Laptops for Uni (3 Viewers)

[stazi]

Re: Laptops

I believe that using my laptop for lectures improved my marks. People who use lecture notes just read what the lecturer is saying. Typing up your own makes you actually think about what's happening.

 

[ari89]

Re: Laptops

I believe that using my laptop for lectures improved my marks. People who use lecture notes just read what the lecturer is saying. Typing up your own makes you actually think about what's happening.

I typed a lot of my notes for my HSC this year...personally for me i found them easier to understand however for some people it just goes straight over them. The advantage was that I could produce my notes faster, formatted well and i had a copy for the future incase i lost it (which was common for a lot of my class notes lol).
However, unless you are a reguler word processor user it might not be the best option for u.

If i was to use a laptop next year I would just get the cheapest ibook i cld find (yes not hte mac book coz i want it small and cheap lol)

 

[stazi]

Re: Laptops

I recommend OneNote. It is fantastic for lectures. You get to organize your notes in one program by subject, and then by week, etc. within each subject. It's made everything so much easier.

I agree on people's sentiments that if you type notes, you don't absorb it as well as writing. I found that for the first few weeks. It is more a matter of habit, as we're taught to learn by writing things down by hand. It doesn't take you long to readjust. I absorb just as much info now by typing things. If you want to be really thorough, you can type up the notes, print them out, and then make brief handwritten points and diagrams to help with the memorization. I do that when I have time before exams, and that helps retention even more.

 

[katrea]

Re: Laptops

and what is your reasoning for coming to this conclusion?

1-2-3 hour lectures. i somehow dont think that this will determine if you should use a laptop or not.

no offense but unless you're very organised and very well prepared, it's possible that a laptop will hinder you in writing notes depending on how your way of writing down notes is. Even in high school I hated turning on my laptop because I prefered to open a book, write a title and jump right into it.

I'm not saying that the length of the lecture should be the ultimate deciding factor of whether you should bring a laptop - however if the lecture is one hour (which it hardly is since people spend their time getting ready) it's very heavy to bring along if you have a long day and live far away from the university. I'm merely suggesting that if there are many techno-savvy people who prefer the laptops, they'd benefit from using it in a more in depth session than just a lecture where the facts can be done the same way with pen and paper.

 

[jase_]

Re: Laptops

If you just hibernate your laptop before your lecture (which most laptop users do) then I suppose it should only take you about 30 seconds to get ready. I'm a pretty tech savvy person but I still wrote most of my notes on paper rather than on my laptop. I guess it depends how you are.

 

[stazi]

Re: Laptops

Yep - hibernation is the way to go. Plus lectures never start on time.

 

[lil_star]

Re: Laptops

I have a laptop, but I prefer taking notes on the lecture notes. It is personal preference I guess. I just find I can focus more when writing cos then I am listening, looking, hearing and writing and I don't think you can replace the feeling of writing with typing =).

 

[Capitalist Scum]

Re: Laptops

I typed a lot of my notes for my HSC this year...personally for me i found them easier to understand however for some people it just goes straight over them. The advantage was that I could produce my notes faster, formatted well and i had a copy for the future incase i lost it (which was common for a lot of my class notes lol).
However, unless you are a reguler word processor user it might not be the best option for u.

If i was to use a laptop next year I would just get the cheapest ibook i cld find (yes not hte mac book coz i want it small and cheap lol)

Save second hand ones, ibooks don't exist anymore.

 

[Affinity]

Re: Laptops

Save second hand ones, ibooks don't exist anymore.

http://www.apple.com/macbook/

 

[Capitalist Scum]

Re: Laptops

http://www.apple.com/macbook/

Yeah, macbooks have replaced them, and his post said he didn't want a macbook.

 

[stazi]

Re: Laptops

onenote is part of the MS office suite, and can be bittorrented if you've lost your original office CDs.

You will love it. And zomg! There's a 2007 edition! yay. I was using 03. Time to upgrade.

 

[_dhj_]

Re: Laptops

As if you can be bothered to carry a laptop to uni. Just take handwritten notes (which you'll never read over).

 

[jannny]

How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

Just wondering.

 

[Hakz]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

Not helpful at all. You will waste time in lectures by playing games, watching movies and surfing the web and hence not pay attention so at the end you wont learn.

 

[sinist4]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

yup thats true, cause it does get pretty boring in lectures at times.

 

[Mumma]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

Essential for a computer science degree, thats pretty much it

 

[melsc]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

Depends on the person. I use mine for taking notes and it means I have all my notes for all my subjects at my disposal. You also dont need to worry about typing up notes later and you can access lecture slides and the internet if you have wireless at uni. You have to be disciplined but its really helpful i've found.

 

[Libbster]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

not at all. i see so many people just playing games on their computer instead of taking notes.

it's easier to print out the notes and write on them or just take notes on a notepad. not essential at all.

 

[MaNiElla]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

It aint all that helpful, some lecturers/tutors sometimes ask students to close their laptops in class anyways.

 

[AsyLum]

Re: How much does having a laptop help me at uni?

Its great for watching porn instead of taking lecture notes.