What type of laptop are you going to use for law school? Forum

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What laptop will you use for 1L?

MacBook Air
127
31%
MacBook Pro
179
44%
Lenovo Yoga
19
5%
Lenovo Flex
8
2%
Dell XPS
28
7%
Asus Zenbook
13
3%
Toshiba Chromebook
8
2%
Surface Pro
21
5%
Samsung ATIV
2
0%
 
Total votes: 405

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pylon

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What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by pylon » Mon Mar 30, 2015 5:18 am

Interested to hear what people are planning on using for 1L. Will you keep the laptop you have? Will you purchase a new one? Windows or Mac?

Also I don't know much about computers, so the options in the poll are just from a basic search. If I'm missing some obvious ones, let me know.
Last edited by pylon on Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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taptaptop

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by taptaptop » Mon Mar 30, 2015 5:42 am

I've been using my Macbook Air for about 2 years, it works great for me. But the storage room is only 64GB, I have to be really careful on what I decided to put in it. Therefore I decide to get a new Macbook Pro Retina. You can buy a 128GB one, which is relatively cheaper, and then buy transcend jetdrive lite (70~ bucks) to get your storage room up to 256GB.

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middlebear

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by middlebear » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:04 am

I've had a Mac for the past couple years but am probably going back to PC - we just had so much more Office capability on our office PCs than I can really imagine getting on this thing (though I'd love to hear opinions on this). I'm actually thinking maybe a Samsung; they're just as pricey as a Mac, unfortunately, but I really want that aluminum unibody construction b/c I am rough on my electronics.

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Post by Gray » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:08 am

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pylon

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by pylon » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:10 am

WOOPS! I added Samsung to the poll and it deleted all the responses... That was foolish, sorry everyone!

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middlebear

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by middlebear » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:20 am

pylon wrote:WOOPS! I added Samsung to the poll and it deleted all the responses... That was foolish, sorry everyone!
<3 appreciate you adding it to the poll, though! I'd come to peace with being vote-less.

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antiworldly

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by antiworldly » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:25 am

I've got a macbook pro that I get to take with me when I graduate, so that'll be my traveling computer even though I've never had more problems with a computer than with this accursed mac. Fortunately for my sanity I've got my desktop that I built and works beautifully.

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Post by buckiguy_sucks » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:28 am

Post removed.
Last edited by buckiguy_sucks on Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

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pylon

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by pylon » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:32 am

Gray wrote:I have a big laptop that I plan to leave at home and I want to use a small tablet with a keyboard at school (still deciding between surface 2 and iPad). Is that a terrible idea? Should I just get a small laptop?
Seems like a pretty good idea to me! Although I think there is specific exam software that you need (I cant remember where I read this - it could be completely wrong) which may not be compatible with a Surface/I-Pad. So as long as your big laptop can still function/isn't falling apart I'd say your plan makes sense.

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Post by Gray » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:44 am

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Dream_weaver32

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by Dream_weaver32 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:50 am

I've got a MacBook Air that I'll use, but am considering picking up a Toshiba Encore Write 2. I want to be able to take handwritten notes, and this tablet will convert handwriting to text and is compatible with OneNote meaning I can easily organize everything without a bunch of paper.

Anyone else looked into this.

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by FloridaCoastalorbust » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:55 am

I seem to collect laptops. Between my S/O and I we have 4. But all are SPS.

I've been pc for life, but given the durability of apple (computers don't slow down for many years), I'm seriously considering the switch. I hate to shell out that much money, but of the 5+ laptops I've owned, each and every one of them, all pc, have become incredibly slow - despite periodic software updates, etc. - after about two years.

Anyone go from pc to apple?

If not apple, I'll probably go for an ultrabook pc. Lightweight + long battery are essential for me. Idgaf about cpu power.

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by checkin2014 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:04 am

I have a MacBook air but will buy another laptop (pc) and take both with me to law school.
Not sure which one to purchase though. Anyone know if Lenovo is good?

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by itascot1992 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:04 am

buckiguy_sucks wrote:Praying to the laptop god that my MBP from 2011 makes it another three years
Same Here, i am making sure to back it up with time machine all the time to be prepared for tragedy

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by hecktate » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:06 am

Dream_weaver32 wrote:I've got a MacBook Air that I'll use, but am considering picking up a Toshiba Encore Write 2. I want to be able to take handwritten notes, and this tablet will convert handwriting to text and is compatible with OneNote meaning I can easily organize everything without a bunch of paper.

Anyone else looked into this.
I actually spent some time looking into this this weekend. Having tried iPad lecture notes + stylus for drawn diagrams in college I feel like this idea is much more difficult to implement than one would expect. It's more difficult to jump from one section to another in your notes during lecture or to reorganize/reformat as you go during lecture with a tablet than with a laptop (which I think is the point of having a laptop in class - to be able to structure your notes coherently for later outlining). Additionally, diagrams drawn with a stylus are generally less legible and less immediately accessible (as they're appended at bottom of notes or as attachments to notes) than handwritten diagrams.

My current plan is to take notes on readings on my laptop in evernote/onenote, print out those notes with a large right margin and then create lecture notes by adding to/annotating my reading notes on the printed 8.5x11. I'll then edit the reading notes in evernote after class to reflect the annotations and keep all the printed original reading notes with annotations in a binder. Will use the edited version of the notes for outline.

For laptop, planning to buy a Macbook Pro. Agree with someone else that Apple computers don't slow down. And though MBA is surprisingly good given its small size, it still lags on large PDF handling (I think).

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Beanie14

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by Beanie14 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:25 am

The hard drive on my PC (Acer) that I bought a year and a half ago has been periodically quitting since August, so I'll be buying a new computer for law school. I'm thinking a Mac, since they seem to last longer, and it seems like the Air is all that I'll really need.

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Post by Gray » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:32 am

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ncc1701

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by ncc1701 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:39 am

My Macbook Air is only a year old, and I don't use it much except for writing documents and browsing the internet, so I think I'm going to be okay for the next 3 years. I've never had a problem with Apple laptops. :D

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downbeat14

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by downbeat14 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:40 am

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Last edited by downbeat14 on Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Dog

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by Dog » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:41 am

I bought an Acer for like $600 a couple months ago. The whole experience has been a total pain. It came with several keys not working, customer service was a total hassle, it took them close to a month to ship it back to me, the price dropped in the mean time, my other Acer's charge port stopped working in the mean time so I had no personal laptop for weeks, etc. Acer's customer service was flat out wrong on things multiple times throughout the process.

I didn't even fight for price change because I am so sick of talking to their customer service.

That said, it can run games surprisingly well without getting too hot, and the battery life is great.

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Post by Gray » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:44 am

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Clemenceau

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by Clemenceau » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:48 am

Anyone have input on the new macbook vs. macbook pro?

New macbook looks slick but 12" is ehhh

Also considering a thinkpad but I'm afraid of change

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downbeat14

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by downbeat14 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:53 am

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Last edited by downbeat14 on Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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pylon

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by pylon » Mon Mar 30, 2015 11:03 am

Haha sorry! I shouldn't have said anything, I really have no clue about software requirements (or really anything related to computers lol).

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CaptainJapan

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Re: What type of laptop are you going to use for law school?

Post by CaptainJapan » Mon Mar 30, 2015 11:05 am

Glad someone started this thread. I've been saving for that new Macbook for a while now, but I'm thinking possibly pulling the trigger on a Macbook Pro. I've used Macs since high school, so this is mostly based on comfort and the fact that they're always reliable.

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