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Is a Laptop Necessary for College?

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if you have a desktop, well a laptop isnt necessary at all.

i had one for a while, and well though it was useful at times you could easily not have one. and i was a computer science major. if you were like biology or something you really really dont need one at all.
 
I have a desktop, a laptop, and a PDA. The desktop sees the most use of them all, and I write a ton of papers. I dig the dual monitors and screen real estate for the work that I have to do. But the laptop works great for research in the libraries and when I need to leave my room and write.
 
nah laptop aint necessary, alot of m mates have them and they jus stay in the room while we're out at lectures, the only thing they help with is goin home. easy to pack up, thats it

my friend at sheffield uni though has the better idea, he has an acer tablet pc, so he can write on the screen as if it were paper, it takes practice but his notes are very good and very organised and has a bonus he set up his own ftp and backs up all his work there.
 
i do mechanics, we get hand outs of the basic lecture notes, and then we add to them during lecture. got lots of drawings and quick sketches to do...cant do that wit ease and on the same page at the same time.

u could jus develope a short hand, that way you can write notes down fast, and as a bonus no one will e able to understand your notes but you, so they wont bug u to copy off

 
Originally posted by: Chelsey
I'm getting ready to go to college next year and have started looking for laptops. I propose this to my mom and she freaks out and proceeds to tell me why I don't need one. So, do I? Why or why not? By the way, I AM taking my computer with me to college, so I'll have my normal tower with fancy stuff in it, and a laptop of some sort with a network for them. Here are my reasons for getting one:

- I take notes in great detail, and I can type faster than I write
-I'd use less paper
-When I screw up taking notes and have to erase, I miss important stuff
-I'm a perfectionist, so every letter has to be perfect and my handwriting has to be neat
-I'd like to have a computer with me when I visit my boyfriend at Rolla
-I would rather not have to type papers at the same place all the time
-convenience


And a bunch more reasons that I can't think of at the moment. If you don't think I need one, please state why, because I can't really think of any reasons why I wouldn't need one.
Click to expand...

Pen and paper is the only way to go, especially if you are doing anything in the engienering or sciences. Unless you are an English major, you are making a big mistake thinking a lap top would work.
 
Alright, here's what I'm going to do:

-upgrade my desktop further
-go a semester and then decide what I want to do

Thanks to you guys who actually gave me your input instead of being smart asses like a few of you.
 
Originally posted by: Chelsey
Alright, here's what I'm going to do:

-upgrade my desktop further
-go a semester and then decide what I want to do

Thanks to you guys who actually gave me your input instead of being smart asses like a few of you.
Click to expand...

Is your university far from home?
 
/me seriously hated people who take note w/ notebook in class. Unless the professor requires it for that course, you'll look like a dork.
 
Nope, no need for a laptop in college. But a computer that is there for you 24/7 is good. Everyone who brings laptops to class just surfs the net or is on aim, few people are actually taking notes religiously. If anything after reading this thread your parents shouldn't logically get you a laptop....but if you are buying a new computer anyways, you might as well get a laptop if your not a power-hungry user.
 
You don't need a laptop if you've got a desktop. It'll be nice to take a laptop with you say to the library or student center to do your work with, but not necessary... and i highly doubt you'll use it for class, very few do from my experience, and certainly not necessary. I had a subnotebook that was only 3lbs, and i didn't like using it in class.
 
you don't need a laptop. very few people use them to take notes. profs teach at a rate that you can keep up with just using a pen and notepad. if you mess up, cross it out. no one will read your notes but you. i own a laptop and only take it to school to surf the web in between classes sometimes.

one thing it would be good for is taking home for breaks and things, if you have to travel by plane. i own my laptop because there are several locations where i need lots of CPU power, but school is not one of them.
 
One of your biggest problems your going to have to overcome (if this is going to be your first laptop) is that your going to want to "play" on it for a while until it become another computer. The reason why your hearing of people using thier laptop for playing games and using aim etc.. is because they likely just got it and not used to the fact of having a laptop. I've had a laptop since I was 7 and when I first got it until about a few months later, I was continuously on it just screwing around. I was very fortunate to have my own laptop because I learned a lot about computers with it, but if I had gotten it to use it for school in college, I would have been screwing around during class instead.

If you really are considering getting a laptop or PDA (PDA is for easier transport) be sure to play with it until almost you get SICK OF IT! Or atleast until your not tied to it anymore like you were when you first got it. I just got my 3rd laptop (IBM Thinkpad T42) this october and despite me having 2 prior laptops before it, I was glued to this thing but not nearly as bad as my first laptop. Main reason I was glued to it was because it was a very huge leap in HDD space/performance and it finally having a hardware accellerated graphics card (Radeon 9600 apposed to 2.5MB Softward D3D).

So if your strapped for cash and still are going to get a laptop, be sure to get an IBM laptop (prefferably a T series) with a warranty. Also If it's a few years old and you still have a little bit of warranty left on the machine, be sure to upgrade it because I would assume you would keep the machine for a bit. I say IBM's because they are just the best all around, I mean this laptop I now have is SO MUCH lighter than any other laptop I've EVER had and the battery life is just incredible. I think the reason why people don't bring thier laptops out of their dorm is probably because of the terrible battery life and the fact it's likely a desktop replacement/equivalent.


Cliff notes:
1. If your strapped for cash get an IBM laptop like T31/40(if you can) or something thats used with a warranty and if you can be sure to extend the warranty.
2. Be sure to use your new "toy" for quite a bit and get it all out of your system before ACTUALLY taking/doing anything school related because otherwise you'll likely be distracted with all the new "features".
 
Owning a laptop is not necessary, unless your college requires you to get one. It might be preferrable to just write your notes and type it later so that you can go over your notes while you're typing and putting collective thoughts together. If you get a laptop, you might end up getting it stolen. When I was a freshman in college, bunch of people got their laptops stolen because dormitories were always so accessible by the public.
 
What happened to the "key lock", the thing you tie into your laptop and then into a sturdy/secure surface? If they didn't then it's their damn fault.
 
Originally posted by: Chelsey
I'm getting ready to go to college next year and have started looking for laptops. I propose this to my mom and she freaks out and proceeds to tell me why I don't need one. So, do I? Why or why not? By the way, I AM taking my computer with me to college, so I'll have my normal tower with fancy stuff in it, and a laptop of some sort with a network for them. Here are my reasons for getting one:

- I take notes in great detail, and I can type faster than I write
-I'd use less paper
-When I screw up taking notes and have to erase, I miss important stuff
-I'm a perfectionist, so every letter has to be perfect and my handwriting has to be neat
-I'd like to have a computer with me when I visit my boyfriend at Rolla
-I would rather not have to type papers at the same place all the time
-convenience


And a bunch more reasons that I can't think of at the moment. If you don't think I need one, please state why, because I can't really think of any reasons why I wouldn't need one.
Click to expand...

Nobody wants to hear you tapping away on your computer during class. Use a pen and paper like everyone else.

Laptops are convenient but you don't need one for college.
 
No, no need for a laptop. I'm used my money on a desktop and it was the best purchase I made. If I need to take notes, best to use pen and paper, instead of a planner, I use my PDA.
 
im not reading through this entire thread but it seems to me she is missing the most important point if having a laptop at college. and that would be having the ability to post useless crap on ATOT while in class
 
Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
Originally posted by: Chelsey
I'm getting ready to go to college next year and have started looking for laptops. I propose this to my mom and she freaks out and proceeds to tell me why I don't need one. So, do I? Why or why not? By the way, I AM taking my computer with me to college, so I'll have my normal tower with fancy stuff in it, and a laptop of some sort with a network for them. Here are my reasons for getting one:

- I take notes in great detail, and I can type faster than I write
-I'd use less paper
-When I screw up taking notes and have to erase, I miss important stuff
-I'm a perfectionist, so every letter has to be perfect and my handwriting has to be neat
-I'd like to have a computer with me when I visit my boyfriend at Rolla
-I would rather not have to type papers at the same place all the time
-convenience


And a bunch more reasons that I can't think of at the moment. If you don't think I need one, please state why, because I can't really think of any reasons why I wouldn't need one.
Click to expand...

Pen and paper is the only way to go, especially if you are doing anything in the engienering or sciences. Unless you are an English major, you are making a big mistake thinking a lap top would work.
Click to expand...

And as a former English major, I have to say that they would be even more useless in an English class. We spent all of our time writing in the margins of the books... 😉

 
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