Computer science: Laptop?

Incompetent

I'm just curious: how many people, roughly, use laptops in lectures for note taking?

I'm tempted to pick up a little netbook. It also means I can work on projects while commuting, or at lunch, or while hanging around in town. Would it be worth it?

Tom Dunne

For taking notes during lectures, I would say not. Call me Old School, but I prefer writing.

I was in lecture recently and the number of people taking notes using a laptop added a surprising amount of noise to the environment.

I think if you are doing CS a full-featured laptop would be more beneficial to you (I've been there - I've an MSc in CS). To add insult to injury, personally, I can't type on netbooks. They keys are too small and my fingers too fat.

Incompetent

Tom Dunne wrote: »

For taking notes during lectures, I would say not. Call me Old School, but I prefer writing.

I was in lecture recently and the number of people taking notes using a laptop added a surprising amount of noise to the environment.

I think if you are doing CS a full-featured laptop would be more beneficial to you (I've been there - I've an MSc in CS). To add insult to injury, personally, I can't type on netbooks. They keys are too small and my fingers too fat.

Alright, thanks. As long as it's not standard to use a laptop for notes I don't mind just writing. I've got a nice new multi monitor build at home for proper work, so I might just do a few months of the course and see if one would be beneficial.

Procrastastudy

People hate me banging away lol - Law course fair few use laptops - might be because we're all on facebook.

Never under estimate how useful bus time is! About the only time some people study.

lemon_remon

I've got a lovely 1080p monitor at home but often end up working on my laptop because I get too easily distracted at home and just end up playing games. The only annoying aspect is if you're debugging with an IDE on a smaller resolution screen there can be a lot of minimizing/maximising but it's fine when you get used to it. That's the only time the smaller screen/lower resolution has really effected me and in any decent college they'll recommend you to use text editors for learning programming anyway. If you're going to go with a laptop I recommend getting a "workspace" program for Windows or just using a Linux distro with one built in, as it makes working on a smaller screen so much more manageable. I also find it very useful for reading ebooks/notes as sitting at the desk gets quite tiring.

I'd say wait and see how you manage with your desktop, just be careful when associating work and play as a lot of people find it difficult to work and relax in the same place.... myself being one of them.

xxmeabhxx

I'm doing computer applications in DCU and most of or lecturers don't let us use laptops in lectures because they know most people will just go on facebook. It would be worth getting a laptop for assignments and studying though. I'd recommend a decent screen size 13" or more just so you're not squinting at the screen. Also, I'd for a windows and linux combo. I don't know what computer science course you're doing but it's likely you'll run into both of these environments for programming.

Micknificent

Same as above, previously studied in ITT and many lecturers refused to allow people to use laptops. I'd wait and see how you feel about a netbook a few weeks after you start.

magnumbud

Incompetent wrote: »

I'm just curious: how many people, roughly, use laptops in lectures for note taking?

I'm tempted to pick up a little netbook. It also means I can work on projects while commuting, or at lunch, or while hanging around in town. Would it be worth it?

i did CS and didnt get a laptop til 4th year project.didnt really feel any bit hindered not having one. tbh i always found it better to work on projects in my years labs so that i always had people to discuss the projects with. as for taking notes just as easy to write them and with having to do drawings which happens quite a bit its easier with a pen and paper than using word etc to do this at the speed you would need to keep up with some lecturers

magnumbud

Tom Dunne wrote: »

For taking notes during lectures, I would say not. Call me Old School, but I prefer writing.

I was in lecture recently and the number of people taking notes using a laptop added a surprising amount of noise to the environment.

I think if you are doing CS a full-featured laptop would be more beneficial to you (I've been there - I've an MSc in CS). To add insult to injury, personally, I can't type on netbooks. They keys are too small and my fingers too fat.

i dont know if a top of the range one is really needed. i mean i also have an MSc and had gotten a laptop a year earlier for my FYP and didnt want to be spending loads as i had a top of the range desktop and found it fine. in fairness you dont need that top of the range of a laptop for compiling and running the code in you projects during CS

Tom Dunne

magnumbud wrote: »

i dont know if a top of the range one is really needed. i mean i also have an MSc and had gotten a laptop a year earlier for my FYP and didnt want to be spending loads as i had a top of the range desktop and found it fine. in fairness you dont need that top of the range of a laptop for compiling and running the code in you projects during CS

I said full featured, not top of the range.

Semantics, I know. But I'm sure you appreciate a machine with 4Gb of RAM will compile things faster than one with, say, 2Gb. So for the sake of an extra €50 or so, it would be well worth it.

I agree also, that a desktop will suit just fine.

wnolan1992

I'm doing Game Development in UL, and some of our lecturer's refuse to let people use laptops to take notes, they know too well that we'll either be dossing on Facebook, or working on a completely different module.

Even in the ones where there is no strict policy, the vast majority of people tend use paper. Typing stuff in word is fine, but if you need to draw a little diagram to explain something a little better then you'll be rummaging around for paper mid lecture making noise.

I also know that I'd get very irritated if there were people around me who type as loud as I tend to do.

It's also easier to highlight as you go when using paper. Far easier to underline and circle stuff on paper and quickly move on, as opposed to messing around with MS Word and potentially missing what's being said.

Transcribe your notes in the evening if you wish, but I wouldn't do it in lectures.


I agree with Tom Dunne here (and not just the fat finger part :pac:). I'd save my money and instead of buying a netbook, spend a little more and buy a mid-range laptop. You won't need anything too high powered for most CS courses, but try and get one with a decent processor and RAM for running code.

A netbook would be handy if you were doing a course that required a lot of essays and the like, just because it's more portable, but for a CS course it's not really worth it, as you it'll almost certainly take longer to run pieces of code.

Procrastastudy

Jesus unis/colleges really do mummy people here. In Edinburgh you could be shagging in the back and the lecturers wouldn't have said anything unless you were disturbing other people.

People turned up in dressing gowns and slippers on more than one occasion.