is it usefull to have a laptop in college?

EggViper

EggViper

CAGiversary!
aite im gonna b going to college next fall and i wanna know if i should buy a laptop. my comp right now sux bad so i need to replace it anyway. the question is though should i get a laptop instead of a desktop for taking notes and stuff in class, is it helpfull? i also wanna b able to play games so thats why im hesitating to buy a laptop.

i have enough money to buy a pretty good laptop so i can do some descent gaming, but ofcourse laptops cant touch desktops so thats where my problem comes in. another option is that i buy an old laptop that can just handle wordprocessing for note taking and spend the majority of my money on a desktop?

so for those of u out there in college currently or have been to college. do u guys use/used laptops in class and is it better than having just a regular pen and paper?
 
no one uses a labtop on campus at UNCW in class.

Ask when you go to orientation as some universities require them and some do not
 
I havent seen anyone using a laptop in class. I would find it annoying to hear someone typing in class. What is your major? A laptop is nice because you can go to the library and take notes and stuff like that, go outside. Plus a lot of campuses have wireless setup all over the place.
 
You should get a laptop not so much for class but rather to be able to do work outside of your room. It can get pretty noisy in the dorms sometimes and it pays to be able to get up on go instead of being tied down to a desktop. Alot of times I wish I bought a laptop instead of desktop. My #1 reason for going for a desktop was for gaming. So learn from my mistake!!
 
Get the laptop, hands down. It comes in handy for numerous reasons. 1) It's easily transportable for those weekend trips home and for spring break, winter break, etc. *items get stolen over these time periods, and many times the university is not responsible for any thefts, 2) The laptop takes up minimal desk space, especially in cramped dorms where space is tight already. 3) Laptops fit in padded bookbags so that you can take to class for notetaking, websurfing when the prof is boring, etc., and 4) The laptop is easily secured with a cable lock to be tied down to a bed or desk, meaning no grab and go theft.
As far as desktops being far superior, you may want to double think that statement. Check out the specs on today's laptops, and you'll find that you can get a decent gaming machine relatively cheap!
 
useful? yes and no.

while you really wont need it for classes, it might be nice to have around

the real benefit would be if youre living in a dorm or traveling back home often. it will save u an amazing amount of space in your room. and in addtiion to that, if u buy a 3 speaker set up you could also use it for music and dvds!

if u can afford it i say do it, but if money is an issue,its not that important
 
[quote name='punqsux']but if u get a laptop, get a normal mouse as well if u plan on doing any gaming[/quote]

most campuses can get you a deal on one. Also punxsux is right, I used this girls Dell and it sucked not having a real mouse
 
Make sure a laptop is covered through your parents home owner insurance, and all of your other stuff too. Ya,a nice 16" widescreen laptop would be perfect for dvds.
 
I had the same problem when i started college a few years ago. I opted to buy the laptop and still stand by my decision. While my rommates' desks in the dorms were cluttered with their bulky pc's my desk was nice and empty with my laptop in my top drawer when i wasn't using it. Also, when it got too noisy i took it to the library or to my girlfriend's room and worked there. I still use my laptop today. Its a good investment.
 
Yeah, the other thing about computers for college is to watch out for deals. Most campuses are set up with dell, hp, gateway, and/or apple to get educational discounts on the hardware. You can also get great deals on legal software, i.e. office for $5, xp for $8. Make sure and wait until at least orientation, and maybe until even the end of summer before purchasing your computer.
 
If no one uses laptops just get a pda for class taking notes...just scribble need to know stuff or get one of those pens that automattically makes it into a word document...just a suggestion
 
Yes, it's very useful to have a laptop in college. I didn't get one until my senior year, but once I had it, I carried it with me every day and it was invaluable.
 
so not many people use notebooks in class? i was kinda under the impression that a lot of people would b taking notes on laptops in colleges cause the profs give out a lot more info.

aside from that i do need to b a little flexible with where i can work b/c i usually like to move around.

and ive already tried pda's but they dont really recognize my writing very well (even though i print).

and is it easy to find places to like plug in ur laptop to recharge it cause the big desktop replacement laptops only last like 2 hours and if im going to b working on the laptop im going to need more time than that.

also is theft a big problem on campus? like can people actually walk into ur room and snag ur stuff? thats another thing i was worried about.
 
Much less useful than you think. I just finished my first year of college, and the only people that brought laptops to class used them to play Nes roms. You'd think they'd be useful to take notes with, but it just ends up being quicker and easier to write them into a notebook.
 
Theft isn't a big problem on my campus. I did have my phone swiped after spring break my freshman year but that was the only incident I've had so far.
 
The school I last attended, it seemed as tho 80% of my classes every semester had professors who used powerpoint for notes so they'd just post up the printouts on their site for us to print out... But at the one before that, only about 20% of my classes used powerpoint while the rest used either hand written notes or verbal notes so I'd say it really depends on the school/professors... One thing, if you do get a laptop, make sure it doesn't have a loud fan, boy are those things annoying during class, they do kinda sorta keep ya from dozing off tho... :shock:
 
dont get a heavy laptop with 15" screen...

instead get something like this:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...oduct_id=2304026&path=0:3944:3951:4070:106249

Its rather good. And then buy a 19" monitor, usb keyboard and mouse all for desktop/dorm use.

That laptop is only 4.3 lbs. Very light for what it is. I carry mine every day and i love it.

granted this is not the best gaming puter but since your in college that might actually be good
 
My father wanted to buy me a laptop for a long time but I wanted to stick w/ my desktop for the sake of gaming. I took his laptop :lol: when I came home for Spring Break and honestly, I use the laptop more often than my desktop. Here are some reasons:

1. Portability - No Explanation Needed

2. Group Meetings - As an engineer, I have a meeting almost every day. It is a lot nicer, in my opinion, to be able to use my laptop than the university's computers. Plus, I don't have to carry around a lot of floppies and such. UVa does provide me w/ an online storage service, but I max way too fast to be of any real use.

3. Girlfriend - If you have a girlfriend, or significant other, and you want to study w/ them, having a laptop is a godsent . If both of you need a computer and you go back to one of your rooms, there's only one computer. Having a laptop removes that problem.

5. And Finally - WIRELESS - I have no idea how I got around campus without my laptop because almost every building has wireless. It is really nice to be able to check my mail from any building without having to search for a public computer. While some don't always need to be wired, I find that I am one of those kinda people. :wink: Also, it's great being able to goof around during lecture and the professor not know about it. Well, I guess that's more like a double-edge sword.

Conclusion - It depends on your lifestyle. If you expect to stay home all the time except when you go out, then definitely go desktop. Bigger monitor, larger hard drive, more bang for your buck. If you are highly mobile, go laptop. The convenience is hard to beat and a true blessing. Just be sure to get a light laptop, your shoulders will thank you for it. :p
For the first 2.5 years of college, I hardly left my room except for class and Wushu practice. Now, I'm never home. And never without my laptop.

Hope that Helps,

Ecofreak
 
It depends HUGELY on what you want to do with your computer at college. I have both a laptop and desktop for school. The desktop I use for gaming, the laptop I purchased because I got a moderately fast machine for cheap and I wanted to be able to do homework outside of my room (as a comp. sci. major, its a bit tough to do any work without a laptop). I did survive without one for two years, though; I only got one because the price was right.
If your major won't be computer intensive, I'd suggest a desktop because it's cheaper to get a desktop than to get a comparably equipped laptop. From my experience, I used a pad and pencil for every assignment that wasn't programming, even if it was something that I'd later have to type up.
If you are in a major that requires heavy use of a computer, I'd recommend a laptop. It makes it easier for group meetings and to get out of your room in general.
Hope I helped somewhat.
 
[quote name='CaseyRyback'][quote name='punqsux']but if u get a laptop, get a normal mouse as well if u plan on doing any gaming[/quote]

most campuses can get you a deal on one. Also punxsux is right, I used this girls Dell and it sucked not having a real mouse[/quote]

Agree here as well. Doing tech work for my school, I had to work on a lot of people's laptops, and the touchpad sucks. If anything, I'd recommend a laptop like mine (which is an HP) that has a button to turn off the touchpad, because it becomes a huge pain in the ass when writing papers or whatnot. And it's cheap enough to get a USB optical mouse - I picked up one for like $10 last Oct.
 
well its starting to look like i should go for a laptop, im probally gonna major in business but i also might wanna take some comp sci courses since i have a few years of exp from high school. but about colleges giving discounts on software and such, do colleges give out special discounts if u buy from a certain company? also do they charge for accesing the wireless networks? anything else i should know about b4 i buy a laptop?
 
hey...bestbuy.com has a new averatec for $949

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1077625097490&skuId=6375193&type=product

Please go look at the awesome specs.

12.1" XGA TFT display with 1024 x 768 resolution

40.0GB EIDE hard drive
S3 UniChrome graphics with up to 64MB video memory

3 plug-and-play USB ports for easy peripheral connectivity
Integrated 54g high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g); integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN; V.90 high-speed modem
Weighs 4.3 lbs. and measures just 1" thin for easy portability; high-capacity lithium-ion battery
Windows XP Home Edition operating system preinstalled
From our expanded online assortment; not available in all Best Buy retail stores AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, QuantiSpeed, AMD PowerNow!, AMD 3DNow! and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

*QuantiSpeed? architecture operates at 1.67GHz


Product Details

Warranty Terms - Parts 1 year (6 months for battery)

Warranty Terms - Labour 1 year

Product Height 1"


Product Width 10.6"

Product Weight 4.3 lbs.

Product Length 9.6"

Processor Brand Mobile AMD Athlon XP-M 2000+

Processor Speed 1.67GHz

Display Type XGA TFT (1024 x 768)

Screen Size 12.1"

System Bus 266MHz

Cache Memory 128KB on die Level 1; 512KB on die Level 2

System Memory (RAM) 256MB

System Memory (RAM) Expandable To 512MB

Type of Memory (RAM) PC2700 DDR

Hard Drive Type EIDE

Hard Drive Size 40.0GB

CD-ROM Drive No

Maximum CD-ROM Drive Speed No CD-ROM drive

DVD-ROM Drive Shared

Maximum DVD-ROM Drive Speed 8x


CD-RW Drive Shared


CD-RW Drive Speeds 24x10x24


DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive Yes

DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive Speeds 8 max. DVD-ROM; 24x10x24 CD-RW

Diskette Drive Optional


Diskette Drive Type USB external 3.5" 1.44MB floppy (optional)

Graphics S3 UniChrome

Video Memory Up to 64MB


MPEG Yes


Modem 56 Kbps* ITU V.90 *Capable of receiving 56 Kbps downloads. However, current regulations limit download speed to 53 Kbps.

Networking Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN; integrated 54g high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g)

Audio AC '97 2.1-compliant PCI audio with 3D audio
Speakers Built-in stereo speakers
PCMCIA Slots 1

USB Ports 3

IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports 0
Parallel Ports 0

Serial Ports 0
Game Ports 0
Battery Type Lithium-ion
Pointing Device Synaptics touchpad with scroll buttons

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Included Software Microsoft Works 7.0, Windows Media Player 9.0; CyberLink DVD Solution; Acrobat Reader 6.0; QuickTime 6.0 and more
Click to expand...
 
yea defender ive been looking at those averatec laptops for a while cause they look pretty sleek but if im gonna go for an all out laptop i'd need someting more like this, http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1069300677405&skuId=6237342&type=product

my local bb has one of those with an ati 9600 and a bigger screen for about the same price so im kinda leaning towards that, but if i decide to split the cost and get a laptop with a desktop i'd probally go for one of those averatec laptops.
 
I've rarely seen anyone use a laptop on my campus for class. I agree that it depends on what classes you are taking.

I myself use a desktop for college and honestly don't regret getting it over the laptop.
 
dont get that laptop

Weighs 8 lbs!!!

try to walk around with books and also an 8lb laptop!!! unless you are a 220lb football player its gonna feel HEAVY
also that laptop is twice the price...you could buy the averatec AND a good desktop for the same price
 
ha! 8 pounds? thats it? my laptop weighs 15. and its almost 4 years old, so it cant do anything. but u did serve its purpose very well for those years. i was considering buying a very small and cheap laptop just wor school stuff, like word and internet. think i should for school in 2 years (trying to major in programming)

EDIT: ive made 1000 posts this month. wow.
 
Eggviper, the schools will advertise the connections that they have for getting software, including deals with Microsoft and what not. As far as wireless networks go, they're essentially free. The university doesn't charge you to access it; rather you pay a nice 'technology fee' each quarter or semester to support it.
 
For taking notes, I'd say a laptop is waste of money. Most of the people in my lectures use them to chat with friends or read comics. If you're an engineering major and have to do a lot coding (or whatever major where you do a lot of work on your computer), it's really handy to be able to bring your work home during breaks and such. Also, the portability is also really handy when you have to do work in the lab. I don't have a laptop, and I haven't had any issues with just having a desktop (and most of my assignments are on the computer)... My only complaint is that I have to put the desktop in storage over the summer.
 
Ine thing to mention about PDA's, with the settings just right, you can use it as an audio recorder. Good for lectures or "That banging noise" next door.
 
[quote name='EggViper']well its starting to look like i should go for a laptop, im probally gonna major in business but i also might wanna take some comp sci courses since i have a few years of exp from high school. but about colleges giving discounts on software and such, do colleges give out special discounts if u buy from a certain company? also do they charge for accesing the wireless networks? anything else i should know about b4 i buy a laptop?[/quote]

Let's start from the top...

Different schools give different discounts, in a strictly YMMV fashion. My last college offered a small discount on Dells ordered online, whereas my current school has an HP and Apple store on campus that offers slightly discounted computers.
Wireless networks are not on every campus, and not everywhere on campus. Both schools I have experience with had wireless broadcast in their student centers and libraries, but not in dorms and not in all classrooms. If the school provides wireless, it'll most likely be covered in any technology fees that you'll be paying.
As a warning, you may be tempted to buy a laptop with a desktop processor. I would highly recommend against this. Desktop processors do give an edge over laptop processors, but the battery life sucks, and it gets so hot that you could get 2nd degree burns from holding it on your lap.
 
Also, as far as software, it could vary. My old school gave out copies of XP Pro and Office XP to every student paying tech. fees. I also had an account with MS's student developers' network to get free copies of Win Sever 2003, Office 2003, etc. But I don't think my current school offers anything.
 
I have a lab top and while it did come in handy from time to time, I hated taking it to school. When you spend 7+ hours on campus it's a pain in the ass having to worry about a lab top. I used my desk top way more then my lab top. Also the wireless access and such in class is actually a distraction that will cause you to do worse and not pay attention to the prof. I'm a Computer science major and most of the people in my classes using lab tops are screwing around and not taking notes.

Get a USB thumb drive and use the library computers if you need to use a computer on campus. Get a tape recorder to record lectures. Or if you must get a lab top, buy a bare bones one drop the rest on a desktop.
 
aite im gonna b going to college next fall and i wanna know if i should buy a laptop. my comp right now sux bad so i need to replace it anyway. the question is though should i get a laptop instead of a desktop for taking notes and stuff in class, is it helpfull? i also wanna b able to play games so thats why im hesitating to buy a laptop.
Click to expand...

Laptop for an entering freshman.............$850

College tuition for 18 credit hours................... $3800

Learning to spell correctly and actually use punctuation: PRICELESS
 
[quote name='KingDox']I have a lab top and while it did come in handy from time to time, I hated taking it to school. When you spend 7+ hours on campus it's a pain in the ass having to worry about a lab top. I used my desk top way more then my lab top. Also the wireless access and such in class is actually a distraction that will cause you to do worse and not pay attention to the prof. I'm a Computer science major and most of the people in my classes using lab tops are screwing around and not taking notes.

Get a USB thumb drive and use the library computers if you need to use a computer on campus. Get a tape recorder to record lectures. Or if you must get a lab top, buy a bare bones one drop the rest on a desktop.[/quote]

You're a computer science major and you call it a lab top? I weep for our country.
 
If you can afford it, I'd say go with the laptop. However, I am a Senior CompSci major and I've never had a laptop and its been no problem. There are times it would have been convenient, though.
 
I think he actually believes it's a lab top. Rather funny actually if you think about it...

computer science major indeed...I guarantee you that I know more than most science major grads and I didnt even go to college.
 
Yeah it really depends on what major you are in.
In my U, not a lot of people use labtop to take notes in class. It's just not as easy to take notes with labtop than pencil. But I have seen quite a few using it outside of class.
 
If you need a laptop that can play games, alienware.com has some good ones for you.

They can weigh up to 8 pounds, though, but I think you could handle it.
 
I'm a computer science Master's student, and I've found a laptop to be pretty useful. All the computers in the computer science department run Linux, so it's nice to have a laptop running Windows when I need to make a Powerpoint, or for other Windows uses. One thing about my having laptop that might not apply to you, but is worth taking into account, is that I have an office on campus, so I don't have to worry about carrying my laptop around with me when I don't need it; I can just lock it to my desk and leave it there. If you're living on campus, you can do the same thing with your dorm room, but if you have to carry it around everywhere, you might want to consider if that's worth it or not.

m275xl_pd.jpg


If you are leaning towards getting a laptop, I'd highly suggest getting a Tablet PC. I got mine, a Gateway M275XL, back in December, and I love using it. I can take handwritten notes right on the screen, and I can surf the web from anywhere that has wireless access, including my couch in my apartment. The screen folds flat against the keyboard (screen facing up), and you can rotate the picture to view in portrait mode, which makes reading documents and web pages easier. One particular thing for which the Tablet PC has come in handy for me has been grading: the students send me their PDFs, I convert them to Windows Journal and write right on the documents, convert them back to PDF, and email them back to the students without ever having printed a single piece of paper.

For more information on the Gateway M275XL, visit Gateway's site. For more information on Tablet PCs in general, visit Microsoft's site, or Tablet PC Buzz.
 
also another thing right now is that i dont even know if im going to b living in a dorm, the university is close by so i might just b commuting there. as far as my major goes, im thinking business (accounting) and maybe comp sci.

i really do want the big laptop but im starting to c that might not b a good idea b/c i'd have to haul it around everywhere with books. tablet pc's are too expensive for me right now and u cant really game on them. a pc with a laptop combo might b the best thing.
 
wow, you guys are right no one calls it a labtop, I guess I just like to be different. Also I never really like the whole idea behind in being a LAPtop. I mean lots of people don't put it on your lap. But a lapdance does involve your lap. So putting lap in laptop it isn't 100% accurate. But I also know that most people don't use them in Labs as well. Just like the sound of labtop over laptop.

Now I know how all those people who call soda "pop" feel.
 
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