Uh, do my work at home or at the school computers... It's prettttty easy.
For lectures, I used laptops to record notes.
For some courses, it was a wrist saver - at some point, using pen and paper I'd start to lose my writing ability and legibility was in question for the future.
But, if you don't desire to use a laptop in class, and don't care about portability, then obviously a laptop is not necessary.
I don't get how this is a question:
you either feel there is a need for a laptop because of portability concerns, or you don't.
A laptop was nice at times, even in the home, because then I could study while relaxing on the couch. Also allowed me to use
my computer somewhere else that wasn't my desk - could use it anywhere on the campus, could use it in the living room, take it somewhere to do group study.
That's why I just got a cheap Acer laptop 3 years ago - does what I needed a portable computer to do, and did it just fine. I use it less now that I graduated, but still has moments where it's nice to have a second computer that I can use anywhere (handy when troubleshooting or doing extensive overhauls). My money goes into my actual desktop, but I could never say that my laptop was a waste of money - I abused that thing like no other during the years or so years of college I had it (took about a year of college for me to decide it would be a good idea after all).
But everyone has their own personal opinions, desires, and needs. And course styles matter too - a course load of mostly psychology, sociology, and political science - laptops are
wonderful. Science and math heavy courses? Not very useful (though a tablet could still work wonders).
