Trying to decide what is the best laptop for medical students, isn’t an easy task. There are so many laptops to choose from but not all will make the cut for this year’s list for Best Laptops for Medical School! That’s why we decided to dig 
into the situation and find out exactly what are the requirements for medical students based on the college and universities themselves. And armed with the information that we’ve gathered, you can easily find the best laptop for you while in medical school.
After reviewing the laptop requirements of over 50 universities and colleges, we found that many of the schools recommended or preferred PCs to Mac. And from a cost factor, the PC options are definitely more affordable. Some schools did provide configurations for Apple products and if you already have an Apple laptop that you are planning on bringing, just verify that your school will allow it.
Best Laptops for College Students – Other Majors and Degrees
Due to the fact that the majority of schools outlined PC configurations, we are going to showcase six excellent and affordable options to consider on our list of the Best Laptops for Medical Students. Each one of our selections are highly rated and well reviewed. In addition, they will meet or exceed the standard laptop configurations for medical school students.
Medical Students – Laptop for College Specifications
Requirements
- Intel Core i5 (2.5 GHz minimum, better is recommended)
- Wireless 802.11a/g/n
- Integrated Ethernet 10/100/1000
- 4 GB RAM minimum, 8GB or more is recommended
- Minimum of 160 GB Hard Drive, higher is recommended
- CD-RW/DVD-RW (can be external)
- USB 2.0
- VGA Output (Recommended for group information sharing)
- Battery with at least an Average Runtime of 5 hours, if you can get more you definitely ought to!
- 13 inch or larger screen [recommended] with 1024 x 768 or greater resolution
Other factors that came into consideration when looking at laptop requirements for medical school included things like durability, size as well as weight. Your laptop is going to be moving with you from classes, to hospitals and then to home and back again. You’ve got long days and lots of hours ahead so you need to choose the best laptop that will withstand all that you are going to be doing.
Best Laptop for Medical Students 2017
Dell Inspiron 15 5000 – Best Laptop for Medical Students –
Knowing firsthand how expensive medical school can be and knowing how important a good laptop is for every student, you need to make sure that you choose a laptop that’s powerful but not so expensive that it leaves you with no funds available for the rest of the month. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 is one of the best laptops that fits that criteria and fits our list for best laptops under $500. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 seems to have everything to make it the best laptop for medical students that are on a budget and for that reason, it’s tops on our list!
The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 is powered by a 6th generation Intel i5 processor along with 8 GB ram to keep everything running smoothly. It has massive 1TB storage as well as having touch screen support. It has a 15.6 Inch FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels) screen that, besides being perfect for doing any and all assignments, provides sharp and colorful video playback. To top it all off, it has a slick Silver Matte Chassis that makes it look amazing. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 truly offers the best value for the best price!
HP Envy 13 inch Notebook – Best Laptops Under 700.
This award winning lightweight notebook weighs in at 3.3 lbs which makes it fast and easy to carry around with you in class, the hospital, rotations and everywhere else that you’ll be needing to take it! In addition, HP has given this contender for the best laptops for medical school a 90 minute to 90% charge! So even if you need to charge up quickly, this machine can do it for you.
This 13.3 inch thin, all-metal laptop comes with booming audio and processing power to handle all of your tasks on the go and in Full HD no less. A 7th Generation Intel Core i5-7200U Processor, IPS eDP BrightView WLED-backlit screen, 256GB solid state drive, 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM so you can multi-task to your heart’s content. And before we forget, it comes ready to go with Windows 10.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – Best Tablet for Medical School
A tablet is one of the most important tools for a medical student. They’re easier to carry and, quite frankly, are much easier to take notes with. The Microsoft Surface Pro4 is one of the more high-end tablets that you can buy at a still affordable price. Rather than solely being a tablet, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is a 2-in-1 convertible laptop that will provide you with the full features of a tablet and laptop!
The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 one of the most gorgeous tablets on the market currently and very popular. But it offers a lot more than simply great looks! The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is a seriously powerful tablet that is powered by Intel Core i5 processor along with 8 GB ram which is definitely more than what most tablets in the same price range offer. It also has a 256 SSD that is super-fast to make sure everything runs smooth without any annoying lag. The 12.3″ PixelSense screen has extremely high contrast while having exceptionally low glare that makes it perfect for when you have to get an assignment done while you travel – which will be happening more than you think.
If a tablet is something that you are looking for, the Surface Pro is definitely worth checking out.
Lenovo 310 15 inch laptop – Most Affordable Laptop for Medical School
Lenovo Ideapad 310 is one of the more affordable Lenovo laptops as well as being a powerhouse, therefore putting it on this list of the best laptops for medical students. The Lenovo 310 is powered by a 7th generation Intel® Core™ i7-7500U Processor which means that this laptop is built for high-performance and works well operating under high workloads – perfect for any medical student. What makes the Lenovo a total standout is its incredibly economical price point of around $500 that, when compared with its performance, almost makes it hard to believe.
Besides its powerful processor, it has an 8 GB Ram and 1 TB of HDD which means you’ll have more than enough memory and storage for anything you could need. To top it all off, it has a Media Reader (SD, SDXC, SDHC, MMC) and an HD Web Cam along with Intel HD Graphics 620 with up to 6230 MB total graphics memory. This laptop isn’t just economical, it’s a must have considering its price!
Acer Aspire e-15 – #1 Best Seller on Amazon
The Acer Aspire e-15 is one of the latest Acer laptops and makes the previous releases look pale in comparison. The Acer Aspire e-15 offers great value for its price point (it is priced under $400 based on our recent price checks) as well as coming equipped with the latest hardware and a long battery life. That definitely makes it one of the best laptops for medical students.
It’s powered by a 7th Generation Intel Core i3-7100U Processor along with 4 GB Ram which is more than enough for any medical student. Don’t worry about thinking that its only good for studying, it has a 15.6” Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen display that makes it perfect for watching movies and provides up to 12 hours of battery life which is the best we’ve seen.
Acer Switch Alpha 12 – Best Laptop Under 500
Another winner from Acer is making the list for the best laptop for medical school! Not only does the Acer Switch meet all the minimum criteria for a laptop, it does it all at under $500 as well.
We love the price and the specs aren’t bad either! This 12 inch QHD touchscreen is built to take it. It comes complete with 6th Gen Intel Core i3 Processor 2.3GHz, 128GB SSD, 4GB Memory, USB 3.1 port, Windows 10 and, best of all, a whopping 8 hours of battery life! That just might be enough to cover you for one shift before recharging!
When you are looking for your laptop for medical school, make sure to think about how long you will use it, what your budget is like and what else besides school work will be done on it? These are factors that you need to consider before you make your purchase. If you are just using your laptop for school work, it doesn’t need to be as powerful as if you plan to do some gaming or other activities with it.
There are dozens of laptops available these days and we looked long and hard to find solid performers that would last you thru medical school based upon the factors that medical schools outline for their students and even qualified as the best laptop for medical professionals and for physicians beyond the hallowed halls of academia. Our list of the Best Laptops for Medical Students includes excellent options that will meet most school’s requirements and withstand all that you will put it through in the years ahead.
We wish you the best of luck during this exciting time!
Please Note – Our research is based on reviewing dozens of colleges and university websites and documentation. We thoroughly examined schools from all across the country. We chose small, private colleges as well as state universities and large institutions. We also included a diverse cross section of the schools throughout the country. However, we have not reviewed every school and their policies.