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do i need a laptop?

well i bought a laptop, not a desktop rpelacement montrosity but a relatively light t42, and i thought i would use it a lot for taking notes and portability everywhere, but that ended up not being the case. for the past year it mostly resides on my desk and the few times i've used it for presentation and other stuff away from my desk is few and far between. now i am selling my laptop and getting a desktop. i might get an ultraportable 12" later on for those times when i would miss it, but definitely not going to use a laptop as my main comp again (i know you might be bringing both but my laptop was my main comp).
 
The one and only reason I would've bought a laptop for college was to be able to carry it home with me. Other than that I see no point.
 
My school requires students to buy a laptop. I thought it was a waste of money since I rarely used it freshman year. Now that I'm living off campus, it's a little more useful. I go to campus during the day and I code on my laptop between classes. In the evening when I get back to my apartment, I synch it with my desktop and use that. I don't like using my laptop any more than I have to.
 
Really depends on your course of study. I have used my laptop quite a bit since it's faster than any computer at the campus =/ That and when you are doing programming...you can do it on your own system and not worry bout theirs screwing up. They have wireless access where I go too which is nice.

I also use it for router configuration from time to time (yes...it actually does have a built in serial port)
 
If you're a freshman, no. You do very little writing and probably instead have to take BS classes memorizing a bunch of useless things. Most prof's already prepare powerpoint slides so it's easiest to just print them out and scribble additional notes on them. Once you're in your final year you might find a laptop a lot more useful but even then you can get by without one. When you get to grad school, then you definitely need one, as you do a lot more hands-on work and research stuff. But if you're a freshman you're still many years away from that. Aside from that, laptops are relatively cheap these days so it's not much of a major investment as it used to be.
 
Originally posted by: jacob0401
well i bought a laptop, not a desktop rpelacement montrosity but a relatively light t42, and i thought i would use it a lot for taking notes and portability everywhere, but that ended up not being the case. for the past year it mostly resides on my desk and the few times i've used it for presentation and other stuff away from my desk is few and far between. now i am selling my laptop and getting a desktop. i might get an ultraportable 12" later on for those times when i would miss it, but definitely not going to use a laptop as my main comp again (i know you might be bringing both but my laptop was my main comp).
Click to expand...

This has been my experience as well. There's SOOOOO many computers on campus to use and it was just plain silly. The guys in my class who did have notebooks spent a lot of class time tinkering with settings and adjusting MS Word to format the document the way they wanted it; needless to say, they did end up missing some info at times.

Need a laptop? No, but of course this depends on your school/major. Tech schools are a bit more reliant it seems on laptops for each student so that is another factor.
 
Depends, if you live far from home, then u definitely want either a laptop or a SFF PC. If you are close, then a desktop is the best solution
 
I brought my laptop and my desktop. The only time I used my laptop was when I was doing the laundry. It was nice to have, but I certainly could have done without it.
 
I don't think you need one, assuming you have a desktop and access to a decent computer lab on campus. I think it would just be a hassle carrying it around and getting it out and such, and there's always the risk of it getting stolen. Plus I think written notes are easier, especially if you have to draw something other than plain text. I wouldn't mind having my music at school, but you can always bring CDs or use Launch (this is what I use at school). The latter is pretty good once you rate songs/artists for a while. I transfer files through Gmail since I don't have anything too large, but you could use a USB key or something.

Yep.
 
Probably not. I am a cs major and a laptop hasn't really been useful until my junior year and the main reason being that I needed a lot of apps that the school didn't have on its computers.
 
I got one, but my school is a commuter school, and I have no nearby dorm to go back to when I need to waste time.

And what a better way to meet chicks than to sit in the cafeteria playing oregon trail. Crowds of people wanting you to put their names into the party INVARIABLY form.
 
if you need to ask whether you need something, you probably don't, otherwise you would have already bought it.
 
most of us who bought laptops in our freshman year just ended up leaving them in the dorms most of the time. in my sophomore year, got one really good desktop (and a crappy one to act as a file server). whenever I need anything from the home box, i just vnc from any campus computer. laptop + wireless card now rest permanently in my backpack.

here's my $0.02: use the cash you've put aside for your laptop, and get a good desktop now with a LCD monitor. in your sophomore/junior year, if you feel you really need a laptop, get a SMALL laptop, not a bulky desktop replacement. if your laptop's any bigger than a textbook, you won't be motivated enough to lug it around campus.
 
i went through college without ever having a laptop... but then again every once in a while it would have come in handy.
 
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