should i buy a laptop for uni ? (1 Viewer)

[extcar]

hey all .im planning on doing a engineering course in university next year. and i am just wondering; should i buy a laptop? or would a pen and paper suffice thanks in advance

 

[sonnylongbottom]

yes.

well for electrical you need to do a programming subject so a laptop is handy.

 

[extcar]

thanks for the reply. i was more leaning towards being a civil engineer. still think i need one ?

 

[Ben1220]

You don't really need one, you can write notes and work with a pen and paper. A computer is most important if you are doing a subject that requires written assignments, and if you have a student email that the staff use to send stuff to everyone... If you don't have a computer at all then you should consider it, not just because of uni... but I guess its not essential

 

[Azamakumar]

Makes it easier to carry stuff around, one (bulky?) laptop as opposed to a tonne of notes etc. Heaps helpful towards the end of this sem when i started bringing it in everyday. Was a huge distraction, but at least I could get whatever tute sheets etc I needed.

Not needed enough in a science degree to justify buying one, but definately great if you could borrow one.

 

[Joel8945]

hey all .im planning on doing a engineering course in university next year. and i am just wondering; should i buy a laptop? or would a pen and paper suffice thanks in advance

It depends! If you are very fast at writing (I mean scribe fast) then pen and paper should suffice, but, in lectures diagrams are used very extensively and they are quite complex. The net can give you a replica of the lecture notes and even audio recordings of the lecture! Now this is great but don't skip lectures because your work ethic will drop! The online lecture notes are great for exam revision, but, you should get into the habbit of downloading any skeleton of the lecture notes and store them in display books (so in your lectures you have everything and you can scribble down what is important and whats not because it will cut study time right down) and maybe buy an excercise book for any set problems or to take notes in your workshops (or whatever your campus calls the hands on work).

Having said that, engineering is a very technology based subject and I personally think the media used to teach is further ahead of other courses, so a lot of your assessed work will need to be done on a computer and submitted via the internet. So having a laptop will help as using the computers the uni has is very hard as some will have time limits or the computers will have students spending ages on them. You MUST not forget that in engineering you will use a lot of computer programming software for either designing, solving maths problems that can be done on a computer 100-fold that of what can be done by humans or even modelling heaps of data.

So overall:

Lectures: You should have a skeleton copy of your lecture notes (this is when you can scribble here and there - i.e. in fluid mechanics the engineering bernoulli equation is this but for the exam just know how to use this and in the case of the exam these variables can be omitted because of...)

Workshops: Bringing a laptop is good because a lot of the work you do as a group on the main computer can be saved on your laptop or vice-versa.

Assignments: Everything you do here will need a computer and you don't want to spend an hour of you precious time hunting one down

Hope this helps because I learnt it the hard way and the marks I got show it!

 

[Azamakumar]

the marks I got show it!

crock of shit
on the off chance it is true, you don't belong at uni

 

[inhinyero]

i want a Apple MacBook to use in uni. Does anyone of you sells or knoes someone who sells his apple laptop?

 

[Joel8945]

crock of shit
on the off chance it is true, you don't belong at uni

What is that supposed to mean?

Do you want me to get on my soap box because I will!

How dare you tell me that I shouldn't be at uni!

When I said I learn't the hard way I was meaning in my first semester I found that what I was doing was not helping me with learning the content so I learn't the hard way of how to choose my stationery at uni.

But really I don't like people pissing me off!:burn:

 

[Doomah]

yes a laptop is essential .....................































for pornos

 

[shady145]

i bought a laptop this year for uni nxt year. im also aiming for engineering.
im just claiming half of it back on the government education scheme. so basically good old ruddy gave me 2.25k
1.5k for the laptop and $750 back from tax =)

 

[dr pete]

Are there any problems with Macs for engineering in terms of software like Autocad and Solid works and stuff?

 

[Uncle]

if i installed Mac OS i wouldnt be able to run CATIA, another important piece of software used by many subjects.

 

[Studentleader]

Are there any problems with Macs for engineering in terms of software like Autocad and Solid works and stuff?

Yes they are shit

 

[Uncle]

MATLAB MATLAB MATLAB to solve all those mathematical type of engineering problems.
runs on mac too to cater to those obnoxious, obsequious mac fags.

 

[Geologic]

Have never needed one. Always plenty of desktop computers to go around on campus, with all the programs you could poke a stick at.

In fact the only time I bought a laptop it annoyed the shit out of me lugging it around. Then again I like to hand write my notes, makes me remember them easier than nailing them out on a comp, and I don't lose them or bother with printing.

Also out of countless friends who go to uni I can only think of one person who used one and that's my ex-gf, and she was just a plain retarded bitch.

In conclusion you don't need one imho, but if you have the money then whatever.

 

[Geologic]

as using the computers the uni has is very hard as some will have time limits or the computers will have students spending ages on them.

Meh, just quickly save then log out and back in.

I like at UNSW how the library has a screen that says where the free comps are. Incredibly useful.