That’d be about the maximum size to get if he plans to carry it to class quite a bit. Something more in the 14" and smaller range would probably be better since they’re lighter and less bulky. </p>
<p>My kids never took their laptops to class to take notes - it’s easier to take notes on paper - especially for science, math, and computer science courses where diagrams, equations, etc. are written down a lot. Besides that, most laptops, especially their 15.6" laptops, were too heavy to cart all over campus all day. They’d sometimes take them to computer science labs but that’s about it.</p>
<p>When they purchased replacement laptops for themselves they both got smaller laptops.</p>
<p>
Apparently this is what a lot of kids do who take their laptops to class - FB, email, internet, IM, solitaire, etc.</p>
<p>I would suggest a maximum of 13 to 14 inches (especially if your S has lecture classes with the teeny- tiny pull out desks). It’s certainly possible to get larger laptops on the “pull out” desks, but space can get a bit cramped in a crowded lecture hall.</p>
<p>(I would also suggest getting a laptop with long battery life.)</p>
<p>I had a 15 inch was perfectly happy with it for daily notetaking in each class. Something smaller might be nice if you are using it SOLELY for notetaking, but I didn’t go to college with two computers and it would have gotten old very quickly typing papers on a computer any smaller than that. If I’d had the money I might have had a 15"+ for my dorm and a netbook for class, but that seemed excessive and carrying the 15" was no problem. It was usually the only thing in my backpack, maybe with one book-- not very heavy at all, high school was much worse. Using anything but a netbook on the tiny flip-out desks is scary and I just let my laptop sit on my lap anyway, no problem.</p>
<p>Personally, I prefer pencil and paper. Always have. I usually only use my computer to type up papers or look for assignments, as well as communication (email, skype, facebook, etc).</p>
<p>I’ve never seen a laptop in a math class, very few in science lectures, but they’re pretty usual in humanities classes. I was asked several times in my English seminar last semester to make sure to bring my laptop on certain days. I think it depends on the person, the class, and the professor.</p>
<p>I am in my forties and used p&p for all three degrees I obtained in the eighties. Now I am a teacher and as such, go to week or month long seminars, and I can’t imagine using p&p anymore. I have a HP tablet/laptop and use MS One Note for taking notes. I LOVE this program because I can organize everything into different binders with dividers (example: I have several work related binders – one for each subject I teach/have taught, one for professional development, one for faculty meetings, etc.). The great thing about OneNote is that you can share your binders with others (students, colleagues, etc.) if you so choose. You can make it available to only certain people whom you designate, or you can make it available to the public. You can include photos, video, files – whatever. Also, I can set it up to look like notebook paper and either type or use my stylus in tablet mode (useful for drawing diagrams and math problems). It’s a great program that comes with MS Office, and unfortunately, a lot of people know nothing about it and how much it can do. For the obsessively organized person such as myself, it’s a lifesaver! When I attempt to sell my D (a college sophomore) on the idea, though, she rolls her eyes and explains she’ll stick with her spirals. To each his own!</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t. I can touch-type far faster than I can handwrite. As a recovering journalist, years of furious full interview note-scribbling has reduced my handwriting to a barely-legible scrawl anyway. It is 100 times easier for me to take notes on a laptop.</p>
<p>I use a 15" unibody MacBook Pro (I have no problem toting it around campus) and an app called Circus Ponies NoteBook, though when I go back to grad school this fall, I’m going to look at Evernote.</p>
<p>My kids both had laptops on the large end because of gaming. Older son also had a bigger battery pack. He took it everywhere and used it in class (comp sci major). Younger son asked us to get him a notebook because he didn’t want to take his good computer to Jordan this summer and he thought it would be nicer to carry around for notetaking next year instead of the lap top. </p>
<p>When I take continuing ed classes they always give us a print out of the power point so I now tend to take minimal notes on them. You can definitely do lecture notes on a lap top - I take minutes for the neighborhood association meetings that way and it’s so nice to have legible notes.</p>
<p>Both of my kids usually did pencil and paper, sometimes retyping to reorganize (and make readable) their notes. They always studied from paper notes, tho I think… D2 reports that if you sit in the back of one of the larger lecture classes, it was amazing how many people were tending to their farms in Farmville during the lectures.</p>
To each his own!</p>