Hey guys, I'm thinking of getting a netbook for the Fall, just wanted to know if there are sufficient electrical outlets in lecture halls and the tutorial rooms to plug in an AC adapter.
At Surrey, yes, with the exception of 5280 and probably a couple of other rooms. At Burnaby I imagine you won't have the same luck, at least not in lectures.
you need to get to class first and always take the one of the few spots available in the lecture rooms
further, dont get a macbook if you plan on having reception during class, all i ever notice in my macbook is my wireless wont work while people on windows platforms have signals
theres plenty of places on campus to charge your battery during breaks
i gotta macbook and i havnt had the same experience as randomuser. Im usually the one with internet while all them pc users play solitaire. But honestly, as good as OSX is, its starting to annoy me. Windows is basically compatible with everything. Im planning to boot up vista on my macbook with boot camp as soon as I can.
In the AQ there are outlets along the walls, the Images theatre has them along the back...can't really think where they would be in other lecture halls. Tutorial rooms would always be good.
In the smaller AQ lecture halls you can sit near the front and plug into the overhead projector's power bar or, like nicole mentioned, use the wall outlets on the sides. You could always buy a second battery if you need to sit through a 3 hour lecture, but most newer laptops can easily run for that long if you turn down the brightness.
As an experienced laptop user, I'll recommend you to fully charge your laptop before going to class and charge your laptop in between classes. While AQ lecture halls do have electrical outlets, they are few in number and are often located at the side or front of the lecture halls (on projectors). For three hour lectures, you better arrive early if you want an electrical outlet. However, if all the outlets are occupied, you can ask one of the students aleady there if you could share outlets with them. In my one lecture at WMX, the power outlets are located at the front of the room.
As for tutorial rooms, there are sufficient power outlet for at least 8 laptops. However, I advice against laptop for tutorial because I felt that TAs hate laptops during tutorials.
Yeah I would be doing a fresh charge for each day and conserving power, but wanted to double check juuuuust in case cuz I'm thinking of just getting a netbook, deciding between the Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee PC and MSI Wind.. all which come with either a 3-cell or 6-cell battery (which I'm definitely going for the 6-cell).. Sure as heck not getting a Macbook -- though I personally love OS X, I can't justify buying a Mac because I would rather save the money at this point in my life haha.
i'll be perfectly honest, in fourth year a lot of people realize they should ditch the laptops and just bring a pad and a pen
i honestly rarely bring my laptop to class anymore
if you want to get your laptop for personal reasons go for it, i honestly rarely use mine in school anymore, its just a burden to carry around...annoying when you have to go to the bathroom unless you trust someone in the class to watch it, etc etc etc
I've left my laptop unattended for like half an hour once in a lecture where i knew nobody. I'm not too worried.
Anyway, yeah, so far my laptop hasn't been overly beneficial to my school stuff. It comes in handy sometimes, but over all it's another distraction for me.
im in arts and i still dont find it all that useful
i bought my laptop thinking: i hate taking notes its so annoying, i can never read my own writing, and i can't write fast enough
then upon using my laptop i found i didnt bother using the notes i had written out anyway
what you should focus on is the underlying assumptions and implications of whats said in lecture as opposed to the tiny details, unless, the prof expects you to write it all down, in which case it can be helpful, but i find more classes are like the former
all in all i kinda wish i had just gotten a desktop, much longer lifespan
laptops can be helpful if youre stuck on campus a lot with a lot of time between your classes, but overall really for class its not that helpful
im in arts and i still dont find it all that useful
i bought my laptop thinking: i hate taking notes its so annoying, i can never read my own writing, and i can't write fast enough
then upon using my laptop i found i didnt bother using the notes i had written out anyway
what you should focus on is the underlying assumptions and implications of whats said in lecture as opposed to the tiny details, unless, the prof expects you to write it all down, in which case it can be helpful, but i find more classes are like the former
all in all i kinda wish i had just gotten a desktop, much longer lifespan
laptops can be helpful if youre stuck on campus a lot with a lot of time between your classes, but overall really for class its not that helpful
Exactly the reason I got mine, but instead of focusing, I kinda just gave up. Its pretty hard to fail at this point anyways
interesting that so many people can't make good use of their lappies. I've found it orders of magnitudes superior to pen+paper, which I did use in the first semester because the lappy wasn't released at the time.
there's numerous advantages: - much faster note taking, the average handwriting speed is about 30-40 wpm, so even if you only type 60wpm you'd still be 1.5 times faster. And you can actually understand your notes too! - infinite copies, so you don't have to rely on one tangible copy of your notes. spilled water? lost notes? no problem just print out another copy. - constant weight, you could carry 1 page or a million pages around with you, it won't get any heavier. Considering that you'd have to carry a shitload of stuff in addition to just a pen and some paper, the lappy wins in the weight department. (especially if you get an ultra light) - internet connection to do research, programs & applications to help you do stuff, etc.
Laptops are great if you can get pdf or ebook copies of the textbook. You can search the text for parts you're looking for. Any time I have to read a paper textbook, my fingers are always itching to press "control-f".
On the downside, they can be kind of distracting. I spent every lecture of PHIL 100 playing Tony Hawk 2. I beat the game 8 times.
there's numerous advantages: - much faster note taking, the average handwriting speed is about 30-40 wpm, so even if you only type 60wpm you'd still be 1.5 times faster. And you can actually understand your notes too! Thats definitely true, but as I mentioned, you don't need to type everything out, which you will learn after a while, its better to pay attention - infinite copies, so you don't have to rely on one tangible copy of your notes. spilled water? lost notes? no problem just print out another copy. true, but i cant remember a time i lost any of my notes - constant weight, you could carry 1 page or a million pages around with you, it won't get any heavier. Considering that you'd have to carry a shitload of stuff in addition to just a pen and some paper, the lappy wins in the weight department. (especially if you get an ultra light) when do you carry all your papers around with you? unless you got a real shitty schedule with 3 tutorials and 3 lectures in one day, i find it better to just bring what i need - internet connection to do research, programs & applications to help you do stuff, etc. i dont recall the last time it helped me in class to do research, only between classes, but since i create schedules that dont require me to spend copious amounts of time on campus im good
Bold responses ^ I think its a trade off in the end, it helps in someways and some ways it doesnt.
(1) Thats definitely true, but as I mentioned, you don't need to type everything out, which you will learn after a while, its better to pay attention
(2) true, but i cant remember a time i lost any of my notes
(4) i dont recall the last time it helped me in class to do research, only between classes, but since i create schedules that dont require me to spend copious amounts of time on campus im good
(1) mm maybe upper division courses are more comprehension, but quite a few lower level crim requirements are just regurgitation. It does vary between requirements.
(2) it works great for me because I could throw away notes after I use them and just make another copy the next time (a few months later) it's needed. Also I archive all my shit, so it's much better to use up a hundred megs than physical space.
i'm looking into one to use just between classes, where i do research , write papers, notes and all that jazz, but the mini notebooks like the asus eee are just a silly fashion for now.
Mmm for me, it's tempting because of the portability (9-10"), and the Atom's power for it's energy efficiency. I don't really care about the look.. find me an easily portable normal notebook for $400.. for portability issues, I'd go for nothing bigger than 13.3". I just want a cheap portable unit that'll get the job done fairly fast. I can do everything else on my PC.
Of course, I'm still contemplating the purchase of any type of notebook/netbook in the first place, so I'll figure that out first a couple weeks down the road haha. I like how my original question about the sockets led to an opinionated debate about the necessity for a laptop.. haha.
The Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee runs on Linux. If you're planning on doing anything else that's not otherwise included on the OS, it can be a huge pain in the ass.
Also, Royal Bank is giving those Eeeeeeees for free. You might want to check with them first.
EDIT: Also, like what Ether mentioned, eBooks. There are usually torrents out there (if you look hard enough) that can save you around $150. I found one for Math151-152, but I already bought my textbook.
There's an XP Home version as well. Even if I got the Linux one, I would just install XP on it, it's easy with a USB stick or external writer.
The Eee PC's given out by RBC are crap so I hear, I would definitely just go and buy a better model. But I'm leaning towards the Aspire One at this point -- it's cheaper.
I'm lucky in that most of my textbooks this term are SUPPOSED to be ebooks :), I still prefer hard copy though.. I'll see how I fare. Can you PM me the link to the Math 151/152 ebook torrent (Stewart's Single Variable Calculus, right)? I already bought mine used for $45 (mind you, stellar condition, and it's the newest edition.. great deal), but I'm a little curious as to what the ebook is like haha.
Comments
At Burnaby I imagine you won't have the same luck, at least not in lectures.
Yeah I'll be at the Burnaby campus haha.. say my battery dies and I really need to recharge it during a break for a class later, where could I go?
further, dont get a macbook if you plan on having reception during class, all i ever notice in my macbook is my wireless wont work while people on windows platforms have signals
theres plenty of places on campus to charge your battery during breaks
But honestly, as good as OSX is, its starting to annoy me. Windows is basically compatible with everything. Im planning to boot up vista on my macbook with boot camp as soon as I can.
Tutorial rooms would always be good.
You could always buy a second battery if you need to sit through a 3 hour lecture, but most newer laptops can easily run for that long if you turn down the brightness.
As for tutorial rooms, there are sufficient power outlet for at least 8 laptops. However, I advice against laptop for tutorial because I felt that TAs hate laptops during tutorials.
Yeah I would be doing a fresh charge for each day and conserving power, but wanted to double check juuuuust in case cuz I'm thinking of just getting a netbook, deciding between the Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee PC and MSI Wind.. all which come with either a 3-cell or 6-cell battery (which I'm definitely going for the 6-cell).. Sure as heck not getting a Macbook -- though I personally love OS X, I can't justify buying a Mac because I would rather save the money at this point in my life haha.
Tutorials are mostly just reviews and discussion.
i honestly rarely bring my laptop to class anymore
if you want to get your laptop for personal reasons go for it, i honestly rarely use mine in school anymore, its just a burden to carry around...annoying when you have to go to the bathroom unless you trust someone in the class to watch it, etc etc etc
Anyway, yeah, so far my laptop hasn't been overly beneficial to my school stuff.
It comes in handy sometimes, but over all it's another distraction for me.
i bought my laptop thinking: i hate taking notes its so annoying, i can never read my own writing, and i can't write fast enough
then upon using my laptop i found i didnt bother using the notes i had written out anyway
what you should focus on is the underlying assumptions and implications of whats said in lecture as opposed to the tiny details, unless, the prof expects you to write it all down, in which case it can be helpful, but i find more classes are like the former
all in all i kinda wish i had just gotten a desktop, much longer lifespan
laptops can be helpful if youre stuck on campus a lot with a lot of time between your classes, but overall really for class its not that helpful
there's numerous advantages:
- much faster note taking, the average handwriting speed is about 30-40 wpm, so even if you only type 60wpm you'd still be 1.5 times faster. And you can actually understand your notes too!
- infinite copies, so you don't have to rely on one tangible copy of your notes. spilled water? lost notes? no problem just print out another copy.
- constant weight, you could carry 1 page or a million pages around with you, it won't get any heavier. Considering that you'd have to carry a shitload of stuff in addition to just a pen and some paper, the lappy wins in the weight department. (especially if you get an ultra light)
- internet connection to do research, programs & applications to help you do stuff, etc.
On the downside, they can be kind of distracting. I spent every lecture of PHIL 100 playing Tony Hawk 2. I beat the game 8 times.
Sometimes, you just have to use a stylus to doodle stuff in faster than typing them.
(2) it works great for me because I could throw away notes after I use them and just make another copy the next time (a few months later) it's needed.
Also I archive all my shit, so it's much better to use up a hundred megs than physical space.
(4) mm true
i'm looking into one to use just between classes, where i do research , write papers, notes and all that jazz, but the mini notebooks like the asus eee are just a silly fashion for now.
Of course, I'm still contemplating the purchase of any type of notebook/netbook in the first place, so I'll figure that out first a couple weeks down the road haha. I like how my original question about the sockets led to an opinionated debate about the necessity for a laptop.. haha.
Also, Royal Bank is giving those Eeeeeeees for free. You might want to check with them first.
EDIT: Also, like what Ether mentioned, eBooks. There are usually torrents out there (if you look hard enough) that can save you around $150. I found one for Math151-152, but I already bought my textbook.
The Eee PC's given out by RBC are crap so I hear, I would definitely just go and buy a better model. But I'm leaning towards the Aspire One at this point -- it's cheaper.
I'm lucky in that most of my textbooks this term are SUPPOSED to be ebooks :), I still prefer hard copy though.. I'll see how I fare. Can you PM me the link to the Math 151/152 ebook torrent (Stewart's Single Variable Calculus, right)? I already bought mine used for $45 (mind you, stellar condition, and it's the newest edition.. great deal), but I'm a little curious as to what the ebook is like haha.
However, it is nice to have your own laptop between the classes.