College Students, Computer Theft???

[SocrPlyr]

I wouldn't say that thefts are non-existant...
Last year for a fact there were at least 3 notebooks stolen...
Mostly from the library, someone would set it down and go to grab something and come back and it is gone...
I didn't hear about any this year but that doesn't mean anything...
basically you don't have much to worry about if you just keep an eye on your stuff and don't just leave it sitting around...
I never heard of one being taken from a dorm... so basically it is mostly when you are out and about using it as a true portable when you have to worry about it...

Josh

 

[nageov3t]

I had both a laptop and a desktop in college... only time I ever used the laptop was I had to go home for the weekend (and during winter break).

it was nice to have as a backup computer (got lots of use out of it after frying my mobo), but mostly, I regard it as a waste of money. now that I'm out of college, it just sits under my bed. haven't even taken it out of the case since November (when I fried my hard drive).

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: ProParadox
Hey guys, after this summer I'll be heading off to college, and I was wondering what your opinions on laptops are. Is a laptop a necesity? For a while, I was planning on picking up a laptop, and after talking to a few people, they said their laptop is hardly used as a portable. It basically sits as a desktop system. For those of you in college, is a laptop a good thing to have? Will I be better served by a desktop? Please let me know what you think, and whether you think it is worth it to sacrifice desktop performance for portability in a college setting.


Thanks,
John

EDIT:

Lets derail this thread a bit, as its pretty clear that the laptop is NOT the way to go.

What do you think is the best way to secure a SFF system and a LCD? Shuttle sells something...

I've seen a lot of "laptops suck" posts here, but a lot of these posters seem to have desktop systems *as well*. And I agree; it's dumb to have a laptop and a desktop, unless you have money to burn.

However, I know a *lot* of people at my school who had just a laptop, and they seemed to get quite a bit of use out of them. Some people used them basically as a desktop computer that can be folded up and taken off your desk when you need more space. Others took them to class, took notes, checked their email sitting outside (not an option if your school doesn't have 802.11b set up...), and seemed to generally use them quite a bit for their portability. So I'd say it depends mostly on how you intend to use the system.

If you do want to go with a SFF and an LCD, I agree that security is important. Most flat-screen monitors can take a laptop cable lock, and most SFF systems have something you could loop a cable lock (like a small bike lock) through. Some may even take a laptop lock as well.

 

[juancferrer]

does anyone's college require a laptop? All engineering students in Miss. State "require" a laptop(min. specs), in fact, they won't even let you take a class that needs a laptop if you don't have one. I'm going into software engineering this fall, and i've walked around one of the engineering buildings and saw one of those huge classrooms with about 80-100 people, and everyone had a laptop. Not only is a laptop required, but it's highly encouraged to bring into the classrooms. Now, only the engineering students require a laptop, so i guess it all depends on what major you're going into.

 

[beer]

I was studying one night, and I was killing some time by browsing ATOT. In any event, the guy next to me says, "Laptops are a funny thing. They are required for just about any part of real-world EE, but yet when you get on one your productivity falls through the floor."

I think its very true. And if youre studying circuits/emag/digtal logic/electromagnetics/math/physics, you can't really take notes on a laptop. In all those classes, which count as the bulk of my cirriculum, you are always having to draw pictures, things like that to help illutrate the point of the topic at hand, and you can't do that fast enough on a laptop. And when you get bored, the inclination is to totally waste time by browsing forums and stuff. I dare say, laptops are more useful for liberal arts majors who actually take notes than for engineers since most engineering classes require at least rough sketches to accompany any text, and those are best done with pencil.

My two cents, of course.

 

[jonah255]

i think i took it to the library once or twice to work on a paper. otherwise it just sat locked down on my desk. mine is a ibm thinkpad t40 and takes up a pretty small footprint. my friend's desktops pretty much rendered there desks useless, where i had plenty of room with the laptop on there and if i need more i could just put it in it's case.

hmm... going to engineering school i really don't have to write many papers. had i been writing papers frequently i likley would of been using it the library quite often. i thought i'd be using it to write programs out of the room but i mostly wrote those on the nice big 22" sun aperture grille monitors on the lab computers.

one of the other features of the laptop was that since it had a small hard drive (30 gb) and just a radeon 7500 i wasn't tempted to play much ut2k4 which i think my grades benefited from significantly.

if i had it to do over again. i don't think i'd buy the laptop. maybe save up for an lcd and build a nifty little small form factor box.

though if you do get a laptop i'm really happy with my decision to go T40. it's no m4d 31337 gaming rig, but it's built real nice. the 1.3 p-m is real snappy. i had no trouble getting a little madden 2k4 fix with the radeon 7500 in the fall and i took some hitman 2 breaks when i was studying for exams this spring. the newer T41 has a mobile 9000 which it's probably quite nice.

 

[Dubb]

whoa....totally different experience than I had.

the summer before starting the architecture program I'm in, I said the same thing..."there's computers everywhere in the building, dozens of dual xeons across the street, I can limp by on my dell I4100 and do most of my work at home or in the labs" so instead I jumped on a 400sc deal, tricked it out, etc, etc. Hardly every got used for it's intended purpose (though it usually did do the legwork on some heavy renderings and simulations). Less than 8mos later, the I4100 was toast. The labs in the architecture building are packed 20 hrs a day... I hardly went home often enough to boot the 400sc, so most of the time I was stuck on my crappy laptop. Don't know what I'd have done without it. After I'd worn out just about every part in the damn thing, I sold some of my audio gear and replaced it with a T41p right before finals...and that was a godsend.

I guess it depends on your school and what you need it for...

~Dubb

PS- FS: Dell I4100. Broken right hinge. DVD-Rom doesn't work. both batteries shot. Get it now before I go to ebay!

 

[Corporate Thug]

laptops are pretty useful in class to take notes or to take advantage of wireless internet if you have a little break in between classes. i would say if you are not a gamer, a laptop is better suited for you.

theft has not been a huge problem at my school but it does happen from time to time mostly due to the carelessness of the owner

 

[Chebago]

at my school the general use computers are always packed, the CS labs aren't so crowded but are usually out of the way and require a seperate account and money system to print then the campus wide print system. If you decide to go the desktop route, buy a nice laserprinter (by nice I mean cheap) because I have used that more than anything, I have a samsung and it has lasted almost 2 years so far and still prints out nice pages, my roomates inkjet ink has been replace numerous times, the only bad part is that everyone wants to print on your computer, but maybe that ill help you meet girls or something.

PS-I never really use my laptop though, I have one of those little tiny 1g averatecs because I thought it would be nice to have something that small, the keyboard is so small and badly laid out that it makes typing papers practically impossible.

 

[Sureshot324]

I've gone through school without ever owning a laptop and there have been times that i wish i had one, but not enough to justify buying one. It would be so nice to be able to type papers and do assignments anywhere, including outside, instead of being forced to do them in my room or in a computer lab. Thing is, the only place my school has wireless access is in the library, and I really hate not having an internet connection while doing homework to look up things on google, check course webpages, etc..