[itsmi]

Hi!

Is it necessary/helpful to own a Laptop/Notebook at the Imperial College? Does the majority use one (and take it with them to the lectures) or is it just a feature no one/only a few people is/are using? I'm talking about Mechanical Engineering in general.

Thanks a lot!!

[Zottula]

It is very helpful to have a laptop. The majority of people I know have one. I have noticed many people in lectures with laptops but not everyone takes them to lectures. The library does have an IT suite, but it can get very busy and so difficult to find a free computer. I'm afraid I don't know what it is like in Mechanical Engineering. If you can afford one then a laptop is useful.

[Creative]

Don't need a laptop in lectures really....rarely saw this in my 4 years (people using a laptop for the purposes of the lecture and not for procrastinating that is ), can't imagine why it'd be any different in Mech Eng. Otherwise, there are plenty of com labs, but they can get very busy during deadline periods and finding a free computer can be a total crapshoot. I do find that most computers at IC are a little behind today's tech.. (4 minutes from the login screen to actually being able to click stuff on the desktop being the worst in Chem Eng ). For these reasons, and the obvious portability etc etc. almost everyone here has their own laptop. So yeah, you should get one!

[AnythingButChardonnay]

In chemistry we take the piss out of people who bring in laptops.

[Deduhej]

(Original post by AnythingButChardonnay)
In chemistry we take the piss out of people who bring in laptops.

Not for I see any reason to bring a laptop to lectures but I'm just curious, why? :P

[AnythingButChardonnay]

(Original post by Deduhej)
Not for I see any reason to bring a laptop to lectures but I'm just curious, why? :P

Precisely because you can do chemistry less efficiently on a laptop than you can with a pen and paper. Drawing a molcule takes at least 10 times longer with ChemDraw on a laptop. We're given lecture handouts anyway. (Although there's talk of giving us all iPads instead, but hopefully that'll never happen)

There's one person who brings in a Financial Times every day too...