college students w/ 15" powerbook

[ozone]

Just a newbie here who's seriously considering switching...

I know what you mean about taking notes. I'm not a student anymore, but for taking notes, you might actually want to try a Tablet PC. I have one and it works quite well - Microsoft actually got it half decent after three tries. There are several different physical models, but all can sit on a small desk or your lap and you take notes as you would on a clipboard with an electronic digitizer.

It's very easy to take notes, and there is the option to leave them handwritten or to convert them to text. I find the handwriting recognition to be about 90% to 95% - not too bad. Plus, you can then mix text plus figures, drawings, etc. as you need.

I saw some of the other posts which said it was hard to use a laptop on a very small desk or plane. Too true! But for the first time, I was able to actually do work on a plane. Most also have wireless built right in.

Not cheap, but probably not much more than a 15" PB.

Try this link to see one example of a tablet: http://tc-one-thousand.com/

The added bonus is that it's a full computer, so anything you can do on a laptop or desktop, you can do on a tablet. Too bad Apple doesn't have a tablet style computer: I would've bought one in a heartbeat.

 

[kuyu]

There's a girl in my philosophy class that types all her notes on a 12 inch powerbook. the desks aren't that big, but she has room for the mac and a small notebook.

I don't think it saves her any time, but it probably makes studying a whole lot easier. I'll have to ask her if it is really worth dropping $1500 on a glorified binder.

I know that sometimes I can't read my own notes becasuse I scrawl them down so fast. In this instance a laptop would come in handy.

Gotta go, it's time for ANOTHER midterm.....

 

[raiderz182]

12in pb and with permission from your professor, and an isight

 

[Demon]

Notetaking suggestion

I'm a medical school 3rd Year student.
i've been taking notes on my 12" ibook for the past two years and it's great. Our classes have downloadable lectures with diagrams and notes...
they are all on Microsoft Powerpoint, so it's slides really... I can add notes to the "notes area" or just click and add it directly on the slide. This way, it will solve the problem some of you guys seem to have with adding photos, diagrams as well as words to the same sheet. Even starting up a blank powerpoint will make note taking easier than MS Word i think. I also have wireless in class, so i can go on the web, search for an Xray, diseases what not, copy it, paste the photo or text right into my notes! i doubt that anyone without a computer can do that. and it's really a big help with Medicine, since it's like learning a whole new language.

hope this helps. yeah, those desks are tiny, but i put the laptop on my lap anyway.... so it's not a problem.

 

[Phatpat]

Old fashioned paper and pen is the popular tool her. Notebooks in class are not quite, but almost, shunned. I carry mine around and use it in between classes, or simply to find better places to hang out or study than my room.