Netbook ideas for uni

ojrules

ojrules

ojrules

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I've got up to £500 to spend on computer stoofs for uni. I already have quite a nice desktop pc which i plan to take> but i'm looking for a netbook to take when im on the move and i'm going to get a small tablet to digitize my notes. I'm probably going to get lots of peeps saying "you don't need to make notes in lectures etc, etc, etc" > everyone learns differently, and the fact that i am terrible organising my notes, combined with the fact that i work a lot better when ive made my own notes, means that a tablet would prove useful.... I'm also doing a mechanical eng degree so a small tablet may prove useful for design etc.

I'm looking at the Wacom pen + touch tablet approx £70 (there's the wacom "fun" pen + touch at £85 and from what i can see you get one piece of free software, thats all thats difference) ..

- so , sorry this is a lot to take in. To sum up

- I want a cheap, light solution to basic portable computing and note making.
- this could take the form of a :
PDA with tablet (?)
netbook with tablet
All in one netbook-Tablet .. (with tablet :p )
 
My 2 pence.

If you have to get a portable computer, get a full blown laptop, not a netbook. Every netbook I've used without exception has been far too compromised in at least one area, if not every area.

The display resolutions are typically too low for web browsing efficiently (odd for something named a NETbook), the keyboards are too small for a decent rate of typing whilst maintaining decent wrist positioning. The paltry spec always leaves you wanting for more when you try and do anything that even remotely stresses it (but wouldn't stress a low-end laptop).

You can get some decent HP and Dell machines for your budget, even moreso if you go for the lesser "prestige" brands, you'd get a relatively good spec for £500 with an Acer or similar.

Although as said, if you can do without, do without. Use whatever you have now and buy yourself a proper meal :p
 
Look at the Asus UL30 series, it's about the price you mentioned, 13" screen, 12 hours battery life and decent specs. You'll be able to use it all day at uni without a charger... plus it's a proper laptop.. not a netbook, not a noddy tablet!


However if you do want a tablet, get a HP one with a touch screen + normal laptop. My brother is a barrister and uses one in court - he loves it.
 
Get one of these

notepadtrans.png


Seriously, nobody will want to be your friend when you rock up to lectures with a netbook and tablet;)
 
I've had a look at some other forums and many many people say how useful a tablet is in lectures, as it allows you to make notes on top of the powerpoints that the lecturers give out.... and once you get past the whole "studying is uncool" opinion and realise you're spending a ridiculous ammount of money and time on a degree, i think a tablet will be very useful, because i can guarantee i will not file paper notes, they will get lost, be undated, and eventually binned. I honestly don't care if i look like a douche in my lecutres, i mean mechanical eng is hardly the "coolest" degree anyways.. When i get past the whole drink my body weight in spirits half of the year i will need to crack on, and i still think a netbook with tablet ( or ideally tablet pc) would be very useful...
 
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i don't disagree that those tablets are better than a netbook and tablet, however they're a bit out of my price range- max budget is £500, and that tablet is £740, aswell as being the cheapest tablet i've seen so far...

also i'm not really going to be organised enough to print out the presentation slides before the lecture...
 
I'm not advocating studying is uncool.

I'm in my fifth year now and nobody takes laptops to lectures, student resources online are usually badly maintained - with notes/powerpoint slides taking ages/never being uploaded.

This may not be the case for all unis, but I can't see digital note taking being an easy alternative to scribbling down all you need on an a4 pad, accompanying it with any lecture handouts and putting it in a ringbinder.

Plus you look like a douche;)
 
:p ok... what degree are you doing btw?.. i'm having a look at the asus eee tablets, from first looks they're exactly what i want...

EDIT- from second looks they're rated poorly...


i guess i'l leave it, and decide at uni whether a tablet would indeed be useful.... also by then i expect many of the apple ipad competitiors will have come out..
 
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ojrules said:
i guess i'l leave it, and decide at uni whether a tablet would indeed be useful....
Click to expand...

That's the best thing you could do... If your uni has a really good setup of publishing notes/handouts then its not so bad.

I'm studying architecture at portsmouth.
 
just get a fully blown small laptop, I don't think netbooks have a optical drive.

I would personally but its your money get whatever you think is most usefull to you


if my college didn't mess be about I would probably went to uni with a full blown laptop and use it for everything for around the same budget. But thats just me
 
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ojrules said:
also i'm not really going to be organised enough to print out the presentation slides before the lecture...
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They used to have them printed out at the front to pick up at my uni. Might be worth you giving it a week at uni first to see how things work out before making your purchase?
 
TBH only one person on my course took a laptop into lectures with any remote regularity, most of the time she was on facebook...

However out of lectures a laptop is useful, I got mine at the the end of my second year (as well as having a desktop) and it was a godsend. I connected mu uni folder with Live mesh so both computers were synced and that meant I could randomly go to the uni with my laptop and carry on any work I needed to do, far better than using the uni computers or having to take books home.

If you really want something to write on however then maybe have a look at the Hanvon Touchpads. 10" and essentially netbooks but at least one of them is supposed to have an active digitizer on (ie wacom pen stylee) so you can properly write on it (saving you buying the Wacom as well). Problem is they are only released in Asia at the moment, however there are probably a couple of others out already.
 
In my lecturers everyone brings their laptops but a lot just get distracted by them, you're better off with pen and paper at the end of the day, no facebook then :) Also if you're not doing a geeky course like me then you're probably be treated like a lepper for having one!!
 
Paper notepad and a good quality pen (not a ballpoint!) is the most efficient way to take notes.
 
I disagree, a paper pad and a decent ball point pen (nice bic not those scratchy cheap things). What's wrong with a ball point pen? Just smacks of snobbery to me.
 
Amp34 said:
However out of lectures a laptop is useful, I got mine at the the end of my second year (as well as having a desktop) and it was a godsend. I connected mu uni folder with Live mesh so both computers were synced and that meant I could randomly go to the uni with my laptop and carry on any work I needed to do, far better than using the uni computers or having to take books home.
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This is the point I was making previously about getting an Asus UL30 with 12 hours battery life, would be ideal for out of lectures and maybe in lectures. They start at about £400 and will kill any netbook.
 
I am in Hong Kong and just saw the next gen of Netbook....kick in the teeth considering i bought one on the MORNING i left for the airport.....which i am typing it on now.

I saw the New HP mini with a N470 CPU (1.83ghz) with a 1386 (its 13xx something) x 768 resolution screen. Much better than the 600 deep of all the current gen. It was on sale for $3700, which is like £350, not a bad price actually, but it is £100 more than what i paid for mine.
 
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