<p>use pencil/paper during lecture and usually also for homeworks.</p>
<p>use mathematica or latex for writing lab reports or such things which need nicely written down equations.</p>
<p>for humanities or such classes where you need to take down written paragraphs etc., use a laptop if you type faster than you write. then you will have searchable notes and you won’t get tired writing so much.</p>
<p>if you are good at mathematica shortcuts, you can probably use that to take notes during class, but there really is no need for that. and there is absolutely no reason to use latex during lecture. but if you have a tablet pc, then sure use it instead. then you get searchable notes and you also save some trees.</p>