Laptop or no laptop ?

mrivc211

mrivc211

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, I'm off to training in two weeks and am deciding whether I should purchase a laptop. Here are the reasons:
#1 Take better notes in training.
#2 Use it to watch DVD's on long layovers
#3 Connect to internet on long layovers

Does anyone think a laptop is a definite must for being on the line?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Here are the reasons:

[/ QUOTE ]
You forgot reason number 4........

Update your fellow JC'ers on how the training process is going.
grin.gif


Hope it goes well. And I'm sure it will.
 
You wont use it in the actually class room in training, if you do youd probably be a distraction. However it is nice to have once you get back to the room to perhaps organize your things, scan the internet for notes or help sites, and to utilize any cd/dvds they may hand out. (We got Radar and FMS CDs). Youll like it when you go to a crashpad with nothing else or stuck on a 22 hour layover. Go for it and get one, but make sure its a light weight one, youll thank yourself for the extra $$ you spend. I have one but dont take it with me since I mostly do 1 and 2 day trips and its an extra hassle in security.
 
I gotta question.......how do you guys connect to the internet either from the airport or from your hotel room? Is there a charge from either of these places and are their ethernet connections available?

[ QUOTE ]

what kind of training are you going for?????



[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to SLC for FO training on the EMB 120 for Skywest Airlines.
 
Normally at airport where you have long sits youll have a crew room with company computers, and hopefully you wont be sitting so long where youll get to terribly board.

As for overnites, most of the time when airlines negotiate with hotels for their service contract they include free local calls. So you can always dialup to a local number for free. Some will have free highspeed internet with a plug in the wall and this is just awesome! So make sure you carry an ethernet chord in your bag so you can take advantage of these, so much faster then dialup.
 
I know doug and I depend 100% on our portable laptops.. it keeps him in touch with everything/everyone.. allows him to do email, play a game or watch a movie while in flight (during a commute) etc... it's a completely invaluable tool and I think you'd really benefit from having one here on out....it would at least help you keep sane on all the commuting time and/or hotel time when you start doing trip after trip!
 
You won't need it during class. I'd wait till you get your feet wet on the line and see if you still feel you need it. It is just one more thing to haul around on a trip so consider it wisely, space and weight are a premium. Good luck.
 
[ QUOTE ]
it's a completely invaluable tool and I think you'd really benefit from having one here on out....it would at least help you keep sane on all the commuting time and/or hotel time when you start doing trip after trip

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats like 50% of the reason why I want to get one! Watching DVD's or playing games during deadheads and stuff will keep me sane!
 
I tride to use my laptop during class in Mesa newhire - Bruce Parker told me to "shut that thing off Tenney!"
 
I agree with the reply above that the Laptop will be a distraction during training. However, when you are on the road, it will be invaluable.

Many hotels have WiFi. Any new laptop should come standard with this. If not, get a card. This will allow you to sit in the lobby, or pretty much any other location within range and surf (keeps you from becoming too much of a hermit
banghead.gif
). If WiFi is not available in the hotel, high speed through a network card most likely will be. I have also noticed that some FBO's (Signature @ Dulles) have WiFi.

I pay my bills online, check my bank accounts, hotel points, fuel points, etc. while on the road.

One other note, many hotels will provide you with hardware for WiFi if your computer is not so equiped. Sometimes free, occasionally not.

Yesterday I saw an ad for a Dell laptop for under $1000.
 
I voted yes. I think they'll give you a CD with all the systems powerpoint presentations. Plus you won't be dependednt on the few public PCs around for your random internet surfing. Check the company e-mall on skywestonline, I think we get some good discounts with Dell.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I tride to use my laptop during class in Mesa newhire - Bruce Parker told me to "shut that thing off Tenney!"

[/ QUOTE ]yup, I agree, I wouldn't recommend it - during - training (ie: in class)... your head will be filled with so much info that a laptop just won't help in that sense...

I've tried that in college courses and the tapping of the keys is usually distracting enough to lose track of what your supposed to be absorbing... if anything, try learning some shorthand or key abbreviations so that your note taking (written) will be more efficient...

laptops are only good for entertainment purposes or in helping you get stuff done while on the road...
 
Heh, funny timing. I'm checking email and message boards on my laptop with a wireless connection right now at a Starbuck's in Marco, FL while on the road. I'd shrivel up and die without my laptop!

Make sure you have Wi-Fi and ethernet capability - there's more and more places that have either/or capability. I (and whoever my crewmember is) try to choose hotels that have wireless or ethernet so we can use our laptops without the crappy dial-up hassles. It's becoming quite common. Lots of big chain FBOs have either/or now, and other places (Starbucks, Panera bread, various other coffee shops, etc. etc.) have it.
 
[ QUOTE ]

#1 Take better notes in training.
#2 Use it to watch DVD's on long layovers
#3 Connect to internet on long layovers

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not a MUST, but it can be handy at times.
#1. Nope. Write your notes/info down. Doing that is also a good learning aid.
#2 Sure, if you end up with any. The short ones it's just a hastle (see #3)
#3. I had planned on bringing mine everywhere and am on the computer constantly. I get seperation anxiety of I can't access my Email.
Smilecrunch.gif
However many crew hotels have free internet access to check your mail and surf the net on layovers. Because of that I think I have brought my computer with me on maybe 2 overnights in the past 2 months. It's simply too much of a hastle to carry and take through security! The TSA will drive you crazy and the rest of the crew will be to the gate by the time the check your computer and you repack it. When I do bring it, local dial up access is what I use and that's OK. Don't have WiFi.
 
I would take a laptop to training. It's a great way to organize notes (that you took in class by hand), and typing them eliminates the decifering of class notes that you may not quite be able to read a few months down the road. (Okay, maybe that's just for me because my handwriting really sucks.)

As far as taking it with on trips, I would have gone batty without my laptop while I was commuting to NY. I had a zippered compartment on my kit bag that was my 'laptop stowage area'. All I had to do to unpack my laptop was open a zipper and pull the computer out. Very quick, very easy. Just as easy to repack it once getting through security. My advice is to try it for a few trips, if it's too much of a hassle and you don't use it that often, don't carry it anymore!
 
Get the laptop, especially if you commute or have long layovers in non-descript cities.
 
Wow, I'm glad I logged on today...I was about to ask the same question. I'm leaving for American Eagle's training in two weeks, and I wasn't sure if the investment is worth it. If Doug says it's good deal... who am I to say it's not...
I'll be searching for a good one starting monday.
Peace !
 
I don't know how you guys can take decent notes on a Laptop? My notes look like a pirates treasure map, I have notebooks full of high-lighted areas, lines, arrows, diagrams, pictures, and shorthand going every which way.

Putting my notes in a regular typed format would be pretty useless to me, and I don't think I would even get anything out of it... Maybe i'm just crazy
insane.gif
 
For me it wasn't having the notes typed and organized, as it was the learning & absorbtion factor of reading and re-reading those notes during the process of typing.

I saved the file of my notes on computer, but also kept the handwritten chicken-scratch copies too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top