I want your opinions on this

[Faust]

A tablet wont allow you to type fast enough if taking notes in lectures. A notebook would work better.
It will work just fine with any web based applications. In fact it's a really good platform for reading notes (but not adding them).
It is unlikely to work with any desktop applications you might need.  Not really applicable unless you are in software or engineering.
You are very much correct in saying the price does not justify it, 400+ makes it a luxuary piece instead of a tool. 200 MAX is all I'd part with if buying for classes.

There are some very obvious exceptions and it is completely prejudiced of someone to make those assumptions: If you were studying computing and taking mobile apps or doing a project in multimedia it is entirely possible that this would be a necessity as a testing platform.

People who Kneejerk about apple are exactly as bad as people who don't shut up about the merits of apple, they are people who hold strong options about recreational electronic devices.

[P3nT4gR4m]

A tablet wont allow you to type fast enough if taking notes in lectures. A notebook would work better.
It will work just fine with any web based applications. In fact it's a really good platform for reading notes (but not adding them).
It is unlikely to work with any desktop applications you might need.  Not really applicable unless you are in software or engineering.
You are very much correct in saying the price does not justify it, 400+ makes it a luxuary piece instead of a tool. 200 MAX is all I'd part with if buying for classes.

There are some very obvious exceptions and it is completely prejudiced of someone to make those assumptions: If you were studying computing and taking mobile apps or doing a project in multimedia it is entirely possible that this would be a necessity as a testing platform.

People who Kneejerk about apple are exactly as bad as people who don't shut up about the merits of apple, they are people who hold strong options about recreational electronic devices.

This. Especially the last bit. But I'd totally agree with the rest. Ipad= shiny toy. Notebook or netbook or similar = useful tool.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

A tablet wont allow you to type fast enough if taking notes in lectures. A notebook would work better.
It will work just fine with any web based applications. In fact it's a really good platform for reading notes (but not adding them).
It is unlikely to work with any desktop applications you might need.  Not really applicable unless you are in software or engineering.
You are very much correct in saying the price does not justify it, 400+ makes it a luxuary piece instead of a tool. 200 MAX is all I'd part with if buying for classes.

There are some very obvious exceptions and it is completely prejudiced of someone to make those assumptions: If you were studying computing and taking mobile apps or doing a project in multimedia it is entirely possible that this would be a necessity as a testing platform.

People who Kneejerk about apple are exactly as bad as people who don't shut up about the merits of apple, they are people who hold strong options about recreational electronic devices.

LOL about that last bit! Totally true.

Again, though this thread is not about tablet vs. notebook or platforms or anything like that. The question was:

I would like to get your input on the usefulness of having a notebook or tablet computer. To me, the use seems completely obvious; however, evidently quite a few people just don't see it at all. Opinions?

Reading it again, I can see where the wording might have led people to believe that I am asking about the usefulness of having a notebook vs. a tablet, so in order to avoid the conversation about which is better, because I think that depends a lot on the user and what they need out of it, I will reword it as:

I would like to get your input on the usefulness of having a small portable computer while pursuing an education, for use both in and outside of classes. To me, the use seems completely obvious; however, evidently quite a few people just don't see it at all. Opinions?

The reason I ask is because several people on another board have pooh-poohed the idea that they are useful for people in college at all, presumably based on the fact that they didn't use one while in school. My mind boggled a little at the idea of anyone thinking that a book-sized portable computer wouldn't be useful for students in this day and age, so I wanted to see what the students and recent students here think.

[Placid Dingo]

I use an iPod. I also use pen and paper making massive word-image montages. Both work for me.

[EK WAFFLR]

I'm not studying per se at the moment, but since I lost my job due to my being on sick leave for over a year, I have been sent on various short courses lately. My notebook has come in incredibly handy.
Note taking is a breeze, and far, far better than using a pen and paper (my handwriting looks like a doctor's prescription).
So my answer would be yes. They are very, very useful.

[Luna]

I had a small netbook that I took to class... For about three weeks.  The only thing I found myself using it for was sneaking here or onto Facebook when the lectures got dull.  Yeah, I can take notes on it... but I take them faster on paper, including added small diagrams, which I couldn't easily do in the word processing program.

I suppose it'd pretty much depend on what you're studying... but it didn't do a lot for me.

[Juana]

I have one and I love it for school. Less shit for me to lug around and I also link to relevant websites in my notes, which I find really useful.

Also, Art Student's opinion is a) antiquated and b) I don't think most college art classes need notes the same way let's say a biology class does.

[Rumckle]

I can see the usefulness of them, but I've never really used them, even when I did have a laptop I mainly just left it at home. In lectures I always take notes on paper, but then again my topics are very math intensive, so I have to write down a lot of equations, which are a pain in the ass on computers. When I do want to do some research/write a paper at uni I mainly go to the library, or the the physics department. But they have lots of computers there, if they didn't have as many computers I probably would have gotten a laptop to take to uni.

Oh, and that said I also do use my netbook occasionally when I'm on the train off to a different city, mainly for reading my teachers' online lecture notes.

It would also be nice to have my textbooks on it instead of carrying them around getting them ruined in the rain.

I got a Kindle for that, this year, uni has started back yet though, so I haven't really looked too much into textbooks yet. Also, that said a kindle vs an iPad would depend on your type of textbooks, over the past 4 years 90% of my textbooks were black and white, but other subjects may use much more colour, for which an iPad would be much better. (just an aside that)

Apples new iBook2 program looks good for that as well:
http://www.planetinsane.com/apple-offers-new-digital-textbooks-with-ibooks-2/2627183/

[East Coast Hustle]

I meant to mention earlier that if you think the primary use is going to be for textbooks rather than note-taking, A Nook Color Tablet or Kindle Fire might be worth looking into as they're much cheaper than an iPad and can do many of the same things.

Plus if you have a Nook we can lend each other books for free.

[Lord Cataplanga]

In my experience, portable computers are extremely useful in college. Before I could afford my netbook, I used my cheap(ish) Nokia C3 phone (It has a physical keyboard, Wi-Fi, and not much else) for googling and wolfram-alpha-ing a lot.

I'm studying Software Engineering, so naturally I would have eventually bought a netbook because I don't like the computers in the computer labs and laptops are too heavy for my needs. But even a cheap smartphone or netbook or whatever can be very valuable not necessarily as a substitute for books, paper notebooks and all that, but rather as a complement to them.

[Triple Zero]

I would like to get your input on the usefulness of having a small portable computer while pursuing an education, for use both in and outside of classes. To me, the use seems completely obvious; however, evidently quite a few people just don't see it at all. Opinions?

Is it useful? Yes, without question. When I was in college myself (until about 2005-2007 depending on how you count), laptops were too expensive and bulky, they really took off becoming most useful and popular after that.

If I would go to college today, I would definitely use one. Is it necessary? I don't know [actually, college worked fine before everyone used laptops, so that means no it's not necessary per se] but these days I don't know any student without a laptop, even if it's an older bulkier model that you don't want to bring every day, the possibility of having the option of bringing a portable computing device is just too good to pass up. I suppose especially when cooperating with fellow students.

Recently I had some (formal) meetings with students. They write the minutes on a laptop or netbook. It makes sense, you can do a quick reformat/checkup afterwards and email it around and you're done. Most people type faster than they write. At the last meeting a girl used pen and paper, which caused her to be unable to pay as much attention when writing and vice versa, I don't think these minutes will be as good as the previous ones. But I might be biased because the previous ones used colours for everybody's name and they gave me ORANGE and that means automatic bonus points obviously.

Also gotta agree with Faust, I don't think a tablet would be as useful as a netbook or laptop, for the simple reason that a tablet is mostly an output device, and not as easy to use as an input device for taking notes, writing reports, preparing presentations and making exercises.

Still, would a tablet be useful? Yes. Maybe not as much that you would take it with you to uni every day, but at least in the sense that you can download study material to it (the slides of the class you just went to, the exams of previous years, etc) and comfortably study it on the couch without having to print it.

I suppose the only students here that own a tablet are the ones that can afford it as a luxury item in addition to having a laptop or a netbook, because for a student, even if you (or your parents) can afford an iPad or other tablet, you're going to make sure you have a proper laptop or netbook first, simply for the input capability. That said, that's not many students, or at least not in the social circles I am familiar with.

Thinking about it, I can come up with a few reasons for your friends odd knee-jerk reaction:

- your older friends might think that since they didn't need a laptop/netbook/tablet when they went to college, nobody should need anything but the giant wooden abacus they used, which they could only access after a 35 mile hike, barefoot through the snow, uphill both ways.

- some of them might really want to own an iPad but they can't afford one so they reasoned why they really don't need one, and these reasons should of course apply to everybody

- some of them may confuse "if I had one would it be useful for college" (yes) with "given that you don't have one now, would it be a good idea to acquire one specifically for college purposes" (probably not). this one I can really understand now btw, having written all of the above, even knowing that you're interested in the former, not the latter, it's pretty hard to keep those two questions apart, answering only one and not the other, in fact I feel like it's a pretty artificial constraint on a natural flow of discussion (which does not excuse some of your friends' reactions btw).

- because fuck you their evil stepmother tried to kill them with a poisoned Apple that's why.

[Rumckle]

Oh, also I forgot to add before, that even discounting the equations problem, I never wanted to take my old laptop to lectures anyway because of my note taking style. When I take notes it isn't just one line after another, I often put asides off in corners, draw lots of arrows, and use sub points, which is possible on a laptop, but more difficult.

[Phox]

I do not personally use any such device for largely the same reasons as you, Nigel, but yes, I am of the opinion that a portable computer would be a very useful tool 90% of the time, at least.

[Bruno]

In my experience, portable computers are extremely useful in college. Before I could afford my netbook, I used my cheap(ish) Nokia C3 phone (It has a physical keyboard, Wi-Fi, and not much else) for googling and wolfram-alpha-ing a lot.

I'm studying Software Engineering, so naturally I would have eventually bought a netbook because I don't like the computers in the computer labs and laptops are too heavy for my needs. But even a cheap smartphone or netbook or whatever can be very valuable not necessarily as a substitute for books, paper notebooks and all that, but rather as a complement to them.

The old original Droids go for as little as $30 on ebay.  It can do internet over wi-fi, and has a physical keyboard. You could probably write a paper on it if you had to, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Cain]

I didn't find a laptop or similar that useful, for lectures certainly, and to a lesser degree, in seminars as well.

In lectures, it is just as easy to take notes.  So long as you're comfortable with lots of paper around the place and moderately organised (one notebook for each class etc) it's no better or worse than a computer, IMO.

In seminars equally, computers are only of use if you are doing a presentation - a video or slideshow always goes down well.  However, if you're mostly discussing something, or working from handouts, then no, not really needed at all.

Outside of a classroom, I would consider a computer a necessity for organising papers, research uses, word processing and so on, but of course that is pretty obvious.  Also for accessing uploaded class material on the University network.

I did go to a very old-fashioned University, so my opinion may not be the mainstream.  I can see such devices being useful, but not necessarily any more useful than alternative tools.