<p>For all of you in college in engineering, which is better? Laptop or desktop. Do you actually take your laptop to class? Or to the library? </p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>I've been wondering this too.</p>
<p>But while pondering, I thought:</p>
<p>Wouldn't it be a pain in the ass to do problems on a keyboard? Where's the integral key? <em>looks at keyboard</em> I think a laptop would be much much more useful in a course loaded with trivial facts that you have to quickly jot down--like biology.
Laptops are also not as powerful and are pretty much only good for note-taking, which, in engineering, might be useless.
Desktops could be useful for intense engineering applications.
Anyone an actual engineering student who has input?</p>
<p>I'd love to have a science/math/engineering keyboard and software for taking notes and doing problems. Write the equations term by term, one shift key for subscripts, a shift key for superscripts, a few letters of the alphabet, a buncha greek letters, hmms...</p>
<p>I would like to know this too, not just from those in engineering though :)</p>
<p>My daughter is a sophomore engineering student, at Olin College. Her school requires students to buy laptops. That's the only computer she has, the only one she uses. I think this may also be true at RPI.</p>
<p>For those of you who want math symbols, you can use Math Equation software</p>
<p>I can't speak about computing power and all that kind of stuff...but when I visited a friend of the family in college, she had a laptop and her roommate had a desktop...and it was a monster. I mean, it was just a regular computer, but they were at PennState and crammed into the smallest dorm room I've ever seen, and the fact that the one girl had a laptop made a huge difference, space-wise. College is all about being compact.</p>
<p>Definitely not the greatest factor in your decision, but something to consider.</p>
<p>I am taking both but rght now if I had to make the choice I would choose a desktop. You make think that the laptop is good at taking notes, but think about how much focus typing takes compared to writing. Notes are not internalized when typed anywhere near as well as when they are written out. And if you need to make little insertions or diagrams in your notes, don't even think about the laptop. Laptops also make great targets for theives while desktops and campus computers dont get stolen so often.</p>
<p>Desktops are cheaper, more powerful, and easier to upgrade. As a college student, cheap and upgradeable are great features and as a math/science/engineering student, you had better believe that you will want some amount or raw power of your own so you dont have to log into a school system to do something. </p>
<p>Laptops do have their advantages and as I said, I am bringing both, but my laptop is a used Thinkpad T23 that I picked up and installed linux on. Its decently powerful and was a good deal, but it just cant serve as my only system. It will however, be great when I need to get away from my dorm or go to the library (thanks to the proliferation of wireless almost everywhere).</p>
<p>I'm not in college, but I would say go with a laptop (desktop replacement). Gateway has a bunch of very good desktop replacement laptops that are pretty affordable. I have a dell inspiron 8600 [not very affordable, but its performance is great]. But yeah, gateway and dell have very good soltuions for those who require the performance of a desktop but seek the portability of a laptop. A desktop replacement laptop is a good compromise.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help. You've given us some things to think about! </p>
<p>LauraN -- size is not a bad reason to make a decision. The reason my now-in-college daughter got a desktop is because it's harder to lose. And this kid would lose hers!</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>I disagree that a "desktop replacement" would be good at college. It throws away the advantage that each system provides a college student. You get a big clunky laptop rather than a small, lightweight machine that you would be willing to carry everyday (trust me, if it is desktop replacement sized, you will not want to carry it daily). In exchange for being in a smaller box, you now pay much much more and lose the cheap upgradability that is great for the poor student. </p>
<p>Instead of winning on two fronts, you lose on both.</p>
<p>I wouldnt define desktop replacements as "big" and "clunky", I myself have a Dell Inspiron 9200, with a 17 inch widescreen monitor, big maybe, but definetly not clunky; no wires, everything you need in a neat 1.6x15.5x11.3 inch case. It weighs around 7-8 lbs, which is about the same as Linus365's 8600. If you ever feel that it might be too heavy for you, there is the option of having a laptop backpack.</p>
<p>Desktop replacements belong on the desktop.</p>
<p>i too have a decked out 8600, OH YEAH! me and linus 365 rule!</p>
<p>I got both a desktop and a laptop. I returned my desktop to my family (they needed it more than me) less than 2 months in. I like my laptop b/c I don't game, I just write huge lab reports. And you can bring it anywhere. Roommate has friends over? Go to the library. Gonna be up all night? Go to the Union. Want to type with friends? Go to their dorm. It's transportability is very very nice. I love my laptop.</p>
<p>But a careful warning for guys with laptops, be careful not to actually put it directly on your lap for a long time daily or a lot of the time b/c the intense centered heat may cause infertility due to high temps damaging sperm counts. They're outside your body for a reason guys. And that was my public service announcement for the day.</p>
<p>ottothecow: One thing to keep in mind is that, even if a student doesn't move their laptop often, it's not taking up much desk space. That's a big reason why I want a laptop -- if I need desk space for papers or anything else, I can just fold up a laptop and move it out of the way.</p>
<p>I found that some enginnering schools require you to purchase a certain computer.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt, for example, on the website says you have to get a Dell with certain software and they roll it into the tuition costs, about $2800</p>
<p>acer offers nice laptops</p>
<p>TravelMate TM2702WLCi-XPP Notebook only costs a bit more than a grand, but contains features like 3.0GHz processor, 512MB RAM, and 80GB hard drive. I'd say that's a pretty good deal</p>
<p>With a desktop...dont actually keep in on your desk. keep the tower hidden away (nobody sells many true desktops these days) and use an LCD since dell and such are practically giving them away with purchases. Hell you can even wall mount the LCD on an arm and use a keyboard tray to have full deskspace all of the time.</p>
<p>I really think that the key here is that whichever choice you make, you will be fine. Choose whatever you are more comfortable with or base it on what you can afford. I'm bringing both (windows desktop, linux laptop) because I definately prefer working with a real desktop (both general use and what happens when I open up the case) but the laptop will be nice (and I dont have to dual boot for linux). Cost isnt an issue because I have both of these systems, I'll give them a nice upgrade before I go and be done.</p>
<p>For engineering, unless something specific is required, I'd definitely say go desktop. I think only once in the past 4 years I noticed someone with a laptop in class... it's just not practical. There's no way you can do any sort of math on there with the speed you'll need to for engineering classes. Now a HUGE pad of engineering paper... that's definitely necessary.<br>
I agree a laptop is nice for doing lab reports, etc... but there were so few of those compared to the number of papers that non-engineers write.<br>
Besides, upgrading a laptop is so limited... in 4 years of college there will be so much you can (and might need to) add. Unless you really want to work on campus/in the library, get a desktop - use some of the money you save to get a flat panel monitor, and you'll have tons of desk room - and stick your tower under your bed.</p>
<p>I'm looking at getting a tablet right now. The Motion M1400 or the Fujuitsu ST5022. They are a little pricey, but I think these will work out well for what I need, and I know that most schools provide access to desktops in the library, and I will have a desktop at home, too. </p>
<p>Could be a practical only-pc for a student if they got a docking station, tho. </p>
<p>just a thought.
-A</p>