<p>almost 0 bring them to class</p>
<p>it's loud and distracting to clank away at a keyboard and there isn't much desk space on top of that</p>
<p>Shizz, you talked about using Mathematica. Who pays for the program? Do you have to, or does Cornell have a group license for their students? What kinds of programs can students get from Cornell for little to no cost?</p>
<p>There's a subsidized student license for mathematica that costs 30$ per year. there are computer labs in the chem and AEP depts (the two depts im familiar with) that have mathematica and maple, respectively. there's a main engineering computer lab that has a CAD program amongst other stuff. My personal copy of mathematica is ... let's just say my cousin gave it to me.</p>
<p>depending on what department you're in, you can get a lot of programs for cheap. for example, you can get Borland C++ for $10 from ECE.</p>
<p>Cool, so one could get Mathematica on their personal computer for $30 a year?</p>
<p>yes that is correct</p>
<p>"almost 0 bring them to class" -- shizz</p>
<p>then...my quesiton is: why even bother bringing a laptop??</p>
<p>There's little reason to. Plus desktops last longer (their parts are more sturdy) and you can upgrade them much easier. Plus, if you want, you can build one yourself and house them in an awesome case. There are some Lian-Li cases that rival the construction of the G5.</p>
<p>if you like doing work (like typing papers) on your computer on campus, for one. there are computers in the libraries but during peak hours those are all usually taken.</p>
<p>I usually go to a local coffeeshop with my laptop and do my work and listen to music. I can not bring my laptop and still get my work done but i prefer the convenience of it.
also, laptops are easier to take when you go home. most of my friends have laptops, but only one person actually takes it out of her room. the rest have it because it's easier to transport when going home, which is something important to consider.</p>
<p>i had a desktop here for 3 years but once it got outdated I opted for a laptop. I thought the portability outweighed the loss of computing power and I'm one of the few people that actually take it with me to campus every now and then.</p>
<p>If you use a laptop make sure not to let it stay in your lap for too long. It could affect your reproductive ability. (This from my English teacher, who commented on the fact that in the process of natural selection nerds would be disadvantaged in this respect.)</p>
<p>Hahaha, that's amazing. I love when people use natural selection like that! And you're a LoTR fan!</p>
<p>Give me your AIM/e-mail, etc, whatever you have, NOW.</p>
<p>wow...only one person takes a laptop with her, out of her room??</p>
<p>what's happens at cornell?? massive laptops thefts? seriosuly...is it safe?? ppl on these threads say there are not a lot of students bringing laptops to class.</p>
<p>people don't bring laptops to class because they don't need to, usually. they are also relatively cumbersome, even the lightest of models, so the benefits don't really outweigh the drawbacks. laptops are becoming more and more popular because of their portability- if you've ever had a laptop, you'd know the freedom of typing on the floor (as I am doing now) or chillin with your e-mail in the kitchen while watching tv. frankly, I never thought I needed one until i inherited one, and now i'll never go back.
laptop theft is always a problem, but locking a dorm room door is an important part of detering theft of ALL personal property, not just computers. also, laptops may be put in drawers when they are not being used, and there are several companies that manufacture laptop locks that prevent use upon theft.
i haven't heard of major problems at Cornell, and i have connections with several RA's there.</p>
<p>anyone know of a multimedia tuner you can buy for a laptop?</p>
<p>What do you mean by a multimedia tuner? like a dvd player/recorder? That's all I know of that would be referred to as a "tuner," would be head units like dvd/vcr/tv control units... You can get pretty much any media stuff in a laptop, DVD-R, CD-R, etc... I just don't know what you're referring to, sorry:/</p>
<p>like something for cable TV, and radio possibly, though internet radio is just as good, but something that lets you record tv and stuff to your HD like tivo, and watch tv on your computer. major space saver. like windows XP media center or Sony GigaPocket</p>
<p>There are tuners for laptops, but you can only use USB ones. Viewsonic makes a few models for sure. The ATI and all the other popular tuners are mostly PCI.</p>
<p>Laptops are easier for the library. I know a bunch of kids who will go into the coffee shops and do work too. It just gives you a lot more freedom to do work whenever you have time (and there is a ton of work as we all know). I'm planning on getting an apple laptop. </p>
<p>Powerbook or IBook laptop?</p>
<p>Powerbook!</p>
<p>Go for the Powerbook, definitely ;) They're so cool..... I'm sorry I had no idea what you were talking about Sparticus, but now I'm with ya, haha. If you go to the apple website, </p>
<p>and click on the top toolbar "Made4Mac"</p>
<p>Scroll down the left hand side and under Hardware, click on "Other Hardware & Accessories"</p>
<p>type "tv" into the search window, and some Mac compatible tuners will come up.</p>
<p>I hope this will help! But yeah... definitely go with the Powerbook :) They are such awesome computers, and they look awesome too, with the glowing blue apple on the stainless steel back of the LCD. And they're only about an inch thick! Let me know if you can find the kind of tuner you're looking for, Sparticus.</p>
<p>Yeah, if you're going to get a laptop, get a Mac laptop. If you somehow need a PC laptop for some piece of software or something, get an IBM, and get it with a Pentium M processor.</p>