Laptop/Tablet

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For those of you in the ADN program, did you need a tablet or laptop?

Thanks!

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I already had a laptop before starting nursing School but midway into my first semester (fall 2012) I purchased an Ipad and it has been the best think. I upload my PowerPoint slides for lecture and also have Skyscape on my Ipad to look up medication and nursing diagnosis information. I refuse to take my IPad to clinicals only because I'm worried that ill set it down somewhere and it grows legs and walks off.

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Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

My program requires a laptop. I have a MacBook Air. It's so small and light, and I love it. It's not a good a good option if you use CDs or DVDs in your computer a lot, but I don't a I works great for me.

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Desktop computer, most colleges have laptops at the library but I was looking to get out of college debt free.

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I have had other computers besides apple. Stay away from dells! I have a Mac book pro, kindle fire, and just got an iPad for Christmas. I am seeing if I can handle the iPad with keyboard. Figure it will weigh less. I am using my kindle fire for certain recommended books my professors. This will take up less space all together!

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Thanks guys!

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Specializes in Rehab, Ortho-Spine, Med-Surg, & Psych.

You will need to write papers, so yes... get at least a laptop.

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Unless you want to spend all your free time at the library writing papers and doing online homework/research, get a laptop. Look for sales right around the new year because of Christmas. I have an Asus tablet that has a docking keyboard so it looks just like a mini computer. It works great because I can type papers on it but its a pain to print from and some websites I use for school don't work on it. So trust me, a small laptop (or even netbook) is the better choice :)

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Laptops take too much space and heavy but they have the full function. Tablets are conveniently light and easy but they're not high functioning as computers. So there's the dilemma. Right now I only have an iPod touch that I carry always lol which is too tiny for quick internet browsing and viewing and using those nice apps they have. I only use the computer at home when i have to type papers or do other types of projects. Though I'm hoping to get a decent size tablet soon.. So maybe you should get both lol.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Currently, I use a Toshiba laptop. I got it about 2 years ago and it functions just fine. Mine is an Intel core i3, with 4 processors onboard. It is a 64-bit machine with 6 GB of RAM onboard. It does play my flight Sim pretty well, but the onboard video card is just not up to the task for "nighttime" flying. That's perfectly fine with me. I type most of my papers, care plans, do research, etc. on this machine. At home I also have a desktop computer that is probably better balanced and certainly is easier to work with. Since I store most of my stuff online, I can begin the process of research, care plan creation, etc. on my laptop and then when I get home I can do it on the desktop computer.

Some of the tablet computers now that are out are essentially the equivalent of what I have as a laptop, just that they don't have keyboard built in. Their screens are also typically smaller. If you were to get a keyboard for it and some means standing the monitor up so that it functions like a laptop, that might be the best of all worlds.

Personally, I would not think that a tablet that is essentially an e-reader would be really a viable way to go at this point because the tablets are not quite up to the task as a full power notebook or tablet computer would be.

Personally, I figure that this computer will no longer be adequate for use in about another 2 to 3 years. I intend to wring every bit of performance out of the computers I can possibly get before I replace it.

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Personally I use a Nexus 7 tablet. It's a lot cheaper than the Ipad but I like it more since it's only 7 inch and I can put it in my pocket. I carry it with me wherever I go. At the size of a normal paperback I can fill it with hundreds of ebooks and applications.

There are many other tablets that are cheaper but they are not very good in my opinion.

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Love the advice. Thanks! We have a rockin' desktop at home so that's no problem, and I have a 7" arnova with an attachable keyboard. It's an ice cream sandwich model that's kinda tricky... Thinks it's a tablet but other sites (google play, amazon App Store, etc) think it's an android phone so lots of things are inaccessible.

I didn't know if I would need the full function of the laptop in-class, or not. With two kids who use the desktop for hours of homework, I definitely need something of my own, for sure. Still contemplating. Thanks for the replies!

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