Laptop for University

[d0peland]

Would you guys say that it is absolutely necessary for one to have a laptop in University?

I've got a desktop and the new iPad.

Will that cut it?

[chinesedevil]

Depends on the person and what you're studying.... I personally never ABSOLUTELY needed a laptop because I always took hand notes, BUT it was good to have during spare times and when you need to write reports at school where there are no computers around.

That said, some people like to take notes on a laptop and prefer to do so that way, so you'll have to decide what you prefer and what is best.

[Typhoonz]

Depends on the person and what you're studying.... I personally never ABSOLUTELY needed a laptop because I always took hand notes, BUT it was good to have during spare times and when you need to write reports at school where there are no computers around.

I too had the same question. Thanks for the answer. What program did you take out of curiosity?

[fred2028]

I'd say it's convenient but not necessary. I use my laptop mainly to do homework such as reading PDFs and course content from the website, which I can easily do on my tablet. However, it's the typing of the documents and presentations that might get you.

[chinesedevil]

I too had the same question. Thanks for the answer. What program did you take out of curiosity?

I'm a Biology student. It was nice when I had breaks at school and needed to write reports, tablets would never cut it for that. A laptop was also good for reading scientific papers. For lectures I opted for pen and paper notes always and preferred them over typed notes. It really depends on the person, some people can't leave their laptops for even 2 seconds, others like me don't use it at all for notes. I also found it to be quite distracting with internet being available almost everywhere so not using one for notes/lectures helped me concentrate a lot better. Overall its a huge convenience when you have one, but not absolutely required.

[niroopg]

Would you guys say that it is absolutely necessary for one to have a laptop in University?

I've got a desktop and the new iPad.

Will that cut it?

Desktop and iPad are more than sufficient.

[jgaspar89]

I prefer taking hand written notes or jotting down notes on PP slides.

Laptop would be a distraction for me, tbh.

[omega11]

At university you will be able to access computer labs and such so computer access is always there. If you need, you can buy a laptop for as cheap as like $300 from places like walmart/bestbuy/fs to fill the gap. My suggestion is to wait for a few weeks while at university and see if you truly need it. Then you can make a better decision for yourself.

[Phokus]

yes you need a laptop. makes life 5000x easier. I probably wouldn't keep up with half of my profs writing if I didn't have a laptop.

[yaguang]

How far do you live away from school? The only problem I had with going all paper based note taking is that sometimes the professor doesn't upload the lecture notes the night before, and I had to pull out my laptop during class to take notes.

Actually it doesn't really matter I guess, there's printing available on campus... :razz:

Phokus just reminded me of something. If you're writing notes, it would be a wise idea to invest in a good voice recorder and record the lecture. That way you'll have less stress trying to transcribe the lecture and actually listen to the main points. If you zone out, just listen to the recordings again :)

[GoldenWolf]

I would say you don't NEED it but its good to have one. I myself have a laptop but rarely take it to school (only when I have crazy long breaks or need it for a project/assignment) so its probably a good idea to have one but taking it to school everyday is up to you.

[umop]

It's definitely not a necessity.

It depends on your major (usually it's difficult to take notes on a laptop for classes that involve math) and your situation at home/on res (i.e. how much access you have to a computer).

[pmisner]

I made it through 3 years of a business admin program at the college level without a laptop. There are times that it would have been nice, but it didn't effect my marks at all.

[uber_shnitz]

What major are you in? It really depends on the major and the courses' reliance on technology.

If you have a desktop at home, then I'd say you don't really need to as not many courses *require* you to have a computer on hand (and usually those that do borrow a computer lab for their class).

[BryceS]

I use my laptop for homework but in class I am pen and notebook.

A lot of math based courses with graphs, so laptop doesn't work at all.

[donatepresent]

Would you guys say that it is absolutely necessary for one to have a laptop in University?

I've got a desktop and the new iPad.

Will that cut it?

You got the money SON? Just go buy one SINCE you dont have one SON! DUH

[MissMalfoy]

I bring mine sometimes but it depends on the class. I usually don't bother the first week so I can get a feel for the class, and if it's a heavy note-taking class, I will bring my laptop (when I handwrite really quickly, I sometimes find random Cyrillic letters mixed up with Latin letters and it ends up being difficult to read - I handwrite more in Russian than I do English so the muscle memory is funny), but if it's more discussions and ideas and points here and there, I'll just use a notebook.

It's really personal preference.

Oh, I also like to bring it when I have a long gap between classes, but not long enough to justify going home and coming back (like two hours-ish).

[PartyPenguin]

Technical subjects: You don't need it - it'll only distract
Artsy crap: You'll be bored to death without it

[duckling.]

- If you live far away from campus, and you have lots of reports to type (and who doesn't???) -> yes
- If a majority of your courses use powerpoint slides -> yes
- Depending on your major, if it's a lot of theoretical knowledge, profs speaking incoherently fast, etc. -> yes
- If the class is full of equations, diagrams, graphs, etc. -> no
- If you're a slow typer -> no (for taking notes in lectures)
- If you have poor self control -> no!!! (no MSN/Facebook/Youtube in class)

One way I used to study was to take notes in class using my laptop, was writing almost everything my prof said word-for-word (they advise against doing that because you'd be spending more time just copying and not actually listening and comprehending, but contrary to popular belief, many profs don't go at a pace where you can understand on your first pass I was also a fast typer so I was able to do this easily). Then once I got home, I would compare my laptop notes to actual notes, powerpoint slides, textbooks, etc. Add missing points diagrams as I needed, and I felt this worked well.

[mulambo187]

I prefer taking notes on laptop, (Microsoft one note). I think note taking is part of active listening, and definitely helps me pick up stuff I missed when I review them. certain classes like stats, or if the prof really has a problem (a few have pretty strong opinions regarding laptops in class) I keep a spiral notebook handy.

i am fairly disciplined comparing myself to my classmates, i generally do not look up random stuff/fb/yt or play games in my lectures. but i can see a lot of students wasting their time doing that. ymmv

my recommendation is to disregard the laptops horsepower, and purchase based mainly on portability and battery life. i keep all my notes in dropbox and work off a desktop at home.

also i have seen a few people use tablets with keyboard attachments, that might do the trick for you.

[RealEst8]

just get a laptop. Everyone's learning style/method is different so you're going to see many different responses in this thread. You will need the laptop from time to time. Whether it's for entertainment or for work, it's always handy to have one around.

[Mulder and Scully]

From my current experience...

- There is very much a difference between undergrad and grad school laptop usage.
- You want something light. I'm currently carrying a 5 lb 15" laptop in my backpack every day and along with my water, food and other stuff, it gets heavy quickly.
- If you're only using a computer to view slides, you can load them on your tablet and just carry a small notebook (the paper kind, not the laptop kind) to make additional notes on.
- My grad program said "Laptop is required" but in class I've never had to use a laptop that couldn't be done with a tablet or pen and paper.
- A laptop is necessary for group projects when you're together working on research, essays and presentations. Necessary because no one wants to share their laptop. Or you could just go to the computer lab.
- Unless you have long breaks between classes, you're not going to be watching movies on your laptop in the library. You'll be catching up on readings or assignments.

What I do now based on the above experience...

- I don't bring my laptop to class. It's heavy in my bag and I never use it in class.
- I bring my laptop when meeting up with groups to work on assignments.
- I bring my iPad which has my notes (in OneNote and Word exported to PDF then copied to the iPad) and read it in the library.
- I make class notes with pen and paper. When I get home I copy those notes to OneNote.
- Other people in my classes also stopped taking out their laptops in class after they realized that we don't use them.
- If you really want to bring a laptop, the sweet spot is the 11" to 13" range in terms of space and weight. 15" is great for home, but taking it to class every day is a burden.
- It's rare that someone will use a mouse in class. I don't like using the touchpad but using a mouse takes up more desk space in class.

[MissMalfoy]

- It's rare that someone will use a mouse in class. I don't like using the touchpad but using a mouse takes up more desk space in class.

I always use a mouse with my laptop and when I bring it out, people look at me like I'm a freaking martian. I don't bring it to enough classes to bother getting good with the touchpad. I have a wireless mouse and it really doesn't take up a lot of extra room anyway (same amount that my coffee cup takes up). Again, I only bring it to some classes and I make sure there is enough room to comfortably use it. I'll never bring my laptop to a class with tiny desks.

[erniefu]

Most universities allow you to borrow laptops from the library, so you can test out using one in class or university before buying one. If you find it useful, buy one. Else save that $500 for tuition or beer. Also note that not all classrooms have enough electrical outlets so you may run out of battery power during lectures.

[Bandkill3]

I recommend a light Laptop for University/College but beware, if you get bored in class you will spend more time paying attention to the internet than your prof teaching the lecture from your prof.

[ceecee101]

as others have already said, totally depends on your major and whether you prefer to take notes by hand or on a laptop. for me i was in psych and linguistics. it was reallyy useful for me to have a laptop for my psych lectures as it's theory based and profs go on and on and on. (with that said though i'd say only around one third to a half of the class had laptops with them during lecture.) for linguistics, i usually just brought my ipad to school so that i'm able to follow along with the lecture, but it was easier to makes notes by hand because you'd have to draw graphs and there were weird symbols and things like that

IF you plan on getting a laptop, i'd say these things are really, really important:
- long battery life
- lightweight
- good touchpad

good luck :)

[Mulder and Scully]

I always use a mouse with my laptop and when I bring it out, people look at me like I'm a freaking martian. I don't bring it to enough classes to bother getting good with the touchpad. I have a wireless mouse and it really doesn't take up a lot of extra room anyway (same amount that my coffee cup takes up). Again, I only bring it to some classes and I make sure there is enough room to comfortably use it. I'll never bring my laptop to a class with tiny desks.

My classes have those single long shared space desks. I get the same looks when I use my mouse.

At the beginning of the semester everyone was sitting close and beside each other. After a few classes everyone began spreading out, usually with person - empty - person - empty. Now everyone spreads out their laptop, notes, coffee, whatever across the space.

[hobgoblins]

I say get a netbook, not a notebook. I've had my acer for over a year now, it was 400$ and runs better than most desktops that I've used (and any mac :razz:)
Get something with a 12 inch screen, light and portable. It's lighter than a hardcover textbook and makes it easy to both focus on the lecture and take useful notes.

I take notes by hand in any class that involves math.

[and1balla]

Would you guys say that it is absolutely necessary for one to have a laptop in University?

I've got a desktop and the new iPad.

Will that cut it?

It is not necessary. In fact, I am in fourth year Engineering and I dont have one, nor did I ever need it. Desktop is sufficient.