threads are asking "should I get a touch screen or tablet" and I haven't heard from many who actually use regular laptops.

 

[TrashPanda]

Students where I'm headed have a choice of two laptops: a tablet PC (actually a 2-in-1) or a MBP. According to Facebook, about half choose the Mac and about half choose the tablet, and almost everyone is satisfied with their choice. Some with the MBP also get an iPad or other tablet (I've heard Bamboo tablets are a cheap option) to take notes on.

I have a 2010 MBP that's still going (fairly) strong, and I really love how reliable Apple products are. However, I'm almost certainly going to get the tablet. I definitely don't want to pay for a MBP plus a tablet or iPad, and I think a tablet would really help for things like biochem, histology, and anatomy. I like being able to easily draw or annotate directly onto slides, and I'm too disorganized to use paper printouts. I've tried different programs for annotating on my laptop, and I'm not crazy about them.

If I were you, I'd try to get a few more years out of your current laptop. Mine's four years older than yours and it works fine- it's just a little slow sometimes. Once you start, you can see what you prefer and get something newer if you need to.

 

[Ashgirl]

Does anyone want to weigh in on the pros and cons of laptops with touch screens/drawing abilities vs. regular laptops? I have a MacBook Pro right now and it's still functional and fairly newish (2013). I didn't draw too much in undergrad and haven't felt a need for it, except for studying after class, in which I used paper. But I'm not sure how the need for drawing differs in the vet school curriculum. I've looked at the other threads, but they were mostly asking which tablet/touch screen laptop to buy, not whether or not to buy one (unless I'm searching under the wrong terms!)

I ADORE my surface pro 3. ADORE IT. It is the perfect note-taking tool (and also is a fantastic laptop in my opinion). The pen, during pre-clinicals, was invaluable, and I used it in my notes (I used OneNote) all the dang time. This tablet/pc hybrid is great for me because I can type super fast and draw graphs/arrows/underlining as well, and functions as a whiteboard when I study. Honestly though, a MBP would be fine if that's what you what to use.

 

[hersheyjack]

I don't have a tablet and just use my laptop and it's worked out fine for me! It's nice having everything all in one place and OneNote has enough features that I can do everything on my trackpad.

 

[calvin89]

I have a yoga-type laptop- the keyboard folds back and it switches into tablet mode (our school mandates you buy one through them and then provide in-house IT for them). While I like having the ability to draw and highlight easily, to me it wouldn't be worth it to buy a new one for that alone, bc 95% of the time I use it as a regular laptop. If I were you, I'd keep what you have for now, and if in the future that gets too old/whatever to do the job, consider whether you want something with a touchscreen.

 

[nurse2b2009]

I would prefer the touch screen to the normal lap top. The normal lap top sometimes requires two hands. I am too busy sometimes for that and I search quicker with the touch screen.

 

[love2hunt]

I was going through this debate as well. What I decided to do is upgrade my older mid-2012 MBP (new SSD and more RAM), then use OneNote. If I have to have a drawn figure in my notes, I'm just gonna draw it on paper, snap a pic, and upload it to my notes. I think there is even a Microsoft app that makes that easier, but I haven't tested it yet.

 

[AcreWoods]

Thanks for the perspective! I think I'm gonna keep my MBP for now, and update it before the year starts. I'm often a physical paper kinda gal when it comes to studying, so I will start with drawing stuff out there and seeing how it goes! I kind of forgot I can always get one later if I want!

 

[DVMdreamcometrue]

I ADORE my surface pro 3. ADORE IT. It is the perfect note-taking tool (and also is a fantastic laptop in my opinion). The pen, during pre-clinicals, was invaluable, and I used it in my notes (I used OneNote) all the dang time. This tablet/pc hybrid is great for me because I can type super fast and draw graphs/arrows/underlining as well, and functions as a whiteboard when I study. Honestly though, a MBP would be fine if that's what you what to use.

I looked at the Surface Pro too. I like it a lot but wasn't sure about the 12.3" screen. I'm using a 15.6" traditional laptop now, but would like to get a device which I can annotate easily. I'm not sure if I can adapt to the much smaller 12.3" screen of the surface pro though

 

[deleted676737]

I looked at the Surface Pro too. I like it a lot but wasn't sure about the 12.3" screen. I'm using a 15.6" traditional laptop now, but would like to get a device which I can annotate easily. I'm not sure if I can adapt to the much smaller 12.3" screen of the surface pro though

I previously had a Surface Pro during the first half of undergrad and actually had this exact issue... I just couldn't adapt to the smaller screen. Personally, it felt way too cramped to me after using laptops with larger screens. Eventually I gave the Surface Pro to my mom and ended up getting a Lenovo ThinkPad x220t, which is a full-sized convertible tablet PC that was much roomier and honestly felt to be of a much higher build quality. You can still find these machines refurbished online and on websites like eBay for very good prices and they still do the job fine.

At ISU, as was mentioned above, we are required to purchase a specific computer. For the class of 2020, this was the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260. For what it's worth, I love this machine, though I may be biased because I am kind of a ThinkPad fan haha. The touch screen and digitizer with pen are nice but honestly are novelties that I use mainly for artwork (I'm a big drawer) or doodling digrams and whatnot in OneNote. Most of my work is done using the computer as a regular laptop, like @calvin89 said. Also, the pen that it comes with by default is a little stick of a thing and makes my hand cramp up... so if you take this route, I'd recommend buying the ThinkPad Pen Pro; it's a very reasonable $30 or so.

 

[cbarne01]

I have a surface pro 4 and love it. I really like the touch screen even when I'm using it as a laptop. I found that when I get tired, aka studying for tests, the screen is too small but got it because my profs don't post the slides in time to print them out ahead of time. Now I handwrite my notes in onenote on the slides in class and its perfect. I complained about the screen size on facebook in Nov and someone lent me a 22" monitor for the year - it totally solves the problem while studying so I'll get my own in the back to school sales in Sept with better resolution. I can put up the slides with my notes, the long notes, and a second onenote screen or word doc to make my summary notes.
Onenote tip - print to onenote and get the onetastic add-in to adjust the size/get rid of the extra space and set them as background

 

[PippyPony]

Any left-handed people out there who can speak to using touch screens + onenote? I'm interested in this for note taking, but worried that dragging my hand across the screen will cause weird issues with the software.

 

[RoryCat]

Any left-handed people out there who can speak to using touch screens + onenote? I'm interested in this for note taking, but worried that dragging my hand across the screen will cause weird issues with the software.

Fellow lefty here!
I used the Thinkpad X220t that Sandstorm mentioned during undergrad and had no issues with it sensing my hand on the screen. The pen was very sensitive and work really well and the eraser feature was very convenient!

 

[Abnerrs]

I loved my surface pro because I could quickly draw diagrams etc. Or draw lines, or underline.









Or doodle.