I’m a fresher joining IITM – Should I bring a laptop?

This blog post might have some use for freshers who have the aforementioned question in mind – to bring or not to bring a laptop in the first semester. This was a reply that I sent to a student’s parent, and thought it might be useful to others. This post will expose the pros and cons of having a laptop, but will leave the ultimate decision to you. As a side note, in my case, I took my desktop in the first semester because I was (and still am trying not to be) a computer “addict” (thankfully, in a better sense than a game addict). This post might have a bias towards physics department students once in a way. So here goes.

Pros of bringing a laptop / buying a desktop:

• All students will do a course on Computational Methods in their first or second semester. The Engineering Physics students will probably do it in the second semester, whereas the dual degree MS in Physics students will do this in the first semester. A laptop is useful for this, as you might have assignments where you will need to write and submit a program.
• Although there are places to access a shared computer (which I will outline later), you will not enjoy the comfort of your room while studying / working. So it’s a good idea to have a computer in your room.
• Much of the teaching in the first few semesters is done via computer-based presentations (commonly dubbed “power-point”) rather than on blackboard, so a personal laptop / desktop computer will be useful to study for the examinations.
• From the second semester onwards, internet / intranet connectivity will be provided in hostel rooms for restricted timings. Thus, personal laptops / computers will be useful from the second semester onwards, since it will make it easy to communicate or get information.

Disadvantages of bringing a laptop / buying a desktop in the first year:

• The internet facility is not provided during the first semester in the hostels
• There are some very good common computer facilities, particularly if you are a Physics student. The Physics dept. computing facility is a really well-maintained facility that is almost always accessible. A list of other common places to access a computer figures at the end.
• Most students bring a desktop / laptop only in their second year. Thus, any laptop / desktop available in the wing will be in high-demand by your wingmates! Sometimes, this can get irritating – but it isn’t a serious problem if you don’t mind helping your wing-mates. I remember that although I used to try to be liberal with my desktop, it sometimes used to get me frustrated when I find it booted back into Winblows from Linux. I remember that I formatted the Winblows disk some day suddenly in frustration.
• It’s a good thing to avoid internet / game addiction and explore exciting hobbies that you can pursue in the institute in the first year. Internet can be addictive if you are seeing it for the first time at IITM. If you’ve already been a heavy internet user – then this point doesn’t concern you, as you’ve probably outgrown the initial hype now.

Places where you can access a computer:

• The Hostel Computer Room: This is a common computer room in the hostels. Usually, it is badly maintained – but then, there’s an administrator whom you can “pain” and get stuff working if it isn’t. This is the nearest computer-place near your room. However, by Murphy’s Law, all the computers here are occupied when you most need them – so it is better to know other alternatives!
• A Senior’s Room: Most seniors understand how important internet / a computer is for your survival (at least I do!) and will let you use their computer after you are subject to some basic “interaction”. I remember that a very friendly 4th year made a very open offer for us to use his computer whenever we wanted, and we actually used it for preparing some presentation.
• The Department Computing Facility: This is a facility that exists (well, rather is supposed to exist) in every department. Although I do not know, I’ve heard cribs that these aren’t well maintained in most of the departments. However, the Physics and Computer Science departments have very well maintained DCFs that are open for most of the time when one is awake. The administrators are very approachable too. This will be about 8 ~ 10 minutes on cycle from your hostel
• The Digital Knowledge Center: This is a place in the library which is typically crowded and has no place left for you to access a computer . It has mostly Winblows machines, which is why I’ve never been there after my first semester. If you do have a laptop, you have WiFi connectivity in the library, and the DKC has reasonable signal strengths as well. There are some Linux machines, but they are probably servers. The DKC will also be about 8 ~ 10 minutes on cycle from your hostel.

And a final point: Don’t get too worried. Things will be fine.