Tech for School

[cmoney]

Hi everyone - just wanted to get peoples opinions 

I have a MacBook that I was planning to use for next year - some people I know have supplemented with an IPAD, a few also have a desktop - just wondering what people think about just having the laptop vs having some supplemental stuff (I am not really an IPAD person but wouldn't be opposed to a desktop) Just wondering if it would be necessary? 

 

Thanks 🙂 

Edited March 29, 2022 by cmoney

[Pastrey]

I had planned to just use a laptop, but am also curious what other tech devices people use.

[Rashabon]

I went to school a decade ago and got by just fine with just a macbook for all three years. I didn't even have a monitor at home though that would have been helpful in retrospect.

Comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. You need a device you're comfortable taking notes on if you don't want to handwrite, and a device to write your exams on, if you don't want to handwrite. You'll also need a device capable of running Zoom and similar software (obviously a smartphone can handle this). Everything after that is up to personal preference.

[undertheletter]

You don't really need anything special. I have a MacBook for general computing. It would probably be a good thing that your laptop is reliable and has a decent battery for when you write exams. I found that having a second monitor at home can help when you're doing research or making summaries since you can have multiple full-size windows open at once.

I bought an iPad before 1L iPad thinking I would use it for note-taking, but I really don't. It is good for annotating long cases but that depends on whether you have a prof that gives you cases in PDF formats as opposed to a paper text.  

If you 'aren't an iPad person' you probably won't become one. Depends on your preferences.

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by undertheletter

[lawfacade123]

Macbook is fine. I highly, highly recommend a second screen you can connect it to at home though. You're going to have lots of situations where it's really nice to have 2/3 documents up at the same time w/out squinting to see the text or flipping constantly between them. Also for online class having the zoom on one screen and notes on the other is a game changer. 

[gglaw]

Finishing up my undergrad and have a MacBook Air and a monitor to connect it to , which has been a lifesaver. monitor was probably $200. I have an iPad which I use for readings as I find it more comfortable to do PDF readings on it vs on a computer but all depends on preference. I havent really explored it enough to find it useful for taking notes but that could also be because my program rn doesnt require it so hopefully I can get more use out of it in law school 🙂

[ChequePlz]

Hey! This is my personal portable setup for my undergraduate degree right now. You want tech for school? The key is being comfortable all day. I have a dual monitor attachment for my laptop when I am at home, but this setup is super ergonomic and portable. Nexstand K2 stand for 30 bucks on amazon, Keyboardio Atreus keyboard (you don't need this keyboard, but any bluetooth board is a good idea), Razer mouse and a 2016 MacBook Air. This is what is I call my "portable terminal"; everyone laughs when they see this setup, trust me. But when your neck, back, hands, arms and body overall doesn't hurt at the end of a day/semester/year/degree, you'll be the last person laughing. Ergonomics are key for success!

 

I know that this was a questions about tech for school, but I'm taking it a step further and offering my own setup that's holistic, and its super portable. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by ChequePlz

[cmoney]

29 minutes ago, ChequePlz said:

Hey! This is my personal portable setup for my undergraduate degree right now. You want tech for school? The key is being comfortable all day. I have a dual monitor attachment for my laptop when I am at home, but this setup is super ergonomic and portable. Nexstand K2 stand for 30 bucks on amazon, Keyboardio Atreus keyboard (you don't need this keyboard, but any bluetooth board is a good idea), Razer mouse and a 2016 MacBook Air. This is what is I call my "portable terminal"; everyone laughs when they see this setup, trust me. But when your neck, back, hands, arms and body overall doesn't hurt at the end of a day/semester/year/degree, you'll be the last person laughing. Ergonomics are key for success!

 

I know that this was a questions about tech for school, but I'm taking it a step further and offering my own setup that's holistic, and its super portable. 

LOL NO I love and appreciate this and all of these comments - just trying to set myself up in the best way possible for the hours we are going to put in 

PS I love your bottle where is that from? 

[jimmyjimjim]

Hi, I'm currently in undergrad but this is what I use/do:

I am not a Mac person, but I purchased the Asus Zenbook S UX 393. It has all of the ports that I need to do presentations (1 HDMI, 2 USB-C) and more than enough storage. The specifications, briefly, are: core i7, 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB of SSD, 13.9" display, 1 USB-B, and 1 microSD card slot. I find the microSD card slot beneficial because I take photos for my clubs, edit and post them on our social media pages. Since I'm in philosophy and environment, the 16 GB of RAM is a life saver as I have multiple tabs open whenever I'm writing a research paper. Also, the trackpad turns into a numeric pad, which is awesome since I use Excel quite often for organization, work, and budgeting.

Prior to the Asus Zenbook S, I used the Surface Book 2 as it acts as a laptop and a tablet. I do have two 27" Lenovo monitors, but I'm saving up to replace it with the LG 34" ultrawide monitor. I'm thinking of purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S8 Ultra, which is a 14" tablet considering that I do write a lot of my notes by hand post-lectures as part of my review process. Another thing is that since my textbooks are mostly online (Vital Source, ebooks, PDFs, etc), I think a tablet would be super useful in that sense. On a similar note, a lot of my friends purchased an iPad and uses it as a secondary, portable monitor for their Macbook. They find it useful for research, watching lectures while taking notes, and reviewing for exams. 

I have a similar portable setup as ChequePlz. I use a portable laptop stand, Logitech M720 mouse, Logitech MX Keys Mini (for public uses) and the full keyboard at home. What I like about the two keyboards is that they're backlit, which helps because I often study with the lights dimmed. 

Other gadgets/tech that I recommend is a portable laptop charger. Most of my lecture halls are outdated and don't have an outlet at the desk. So, whenever I forget to charge my laptop or bring a charger, I would use the portable charger for the last bit of class. This has saved me on several occasions during evening lectures. Another gadget that I strongly recommend is a USB-C magnetic adaptor. Similar to magsafe, the adaptor attaches to the charger. If someone were to trip on the cord (which happened three times), the magnet USB-C disconnects. The 13$ investment saved me thousands of dollars and I swear by this bad boy. I don't have noise cancelling headphones/earbuds because I have a huge fear of not hearing the fire alarm, evacuation, or lockdown announcements. Aside from that irrational fear, I also need noise to study.

Edited March 29, 2022 by jimmyjimjim
I changed "adapter" to "adaptor"

[easttowest]

I used a $180 chrome book throughout and borrowed Windows laptops from the school’s library to run examsoft at exam time. Your MacBook is definitely fine.

Edited March 30, 2022 by easttowest

[allrise1]

18 hours ago, cmoney said:

LOL NO I love and appreciate this and all of these comments - just trying to set myself up in the best way possible for the hours we are going to put in 

PS I love your bottle where is that from? 

That bottle better be a Costco hydroflask

Edited March 30, 2022 by allrise1

[ChequePlz]

14 hours ago, allrise1 said:

That bottle better be a Costco hydroflask

It is!!!