emilymly Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 I am going into didactic year and our program will be majorly online due to COVID. I am contemplating switching up my study space so that I am not hunched over looking at a tiny laptop screen all day. I currently use a Macbook Air + Ipad. But I am considering buying an external monitor or an imac. My only concern with an external monitor is my Air overheating & working slower. Does anyone have any experience on this or recommendations? Would it be worth it to buy (the cheapest version of) an imac?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 I would find out what your school has standardized in class and what tools the class ahead of you used. If the program assigned you a big brother/big sister, this would be a good thing to discuss with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFatMan Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Most of the students in my class chose to have an extra monitor. I personally found it most helpful for being able to watch a lecture and take notes at the same time, but you may not find that necessary since you have an iPad (I do not). I also found it really helpful for anatomy dissections, where it is really difficult to see the structures on a small screen. Some students who didn't buy an extra monitor connected their laptop to a TV monitor and said that worked well (kind of simulated being in a classroom (ish)). I'd say it is worth the investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dukkulisur Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 I view Zoom lectures with my Dell laptop raised up on a stand (so that the screen is eye level), and take notes on a separate device (Microsoft Surface Pro). I find it to be a much more efficient set-up than using one device to do both, as that would require constantly toggling back and forth between windows. I also like it for studying, as I can have an electronic textbook open on the larger laptop screen while I type or hand-write notes on my Surface Pro (again, no toggling back and forth between windows, or dealing with minimized windows so that both fit on the same screen). Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinstonSLC Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I just finished up my first quarter online! I think the laptop and ipad combo is pretty sufficient, though I do think a larger screen is nice when you have multiple things open at once. I do have a fairly large 15 inch screen that I work on though (For my photography hobby), which is also hooked up to an external monitor which I use to view PDFs/Textbooks while taking notes on my main screen. Saves time toggling back and forth like one person mentioned. I say find a cheap monitor on craigslist/facebook marketplace and test it out. My setup though is a Dell XPS 15 (https://amzn.to/2EI9FsW) and a hand me down monitor. Experiment and see what works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarcyJ Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 I use an external monitor with my Lenovo and it's never been an issue. Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHU-CH Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Once you start using a second monitor, you'll never want to go back to using one. It makes life much easier, and you can probably get one relatively inexpensively with Labor Day sales if you look around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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