Mac Users: What Do You Use to Take Notes and Write Outlines? Forum

[The Stig]

At the time, I had 2GB of RAM (2.4ghz, pre-unibody) and was at one of my previous jobs, with probably too many applications running at the same time. I can't remember what exact program I was using on the windows side, but I think it might have been more resource intensive? I'm sure that if I were just using OneNote it would be fine... (esp. now with 4gb)...

Also, Keynote makes powerpoints look like 5th grade presentations

leaning towards mac for LS, but i definitely want to use onenote

I am significantly biased (I may have worked for one of the companies we are talking about), but it essentially comes down to the fact that you can run anything on a Mac (with Bootcamp/Parallels/etc.), their customer service is unmatched by PCs (imagine having to send your HP/Dell/etc. away to be fixed for 2 weeks during a semester? that's crazy), and what I would say what might be the most influential thing-everyone I know with an Apple in UG loves it, and a lot of people who got a PC instead wish they would have gotten a Mac.

Though that last part is from UG and not law school, I imagine it might be similar-any real law students have thoughts on this?

[Judge Philip Banks]

At the time, I had 2GB of RAM (2.4ghz, pre-unibody) and was at one of my previous jobs, with probably too many applications running at the same time. I can't remember what exact program I was using on the windows side, but I think it might have been more resource intensive? I'm sure that if I were just using OneNote it would be fine... (esp. now with 4gb)...

Also, Keynote makes powerpoints look like 5th grade presentations

leaning towards mac for LS, but i definitely want to use onenote

I feel the same way... I have Mac, but I have Office 2008, and can't use OneNote unless I get bootcamp or something similar... I want to find a good alternative. But I'm thinking I might just end up using MS Word for Mac, and NOT notebook mode for Word, unless someone can give a compelling reason to use notebook mode, or even getting bootcamp to use OneNote...

[JazzOne]

Comes with iWork
30 day demo comes on a mac, so I don't know why someone mentioned it like it was free.
It is definitely more of a dumbed-down graphic design software more than it is a note-taking/streamlined word processing software.
http://www.apple.com/iwork/download-trial/

I said that Pages was given to me for free. I suppose I should have used the word "gift" instead, but I never implied that it comes pre-installed on a Mac. And I have no idea what you're talking about regarding graphic design software. It's a word processor with all the functionality of Word.

[dudders]

I take class/reading notes in Evernote. I usually end up outlining in Word (altho I'm still hanging on to the 2004 edition of Word for Mac - i had installation codes left from undergrad, and it doesn't have nearly as many issues as some of the more recent incarnations)

[keg411]

At the time, I had 2GB of RAM (2.4ghz, pre-unibody) and was at one of my previous jobs, with probably too many applications running at the same time. I can't remember what exact program I was using on the windows side, but I think it might have been more resource intensive? I'm sure that if I were just using OneNote it would be fine... (esp. now with 4gb)...

Also, Keynote makes powerpoints look like 5th grade presentations

leaning towards mac for LS, but i definitely want to use onenote

I feel the same way... I have Mac, but I have Office 2008, and can't use OneNote unless I get bootcamp or something similar... I want to find a good alternative. But I'm thinking I might just end up using MS Word for Mac, and NOT notebook mode for Word, unless someone can give a compelling reason to use notebook mode, or even getting bootcamp to use OneNote...

Notebook is nice because you can tab in it and have several documents in one. It also gives you automatic bullet points (it just makes in-class and homework reading note-taking way easier; for me at least). I don't know about One Note (I don't want to run windows on my Mac), but a lot of people absolutely swear by it.

[RUQRU]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

[blerg]

I use Evernote. It's free and syncs with the web so there's no fear of loss.

[JazzOne]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

[thickfreakness]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

Yes, laptops are banned in all 4 classes this semester, were banned in 2 of 4 last semester. I take notes in-class by hand, then synthesize into outlines later.

[vamedic03]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

Not really a fan of that. Unlike a court room, I pay 40k+/year to sit in a classroom. I have issues with profs who make no effort to treat their students like adults.

[findlayswimmer28]

I take notes by hand, but when I make my outlines, I use Pages. I have both Pages and Word on my Mac. Word is great for law review writing. But I like the outlining features better on Pages.

[NYC_7911]

For those who use windows on their mac, is it worth it to go with parallels/VMware over boot camp? I imagine I'd like being able to have both OSs running at once, provided it didn't slow things down too much. Also, given normal use (onenote, word processing, web), is it reasonable to think I'll be fine with a mac book and not spend the extra money on a pro? Thanks!

Edit: n/m on the macbook pro question...looks like there are plenty of threads dealing with it.

[JazzOne]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

Not really a fan of that. Unlike a court room, I pay 40k+/year to sit in a classroom. I have issues with profs who make no effort to treat their students like adults.

Yeah, I didn't appreciate it. She made us turn our phones off completely. We couldn't even take a text message with the phone on silent. I like to text my GF about 10 minutes before class ends to remind her to pick me up, and I didn't feel it was right for the professor to make that kind of demand. Some professors allow laptops but let the class know that they consider it an Honor Code violation to browse the internet or use chat software during the lecture.

[Holly Golightly]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

I have not had laptops banned in a single class, and I don't know what I would do without gchat...what do they think, that I'm going to pay attention?

[vamedic03]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

Not really a fan of that. Unlike a court room, I pay 40k+/year to sit in a classroom. I have issues with profs who make no effort to treat their students like adults.

Yeah, I didn't appreciate it. She made us turn our phones off completely. We couldn't even take a text message with the phone on silent. I like to text my GF about 10 minutes before class ends to remind her to pick me up, and I didn't feel it was right for the professor to make that kind of demand. Some professors allow laptops but let the class know that they consider it an Honor Code violation to browse the internet or use chat software during the lecture.

That's just an abuse of the honor code. Honor codes aren't intended to police a broad spectrum of behavior, rather they should foster a community of trust. Surfing the web during class doesn't violate the community's trust.

[JazzOne]

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

Not really a fan of that. Unlike a court room, I pay 40k+/year to sit in a classroom. I have issues with profs who make no effort to treat their students like adults.

Yeah, I didn't appreciate it. She made us turn our phones off completely. We couldn't even take a text message with the phone on silent. I like to text my GF about 10 minutes before class ends to remind her to pick me up, and I didn't feel it was right for the professor to make that kind of demand. Some professors allow laptops but let the class know that they consider it an Honor Code violation to browse the internet or use chat software during the lecture.

That's just an abuse of the honor code. Honor codes aren't intended to police a broad spectrum of behavior, rather they should foster a community of trust. Surfing the web during class doesn't violate the community's trust.

Yeah, I agree. But I wasn't going to risk an Honor Code charge just to make a point.

[RUQRU]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

Not really a fan of that. Unlike a court room, I pay 40k+/year to sit in a classroom. I have issues with profs who make no effort to treat their students like adults.

Yes, I have wondered if treating adults as if they were high school freshmen is part of a ritualized hazing that all law professors engage in.

[amputatedbrain]

I use Word in notebook for notes, and a program called Omni Outliner for making outlines . . . don't know anyone else who uses it really, but google it; it works really well for some types of organizational styles

[fjk88]

omnioutliner is a dream...a little pricey but its great. Circusponies Notebook is also a much better choice that word.

[MBZags]

FYI to 0Ls:

There is a trend to ban laptops in 1L classes. You might find yourself writing notes the old school way - pen and pad.

This actually works out OK, since I take very few notes.

+1

More and more professors at my school are banning laptops during class. I had one professor who required us to treat her class like court: no gum, no laptops, and a ringing cell phone was grounds to be thrown out of class.

Not really a fan of that. Unlike a court room, I pay 40k+/year to sit in a classroom. I have issues with profs who make no effort to treat their students like adults.

There's a professor here that checks with IT to see if anyone has been connected to the Internet during class. So even if it's an honest mistake (e.g. forgetting to turn your wireless off), you could get screwed. We also had to send the professor an e-mail saying that we were going to use a computer in class and that we wouldn't connect to the Internet unless the professor said we could.

Now, on topic: I used MS Word. It worked fine for me, but I'm trying to find something that can help me organize things a little better.

[BlakcMajikc]

Comes with iWork
30 day demo comes on a mac, so I don't know why someone mentioned it like it was free.
It is definitely more of a dumbed-down graphic design software more than it is a note-taking/streamlined word processing software.
http://www.apple.com/iwork/download-trial/

I said that Pages was given to me for free. I suppose I should have used the word "gift" instead, but I never implied that it comes pre-installed on a Mac. And I have no idea what you're talking about regarding graphic design software. It's a word processor with all the functionality of Word.

"Pages is both a streamlined word processor and an easy-to-use page layout tool. It allows you to be a writer one minute and a designer the next, always with a perfect document in the works."

http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/

From how I have seen it used (and in the demo version I have used myself), the design function is much better than the word processing functions.

[dougroberts]

What about using Google Docs?
Saves online, so no worries about losing work, and can allow simultaneous editing (so you can take notes with a friend in class).

I also use Dropbox to instantly backup all my files "to the cloud." Everything I save in my Documents/Dropbox folder (I use Windows) automatically saves to Dropbox.com so I have an online backup.

[JazzOne]

"Pages is both a streamlined word processor and an easy-to-use page layout tool. It allows you to be a writer one minute and a designer the next, always with a perfect document in the works."

http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/

From how I have seen it used (and in the demo version I have used myself), the design function is much better than the word processing functions.

Huh. Honestly, I had the software for six months, and I never touched it. My introduction to Pages was under the urgent context of my 30 page seminar final paper failing to load with Word. Installng Pages was a longshot, but it worked, my paper was saved, and Pages won my support over Word.

[NoleinNY]

Hmm. I wish I had known about pages before this semester. I've been using Open Office; it gets the job done and is free, but Pages looks pretty damn good based on the description.

[BlakcMajikc]

"Pages is both a streamlined word processor and an easy-to-use page layout tool. It allows you to be a writer one minute and a designer the next, always with a perfect document in the works."

http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/

From how I have seen it used (and in the demo version I have used myself), the design function is much better than the word processing functions.

Huh. Honestly, I had the software for six months, and I never touched it. My introduction to Pages was under the urgent context of my 30 page seminar final paper failing to load with Word. Installng Pages was a longshot, but it worked, my paper was saved, and Pages won my support over Word.

nvm....I agree that pages beats out word.

So far on the table we have:
MS Word
Google Docs
Circus Ponies
Pages
Various software options (ie OneNote) via Bootcamp