<p>this might seem like a dumb question, but i've never had a laptop in my bag. i've had heavy back packs but..
would a 6.47 lb laptop be way too heavy to carry around? i suggested a 5 lb one for my dad, and then the tech fanatic he is, he upgraded everything so that it basically was the same price as a bigger one. and he didn't get the hint i wanted a smaller laptop so he ended up getting me a 16 inch. ha. i'm glad to get a laptop though so..</p>
<p>do you even really need to carry a laptop around anyways?</p>
<p>I think that the 15.4 inch is more than enough to carry. 17" is kind of a pain. There are some really light 15.4" laptops, but there are also some pretty bulky ones (like my temporary Compaq). I would suggest 15.4". It’s also the most common size, which means you can find great accessories for it and it will probably fit easily into your pack.</p>
<p>You don’t really need to carry it around, then. There are a lot of threads about this. In most classes, students take notes the old-fashioned way - it’s less distracting and, depending on your preferences, can actually be faster (I, for one, am an avid outliner). It is definitely useful between classes, though.</p>
<p>I have no idea what it weighs, but I use a Dell Inspiron 1501 and it works just fine. I know that some students take their battery out, which removes a lot of the weight, and then just plug in once they get to class, but I’ve never bothered with that.</p>
<p>Like applicannot, I agree that everyone has differing preferences. I use a regular notebook in most classes, but for some of my really long ones (like once-a-week classes) or for classes where professors lecture non-stop and you need to take really detailed notes (like my history courses), I like having my laptop. I’m also an outliner, so I find that using bullets and indenting in Word is really helpful. But again, everyone’s different.</p>
<p>MHC2011 - Have you figured out how to unindent without using the mouse? If you tab over, you can indent to the next outline format. But after that, how do you go back out…? This is the stupidest thing that trips me up.</p>
<p>and I would never take notes by hand knowing that I have the option to use a laptop. Note-Taking is a large reason why I’m not going to my choice school.</p>
<p>Like someone else said, it’s shift+tab or alt+tab; I never remember unless I’m actually doing it. It also works beautifully on bulleted lists if you want to go a step back with your bullet on the next line.</p>
<p>The person is probably talking about the fact that their lack of note-taking in high school might have disqualified them academically from their choice school. :)</p>