<p>I was wondering if students type or write most of their notes at WashU. </p>
<p>I plan to bring a laptop, but I don't want a tiny one where I have to squint at it while working in the dorm or a huge one that I have to lug around. What are your opinions on laptops vs. desktops and sizes, etc?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>When I sat in on a class during multicultural weekend, it looked like about half the students used computers to take notes and the other half used regular notebooks. I’m sure some students use both depending on the class. If you’re taking notes in a math/science class, it might be better to write on paper. The opposite might be true (depending on if you’re a fast typer or not) in a class where it’s mostly lecture and powerpoint based.</p>
<p>To me, a laptop is a good choice., probably something around a 13" screen. I use a laptop, but I also have a 19" LCD that I hook my laptop up to when I’m using it in my room (LCD will run you about $120, last I checked). Very few people bring computers to class in my experience so far, although computer science labs are definitely an exception. For me, the laptop/lcd combo worked out well since (a) I already had the lcd sitting around, (b) my roommate tended to go to bed ~6 hours before me, so I was always either taking my work elsewhere every night or staring at an essay on-screen in a dark room , (c) dual-screen is awesomely helpful.</p>
<p>Basically, I’d recommend a laptop just for flexibility (unless you’re short on cash and really want to use the computer for gaming). Also, if you don’t want to shell out for an LCD, learning the commands to zoom in/out and change font size in a web browser (CMD+/- for osx) can save your eyes some serious pain late at night. Hope that helps some!</p>
<p>I agree with Don_Q that a 13.3" (standard “Ultraportable” size") laptop would be easy to carry and use, and the screen really isn’t that small that you will have to squint. However, should you desire a somewhat larger screen, 15.4" is decent (average size), and there are some lightweight ones (I personally own the 6 lbs. Dell XPS 1530, one of the best 15" laptops out there for portability+power, which I recommend completely, although plenty of other companies offer similar 15" laptops that seek to combine light weight with decent power, ie. Apple’s Macbook Pro).
As for how much you will use it in class, I only went to one Psych class when I visited the school, and saw about 5-10 people using laptops for notes, most people preferring handwritten notes. I think that a laptop is pretty necessary for schoolwork though, I wouldn’t want to always rely on a lab.</p>
<p>Is it necessary, convenient, or a waste of space to have a printer in your dorm room? It sounds like every dorm has a computer lab with a printer(s), but I’m not positive. Does anyone know for sure? And are you charged for printing?</p>
<p>Not all dorms have computer labs, but if your dorm does not, you can go over to another dorm and use their lab. This is not as convenient as having one in your dorm, but can be done. D told me that after this year there was not going to be any more free printing in the library, which is where she did most of her printing. She said there will be other places on campus where she can print free. D does have a printer in her room, which I think she would say is invaluable, but she also prints a lot on the college owned machines.</p>
<p>Most dorms do have printers and computer labs (you can print to the dorm printer from your own room though). I brought a printer/scanner, which was helpful for several reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The dorm printer tended to be broken/jammed/out-of-toner/out-of-paper roughly one in three times I would try to print. This improved second semester when STS replaced the printer, but still.</p></li>
<li><p>Sometimes I didn’t want to send certain documents (financial aid info, travel tickets, social security number, etc.) to a printer at the other side of the building, knowing that if the printer were out of paper it might be hours before my document came out of the printer, so that I wouldn’t be there to take it.</p></li>
<li><p>If you’re just printing one page or something, walking is a nuisance.</p></li>
<li><p>Best reason: Apple threw in the printer for free with my laptop ;)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>With that being said, even if you bring a printer you’ll still want to take advantage of on-campus printers most of the time - if you’re printing 60 page documents for class, you’re wasting money printing it yourself; many students didn’t bring printers at all, and did fine (although my printer did get borrowed now and then). </p>
<p>ArtSci is apparently going to start charging for printer usage (it used to be free - I think the library already charged this last year), so on campus printing will generally require a copy-card, but bringing your own printer doesn’t really affect that, as dorm printers are still free.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I think I’ll end up bringing a laptop! :D</p>
<p>My printer is also a photo printer, which is useful for me for numerous reasons (although I’m still a junior). It also depends how much stuff you bring. I don’t really have that much stuff (at least, not yet… my list is growing) and my mom is the master of making-things-fit (I wonder if she even has to obey the laws of physics? I’m not joking here - she can cram a crapload of stuff in a tiny place and make it look great), so even a bulky printer could fit in my room.</p>
<p>DQ- Olin’s been charging since 2006 apparently.</p>
<p>Also to note, there’ll be a $3 credit for all artsci students ($70 for business, ~$25 for engineering) in the artsci lab, according to studlife:
[Student</a> Life - ArtSci to charge student printing beginning August](<a href=“http://www.studlife.com/news/artsci-to-charge-student-printing-beginning-august-1.1747655]Student”>http://www.studlife.com/news/artsci-to-charge-student-printing-beginning-august-1.1747655)</p>
<p>I couldn’t live without my laptop… but then again I went to a high school where we used laptops for all classes, even math (typed math notes are awesome). Ironically I hand write all my notes now… I’m just too lazy to carry my laptop around, and I know I’d get distracted in big lecture classes when the prof couldn’t care less if someone is on facebook…
I use the dorm printer, but went through about half a ream of paper in my own personal printer when I was either too lazy to go to the dorm lab, or paper was out. Since my printer was free, I spent maybe $20 on paper/ink in one school year.</p>
<p>I’ve never printed on campus, except in the NSLC if I wanted to print bio stuff (problem sets, notes, whatever). I personally don’t see why I would need to print something on campus that I wouldn’t have had time to print back on the 40. Then again, I am engineering and writing papers isn’t as common, especially since I didn’t have to take Writing 1.</p>
<p>Another option is to get a netbook and a desktop. It’ll be about the same price, but the netbook will weigh less.</p>
<p>But if you do end up getting a ~13" laptop, definitely get an external monitor as well.</p>
<p>i’ve never had a mac before but ive used it many times at school and it comes with free printer and ipod. its also prettier than pc, but pc still seems more useful. any suggestions?</p>
<p>The Mac vs. PC debate has been going on for quite some time. I personally find PCs to be much better, as a Mac is much more expensive (a Macbook Pro with nearly the same configuration as my own Dell cost ~$950 more).
I think that if you are on a budget definitely go PC, and if you have a decent amount to spend, you should go PC if you are looking to play games/run higher end programs (or if you are doing business), and go Mac if you want a more streamlined, easy to use system with less power than a comparably priced PC (or if you are doing 3D graphic design or something of that nature).
You can get plenty of great deals on both Macs or PCs, I know that there is some sort of discount through Arts and Sciences (and I suppose the other colleges offer their own discount information, although I wouldn’t expect Olin to offer anything for Macs, and the business world relies mostly on Windows).</p>
<p>goOPPA- I’ll second what Albo said, and add that it’s all a matter of preference. I have a Mac myself, but that’s because I was completely fed up with having a pc laptop in high school (and I’ve always had mac’s at home). I’m by no means a mac fangirl by any means though- they are more expensive, but it fits my needs.</p>
<p>The art school is entirely macs, olin is mainly pc’s from what I’ve heard (although I know a ton of b-schoolers with personal macs), and engineering and artsci tend to be either/or. I do know that the NSLC only has macs in the computer room, and the physics department uses macs in the lab portions of classes (at least for the intro classes 117/197).
Either way though, you won’t be at a disadvantage with whichever you choose, so again, it’s all a matter of personal preference.</p>
<p>I’m all for Mac. I used to be a PC guy, but I’m definitely getting a Mac laptop. You can run both Windows and OS X on a Macbook/Pro, so if you’re willing to spend a bit more for a thinner, lighter, more well made (and aluminum!) piece of hardware, go Mac all the way. Also, add in the cost of antivirus, antispyware, and firewall software to the PC bottom line. Plus all of the headache minutes you’ll spend with problems ;)</p>
<p>Not to start up a debate or anything, but the reason that I recommend a PC over a Mac regardless of price, is that if you are willing to shell out extra cash for the “better quality” Mac, you could also choose to instead use that extra cash to buy an even better PC, rather than one with the same technical specifications.
Basically, with the same listed features, a Mac is better quality than most PCs, but at the same price, a PC far exceeds a Mac. If you know exactly what you want/need in a computer, and a Mac is in your range, then by all means go for it, but if you are simply looking for the most power for your price range, go with a PC.
Also, a decent antivirus software (like BitDefender or Kaspersky, rated the best antivirus software by TopTenReviews) only costs about $40 a year, hardly a price change, and Macs actually do have their fair share of trojans going around, just as a forewarning, as virus developers have noted the number of people buying Macs and thinking they are safe (and therefore not buying antivirus). You may be safer on a Mac, but you should definitely think about buying an antivirus software to protect against these newer viruses.</p>
<p>Yeah, I tend to prefer Macs (although I put Windows onto my laptop as well), but that’s way more of a debate that i care to start ;)</p>
<p>Make the decision as you like: if you’re in the Business school, I’ve heard you need to buy Entourage if you use a Mac. Other than that, professors seem pretty aware that lots of students have macs, so any programs they ask you to use will work on both systems, in my experience. I’d recommend buying Office for Mac instead of iWork, though, if you go the Mac route.</p>
<p>Also: I recommend AVG Free Edition as anti-virus software for Windows… It’s free and it works great. You’d probably need to combine it with an anti-spyware program though (there are free programs to do that too, I believe).</p>
<p>Hehe, I won’t start a debate, but I would like to respond to your post (Albo). You are correct in saying that you can get a more powerful PC for the dollar, but generally, Macs utilize power better and stay functional longer. In other words, go use a five year old PC and a five year old Mac. The PC’s registry and non-journaled hard drive configuration will have slowed down the speed of the machine considerably, whereas five year old Macs can probably run the newest OS without much problem.<br>
And of course, with the antivirus, two things. First of all, multiply the $40 by the number of years you plan on keeping the machine (still a less than major cost, yes). But second, I would not advise anyone to install antivirus software on a Mac because, as of right now, you are actually opening more security holes with antivirus software than without. You see, to install anything on a Mac, the OS needs you to type in your password. As long as you know what’s being installed, you should also know what you didn’t choose to install. Common sense works great with Macs and PC’s alike. By installing antivirus software, you are giving virus writers more opportunities to slip in malicious code in things such as updates to said software because it is something that the hackers expect you to authorize.</p>
<p>But really, it comes down to what you need in a computer. If you don’t need extra power, don’t pay more for it. If you need power, a PC will cost considerably less, I agree. The convenience of Macs comes at a premium, and it all depends what the user wants to spend their money on and what their values are. I don’t think either platform is a be all, end all solution for everyone.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses. i think i’m leaning towards mac now</p>
<p>mike1123: What you said about PC’s slowing down over time is true, but it’s something that is easy to circumvent. If you have thought about this beforehand you can partition the machine when you first get it and have a separate partition for the OS, and reformatting every once in a while is a breeze. If everything is on the same partition it’s a little bit more trouble, but it can still be done. After re-imaging a PC it will run just like new ;)</p>