BCom - Pen/Paper Vs. Laptop - Pros & Cons (1 Viewer)

[williamdaft]

I'm about to do BCom at UNSW next year and I was wondering how many people in uni, BCom, prefer to use a book and write notes during lectures/tuts, or a laptop ?

What are the pros and cons of using book or laptop?

Also, for those who use a laptop, which one do you recommend? (light to carry around, decent hard drive, sufficient for study)
I was looking at the MacBook Air.

Thanks.

 

[OzKo]

Would recommend a book as it's more flexible compared to a laptop (think equations; graphs; etc.). A laptop would be a good tool if you're looking to do assignments and/or study in the library (or anywhere else on campus).

Personally I wouldn't recommend a Macbook Air on the basis of cost. I think there are better alternatives at a cheaper price but that comes down to taste and what you're looking for in a laptop.

 

[sirable1]

For me, it depends on the subject.

I would use a laptop (I own a Macbook w/Retina 13') for more based wordy subjects say Management, Marketing, Business/Commercial Law subjects.

I would write in printed lecture notes + book for more based mathematical subjects say Finance, Statistics subjects.

At times I would use both laptop + book for subjects that requires both say Accounting, Economics subjects.

 

[Abanious]

lecture notes with pen masterrace. why would you rewrite or retype whats on the notes onto a piece of paper.

 

[williamdaft]

Would recommend a book as it's more flexible compared to a laptop (think equations; graphs; etc.). A laptop would be a good tool if you're looking to do assignments and/or study in the library (or anywhere else on campus).

Personally I wouldn't recommend a Macbook Air on the basis of cost. I think there are better alternatives at a cheaper price but that comes down to taste and what you're looking for in a laptop.

Yeah true, Macbook is quite expensive, I am looking for a cheaper one. A laptop would be handy to do work in the library.

I do prefer books for writing equations/graphs/etc during my HSC year so I would probs prefer to use books in uni lectures..

 

[williamdaft]

For me, it depends on the subject.

I would use a laptop (I own a Macbook w/Retina 13') for more based wordy subjects say Management, Marketing, Business/Commercial Law subjects.

I would write in printed lecture notes + book for more based mathematical subjects say Finance, Statistics subjects.

At times I would use both laptop + book for subjects that requires both say Accounting, Economics subjects.

Nice, I think I would use both laptop + book as I'm going to delve into accounting and finance..

 

[sumthingreal]

hey dude wats your last name

 

[williamdaft]

hey dude wats your last name

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Daft

 

[sumthingreal]

didnt expect you to be white lol

 

[seremify007]

If you're at UNSW, you print out lecture slides anyway and more often than not you'll be taking down notes alongside particular dot points on the slides. Laptop is good as it means you won't have to retype things and you can back it up easily, but nothing beats flexibility of jotting down notes on the paper. You'll learn quickly which lecturers tend to talk a lot more than what's on the slide (and print those ones 3... or even 1 to a page).

 

[seremify007]

For me, it depends on the subject.

I would use a laptop (I own a Macbook w/Retina 13') for more based wordy subjects say Management, Marketing, Business/Commercial Law subjects.

I would write in printed lecture notes + book for more based mathematical subjects say Finance, Statistics subjects.

At times I would use both laptop + book for subjects that requires both say Accounting, Economics subjects.

This is a good balance. For the quant subjects (e.g. stats), trying to create and solve equations/etc on Word/Excel using the formula editor/etc will take up valuable time and more likely than not, distract you from actually learning the content at hand. The only time you really need a laptop is when you're outside the lecture/tutorial (unless you have labs) for assignments/analysis. Remember in uni- lectures are very one-way like watching a movie and they won't wait for you to solve questions/think things through... so speed is everything.

 

[Jinks]

Personally I print off all lecture slides 3 to a page and double sided (should automatically put lines next to the slides if they are in powerpoint) and write down anything I need to there.

 

[williamdaft]

If you're at UNSW, you print out lecture slides anyway and more often than not you'll be taking down notes alongside particular dot points on the slides. Laptop is good as it means you won't have to retype things and you can back it up easily, but nothing beats flexibility of jotting down notes on the paper. You'll learn quickly which lecturers tend to talk a lot more than what's on the slide (and print those ones 3... or even 1 to a page).

Ah sweet, thanks!!

 

[seremify007]

Should caveat that not all subjects at UNSW have proper lecture slides provided (e.g. some lecturers just use the ones provided with your textbook, whilst others e.g. Geoffrey Knapp in Accounting 2B just dictated!), and other faculties (e.g. law) don't provide them at all.

 

[AnimeX]

Don't really want to start a new thread (hopefully it's alright, OP) but are laptops good for engineering?

I am planning to do Bcom/Bengineering so for note taking would a laptop be useful? or are they mainly used for assignments @ the library?

How do paper people cope with the sound of people with laptops typing away? do people find it annoying? do you get stares?

 

[seremify007]

Don't really want to start a new thread (hopefully it's alright, OP) but are laptops good for engineering?

I am planning to do Bcom/Bengineering so for note taking would a laptop be useful? or are they mainly used for assignments @ the library?

How do paper people cope with the sound of people with laptops typing away? do people find it annoying? do you get stares?

Really have very limited (i.e. no) experience re engineering but I'd say laptops probably are useful if you have specialised software you need for engineering, or if the textbook/materials you need are interactive or only available in soft copy.

Sound of laptop typing has become the norm but don't type over enthusiastically otherwise you'll get quite a few glances from people around you. It takes a lot to set off a random rant in a lecture by another student but it can happen (typically when people don't stop talking during lectures).

 

[kaz1]

Don't really want to start a new thread (hopefully it's alright, OP) but are laptops good for engineering?

I am planning to do Bcom/Bengineering so for note taking would a laptop be useful? or are they mainly used for assignments @ the library?

How do paper people cope with the sound of people with laptops typing away? do people find it annoying? do you get stares?

no laptops are horrible for engineering because it's pretty shit to write equations on a laptop

a tablet where you can annotate lecture notes would be preferble but best is pen+paper

 

[seremify007]

I'd also add iPads with a stylus are not very precise instruments and from experience, is not the best writing tool because you often have to write in a 'writing area' which is a zoomed in section of a document on the screen. It was ultra convenient having my notes in PDF and backed up, and there is flexibility compared to being stuck with typing in text using a keyboard on a laptop or tablet, but nothing beats the speed at which you can write and draw precisely with a pen and paper. I'll caveat this with there are some more expensive stylus options nowadays which support bluetooth for a more precise writing experience and you also have things like Galaxy Note Tab which has a pen, but again I think you're always going to be limited by the pen tip vs. screen size.