<p>Do college kids, specifically engineering majors, carry their laptops to their classes and to other places? The reason I'm asking is because I want to buy a 17 inch laptop, but have not done so yet because of it not being portable. Don't people generally take their notes using pen and paper? Why do you need to bring a laptop to class? And I can still bring a 17 inch laptop to the library once in a while right? I mean, its not that heavy that I won't be able to carry in any where. The reason I want the 17 inch is because it has a lot more features than the 15 inch laptops. The Dell Inspiron e1705 is the perfect laptop for me. It is top notch and comes out to only $2500 with everything maxed out. It has great power, but its obviously heavy and won't have extraordinary battery life. So thats why I'm asking, do college kids generally carry around their laptops around campus?</p>
<p>College students in general - rarely. To the library to study is about it, not to classes. It may be different for engineering students, however.</p>
<p>In general no. My engineering friends rarely bring their laptops anywhere. The one that does only brings it because he doesn't have an mp3 player.</p>
<p>Good good, that backs up my reason for purchasing the e1705. I am so excited.</p>
<p>17" laptop for 2500? Go get yourself a $900 desktop, you said yourself your not going anyware. *** why would you waste the money?</p>
<p>def dude...no matter how good for gaming and such the 1705 is...you could probably build a desktop that is better...for less</p>
<p>There's still something nice about being ABLE to bring your computer to the library or to group study sessions/presentations, etc. Or playing computer games at an on-campus job, etc. It's nice to have a laptop.</p>
<p>Also, if you'll be flying to school, then obviously don't get a desktop. It's no fun to pack it every spring and fall and pay $100 to ship.</p>
<p>Really? I have heard that a lot of college students use laptops to take notes in class</p>
<p>i would never pay more than 200 bucks for a dell because i think everything they make is crap.. but that's just me.</p>
<p>most students leave their laptops in their room all the time.. every once and awhile they will take them to class.. and be the only one in class with a laptop. i took my laptop to class one time, just to work on a paper for another class.</p>
<p>i did however frequently take my laptop to the library, to our sparts den (place to hang out), and over to friends houses.</p>
<p>a few of my engineering friends have tablet PC's and they took them to classes with them to take notes on... it's a lot more main stream in enginnering and computer majors than say biology or psychology to bring your laptop to class..</p>
<p>well at my school most of the notes are posted online before class and there is wireless throughout the entire campus. there is an electrical outlet for each person. so yea, laptops are pretty much required.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the college but I woul always recommend a laptop becuase it take up less space in your dorm room! You can be in you bed r on the futon with it in your lap workin and then you can fold it up and stick it in your closet without any trouble. A desktop is enrmous and has too many different parts. At my college, my friends who have desktops had to go out and buy bigger desks for their dorms room because the school's did not have any room except for the monitor (unless it was a flat screen and with that you could fit the keyboard and mouse).</p>
<p>Where did you hear that a lot of students take notes with laptops? I usually never see one in class, and the one guy/gal that does have one is playing games on it.</p>
<p>Why bother with just a 17" laptop?</p>
<p>Acer has just announced a 20" laptop (no prices yet): </p>
<p><a href="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32289%5B/url%5D">http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32289</a></p>
<p>You'd probably have to carry it into your dorm room sideways...</p>
<p>I always take my computer to class. Just makes it easier to keep track of my notes and i tend to get professors who speak really, really fast so typing helps get more stuff down. 17 inch would be huge though. I have a 15.5 inch and while super light, it's still pretty big. Hills and stairs and long, long walks to class aren't super conducive to the laptop carrying thing but I manage. Wouldn't know about the engineering part though.</p>
<p>I would think for engineering, it would be difficult to take notes on a non-tablet notebook. Think about all of the equations you have to deal with in engineering. You'd have to be pretty good at using hotkeys or the likes to be able to type notes efficiently. </p>
<p>Now, a tablet...I've been drooling over them for years! Now that I'm a grad student now, I don't really have to take notes in a classroom environment, so the only use I'd get for the tablet would be if I had to do field mapping.</p>
<p>" desktop is enrmous and has too many different parts"</p>
<p>...To have a nice laptop setup, you'll need the following IN ADDITION to the actual laptop: speakers, port replicator, mouse, and possibly a keyboard(normal fullsize). That's 5 pieces of equipment. For a desktop: monitor, mouse, keyboard, CPU, speakers. That's 5 pieces. I put my CPU under my desk, and my monitor/speakers/mouse/keyboard take up FAR LESS desk space than my room mates 17in laptops do(and they only have a mouse and NO extra keyboard, speakers, etc)</p>
<p>... just a few thoughts.</p>
<p>why would you need a port replicator, mouse, keyboard, or speakers?</p>
<p>Usually laptop speakers are ok, if you want to be really mobile you can hook in some headphones, that's what I do. When i'm in my dorm I like to hang around in my bed with my laptop, thus everything you named above would be an annoyance.</p>
<p>port replicator? sorry the only usb things I need to hook in are my printer and my USB hard drive, MAYBE a mouse (but I don't use one, I use my trackpad)</p>
<p>It seems pretty obvious that you don't know the reason to own a laptop, which is to have something extremely mobile, something you can put in your backpack and use on the go, something that you can lay in bed and be lazy with (I like to lay in bed with the laptop and watch my movies, it's much more comfortable than my crappy dorm room chair) so hey -- maybe you should just keep your desktop, because all that junk you want to use with your laptop just makes buying one stupid.</p>
<p>Thanks... I will keep my desktop as it's really great and FYI I do understand the benefits of a laptop but I also realize that there are limitations. I also have a 10" laptop that I do carry around but I would NEVER want to use that as my only computer. If you can accept the limitations of a laptop, great it'll save you money(as you don't need a desktop/accessories I mentioned). But for the work I do, a real portable laptop(not a 17" desktop replacement that weighs a ton) won't cut it... I even have two monitors hooked up sometimes when I'm working on microstation or other CAD/GIS programs. </p>
<p>... just different perspectives. Not saying you're wrong or I'm right but we just have different expectations and obviously different needs.</p>
<p>Desktops can be a pain if you are going far away to college, naturally. I live in California but go to school in DC...it would be very inconvenient to drag a desktop computer out there (or buy one there). It would have to be left there then for the summer and a) I'd have to pay for storage and b) wouldn't have a computer for the summer.</p>
<p>I definitely carry my lap top around with me, probably about 60% of the time.</p>