Laptops at university (2 Viewers)

[tommykins]

Since I want to get into Civil Engineering, I imagine there would be a lot of programs for simulations and what not... I wonder if I'd need a decent laptop or good PC at home. I should ask around XD

won't really need one until 3rd yr

 

[Pwnage101]

Are there certain subjects where laptops are a no-no?
Like the majority of people writing or something.

Mathematics & Statistics.

And for most of the accounting/finance/economics lectures i have been to, laptop-users are the minority - <5% easily

 

[moonblack]

as a student going into uni this year i have also frequently looked up this topic, and in my opinion the best size is 13 ".

why?

netbooks, which i have tried (and refunded at myer for gift cards) are complete rubbish. their atom processor can barely handle essential tasks such as booting up, as well as running 2 microsoft words. in essence, this type of laptop is useless, the fact that the screen is tiny means that you need to scroll down frequently in almost every aspect of daily use. the battery life however was appealing, but another thing is they tend to have rubbish exhaust fans, particularly the eeepc, which is reported to be super noisy ( i can vouch for that, i returned mine, wayyyy too loud)

i also have a 17 inch macbook pro which i took on some occasions to school, but barely, because basically it is a lump of metal and it is huge and heavy. this is completely impractical for use in university.

the problem with 15 inch is that while they are at a good size for gaming, movies, and work, many companies sell off rubbish components in them because normal computer components sometimes fit in laptops, like the amd athlon x2 processor, the problem here is that they use a lot of power leaving a low battery life. however if you are careful 15 inch is pretty good.

why do i think 13 inch is the best? at this size components need to be specifically designed to fit into the chassis of the laptop, meaning they have been more thorougly considered, also, they are very portable, and are sligtly bigger thanthose dvd players.

the laptop i am after personally is the 13 inch macbook pro

 

[tommykins]

Mathematics & Statistics.

And for most of the accounting/finance/economics lectures i have been to, laptop-users are the minority - <5% easily

i disagree for maths and stats - alot of math subjects have a computing component and a laptop has been more than useful when practising

 

[Aquawhite]

won't really need one until 3rd yr

Netbook suffice? Just saves me money.

I am thinking I will get an iMac though.

 

[veloc1ty]

as a student going into uni this year i have also frequently looked up this topic, and in my opinion the best size is 13 ".

why?

netbooks, which i have tried (and refunded at myer for gift cards) are complete rubbish. their atom processor can barely handle essential tasks such as booting up, as well as running 2 microsoft words. in essence, this type of laptop is useless, the fact that the screen is tiny means that you need to scroll down frequently in almost every aspect of daily use. the battery life however was appealing, but another thing is they tend to have rubbish exhaust fans, particularly the eeepc, which is reported to be super noisy ( i can vouch for that, i returned mine, wayyyy too loud)

This is really quite odd. I bought a 10" netbook for uni at the start of last year and it quickly took over as my main computer at home as well (with a USB mouse and sometimes hooked up to a 19" monitor). It runs music, MSN, Firefox and Word simultaneously with ease. I've also used Photoshop CS4 with little hassle. All this, and it's smaller and lighter than an average textbook.

 

[philphie]

LOL. I must have repped you for something before coz I can't rep you for that post



I have pretty much the same. I have a bigger 16 inch laptop that I use at home, and then an 11 inch netbook for uni. Its got pretty much a full size keyboard, and it doesn't take that long to get used to the different placings for punctuation keys. Battery is around 4-5 hours, but I generally have short uni days so I don't even take the charger with me.

But yeah, I wouldn't use it for every lecture. Last semester I found it very good for Arts subjects, but for Economics it was heaps easier to write on the printed slides.

no problem babes as long as i know you love me

 

[ClockworkSoldier]

This is really quite odd. I bought a 10" netbook for uni at the start of last year and it quickly took over as my main computer at home as well (with a USB mouse and sometimes hooked up to a 19" monitor). It runs music, MSN, Firefox and Word simultaneously with ease. I've also used Photoshop CS4 with little hassle. All this, and it's smaller and lighter than an average textbook.

What model is that?... Because I want it.

 

[Aquawhite]

This is really quite odd. I bought a 10" netbook for uni at the start of last year and it quickly took over as my main computer at home as well (with a USB mouse and sometimes hooked up to a 19" monitor). It runs music, MSN, Firefox and Word simultaneously with ease. I've also used Photoshop CS4 with little hassle. All this, and it's smaller and lighter than an average textbook.

That's my issue at the moment just at school. I am almost attached to this netbook now... I can't get away from it!

It is my main computer and I imagine I will only slightly decrease my use in university if I get an iMac.

 

[proringz]

If it's just for the purposes your listed then get a netbook. best battery life, size, price

 

[Aquawhite]

If it's just for the purposes your listed then get a netbook. best battery life, size, price

The size and price are the big suckers to me. I got my netbook for $470 (inc. postage)... I love it but I just wish I could have set up a dual boot system.

 

[GINN]

I have a pink sony vaio. Lol, I'm not going to bring it to uni. I prefer to use the uni's computers so I don't get distracted. Anyway, I'm going to get a numeric laptop lock from ebay now for college.

america

Whats easier then - laptop for notes or just taking notes by hand? What is more popular?

Are there certain subjects where laptops are a no-no?
Like the majority of people writing or something.

I wouldn't want to the only one tapping away in a whole lecture room of scribblers! D:
Besides, my laptop keyboard is pretty loud. Stupid cheap design.

if you are an artfag you are better off writing your notes by hand/sticking your finger into a powerpoint because you are wasting electricity through the laptop when you should pass the electrical current through your body instead.

the truth is, a lot of people annotate by hand.

its a lot less clumsy to write large mathematical expressions like summations or integrals by hand.

i disagree for maths and stats - alot of math subjects have a computing component and a laptop has been more than useful when practising

and cramming for the final hour before the report due date designing a drive shaft using CATIA on laptop.

Maple and MATLAB on the go.

Since I want to get into Civil Engineering, I imagine there would be a lot of programs for simulations and what not... I wonder if I'd need a decent laptop or good PC at home. I should ask around XD

Then:

Netbook suffice? Just saves me money.

I am thinking I will get an iMac though.

lol imac.
LOL IMAC.

ahahahha good luck running AutoCAD and/or CATIA

 

[Aquawhite]

^ Macs do have bootcamp... in which you run Windows within the Mac environment. + my netbook runs on Windows.

Otherwise, it's just as easy to get a nice PC

 

[babikakez]

america

Perhaps living on campus? At a res COLLEGE?

 

[ClockworkSoldier]

There are also private colleges in Australia.

 

[Aquawhite]

There are also private collages in Australia.

Bahaha. This is a collage

correction fail.

 

[ClockworkSoldier]

Bahaha. This is a collage

correction fail.

Haha. I was talking art just before XD.

 

[rx34]

I have a pink sony vaio. Lol, I'm not going to bring it to uni. I prefer to use the uni's computers so I don't get distracted. Anyway, I'm going to get a numeric laptop lock from ebay now for college.

Oh sorry I meant residential college.

 

[lynton]

Definately getting a mac laptop. Any reasons why i shouldnt, because i am in the process of looking for one? Id love to find a laptop that isnt slow and has good battery power. The last laptop i had, completely failed, it was super slow and acquired way to many viruses :/

 

[Brontecat]

the new macbook 13" is a pretty good choice, they say 7 hrs battery life but realistically its about 5 and a half, but if you have wireless internet plugged in and a large assortment of tabs in safari, plus word open you can expect about 3 - but realistically for a lecture i'm expecting that 3 is pretty sufficient. Also the little things that you love about macs which for me is as simple as the dashboard, fun swipey motions on the touchpad or varying the degrees of brightness way more that you can on a toshiba laptop.
Mac also uses 64 bit colour which makes its general screen colour look a lot better than windows XP. Plus the iLife software pack that comes with it and once you buy microsoft office, its pretty much all set up, no need to additional programs etc. The bonuses of generally not needing antivirus software, the new lightweight design means that its only 2.13kg making it easy to cart around and with a good case it shouldn't sustain any damage.
Oh and it's a lot faster than most laptops i've had in the past, but i can't really say cause i haven't used too much memory up yet.
Bit of a mac fanatic rant lol, but it was pretty much all we thought about when i got one for Christmas as I want it to last me all through uni, i know i won't want to go out and spend extra money on a new laptop, so yeh definitely a mac, even the new MacBook pro's aren't too bad, but if you're price conscious $1200 for the MacBook is a pretty good price