<p>Seriously. If you have math/science learn LaTeX and scribble down notes, then retype them. Professors love typed up homeworks and may reward you for them by being lenient.</p>
<p>Well, if your school requires you have a major (pre-med not being a real major) then yes.</p>
<p>If not, then just buy it when you feel like you need it.</p>
<p>Also, do not forget your general requirements to graduate.</p>
<p>You need a coputer, but should check with the institution as to what to get. Some have very specific basic requirements. You may be able to get a better deal through the University (but check to make sure as it depends on the Universities bargaining skills).</p>
<p>For me, It is really convenient that I have a laptop or a desktop accessible.</p>
<p>eric
umgd</p>
<p>
[quote]
Unless you're an ABSOLUTE BEAST in TeX you're never going to be able to use a laptop in any science class really.
[/quote]
Well, looking at the syntax of TeX, I think it would be reasonable to type out equations just as fast or faster compared with doing it by hand. Though, I can type a 100+wpm so...yeah.... >_></p>
<p>I know I personally couldn't live without a computer. I bought the Vostro 1400 before Christmas and it will be the computer I'll be taking to college. I already bring it everywhere I go (including school) and use it to take notes in my English 102 class (a college distance learning class i'm taking) and for a programing project i'm doing. I can't even read my writing and I can type a lot faster than I can write. As for science things and pictures, my plan is to get a pen mouse so I can draw pictures and what not and keep them in digital form...Also, now that I think about it, I'll probably practice typing out stuff using TeX so I won't even need to use that often.</p>
<p>Originally I did want a desktop and I could have built a really nice desktop for the price of my laptop (though, my laptop has 2 gigs memory and has a fairly fast dual core processor, so it's still quite nice for my purposes...). However, with the laptop I can grab my LCD screen, find a quiet place to work such as some underground library, hook up the LCD to my laptop, and have a full dual monitor workstation wherever I go (my LCD screen is quite light). So.....yeah.</p>
<p>For those of you who say I could use the campuses computers....my own workstation, running my choice of OS (Gentoo Linux), with all my files, my set-up, my privacy, and works how I want beats any campus computer...</p>
<p>Didn't know there were other Gentoo users on CC :D I'm trying to install Gentoo on my HP Pavilion dv9700t right now, but I'm having a problem, maybe you can help me cbeley? :P
<a href="http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-677540.html%5B/url%5D">http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-677540.html</a></p>
<p>I really need to get going on TeX too so I know it by next year lol</p>
<p>If you're into power computing (who isn't?) no portable computer can compete with an equivalently priced desktop, but of course you lose the portability.</p>
<p>A neighbor of mine's son put up a combo by picking up a powerful desktop for his room and springing for a "eee" notebook computer. "eee" computers are bare-bones laptops with minimal power designed for developing countries. They're small and perfect for basic internet tasks and word processing. And they're super cheap (compared to any "proper" computer), I think a base model goes for less than $300.</p>
<p>I wouldn't get an eee pc as a secondary computer. they don't have a full sized keyboard which makes it a pain to type. you can get a cheap lenovo for 4 or 5 hundred though.</p>
<p>You might feel out of place without a laptop - almost everyone has one.</p>
<p>I went through my first two years of college without one. It sucked and as someone else said, having group projects was a nuisance. Everyone would have theirs and I would have to explain I had a desktop.</p>
<p>Once I got my Macbook, the convenience was great. I never liked typing in a computer lab to write a paper. I'd rather take my laptop to the nearest Starbucks and type it there. I just didn't like being in the room to do my work.</p>
<p>Just me though.</p>
<p>Laptop (Lenovo T500). Powerful enough, versatile, and reliable. I love mine, over a year old now. Still runs excellent. Also, pick up a second monitor off craigslist. Probably find one free or for 10 dollars... Its an amazing aid to be able to have two fullsize windows at once when transfering information, or reading and analyzing things.</p>
<p>You can find good free monitors on craigslist?....</p>
<p>Do you need a laptop? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>I moved in to college with my trusty desktop computer, which I had constructed myself more than three years prior.</p>
<p>It broke the day I moved in, and I didn’t have the money to repair it for THE ENTIRE FIRST SEMESTER. It sucked, a lot. I had to do all of my work on school computers in librarys and dorm labs for my whole first semester. Which, admittedly, had a lot of downsides. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I met a lot of awesome people by NOT doing what my roommates did, which was sit with their laptops by themselves. I also learned to be a bit more efficient with my work and time. When I fixed my computer, it promptly got a virus and was then no longer able to use the internet. So I STILL had to use school computers for most of the second semester. </p>
<p>Now, I’m an engineering concentrator at Harvard, taking basic science and math classes. So I can vouch for the fact that you definitely DON’T need a computer, much less a laptop. </p>
<p>If you need bang for your buck, get a desktop. That way, you have a kickass computer, a nice big monitor, and a far smaller likelihood that you’ll get distracted by facebook during lecture. :)</p>
<p>I’m thinking of building a decent desktop for around 300-400 (should net a decent athlon X2/3-4 gb ram), & then buying a netbook. Best of both worlds :D</p>
<p>The decision really depends on the availability of computers around school. Do they some computer labs? You can email yourself documents or put them on a flash drive and use one of those. </p>
<p>Second, does the school have a lot of wireless coverage that you might use? If you think you’d actually sit somewhere and work on your computer, then you can use a laptop.</p>
<p>Now that computers have gotten so cheap, if you don’t need to play intense games you can get a far more than adequate laptop for $500-600 or less; sure, you can get a desktop cheaper or get a more powerful desktop for the same price, but you’re really not going to need it unless you’re a gamer or doing something processor intensive like video editing.
I have both a laptop and desktop at school (I had built the desktop mid-way through senior year of HS for pretty cheaply, then got a cheap laptop), and while I use both, if I had to pick one to leave home it would definitely be the desktop. The additional mobility of a laptop is definitely well worth it. In fact, I’m sitting on my couch watching the Tour de France and posting on here on my laptop.</p>
<p>Desktop and netbook.</p>
<p>what about the mini ones that cost like $399? they don’t have cd/dvd thingies…is that fine?</p>
<p>
That’s what pyroza said - they’re called netbooks. And those “thingies” are called drives… You can get them for as cheap as $250. It’s smaller than what I’d want for my main computer, but if you have a desktop too then it’s fine.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=hebrewhammer]
And those “thingies” are called drives
[/quote]
lolol (10char)</p>