<p>I'm going off to SFSU and I'm living in dorm with 3 other people.
I already have 17" gaming laptop along with a 2 TB external HDD. If I buy a 250 dollar netbook for in class use it should be enough right?</p>
<p>Depends on your major. Digital Art, Graphic Design, Photography, Computer Science, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering - probably not. Art in general seems to be strongly Apple nowadays (SJSU), and the others will want your game laptop for the power. Otherwise you should be okay as long as you have wifi. Warning - disguise it. If you carry it in one of those cute custom cases then it becomes a target (don’t fear it, just a heads up). Finally you need some hard core virus protection and firewalling installed - college is a breeding ground :)</p>
<p>Yes, it should be enough. You wouldn’t be running any intensive applications during class anyways (or else basically no one would have a fast enough computer), and your large laptop would be fine outside of class. Make sure to pick a netbook that has a good keyboard. I’ve heard that the Toshiba ones have excellent island-style ones.</p>
<p>It will be enough.</p>
<p>You can always take your 17" laptop to class if you feel necessary.</p>
<p>Class is usually for lectures / discussion. If the section’s really focused on actually using software, it will likely be held in a computer lab.</p>
<p>I do have to say: it will be a little pain for architects or mechanical engineers due to the fact that a lot of the work involves rendering. Those are extremely intensive processes, and the lack-of-power of a netbook will be very evident.</p>
<p>For CS, photography, math, etc. though, :).</p>
<p>I am thinking of getting a netbook just to take notes on it. I suggest installing Ubuntu Netbook Edition on it.</p>