Quote Originally Posted by Blueberry View Post
Except it isn't as comfortable for reading.

I've been following this discussion with interest as I just re-started school after a very long break/career and have been wrangling with this issue myself. Thus far, I'm making it by with my 5.5 year old large-ish laptop and a netbook on campus with me (including computer required chem labs).

I have paper textbooks for now, and am not sure they can be avoided.

One thing to watch out for is the e-books sold by school stores are "online access codes" to read the books on the internet in a web browser. I've found these formats - to be honest - terrible. The only reason I purchased one is that one of my professors requires it - she puts 4-5 "notes" per chapter and won't give them to students anywhere else. So - I read the paper book, take my notes, do my studying - and then go find the ebook notes. That's all I use it for. It's pretty miserable to try to read - I did try - since I have it and I would rather not carry that book.

With the exception of her, most professors don't care how you get your books as long as you have them. Most of the titles I have needed (including the one I had to purchase the online crap for) are available on Amazon as Kindle editions - which gets you to ipad. When the full sized ipads with the new connectors come out, I'm going to take a close look (and take a close look at what is required for my classes). I really do think that must students are still lugging dead trees, though.
Ditto, also back in school and finding that really, I want the textbook over the digital version. My major is Information Science and Computer Science so... lots of diagrams and sidebar stuff... just not good on an e-reader (I see my fellow students' frustration.) I have a laptop and can get a lot of versions on Scrib'd, but still rely mainly on paper textbooks. There's something about being able to flip from the index to the page you want that is really helpful in a textbook, too... I even took Statistics online and relied heavily on my hardcover book and calculator, even though my pc laptop has a statistics calculator.

Also, one of my professors had an open book / open note exam, but NO computers/readers allowed.

I love my laptop. It's helpful for writing papers (a real keyboard) and lightweight enough to carry in my bag.