ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => General University Discussion and Queries => Topic started by: Orson on November 24, 2015, 02:12:36 pm
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I'm most likely going to do BEng & BComm at Monash next year. I was wonderimg if we need laptops. I'd rather build my own PC, and that won't be portable. Would it ne good to have one? I nearly always do my notes and stuff on paper, I would probably type reports though.
Thanks..!
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I personally don't think I could get through university without a laptop. I'm the type of person who downloads the lecture slides (if the lecturer has made them available prior) and then types up some of what the lecturer says in the same document, so I end up with a thorough batch of notes. Without having a laptop, it wouldn't be possible for me to do this, unless I watched the lecture online (which I never end up doing).
You also might want to consider if you had to do group work in a tutorial; not having a laptop can be difficult in that case, especially if you need to submit an assignment that same day, which does happen in some units!
Ultimately, it depends on how you personally learn. My brother went all out by building a custom-PC and buying a Mac, but unless you're rolling in money, it's a pretty extreme solution.
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I started uni with a laptop - a small lightweight one is beneficial (it's difficult to carry around a big bulky laptop that weighs quite a bit). Especially when there are significant queues for publically available PC's at uni. It really depends on how much you require the use of a computer.
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I didn't have a laptop when i started and found it really difficult. (also cause at melb computers are hard to come by)
I started handwriting notes but it got messy especially if I missed something, and I always felt a little bit disorganised.
Getting a laptop meant that I always had everything I needed in one place but not everyone has one and you could also try without for a few weeks
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Get a laptop. Make sure it's light, portable, and can run all the programs that it needs to (given B.Eng is on the cards).
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I'm most likely going to do BEng & BComm at Monash next year. I was wonderimg if we need laptops. I'd rather build my own PC, and that won't be portable. Would it ne good to have one? I nearly always do my notes and stuff on paper, I would probably type reports though.
Thanks..!
I just finished first year Com/Eng at Monash.
You're going to have to do ENG1060 Computing for Engineers and ENG1003 Engineering Mobile Apps which are coding units. You'll need MATLAB and Brackets for those. I can't imagine doing it solely in computer labs or at home - having the programs on a laptop is extremely useful.
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I just finished first year Com/Eng at Monash.
You're going to have to do ENG1060 Computing for Engineers and ENG1003 Engineering Mobile Apps which are coding units. You'll need MATLAB and Brackets for those. I can't imagine doing it solely in computer labs or at home - having the programs on a laptop is extremely useful.
What laptop do you use yourself, if you don't mind?
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What laptop do you use yourself, if you don't mind?
I'm using a Asus Zenbook UX303LA. I actually had a Lenovo Yoga 14" (1470) but the touch screen started glitching out so I swapped it for the Asus. Much better laptop overall (although a little more expensive).
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is a laptop recommended for commerce?
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is a laptop recommended for commerce?
I think most students from any degree find a laptop helpful :)
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I think most students from any degree find a laptop helpful :)
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Are tablets/Surface's okay or are they unrecommended?
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Are tablets/Surface's okay or are they unrecommended?
I have a surface - if you don't type that much, they are okay. However if you type ALOT (e.g. essay writing, programming), then I personally don't recommend a tablet or surface. You are better off getting a lightweight laptop (one of the small ones).
Since my area is IT, programming is difficult on the surface attachable keyboards, so essay writing would be similar I would assume. Just my personal opinion anyway.
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Are tablets/Surface's okay or are they unrecommended?
I have a few friends who use surfaces and they cannot live without them.
I also have a cheap tablet which works quite well (granted, really only as a tool for lecture notes).
Depending on your course, though, you might need something with a bit more power. I originally bought a Chromebook because cheap and lightweight, but recently discovered I need a bit more horsepower (and Windows) for my intended career path (/honours work). So, make sure to do some research there.
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definitely worth getting one can't beat a laptop for browsing dank memes
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I tried a lot of options over several years, but the best by far has been a macbook pro with windows in a virtual machine (not boot camp). The build quality/battery life/screen etc. on the macbook has been easily the best and you can start windows up within 10 seconds and then alt/command tab between the two
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I lasted a whole semester w/o a laptop so I guess it depends on how you study. I'm a print-lectures-and-annotate-them kinda guy so whether I had a laptop or not didn't make a major difference to me