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nonkreon
May 13th, 2011, 11:35 AM
Hi guys:)
I'm a high school student now and planning to study EEE next year. I have a nice desktop computer, 3 years old but still good, Phenom II 2.1 GHz 3-core, 4 GB ram, 500 gig hd, only a little upgrade on graphics processor may be necessary; 256 mb ram on that.
sorry this was not the point;
my question is, would having a laptop computer besides desktop help me in college? I will stay home which is only less than a mile from the faculty but don't receive the college network connection; my internet at home is crappy BTW 1 mbit and constant disconnections.
any reply would be appreciated:)

Grenage
May 13th, 2011, 11:44 AM
I think that laptops are very handy academically; I went through college without one, but it would have been nice. You'll have to personally weigh the pros and cons - for which the only real 'con' is usually the cost.

el_koraco
May 13th, 2011, 01:01 PM
If you can afford it, go for it.

3Miro
May 13th, 2011, 01:10 PM
I didn't get a Laptop until my last year in grad school. Desktops are cheaper, easier to upgrade/repair and better if you need a machine to run on full power for hours or days.

Laptops are a lot more convenient.

I would say it depends on the money. If you have the money for a good laptop (i.e. something form System76 or ZaReason), then go for it. Otherwise, stay with the desktop.

kavon89
May 13th, 2011, 01:12 PM
I would recommend a portable laptop/netbook if you can afford it, but you don't exactly need it as there are usually computer labs everywhere.

Wait until your first semester is over and then decide if you would like one. You can also snag a nice Christmas deal assuming you're starting in this fall.

tmette
May 13th, 2011, 02:12 PM
I would recommend a portable laptop/netbook if you can afford it, but you don't exactly need it as there are usually computer labs everywhere.

Wait until your first semester is over and then decide if you would like one. You can also snag a nice Christmas deal assuming you're starting in this fall.

I completely agree with this. I went my first year of college with just my desktop that I built a couple years earlier, and it suited me fine for most classes. I got a job the summer before my sophomore year and saved up enough cash to get a MBP. Main reason is because there were a few nights where my roommates partied, and I had to study. I just went to the library and used their computers, but sometimes they were all taken. So having a laptop it was nice to go find a quiet corner to myself.

They are very practical for college, but I think most kids don't even need them. I knew some kids from other dorms that had a laptop just because it was space efficient, it never left the dorm room unless they were traveling back home. I think a lot of it depends on your area of study too.

HappinessNow
May 13th, 2011, 02:57 PM
I'm in college now and honestly there are enough computer labs on campus that you actually don't necessarily need your own computer.

Flash drives and external hard drives will get you by, but with that said only consider buying a light weight laptop around 3.6 pounds max, anything heavier will be a burden.

Most students I know and including myself don't want to lug around the extra weight.

I do occasionally take my CR-48 to school, and I would highly recommend purchasing a new Chromebook when they become available, again with all the computer labs on campus you don't need a bloated computer with a desktop and bloated software.

Oh and ignore the nah Sayers about chromebooks, I have been using my CR-48 for 6 months now and it has become my primary computer, I use it 98% of the time.

Quite a few people are using the tablets/pads on campus but that has dwindled away once the fad wore off and people realized they aren't practical.

Wait to buy a computer until you get to college, many bookstores offer student discounts, my University bookstore is an authorized Apple store as well as selling Windows but again I highly suggest waiting to buy a Chromebook the Samsung Chromebooks look pretty sweet.

Amazon already has their Chromebook store up and running: http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=2858603011

Good luck and I hope this helps

Random_Dude
May 13th, 2011, 03:15 PM
It is very handy to have a laptop.
Keep in mind that you will have group meetings and other situations in which a laptop will be useful. Also, I find working in a place outside my home to improve my concentration, but that's just me.

If you are thinking of buying one, I'll advise you to get a light one. Carrying an heavy laptop plus books can be a pain.

Cheers :cool:

EDIT: I waited until the second year to get one. You should wait and see if you really need one.

kvarley
May 13th, 2011, 03:17 PM
Rather than a laptop, get a netbook!

They will be more durable, especially if you get an SSD or flash memory drive within it.

It will be smaller and easier to carry around but make sure you pick it carefully if you are going to do lots of typing! Flimsy keyboards are horrible!

krapp
May 13th, 2011, 04:55 PM
I didn't get a Laptop until my last year in grad school. Desktops are cheaper, easier to upgrade/repair and better if you need a machine to run on full power for hours or days.

Laptops are a lot more convenient.

I would say it depends on the money. If you have the money for a good laptop (i.e. something form System76 or ZaReason), then go for it. Otherwise, stay with the desktop.

This is good advice about desktops, so I'll expand on the convenience of laptops. If you prefer to take notes in class on a computer (I didn't as an undergrad, but knew many that did), you need a laptop. If you plan on doing most of your studying on campus (at the library for instance), a laptop would be more convenient if your studies involve word processing, spreadsheets, or looking at a screen for reference. It all depends on your study habits and patterns. Thinking back, I think I wouldn't have been inconvenienced by a desktop; yet a desktop would keep you tied to home for certain assignments which might not be a good thing (it wouldn't have been for me), so a laptop guarantees a certain freedom, even if you usually just use it to type from your desk, hooked up to your home internet.

JDShu
May 13th, 2011, 06:40 PM
Rather than a laptop, get a netbook!

They will be more durable, especially if you get an SSD or flash memory drive within it.

It will be smaller and easier to carry around but make sure you pick it carefully if you are going to do lots of typing! Flimsy keyboards are horrible!

I agree with this. I use an Asus eeepc, which works wonderfully with Linux. Costs around 340-360 USD and weighs around 3 lbs. Just make sure you get a 6-cell battery. For a student, they are a perfect complement to a desktop at home. Being able to bring a netbook anywhere means that you can study wherever you feel comfortable and use it to type notes in class. In addition, these days on Linux you can usually boot and shutdown very quickly which is very handy.

For school you really don't need awesome specs. You use your computer for typing up documents, browsing, and since you're EE maybe some light coding.

3Miro
May 13th, 2011, 06:44 PM
This is good advice about desktops, so I'll expand on the convenience of laptops. If you prefer to take notes in class on a computer (I didn't as an undergrad, but knew many that did), you need a laptop. If you plan on doing most of your studying on campus (at the library for instance), a laptop would be more convenient if your studies involve word processing, spreadsheets, or looking at a screen for reference. It all depends on your study habits and patterns. Thinking back, I think I wouldn't have been inconvenienced by a desktop; yet a desktop would keep you tied to home for certain assignments which might not be a good thing (it wouldn't have been for me), so a laptop guarantees a certain freedom, even if you usually just use it to type from your desk, hooked up to your home internet.

Good point. One should note though that some teachers don't allow Laptops in class. Libraries are fine.

3Miro
May 13th, 2011, 06:47 PM
For school you really don't need awesome specs. You use your computer for typing up documents, browsing, and since you're EE maybe some light coding.

This depends on what you are studying. If you are going to do Computer Science or something similar, you will probably need more computing power. You should also consider the disadvantages of small screen and/or small keyboard, if you do a lot of code development and/or text work, then this could be an issue.

TheNessus
May 13th, 2011, 06:51 PM
a laptop for college, or any other daily outdoor use, may not be done with 15" or 14" screen laptop. Unless you like back-pain.

nonkreon
May 13th, 2011, 06:56 PM
Thanks guys i think i'll wait till i go then decide:)

tmette
May 13th, 2011, 07:09 PM
That kind of stinks that your home Internet drops out that much. I can see why you would want a laptop and get the schools wifi if your that close to it. Too bad you can't get a signal from the school.

nonkreon
May 13th, 2011, 07:42 PM
No i have a wireless router but I still don't get any signal my point was being mobile. i didn't know usa-ers had any idea how it sucks to have dropouts. i mean it's 2011 and watching a video from youtube is most likely an utopia to me; it's such a tragedy. actually there is fiber-optic network in the neighborhood but the apartment i live in refused to have such service for no reason; maybe when i get my head out of this exam marathon in summer i may convince the building administration and get fiber-optic internet; that would be nice. but my main problem was about being mobile :)

RiceMonster
May 13th, 2011, 07:48 PM
I found it extremely convenient having a laptop in class. I had all my work on one device that I could take with me wherever I went, be it the school, another students house, etc. I could also do work pretty much wherever I went, which was good because I was constantly doing work with other people in class. My desktop hardly got used during the school months.


Rather than a laptop, get a netbook!

They will be more durable, especially if you get an SSD or flash memory drive within it.

It will be smaller and easier to carry around but make sure you pick it carefully if you are going to do lots of typing! Flimsy keyboards are horrible!

Netbook keyboards are far to small to be doing a lot of typing on, a least in my opinion. That small screen limits the amount of the document you can display on the screen, which is even more annoying when programming.

NormanFLinux
May 13th, 2011, 07:55 PM
The Lenovo x120e is an excellent tweener... if you're not into heavy gaming, its a good notbook. It has 64 bit Windows and 8 hours of battery life. The AMD Fusion e-350 dual core processor hits a sweet spot. They finally delivered a compact notebook where price, performance and battery life finally merge.

JDShu
May 13th, 2011, 07:57 PM
This depends on what you are studying. If you are going to do Computer Science or something similar, you will probably need more computing power. You should also consider the disadvantages of small screen and/or small keyboard, if you do a lot of code development and/or text work, then this could be an issue.

You really don't need great computing power in CS. At least for me, small screens are not inconvenient with word processing and coding. In contrast. you would need power for something like Mechanical Engineering where you need CAD tools. The disadvantage of a small screen in my experience is using certain applications that don't account for low resolution widescreens. However for the productive stuff that you do for school, you rarely if ever need them.

NormanFLinux
May 13th, 2011, 08:00 PM
In the old days 15.6" screens were standards. Nowadays, you can get an ultraportable 11.6" for under $500 - half of what the famed Toshiba Libretto cost a decade ago. I'd say buy a tweener and keep the bigger laptop as your desktop replacement machine at home.

3Miro
May 13th, 2011, 08:07 PM
You really don't need great computing power in CS.

Maybe not great, but you need decent power. Thinking about the time I was a CS major, Atom is not going to cut it.



At least for me, small screens are not inconvenient with word processing and coding.


For you maybe. If you like the small screen, then by all means go ahead and use it. However, many of us find such screens incredibly hard to work with. Not to mention the small keyboard size (which again depends on the person).

Those are factors to consider, the small size can be either a pro or a con.



In contrast. you would need power for something like Mechanical Engineering where you need CAD tools.

Absolutely True. The choice of the computer should be major dependent.

SilverDragon
May 13th, 2011, 08:08 PM
I am currently a CS student and I would say it depends on your roommates. Noisy roommates makes a desktop computer kind of useless for work because you can't concentrate in your room.

A lot of people posted saying the library has computers but it might not have the software you need and even if it did, they might be so locked down that you can't do what you need to on them. Either way having a desktop/laptop would be helpful/necessary.

I have a laptop hooked up to a 27 inch monitor TV with external keyboard and mouse to have the best of both worlds.

Do you have a big monitor or play a lot of recent games?

JDShu
May 13th, 2011, 08:30 PM
Maybe not great, but you need decent power. Thinking about the time I was a CS major, Atom is not going to cut it.

Hmm when were you at school and what were you using? I think an Atom is actually much more powerful than people think. Then again, my school taught us to use emacs and gcc, maybe it doesn't work for schools that require Visual Studio. (though a quick search and I found this (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/171246/programming-on-the-asus-eee-pc-in-visual-studio)).

nonkreon
May 13th, 2011, 08:34 PM
no i don't play games that much.
and btw i have big hands i weigh 210 pounds and 6'1"
i am planning to major on biomedical engineering

babybean
May 13th, 2011, 08:34 PM
I think you are wise waiting, for a bit at least. See what other people have, consider your options, see what hardware you need. I just finished first year in cs and agree with the above post about it being useful for team projects, pulling up notes in class, or even that last minute bit of coursework in the lecture before class :lolflag:
I did get a netbook half way through the year because carrying a laptop up and down to the train station (Roughly the same distance that your talking about) was a pain. So be careful with weight.
Also dont worry, it is not life changing decision :P. Sure it would be helpful but you can easily get by without.

HappinessNow
May 13th, 2011, 09:18 PM
Good point. One should note though that some teachers don't allow Laptops in class. Libraries are fine.

Exactly, many professors are moving to not allowing laptops in class too many people checking their facebook, email or even shopping online.

In large auditorium lecture halls I had one professor that allowed laptops but he made those students sit in the very back of class as not to disturb everybody.

You will most likely find that more and more professors will not let you use a laptop in class, nothing more annoying to a professor then to give a lecture while someone is checking their facebook or texting on their phones/pads.

Biggest consideration for most students would be carrying around the extra weight of a laptop, even a couple of extra pounds results in a back ache.

PhillyPhil
May 14th, 2011, 02:27 AM
Maybe not great, but you need decent power. Thinking about the time I was a CS major, Atom is not going to cut it.

Obviously a netbook is no good for heavy CS work, but it's fine for note taking and coding (I used one during my CS degree, albeit with a powerful desktop at home)
OTOH, I'm not using it now for an engineering degree: too many diagrams and maths equations during lectures, and of course much less coding to do. (Anyone have any suggestions for software to use for notetaking that can handle diagrams and mathematicatl symbols, FAST?)
Nowadays, you can get an ultraportable 11.6" for under $500 - half of what the famed Toshiba Libretto cost a decade ago.
I personally have a low opinion of 12" laptops for work on the go. The laptop I owned before my netbook was 11.6", and after a few tries I never again carried it with me to use outside home. Too big, too heavy, short battery life.
Exactly, many professors are moving to not allowing laptops in class too many people checking their facebook, email or even shopping online.

In large auditorium lecture halls I had one professor that allowed laptops but he made those students sit in the very back of class as not to disturb everybody.

You will most likely find that more and more professors will not let you use a laptop in class, nothing more annoying to a professor then to give a lecture while someone is checking their facebook or texting on their phones/pads.


This is really amazing to hear. I guess American unis are very different to Australian ones: I can't imagine a lecturer here telling students they couldn't use a laptop any easier than I could imagine them telling students they couldn't use pen and paper!!

drawkcab
May 14th, 2011, 09:20 PM
Rather than a laptop, get a netbook!

They will be more durable, especially if you get an SSD or flash memory drive within it.

Yeah, if you have a nice computer at home just save your money (and your shoulder) and get a small netbook with an ssd. They are harder to find now but they are out there.

cap10Ibraim
May 14th, 2011, 10:18 PM
make sure to get windows 7 with office notebook 2010 - great software
anyway you will need windows for autocad
microsoft has special offers for students , check them out

PhillyPhil
May 15th, 2011, 03:06 AM
make sure to get windows 7 with office notebook 2010 - great software
anyway you will need windows for autocad
microsoft has special offers for students , check them out

You're making an assumption about AutoCAD. There's plenty of CAD software for Linux (and you can get AutoCAD running on Linux if you want).

ubuntu27
May 15th, 2011, 04:13 AM
I am a college student myself, and I almost always bring my laptop to campus.
The bad thing about laptop is that it is heavy. My laptop in particular feels like I am carrying 3,4 textbooks.
And there are times in which I bring my laptop but I do not need it.
Sometimes I don't bring my laptop to class because it is heavy, but it turns out that I need it.


I recommend you to buy a Netbook or a very light weight laptop.
The Netbook or laptop doesn't need to have a very powerful hardware. Students typically just need word processors, full-screen text editors (PyRoom, etc), web-browser, and calculator.

Next time when I save enough money, I am going to buy a Netbook. Laptops are too troublesome for me.

http://www.linux-netbook.com/netbooks

Also, I've read numerous times that a Netbook works better (stable, faster, etc) with GNU/Linux than with Windows. So, go for it. ;-)

cap10Ibraim
May 15th, 2011, 05:17 AM
You're making an assumption about AutoCAD. There's plenty of CAD software for Linux (and you can get AutoCAD running on Linux if you want).

Just be realistic autocad is the best out there and he should use a professional tooL and if he is not building a cluster or a firewall or a database system enjoy your pc as it meant to be a personal computer with the best software options available for windows

wojox
May 15th, 2011, 05:42 AM
I did and that was year's ago. Go visit a University now and 95% of the students are taking notes on Laptop/Netbooks. It would be a wise investment.

PhillyPhil
May 15th, 2011, 09:02 AM
Just be realistic autocad is the best out there... That's just an opinion, so doesn't count for much...
... and he should use a professional tooL ... Surely you aren't trying to say AutoCAD is the only professional CAD product?
and if he is not building a cluster or a firewall or a database system enjoy your pc as it meant to be a personal computer with the best software options available for windows

Meant by whom? Is that really what you think: the best software is only available on Windows??? Why on earth are you in an Ubuntu forum?

lisati
May 15th, 2011, 09:10 AM
Hmm when were you at school and what were you using?
When I was at school, having a hand-held calculator was a big deal. Boy how things have changed!

cap10Ibraim
May 15th, 2011, 10:14 AM
Why on earth are you in an Ubuntu forum?

because i have no money :guitar:
and all i use is gedit , gcc , netbeans-java , mysql , php , apache2 a media player , a web browser and a phto viewer

nonkreon
May 16th, 2011, 07:08 AM
But most companies use open software nowadays since microsoft took a wrong turn after XP. most my classmates' older family members told me they use varieties of linux distros; the main distros are openSUSE and Fedora Enterprise BTW
If major companies use linux there has to be enterprise products and software support, since most companies I'm talking about here are electronics product design companies.

JDShu
May 16th, 2011, 07:15 AM
When I was at school, having a hand-held calculator was a big deal. Boy how things have changed!

Indeed, and change will keep accelerating.

EveyCurls
May 16th, 2011, 08:42 AM
Keep in mind that some campus libraries close at inconvenient times and are plain not open some days. If you've got a desktop available, then that's less of an issue.

I'm in college as well. My school provides laptops to all the students (we pay for them in our tuition, so we get to keep them when we graduate) but they're huge and really heavy. My second year I went out and got a netbook (Asus eee 1500ha) so I could do my in-class work without straining anything and I use the laptop for work at home.

HappinessNow
May 19th, 2011, 12:56 PM
This is really amazing to hear. I guess American unis are very different to Australian ones: I can't imagine a lecturer here telling students they couldn't use a laptop any easier than I could imagine them telling students they couldn't use pen and paper!!maybe Australian students aren't spending as much time as American students on Facebook during class?


Keep in mind that some campus libraries close at inconvenient times and are plain not open some days. If you've got a desktop available, then that's less of an issue.
The University I go to the Library is open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

They do check for college ID late at night.

tmette
May 19th, 2011, 03:47 PM
Personally, I think the best laptops out there right now to get are the Macbooks and the 13-inch Macbook Pro. The screen size is perfect and those are smaller laptops that are very easy to carry around. Sure your paying a lot more for them, but hardware quality is superb. I had one in college and partitioned the drive for OSX and Ubuntu. When I was just surfing the web I would be booted into Ubuntu, but when I needed to use the Adobe applications I would just restart into OSX.

kaldor
May 19th, 2011, 03:49 PM
Personally, I think the best laptops out there right now to get are the Macbooks and the 13-inch Macbook Pro. The screen size is perfect and those are smaller laptops that are very easy to carry around. Sure your paying a lot more for them, but hardware quality is superb. I had one in college and partitioned the drive for OSX and Ubuntu. When I was just surfing the web I would be booted into Ubuntu, but when I needed to use the Adobe applications I would just restart into OSX.

+1 for that.

Hate Apple or not, their laptops are among the best to use. No, it's not just because they're white plastic.

kaldor
May 19th, 2011, 03:51 PM
Just be realistic autocad is the best out there and he should use a professional tooL and if he is not building a cluster or a firewall or a database system enjoy your pc as it meant to be a personal computer with the best software options available for windows

Because Windows is the only *real* option for everyone, right?

Edit: double post oh no!

PhillyPhil
May 19th, 2011, 04:02 PM
maybe Australian students aren't spending as much time as American students on Facebook during class?


Possible I guess, but I doubt it. Everyone here seems addicted to it (I refuse to participate), and I have been in classes where lecturers complained about people using facebook instead of paying attention...

I think it's a cultural thing. Lecturers here just aren't very likely to feel they have a right to tell students what they use in class (unless it directly disturbed others - eg played music) and students don't really feel the lecturer has that right either. There would be a huge fuss if a lecturer banned or discriminated against laptops!

nonkreon
May 20th, 2011, 08:01 AM
Possible I guess, but I doubt it. Everyone here seems addicted to it (I refuse to participate), and I have been in classes where lecturers complained about people using facebook instead of paying attention...

I think it's a cultural thing. Lecturers here just aren't very likely to feel they have a right to tell students what they use in class (unless it directly disturbed others - eg played music) and students don't really feel the lecturer has that right either. There would be a huge fuss if a lecturer banned or discriminated against laptops!
it wouldn't change anything everyone would log in to facebook on their cell phones then. what do you guys think about the europeans banning cell phones and wireless networking in schools:?: