theiblife Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 I'm taking IB this year in September (2018 cohort) and I just wanted to know what I might need. I do have a heavy course load because of my subject choices and I realize that my current organization system (binders for each class, kept in locker at school) doesn't work very well. I'd like to keep most of my notes online. HL English HL Psychology HL Biology HL Chemistry SL Math SL French I was thinking of buying a laptop for school—are they really necessary? I will have a free study block period at school so I could get homework completed then if I brought a laptop. I'm looking at different models for Chromebooks at the moment and I like them because they are less expensive and light weight. Also, I don't use any other apps other than Google Chrome so I think paying $300-$400 for a chromebook is better than paying a lot for a Mac or a PC. Has anyone used/owned a chromebook? Is it student friendly? I am not sure about the wifi at school—it is sometimes a little slow. I hope that won't affect the performance of the laptop though. Can I take notes on an app like Word Online offline? It doesn't have to sync to cloud or drive, I just need it to work. So, main question is, is chromebook worth it for IB? And how much does the lack of internet connectivity limit the effectiveness? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 Hi ! I'm an IB 1 student at the moment. I'm using a Macbook Air for my notes and I'm very happy with it. I would advise to first check with your DP coordinator if their is any possibilities the school provides you a tablet or a laptop. Our school lend us all a Samsung tablet. As for the chrome book, they seem like a good option, however, they are very limited in term of power. You may want to stick with the program Google is offering including Docs, Drive & Slide. They are very good program and all sync together making valuable and free program for students. Hope this help Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yugalarex Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 Hey, I'm 4 days away from my first exam so please do forgive me if this reply doesn't make any sense whatsoever. After having gone through pretty much two years of the DP I can say that unless you're very keen on writing, get a laptop. With Biology, there is a lot of content you need to remember so it would help to write your notes on a computer. Same with Psychology, although if you're organized then it's pretty easy to finish your notes within a month, depending on how you do them. Personally (without having one myself), I'd get a Microsoft Surface. It can double up as both a laptop and a tablet and is also designed to run word. If you subscribe to OneDrive then it'll be very easy to access your notes from everywhere. For example, if you have public libraries near your house that you like to work at and you don't want to bring your tablet to save weight, you can access all your documents online; you can also edit documents online but the browser version of Microsoft office has limited features - it's fine for just word processing though. Personally, I wouldn't spring for a Chromebook because I'm not too fond of Chrome. I have a Macbook Pro Retina Display but I only use chrome when I need to access my school's system because it's largely integrated with Google, probably as part of some educational package. Final point: a laptop isn't necessary but it's extremely useful in writing notes and just storing things in general. You'll find a lot of notes online that you can just download and go. Also, with past papers, if you don't want to print them then it'll be useful having a tablet or small laptop to look at questions on. Yuga 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axorea Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 For me personally, I would not use a Chromebook primarily because it is way too same. Being in IB, you would be required to do a LOT of typing. Therefore, having a good sized keyboard is essential. Also, being in IB Biology, I am required to do a lot of online labs. These labs all require Adobe... something Chromebooks do not have. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis981 Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I bought a Chromebook in my sophomore year for IB, and it works great. What is nice is it's integration with the web, so you can really procrastinate if you have an android phone. I do everything on my Chromebook, I think it would be a great investment. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
theiblife Posted May 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 Thanks everyone for your replies. Yesterday I went to the mall and I ended up buying a Macbook Air 11. It's quite small but it seems like a good investment for the next couple of years. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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