Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Lynn (male) in Tupelo, Mississippi listening on “Super Talk” 102.9 WWMR calls in and asks : “I’m going back into nursing school for my bachelor’s. what would be the best either notebook or tablet to use for my homework and stuff.”
Lynn, unless nursing students are using any kind of sophisticated 3D software, your needs will be met by just about any laptop, so you can feel free to choose something that isn’t too high end.
Tablets are a different story, we probably wouldn’t recommend a tablet for what you need, it will make typing long assignments difficult and you may not be able to use all specific software your school may require. Tablets might be useful for specific tasks, but they won’t replace a laptop for overall functionality, and they simply won’t be enough for your purposes on their own.
If you plan to use your computer at the school and not just at home, you may benefit from the light weight and long battery life of an ultrabook, so keep those in mind. They will cost you a little more money, but you could get something portable like a 13.3” HP Spectre or a 14” Toshiba and stay below the $1000 mark.
Ultrabooks are nice and will come below the $1000 price level even for brand new devices, but — before Mark can mention it — let’s not forget about the MacBook Air. If you’re on the fence between a notebook or a tablet, then the 11-inch MacBook Air might be a good fit for you. The model with 64GB of storage sells for $999 brand new. If you look at the online Apple Store, they have refurbished units for even less.
A refurbished MacBook bought from the Apple Store carries the full one year Apple warranty. Especially with Windows 8 being such a HUGE departure from the user interface that many of us know so well, Mac OS X is actually closer in many respects to Windows 7 than Windows 8 is.
Do take care to see in advance whether your studies will require you to run any Windows-only apps, though. That might make your decision for you right there. But if it’s all web-based, or at least not Windows ONLY, the MacBook Air is a solid machine with excellent build quality and blazing performance.
By the way, if your studies will have you working web-only (email, web browsing, and online apps are sufficient for your work) then you MIGHT want to look at a Chromebook. The Samsung Chromebook sells for less than $300 and it’s extremely small, light, and well built. HP also has a slightly more expensive model, but it comes with a 14-inch screen, which is the largest on any Chromebook.
Chromebooks run Chrome OS and are utterly dependent on an Internet connection, and to a large extent your Google account, but for many users this is not an impediment. And the price is certainly right! Cheap computer, free software, and no hassles with having to back things up because you’re ALREADY in the cloud.