Reflections on being a grad student

[britthobbit]

I'm trying to figure out how much my desire for a laptop computer is due to its convenience... and how much it's "keeping up with the Joneses." It seems like everyone around me has a laptop, and I feel covetous when I see one. It's weird being a grad student and seeing people using them during lectures. I don't remember that as an undergraduate

Comments

[rubber_thoughts]

IMHO, laptops are overrated. Unless you are taking copious notes, don't bother with one. Transferring notes from paper to desktop at home works just fine and helps you retain the information better. Law professors frequently complain that laptops turn students from thinkers into stenographers and I find that to be true myself. Further, most people who have laptops are playing on the internet if there's an internet connection available. I myself found it very hard to resist playing on it when I started having trouble understanding a lecture, but if there's no laptop then there's no escaping it. After my second year, unless the class was extremely content-heavy I would just leave mine at home and do it by hand. Just my opinion. If you do get one, try to get one where you can leave the wireless card at home, though most come with an integrated wireless card now.