Comments on: Do College Students Need Laptops in the Age of Netbooks? http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/ Decoding Patterns of Success Tue, 22 May 2012 11:52:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: http://%/bvyfdee http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-20057 http://%/bvyfdee Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:30:18 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-20057 <strong>... track backe bei http://felixcastells.huarenblog.cn/ ......</strong> grand , votre site disposition style est véritablement bon , Je suis recherche pour un nouveau design pour mon moncler doudoune individuels site web , j'aime vôtre, maintenant Je vais aller chercher le même design !...

… track backe bei http://felixcastells.huarenblog.cn/ ……

grand , votre site disposition style est véritablement bon , Je suis recherche pour un nouveau design pour mon moncler doudoune individuels site web , j’aime vôtre, maintenant Je vais aller chercher le même design !…

]]> By: Heidi http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-12737 Heidi Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:28:54 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-12737 Hey Cal, You can use the fullscreen option when web-surfing to stop that annoying scrolling issue - works on my Vaio W with no probs, even though the screen is 10" I had my friend fiddle with it, so all I have to do is hit F3 and the view immediately changes to fullscreen - convenient! Hey Cal,
You can use the fullscreen option when web-surfing to stop that annoying scrolling issue – works on my Vaio W with no probs, even though the screen is 10″
I had my friend fiddle with it, so all I have to do is hit F3 and the view immediately changes to fullscreen – convenient!

]]> By: paurullan http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-11354 paurullan Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:34:17 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-11354 I just bought a Samsung N140 and I can say I am very happy with it. The N140 has an specially good keyboard so typing will not be a major problem. I have always taken notes with paper but I will give it a chance on electrical form. In the UIB most of the professors do not allow laptops so I do not have enought experience with it, but I will post more in just for the record. About the screen size, it is really a problem <em>if</em> you use stock applications. I have a combination of gnome+xmonad that makes me fullscreen for all programs. Moreover am I always inside a terminal with emacs so the 600 vertical pixels are usually enought. On the LaTeX stuff, in my experience it works quite well. These machines usually have an slow processor by todays standards so genering the PDF takes a little, but it is not a great problem since you will spend lot of time just writting. Even that, I usually never compile during classes, making how long it takes to create the PDF irrellevant. I just bought a Samsung N140 and I can say I am very happy with it. The N140
has an specially good keyboard so typing will not be a major problem. I have
always taken notes with paper but I will give it a chance on electrical
form. In the UIB most of the professors do not allow laptops so I do not have
enought experience with it, but I will post more in just for the record.

About the screen size, it is really a problem if you use stock
applications. I have a combination of gnome+xmonad that makes me fullscreen for
all programs. Moreover am I always inside a terminal with emacs so the 600
vertical pixels are usually enought.

On the LaTeX stuff, in my experience it works quite well. These machines
usually have an slow processor by todays standards so genering the PDF takes a
little, but it is not a great problem since you will spend lot of time just
writting. Even that, I usually never compile during classes, making how long it
takes to create the PDF irrellevant.

]]> By: Study Hacks http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9973 Study Hacks Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:08:19 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9973 <blockquote>I’m confused by this Cal. In your red book, didn’t you say you used your laptop to take notes in classes?</blockquote> I used my laptop in <em>non-technical</em> classes. I recommend in the red book that for technical classes, requiring technical notation, paper notebooks work best.

I’m confused by this Cal. In your red book, didn’t you say you used your laptop to take notes in classes?

I used my laptop in non-technical classes. I recommend in the red book that for technical classes, requiring technical notation, paper notebooks work best.

]]> By: Francis http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9972 Francis Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:50:04 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9972 <blockquote>As a computer science student, both undergrad and grad-level, I’ve basically never used my personal laptop for anything school related.</blockquote> I'm confused by this Cal. In your red book, didn't you say you used your laptop to take notes in classes?

As a computer science student, both undergrad and grad-level, I’ve basically never used my personal laptop for anything school related.

I’m confused by this Cal. In your red book, didn’t you say you used your laptop to take notes in classes?

]]> By: adrian http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9718 adrian Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:06:34 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9718 "<em>Or you could just get an Apple - they are more expensive but they start up fully in less than 30 seconds or so, lightweight and fully functional. Plus they don’t get viruses. I love mine and would not go back to a PC! The OS is awesome.</em>" 1)Operating systems are software. Doesn't matter what hardware you install it on. 2)Compatibility issues. 3) Battery life and portability were the key things that a netbook sells itself on. 4) People don't make viruses for MacOS because it's suffering enough to have to use it (but really: Viruses just don't get made because it's not a time productive thing, we are seeing that change more and more) And 5) The most important point for last: As students most of us require statistical/mathematical modelling programs that are not distributed for MacOS. I use 3 that I know only come in win/lin and one that is linux only. “Or you could just get an Apple – they are more expensive but they start up fully in less than 30 seconds or so, lightweight and fully functional. Plus they don’t get viruses. I love mine and would not go back to a PC! The OS is awesome.”

1)Operating systems are software. Doesn’t matter what hardware you install it on.
2)Compatibility issues.
3) Battery life and portability were the key things that a netbook sells itself on.
4) People don’t make viruses for MacOS because it’s suffering enough to have to use it (but really: Viruses just don’t get made because it’s not a time productive thing, we are seeing that change more and more)
And
5) The most important point for last: As students most of us require statistical/mathematical modelling programs that are not distributed for MacOS. I use 3 that I know only come in win/lin and one that is linux only.

]]> By: Evert http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9376 Evert Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:02:09 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-9376 Well, for me at least, OneNote is a must. As is having two windows side-by-side. So a netbook just won't do it, all that efficiency lost in scrolling =( Well, for me at least, OneNote is a must. As is having two windows side-by-side. So a netbook just won’t do it, all that efficiency lost in scrolling =(

]]> By: Graham http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-8937 Graham Fri, 29 May 2009 15:46:12 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-8937 Backstopp enables organizations and individuals to perform a remote deletion of data files on any lost or stolen PC, Laptop, PDA or Mobile phone utilizing either the GSM (mobile) network, Internet or RFID. Backstopp enables organizations and individuals to perform a remote deletion of data files on any lost or stolen PC, Laptop, PDA or Mobile phone utilizing either the GSM (mobile) network, Internet or RFID.

]]> By: Study Hacks http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-8542 Study Hacks Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:41:21 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-8542 <blockquote>I’m even going to go out and claim that engineers don’t need a computer anymore than their LAS counterparts, or need a laptop in lecture.</blockquote> I agree with you there. As a computer science student, both undergrad and grad-level, I've basically never used my personal laptop for anything school related.

I’m even going to go out and claim that engineers don’t need a computer anymore than their LAS counterparts, or need a laptop in lecture.

I agree with you there. As a computer science student, both undergrad and grad-level, I’ve basically never used my personal laptop for anything school related.

]]> By: Eddie http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-8540 Eddie Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:15:39 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/03/17/do-college-students-need-laptops-in-the-age-of-netbooks/#comment-8540 <blockquote>Most universities require a machine that can handle such for their engineering (or similar disciplines) students.</blockquote> Really? I was an engineering student at UIUC and I found that the engineering computer labs around campus were excellent for getting homework done. I had AutoCAD, Matlab, and other programs on my desktop and laptop but it was too distracting to work with them. As Cal has said, your work environment is a huge factor. I trudged off to the labs on Sunday mornings so I wouldn't be be playing games in the dorm or checking FB in the library with my laptop. I'm even going to go out and claim that engineers don't need a computer anymore than their LAS counterparts, or need a laptop in lecture. In my first year I was taking notes by equations and diagrams for my engineering and math classes, which is really unfeasible with a laptop. (I know about tablet PCs, but they're pretty expensive). I only really needed my laptop for humanities/social science classes in capturing long-winded lectures. It is a misconception that you'll need - or be using - your own beefy PC a lot in engineering. E.g. in the beginning level ECE class I took last year we turned in homework into a funky website designed in 1995. It was a bit of a shock for some of my classmates sporting Alienware-type laptops, courtesy of their parents :)

Most universities require a machine that can handle such for their engineering (or similar disciplines) students.

Really? I was an engineering student at UIUC and I found that the engineering computer labs around campus were excellent for getting homework done. I had AutoCAD, Matlab, and other programs on my desktop and laptop but it was too distracting to work with them. As Cal has said, your work environment is a huge factor. I trudged off to the labs on Sunday mornings so I wouldn’t be be playing games in the dorm or checking FB in the library with my laptop.

I’m even going to go out and claim that engineers don’t need a computer anymore than their LAS counterparts, or need a laptop in lecture. In my first year I was taking notes by equations and diagrams for my engineering and math classes, which is really unfeasible with a laptop. (I know about tablet PCs, but they’re pretty expensive). I only really needed my laptop for humanities/social science classes in capturing long-winded lectures. It is a misconception that you’ll need – or be using – your own beefy PC a lot in engineering. E.g. in the beginning level ECE class I took last year we turned in homework into a funky website designed in 1995. It was a bit of a shock for some of my classmates sporting Alienware-type laptops, courtesy of their parents :)

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