School: Voice Recorder, PDA, or Laptop

[WorldPokerTour]

Hey Everyone,

Im heading back to school this summer and need your expertise.

When I go back Ill probably need a voice recorder or something to help me keep track of all those lectures ill want to record

I cant seem to decide on whether to get a:

Voice Recorder - small, portable, less expensive, less likely to get stolen

-- The Olympus WS-200S is what I was thinking of getting

PDAs - more features, more expensive, very likely to get stolen

-- Maybe a Dell PDA

Laptop - no voice recorder, heavy, expensive, more efficient since it can carry ALOT of information, convenient, Im able to type as they speak.

-- This is very expensive so if someone can tell me an extraordinary reason to justify this purchase Im all ears.

I am hoping you guys share some of your experiences and maybe that will help me in making my decision.

Thank you in advance.

 

[iamme]

WPT, nice name

i had good success (as far as ease of use and audio quality) with a MiniDisc player and my Dell DJ mp3 player.

only problem was that i started off listening to them, but ended up not listening anymore

 

[Nikamichi]

Voice Recorder

 

[JayHu]

I also think you should get a voice recorder.
A laptop will just distract you in class, as will a PDA, but with a VR, you'll more than likely review the material more than once, thus learning it better (or so the theory goes).

 

[sniperruff]

a pad and a pen. you'll need the skills of quickly jotting down notes when you come out to work... in many many fields.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
a pad and a pen. you'll need the skills of quickly jotting down notes when you come out to work... in many many fields.

FTW! I love gadgets but having tried to take notes in work meetings on a laptop... well, it sucks.

 

[Sheepathon]

Just a warning: many professors aren't too keen on having their lectures recorded, since many have their lectures copyrighted. Make sure you clear it with the professor before you start recording their lectures.

 

[WorldPokerTour]

Ok, so its clear that laptops are out. Any other experiences?

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: WorldPokerTour
Ok, so its clear that laptops are out. Any other experiences?

voice recorders (ask the prof if they mind being taped)

pda/laptops for the classes in which the prof just love to have 30+ ppt slides/lecture and 10+ articles to read etc or to replace the textbook (scan the textbook and store as pdf to take notes for personal use)... (take notes)

 

[Goosemaster]

voice recorder, taking tablet pc with the stylus or just plain pen/pencil and paper.

I have yet to see more than 1 person use a lappy effectively in class and:

1) it was a general course taken by liberal arts majors
2)guy was douche

forgetabouit' typing stuff in any technical class

 

[mercanucaribe]

A lot of people in my classes use laptops.

 

[everman]

PDA with keyboard (about laptop sized) works well. Cheap and small.

Been using this combo for a little over 3 years now, and it works great in appropriate classes. (obviously not math classes or anything with lots of equations, charts, and graphs)

 

[Sukhoi]

A hand with a pencil in it, and a piece of paper? Just pay attention and learn to write notes quickly and accurately. I go to a large school and I have never once seen someone recording a lecture.

 

[thirtythree]

Pen and paper do the trick for me. If you want to record lectures just in case you miss something though, I'd recommend a small voice recorder.

 

[ShadowBlade]

A laptop does what the other two can and then some

 

[SpunkyJones]

Pen and paper, I never felt the need to record lectures.

 

[imported_goku]

How come people on this forum or anywhere else haven't been exactly 'keen' on the idea of a tablet PC?

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
voice recorder, taking tablet pc with the stylus or just plain pen/pencil and paper.

I have yet to see more than 1 person use a lappy effectively in class and:

1) it was a general course taken by liberal arts majors
2)guy was douche

forgetabouit' typing stuff in any technical class

my cousin, who's in law school, says that nearly every single person in her classes has a laptop. but then again, that might correspond w/ #2