<p>Hey everyone! :) I had some quick questions to anyone who's familiar with the Computer Science program at the College of Engineering. Are students majoring in CS required to have a laptop or a computer? If not, would people with laptops be at a huge advantage over those without one? Or, maybe, do laptops only become essential in later years? If I have to stay up all night programming, I'd rather do it in my dorm o_o</p>
<p>Also, if you guys recommend getting a laptop, should I get a mac or a PC? I've taken 3 years of high school computer science classes using both macs and PCs, so I'm familiar with how to use both. Money is a bit tight, but I'm sure my parents are willing to spend a little extra buying a mac if it has a significant advantage over a PC.</p>
<p>Sorry, this is really early to be posting a question like this, but I might be getting a laptop for XMas and I wanted the right one. Also, money is tight, and if a laptop is essential, I want to start looking at buying one soon, (maybe during the black Friday sale lol). </p>
<p>Very few people have laptops in class, and they just don’t seem useful. If you want one instead of a desktop in your dorm, that’s one thing. But they’re definitely not necessary for taking to class, not even useful.</p>
<p>I’m a senior in high school myself but I certainly would want to get a labtop instead of owning a desktop in a dorm.</p>
<hr>
<p>Speaking of different labtops I would say get one for what you would likely use it for more… ofcourse all labtops will do well with microsoft etc… so maybe if your big on games then I would make sure its built well for games. If your like me then maybe you would want one great for the internet etc…</p>
<p>Ah ok, thanks guys. It’s pretty important to have a computer or laptop in your dorm though? Would I have a hard time with neither a desktop or laptop?</p>
<p>There’s enough computers everywhere on campus that you can use. Use a portable browser in your IFS folder when you log on, instead of carrying it on a USB drive which you can lose. (This way you don’t have to log in to any of your online accounts every time you use a campus computer)</p>
<p>If you decide to get a computer later on, you can buy from woot.com cheap.</p>
<p>I think having your own computer may be important, I mean universities give everyone a grant to get one ( its part of the tuition fee); I know Michigan State University gives 500. Another university for example is Northern Michigan University where they actually distrubt everyone a Mac labtop.</p>
<p>I would think twice about buying a laptop on Black Friday. Most of those cheap computers are junk and you get what you pay for. If you are looking for an inexpensive laptop consider buying a second hand business computer. There is a place in Ann Arbor called Affordable Computers that sells these. You can get a decent second-hand PC with a warranty for about $400.00. If you are looking for one for school in September it might be a good idea to wait until summer if you don’t need it now. I’m sure you can get buy without the computer but it is a nice luxury. The laptop is better than the desktop. You will want to be able to take the computer with you.</p>
<p>I think Netbooks are the best, since they are light and you’ll be walking around campus a lot. It helps when your backpack doesn’t dig into your shoulders.</p>
<p>If you have a decent laptop bag that won’t happen either, I’ve carried a laptop since like 10th grade and have never had that problem because I have an HP backpack-- which is now several years old and has held up so well it looks like new. Netbooks are too tiny for my feeble eyes to see. XD </p>
<p>I am surprised some people are saying you don’t need a computer. Sure, you can LIVE without one if you wanted to. But like, my roommate didn’t bring a printer, and we live on the 4th floor of East Quad. So, for example, any time she has to print a paper she either has to take the stairs all the way down to the basement and cut through the music rooms and the dance studio, in complete darkness because the light switches are on the opposite side of the room, or wait like 15 minutes for the freaking elevator to actually get to our floor, go ALL the way across the basement-- which is a really creepy, mildewy place that gives me asthma attacks, print her crap in the lab, and come back. It takes like 15-30 minutes minimum just to go print off a paper. And, in my opinion, it’s creepy down there and totally not someplace I’d want to just sit and study-- not to mention freezing cold. That is the most convenient option. She could also walk several blocks to one of the libraries or the fish bowl if she wanted to. But, you know, it’s getting pretty cold outside!</p>
<p>So, is it possible to go without? Absolutely. Is it always preferable? NO WAY.</p>
<p>I also must wonder if this is just some difference with the LSA, but most of my classmates do bring laptops to class-- not to the discussion sections necessarily but the lectures for sure. There are enough that don’t that it’s really not weird to do either, but I can’t write NEARLY as fast as I can type so for me it would be crazy to try and keep up with some of these professors by hand. My notes would be completely useless to me. So I would just consider what is going to be helpful for YOU, not necessarily what anyone else thinks. Notetaking, etc is really a very personal matter, it’s different for everybody.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks for the advice! Being a CS major, I think I’ll try to buy one for sophomore year at least, so that if I have to stay up all night to program, I can stay up in my dorm instead of a computer lab. And yeah, I think a laptop would help me out with note taking a lot too!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wait so colleges lower tuition $500 or so for you to buy a laptop? Does U of M do this?</p>
<p>I must say that it is evident that the vast majority of my classmates have macs. For my purposes it didn’t make sense to spend that kind of money. I don’t know enough about computers to say what would be a better buy for someone in your program.</p>