Anyone see a need for a laptop in NS?

Nursing Students General Students

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Specializes in ICU.

I've never been one to bring a laptop to classes, usually I find hand writing my notes much more my style. Plus with all the books I need to drag around, the last thing I want is too add a laptop to that. I see that Dell has come out with a mini-laptop that has a 9" screen and is $250. This seems like a good alternative for class, small and inexpensive. More importantly though, is there a need for one in ns? Nursing just doesn't seem like one of those majors where a laptop is needed.

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Specializes in Orthopedics.

Depends on your school....I don't know what I'd do without my laptop! 90% of the books for my program also come on a computer program called "Evolve eBooks", so we have access to almost all our books on our computer :yeah:. No massive MedSurg book to tote around! In addition, most of our assignments are turned in online and all our course materials are available online. Most of my classmates have a laptop and bring it with them to class to take notes with. Oddly enough, the school doesn't require a laptop for our program, they just HIGHLY suggest it.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Of course you need a laptop - if you can afford it! I am long (very very very long) past undergrad student-hood, but I could not have survived Grad & post-grad school without a laptop. When you figure up the cost, remember that you will also need software. You can get a student version of Microsoft Office for about $100 or use Open Office (no cost) instead. You'll also need anti-virus software.

I really adore my HP Mini-Note. It's about the same size as the one you are looking at and it fits in a large hadbag. These are not toys - they have wifi & bluetooth capability, web cam & audio. You will need an extenal CD/DVD drive, and the real inexpensive ones don't have a 'real' hard drive but they are great for portable use. I would also highly recommend getting an air card for Internet access - It can take the place of your home Internet connection because you can just plug it into any USB slot for use with any computer. Mine costs about $50 per month for unlimited usage.

In most schools, teachers use PowerPoint slides for lectures - they will usually provide a copy if you request it. Then you can just take 'notes' using that feature in PowerPoint. Most current textbooks also have an online version that can be easily searched during class if you need a quick reference. You can also take advantage of 'down time' between classes to work on papers, etc... it's a real time saver. Connecting with your study groups is much easier - you can set up a free group site in Yahoo, Google, or any of the other site and use it to share common documents and chat.

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How do I find out if my books are online??

Depends on your school....I don't know what I'd do without my laptop! 90% of the books for my program also come on a computer program called "Evolve eBooks", so we have access to almost all our books on our computer :yeah:. No massive MedSurg book to tote around! In addition, most of our assignments are turned in online and all our course materials are available online. Most of my classmates have a laptop and bring it with them to class to take notes with. Oddly enough, the school doesn't require a laptop for our program, they just HIGHLY suggest it.
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I did not need one and I'm now the informatics nurse in my facility.

Another thing to lug. Gah!

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Specializes in NICU.

My school has a laptop program (They lease out good business laptops out to us as part of tuition), and our NS requires use of it. We have a bunch of programs that we have to load onto our computers for NS, and alot of assignments are given and submitted online. Some classes actually have the exam online as well.

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Specializes in Orthopedics.
How do I find out if my books are online??

I'm not exactly sure. Most of our books are published by Mosby-Elsevier or Saunders (which is what is available on Evolve eBooks). We HAD to purchase all our books as a package through the school bookstore, and we got instructions on how to access our books through Evolve with our package of books. It was something that was set up for us by the faculty. We may have had to pay extra for it, but I'm not sure.

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Specializes in ICU.

Thanks everyone for the input! With the school I am at, there are several computer labs throughout campus and it's usually never a problem to get on one when needed. So for this reason, I never worried about bringing a laptop. I found out last week that the school is trying to move all of the nursing classes into a seperate building off of campus and I've never been to it, so I'm not sure if there are computer labs avaible there. My husband has a laptop that I could use, but the mini one seems like a better option for someone who already has to tote around a bunch of textbooks. Now I just need to decide if it's worth shelling out an extra $300 for one.

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.

my boyfriend got me one when i started nursing school and it was an absolute god send. i have horrible handwriting and i'm a lefty so i was always smudging ink and highlighter accross the page and having to ask people what word they got because i couldn't read mine. then i always had nice, neat notes... and i can type much faster than i can write! i felt like i was always head when we were doing lecture...

i have a sony vaio and it's lightweight enough to where i just put it in my book bag. it hardly compared to that darn adult health text book, lol.

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I've never felt like I needed a laptop & I've never seen one in any of my classes. The most notes I've ever taking during a class is 1 or 2 lines scratched on the side of a PowerPoint slide. I also never bring books to class. There's no point. The instructor reads us the PowerPoints verbatim & there's never a reason to crack a book. About the only time I've needed my books during NS is when I write a paper or careplan. All my books have come with DVD-ROMS but I've never broke the shrink wrap on a single one. I wish you could buy a cheaper version of the books that didn't include the software. I'm paying for something I'll never use.

What I have been extremely thankful for is having a printer/scanner/copier at home. I don't want to have to go to campus to print out my papers. Anything that keeps me off that campus is aces in my book.

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Specializes in HCA, Physch, WC, Management.

I have a netbook like the one you are talking about and I use it for class (taking notes) and I LOVE it. I wish I had gone with the 9 or 10 inch screen instead of the 8.9 inch that I got but all in all it was a great decision. I didn't have the $$ around for a laptop and the Asus Eee that I got was a fantastic alternative. Amazon.com has great deals you just have to browse a little bit. My DBF is an LPN in nursing school and he has the Acer netbook. He doesn't like it as much as my Asus but he loves having something small he can throw in his bookbag and take anywhere.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

Depends really. I cant focus in class if I have my laptop open. That being said, I wish I would have never bought the laptop and just got a desktop. Personal preference comes in to play also. When I go home, I hook my laptop up to a widescreen monitor and external mouse and keyboard ( dual monitors is a GODSEND for paper writing ) so again, a desktop would have been better and cheaper

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