What Laptop is Good for Law School?

[LSATGRIND69 42]

Just got an iPad Pro 11, magic keyboard, and Apple Pencil for Christmas, it so far handles like a regular laptop and is small/lightweight enough to carry around. But I’m afraid it might not cut it for law school because it still is only a tablet and might not have full functionality of what applications/programs that I could download. 

Would love to keep it, but don’t know if it’s feasible. 

Let me know what you guys and gals think.

[lewcifer 145]

Many law schools use specific software for exams (for example, Western uses Examplify). I don't have an iPad so I'm not sure if they can support that software. I'm sure you'd be fine for notetaking/writing assignments/doing research, but you might have issues with exam software.

[rcfc 19]

Get an actual laptop. Echoing what @lewcifer said it's fine for day to day stuff, but you will run into trouble for exams. I'm at UVic which (in normal times) uses exam4 which only works on Windows and Mac, definitely not IOS. Even if the school's exam software was compatible it's annoying trying to make outlines on a smaller screen and keyboard. You don't need anything fancy, especially if you use the tablet for notetaking, but you should get a laptop.

[mistertubby 220]

do you have a running laptop?

[HopefulLawyer97 165]

Get an actual laptop. One that you are comfortable typing on. That would usually mean having a full keyboard. You’ll want at least a 13 inch screen as well to avoid eye fatigue. Make sure it’s reliable. Your laptop is your best friend in law school. 

[canuckfanatic 1173]

A laptop with an external monitor at home for studying is optimal. Using two screens for studying/writing papers is really efficient.

[Phaedrus 84]

If you're shopping for a law school laptop, you might as well opt for one you'll be using 5-7 years down the road. Your primary requirements are acceptable RAM and processing power, coupled with long battery life (think 10-14 hours on modest battery saving mode) and light-weight portability.

I have never needed top of the line specs, nor have I needed to perform RAM-chewing tasks in class or at work; I don't know of any lawyers that are running complicated data/statistical analyses (e.g., SPSS outputs, geo-mapping). My laptop has an Intel m3 processor (1.51 GHz) and 8.00GB RAM, and as much of a glutton as Chrome/Firefox can be, I've never experienced significant slow down (even with 30+ tabs open, Youtube/Spotify running too). 

Sure, I miss my accounting keyboard, but I'll trade that for discovery and courtroom mobility any day of the week. 

I had classmates whose laptops doubled as gaming laptops, but I'm of the opinion it's best to keep separate devices for those functions, wherever possible. 

 

[LSATGRIND69 42]

5 hours ago, mistertubby said:

do you have a running laptop?

Yes, got one

[LSATGRIND69 42]

Thanks everyone, going to return the iPad and all its accessories. Might use my old laptop, just got to get a replacement battery and buy a desktop with two screens for at home use.

[canuckfanatic 1173]

9 minutes ago, LSATGRIND69 said:

Thanks everyone, going to return the iPad and all its accessories. Might use my old laptop, just got to get a replacement battery and buy a desktop with two screens for at home use.

This was my arrangement. A 13" laptop for class + taking exams, and a desktop with two screens for studying at home. 

All of my school work was saved on Dropbox so it synchronized effortlessly between the laptop and desktop. 

[mistertubby 220]

19 minutes ago, LSATGRIND69 said:

do you have a running laptop?

 

19 minutes ago, LSATGRIND69 said:

Yes, got one

well you better go catch it! 

[lawstudent20202020 527]

3 minutes ago, canuckfanatic said:

This was my arrangement. A 13" laptop for class + taking exams, and a desktop with two screens for studying at home. 

All of my school work was saved on Dropbox so it synchronized effortlessly between the laptop and desktop. 

I had the same setup, worked perfectly. I would also recommend a nice keyboard if someone wants to splurge a bit. Law students will write a fair amount over 3 years, might as well get something that feels nice to type on.

[wakawaka 397]

I am a big fan of the iPad Pro and pencil for practice, but for law school I would exchange them all for one of the new M chip Macbook Airs and an external monitor.