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How necessary is a laptop for college, and if necissary what config?

B

butch84

Golden Member
Need to get a laptop for college (i think). im not really sure if i will need it though. Any thoughts? What is really tuff, is i know i could type and do powerpoint on a 500mhz or so system, but i want to game on it too. Woever, gaming features (radeon 7500, gf4 go) pretty mutch triple the price. The cheapest i could config a dell the way i wanted it was $1578 - P4 1.6, 128ddr, gf4 go 32mb, 30 gig hd, 15.1" tft. What do you guys think? Should i just get a cheapo laptop just for academic stuff and save a bunch of cash, or should i spend 80% of my money on a nice lappy, or should i just not get one at all? I need to be convinced. Help me out.

Thanks for your opinions,
Butch
 
rarely will you need a laptop in your first or second year. its seems to be more essential to the business people because they actually need it to write and make stuff on the go. the only time i needed one was to calculate physics lab results at the lab instead of doing it on old mac machines =). so, save your money and buy a IBM 600E
 
I am a fourth year going on five and have some advice for you.

1st. You need a good desktop in the dorms. I had a T3 and the gaming was awesome. For the price of verry little on the laptop you can setup / upgrade a desktop to do your fragness goodness.

2nd. My largest regret was not getting a laptop in college. It makes a huge difference. Having one in class (if you sit in the front) will get you serious brownie points with your teacher and they will take you much more seriously when you go to talk. It is great to take to library when doing recearch and also when you need to move your workspace due to room / appartment mates.

My sugestion w/ a laptop ASSUMING YOU GET A DESKTOP FOR GAMING.
speed -- last consideration take ur time and save $$$
Ram -- 512 will last ya a while!
OS -- apple or XP. depending on ur major linux/unix will be a necessity. My CS dept is almost 100% linux. The apple would help with that IMHO.
Networking -- most important, get 802.11b. It can be a huge help and cool factor when you whip it out and dont need any wires. Also will help when you move off campus and want to get files at fast speeds. Corse get 10/100. Also a modem is important if you ever fax ur papers for error checking.
Size -- make sure it can fit on ur desk
Drives -- get a CD-R for moving files, get a DVD for watching movies in dorms / friends TV's (great for girls houses 😉
Keybord -- kinda important for note taking. Make sure it is comfortable.
vid card -- save ur $$$
 
That's simple just answer this question of yourself to find out how necessary a laptop is for yourself a college:

"Have I ever left my jacket or backpack on a bus or cab or in another public area and forgot about it, lost it, etc... ?"

If the answer is yes then a laptop is not necessary for you for college.

Plus alot of people find them distracting in the classroom, not to mention that lots of people find it easier to take notes and include diagrams when using a PDA.

Thorin
 
In my experience, a laptop has not been necessary at all. I think bringing one to class would do little more than serve as a distraction. The only reason I would recommend one is if you expect to have a hard time working where you live or plan to do work places other than your room.
 
I never had one and never missed it. I did, however, always have a nice desktop system. Granted, I graduated a few years ago so maybe things have changed on campus.
 
I and many others find laptops extremely annoying. We can't stand the people who click loudly while taking notes. The professors is bothered since s/he must yell and the fellow students cannot hear a thing. Math and science classes are nearly impossible to take notes on a standard laptop - you cannot type equations, pictures, and graphs fast enough (I suppose you could use a paint program for this part, but it still isn't too easy). That said, some majors need a laptop. For example computer science majors often have a requirement for laptops in some programming classes. But for most of us, we don't NEED a laptop.

If you think you want a laptop anyways, have you considered a used laptop and a fast desktop? Use the desktop for your games - use the laptop for the notes. That way you don't need a very powerful laptop - and you won't be too harmed if you lose your laptop to theives/forgetfullness. I bet for $1600 you could get a 2 GHz desktop with GeForce 4 Ti 4200, 256MB DDR, and 17" montior as well as a basic 400 MHz laptop.
 
i would get a desktop and skip the laptop

I have never had the need for one in the two years i've been at school so far

EE major
 
Yeah, im thinking i might just get an el cheapo laptop for notes and stuff, and save my money. My desktop rig is already decent - AthlonXp1700, 512ddr, GF3, 50gig hd, 19" flat tube monitor, etc. I guess i wont really need to play games on a laptop anyway . .


Sound like a good idea
Thanks,
Butch

EDIT: Hhat specs would you recommend for a budjet used laptop JUST for academic uses? I will prolly get a used one on ebay. Does a PIII 800, 256ram sound like overkill to anyon
 
I'm a junior, and I've NEVER seen someone using a laptop to take notes in one of my classes. I have one, but I've never really come across a situation where it'd be useful. If I need access to a PC, I'm never very far from a lab. For note taking, it'd be pretty useless for me, but I have a lot of technical classes requiring a lot of drawing/schematics in the notes. The only real thing I think I might use a laptop for was killing time in the student union between classes, but I live 5 min from campus, so any decent sized break I get, I just drive to my house 🙂
 
I finished College in 99..(Computer Engineering)

I personally would not have wanted to take notes using a laptop in 95% of my classes. Too many diagrams and graphical type notes. But for classes like history etc, it would work better.

I can see how the nose of a keyboard could really piss me off if a bunch of people were doing it. I think I only saw one person taking notes this way. Now that laptops are less than half the price they were then, I would imagine there are a lot of people doing it... even if it is just to "appear cool". It would be easier to keep up using pencil and paper in most cases, and you could always enter them into your digital notes after class (would not hurt to run through them again obviously).

I could however definately see the use for them in a library, or study/homework sessions with friends in the lounge areas. Big time helpful there... especially if your campus is 802.11b capable.


A laptop is also good for maximizing output. I had a friend with an old one (P166 - not too old then) that we used as a third PC for working on projects in his dorm room with groups of 3 or more... it saved an overnight stay in a PC lab.


I would say get a cheap highly mobil P3 laptop and put the money into your desktop or college account. The more powerful laptops with the G4go's and P4 chips etc are often the heaviest too.
 
My recommendation would be a good PDA to use as a note taking device in class, and then have a desktop where you live, so you can offload your notes and refine them

Aside from clicks and annoyances to others in class, the real problem with trying to use a laptop in that environment is that when you are doing that, you really aren't listening because your focus is on the machanical task at hand.

BTW - more and more colleges and universities are building networks and computer access into labs, etc. Every new cadet at USMA is now issued a computer.
 
Graduated in 99 as well. Laptops were too expensive and heavy at the time. Got a kickass desktop.

If you are just starting I would get an el cheapo laptop. Was a business major and it was very important for presentations and groups. Especially in the libarary.
 
I used to work at Gettysburg College and talk with students/parents all of the time. Now I work for the University of Pittsburgh.

My advice has always been it depends on your personal habits. If you are the type of person who likes to go to the library, coffee shops, etc., to study, then a laptop might be userfull. If you tend to stay in and study then a desktop machine may be a better choice. Especially since the specs you buy now will be pretty meager in 4 years. A desktop system gives you more choices and room for expansion.

Security is a bit of a concern too. A laptop would probably fair better at a small college than a large Univeristy where there is the potential for more crime.

 
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