Use a laptop for study?

I don't like laptops much, but now that I will start DL study soon, am thinking of one. I would prefer those mini-laptops (12" screen?) but wonder if that would simply be too small. Any experiences?

 

I used a Sony T-series for several years. Tiny, but good. Slow, but easy to use and great on battery.

 

My work laptop is a Lenovo (IBM) X61 Tablet. It's great and the only thing I had to get used to was the little touch stick. Because I travel so much there's no way I could do my school work otherwise.

Performance is on-par with others in this range (it's a dual core Centrino) and battery life is easily 3-4 hours, and more if I use aggressive power management.

Note: when they're this small you have to give up something. In my case there is no built-in CD drive (and floppies are dead of course). For most transfers I use a USB flash memory stick and have an external CD/DVD burner that I take if I know I might need it.

 

I've used laptops for years, so that now I feel uncomfortable on a desktop. So I guess it's a matter of what you get used to, really. I also never have a laptop with anything larger than a 12" screen, and find it perfectly fine.

I would echo guitarmark . . . if you do a lot of traveling, especially by plane, then a tablet is really the way to go (especially now that all the XP for tablets bugs have pretty much been sorted out with Vista). Having the flexibility to rotate and fold down that screen is priceless on an airplane.

Cheers,
Adrienne

 

I don't like laptops much, but they are convenient, I just recently bought(still waiting to be receive, it was a pre-order item) this one Inspiron Mini 9 from Dell. I seems to be very convenient and easy to carry with the books, I did not buy from Dell directly since they wanted all the buckaroos in one sitting, instead I got from QVC( I don't buy from TV shows much) same price as Dell and included 3 years guarantee, a 4G stick and 4 easy payments(got love those easy payments). Sometimes, I carry two laptops(Y 2?, one from work and my personal one) and is getting to be a pain. Hope this will alleviate my pain. I was sold by the 3 year guarantee offer via QVC.

 

Vini, I know this sounds wierd but keep us posted on the dell mini. Ironic, but I've going been back and forth about purchasing one the last few weeks. I don't know anyone who has one and I wanted some first hand reviews.

 

Sure, as soon I receive it (expected receive date Oct 03) will give you my thoughts. It is a DELL and "supposedly" they stand behind their products. Will see as soon as I get it, since I have a month to review it and if not happy with it, can return it within those 30 days.

 

AWESOME! Standing by..

 

I completed most of my graduate coursework on a 12" Apple iBook.

If you take a class involving project management software, you may want a larger screen.

 

I did most of my MBA on a 12" Powerbook, upgraded to a 15 inch MacBook Pro when I needed to run SPSS and a few other stats packages for a CRM class (better Windows performance thanks to the Intel CPU). The 13.3 inch widescreen laptops come in at pretty close to the same weight as the 12 inch notebooks, but the extra pixels come in handy.

 

Dude, I don't have a Dell; however, I have a Toshiba. It works perfectly, I got it only $700.00 for over 1 1/2 years ago. It is still working perfectly, thinking to install RedHat in there.

 

I've been considering a tablet PC, not sure what I want to get though. A Mac would be lovely, I'm so used to Windows though... I like the look of Mac's much more.

 

I got a Toshiba satellite, which I bought about the same price you indicated, but with the difference I got free interest(if you pay before the the 2 years expires) plan for two years, pay the minimum and in the last month paid in full, I like to see how much interest has accrued that they won't get from me.

 

I have a Dell - don't buy one. The most aggravating issue for me is that the speakers are on a downward angle in the front - poor sound. (yes, it will matter )

I also have a Toshiba Satellite - it's 2 years older than my Dell (my dell is brand new.. well, 6 mos old, the 7250) and was $700 cheaper than my Dell, and I like it more.
(Dell: $1800, Toshiba was $1100)

My Dell also has the 17" screen and my Toshiba the 15.4" screen - only get the 17" if you want it to replace your desktop and you don't mind lugging that thing around.

Should you get a laptop? Absolutely, yes.

Prior to getting my laptop I sat in my dungeon (aka Basement office) and spent time away from the kids and wife. I picked up my first laptop in 2006, went wireless and never looked back. I can be sitting on my deck, the kids in the backyard, and I can do homework / browse the net from there, keeping an eye on the kids. In the evening, I can sit in my living room and work away while chatting with my wife...

So, yes, get a laptop, but Dude..you shouldn't get a Dell..

 

Thanks for the feedback, but I only will use it for school and I have no need to listen to anything from the laptop or if I decide to, I will use external speaker. Now, the product that I bought is a new product so, I don't know how it will compare to others I already own. Will see.

 

I'm a big fan of  (macattack). I currently have a 15" Macbook Pro. I would hate to have a much smaller screen for constant use. I value my eyes

 

Nice indeed, but is out my price range for the moment, maybe in the future if the economy improves and I don't have to bail out Wall Street.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Vinipink, actually when I clicked your DELL link and after going to the store again today I realize it is a 8.9" computer I'm looking at. Really I think 10" would be the maximum. Even those 12" laptops are just too bulky. I always carry a briefcase sized bookbag, wanting something to easily fit in there without noticing.

The only things I would worry about are: 1) would more than 30 minutes of reading on a 9" screen be rough, and 2) those mini-notebooks have no CD/DVD, wonder what problems that would pose down the road. (i.e. when you want to reinstall Windows, what do you do? etc... Can everything you need to do be put on a usb thumb drive?) any major disadvantages ...

 

I wanted to give up an update today about the laptop, QVC indicated to me that (just a few minutes) it will be a delay for this order that is already a month old and that would take approximately about 2-3 weeks before it ships (another month waiting), to that extend and it seems coincidental to the events today that the Rescue bill(I read the whole thing) did not pass. So, it is possible that Dell did not get credit or cash flows is slow and hence could not make more of this little gadgets, this is just me speculating thought, but the bottom line I did not have a guarantee that this item will be available in the time frame they indicated and it is bothersome to keep waiting for something that may not ship or be available for that matter, I canceled the thing and will continue to be happy with my Toshiba until that one dies! I have realized that the transaction was more than a vanity purchase than a necessary purchase. Sorry, makana793 but this delay gave me time to rethink this purchase, and I guess, I got buyer remorse. Bottom line people, save your money, hard times are coming.