How to survive High school with nothing but a laptop

I am trying a new project; it is my goal to go through my senior year of high school using nothing but my new laptop. When I mean nothing other than i do not mean in any kind of extremist fashion. I do plan to carry around a pen or 2 and MAYBE a notebook. Well at any rate my question is this:
How do I do it?
I think it may be important for you to know what tool I'm working with so...
My laptop is a Vaio T series laptop with touch screen. I also have the complete MS Office suit 2010 (including onenote...) I plan on getting the wacom bamboo stylus. I think it is best to just throw out some basic questions that accompany that first.
How fast do you think I have to be able to type? (now I'm at a slow 20wpm)
Will I need any other software?
Will it be slower than pen and paper?
Really guys I just want you to throw any kind of comment that comes to mind. Post any question if you got them, to me or others.
Thanks.

Here's a question. Why did you choose to do this?

i think battery life is what is going to kill you. so unless you can plan on pullin a 6-8 hour day out of the laptop i think your sunk. my suggestion is if you are really wanting to do this, axe the sony and buy a surface pro.

It'll rock in some ways but suck in others. Drawing diagrams and tables and such is a pain.

tech explorer said:

Here's a question. Why did you choose to do this?

Click to expand...

Well I really hate to look at all the crap load of papers that I have in back pack 1/2 way through the year. My backpack would also weight less. I feel like it will be easier to organize. Just for kicks. I also thought that it would be cool.
As for ditching the laptop for a new one, no. just no. I can easily get through the day on 2 charges. I do not mind carrying the charger. The laptop is 1000 dollars. Plus, it was a gift. And even then I could not afford to switch. I have about as much financial power as college student.

From someone who basically has to use a laptop all the time because of a disability (dyspraxia).

Laptops (even with a stylus) are pretty horrid when it comes to quick rough notes; I much prefer a good old pen and paper for quick note taking than my laptop as it's quite a bit quicker because writing onto paper and seeing the result is a lot more natural to humans than writing onto a screen via a tablet stylus thingy. Less chance of hardware failure too.

You *can* use the stylus and I think OneNote can attempt some OCR to convert your handwriting to text. Formulae and related stuff can be fun mind as Office fails miserably on the scientific front!

I had to chuckle when I read the title of this thread. As someone who went thru HS and College BEFORE laptops even existed I find it humorous that someone would find it even slightly difficult to "survive" high school with ONLY a laptop.

I wonder if any of your teachers would be annoyed by the sounds of typing in class while they are lecturing. Are there any restrictions against typing in class?

It is actually hard to do everything using a laptop you know... The pen and paper method is the more accepted and tried method. It is extremely simple. the laptop approach on the other hand requires programs configurations and other doohickies to properly function as a good school device.
As for it being slower. I would think that just depends on you typing speed. although if you only mean quick and dirty little notes I can TOTALLY see what you mean. It is a pain to turn on and open programs only to jot down a quick note or 2.
I think however that the organizational factor will offset any slight speed inconvenience that may occur. I really hate all of that paper crap that sticks out of my bag. I also lose papers.
Well in any case what is your WPM pablo? Is that enough for you or do you often find yourself rushing to get things done?

Check out type racer to work on your typing speed. 20wpm is pitifully slow for keeping up with notes (assuming they're just written). A tablet would help but I don't think you'll get very far in math and science classes with just a laptop. History and other subjects where the notes are just words wouldn't be a problem. If the laptop has a removable battery you're probably going to want to get another one of those as you're going to have battery issues.

I think you're going to have a bad time doing this, especially if you're asking for help about this already. Use the laptop when it's helpful, but don't make it a burden on yourself.

It is not so much help that I am asking for so much as it is opinions and a way for me to curb my enthusiasm and curiosity. I know that 20 is pitiful but it does not really matter how fast I have to be able to type because I have all summer to practice and surpass any minimum that I may set even now. I am simply curious as to what that minimum is. I also have all the time while taking the notes to practice. my notes in my science classes are always 90% words and 10 % simple diagrams. Math will actually almost certainly require small notebook; I do agree with you there.
I also really don't think of any of this as a burden i think of lit as a fun game to play. I also mentioned that I will get the benefit of easier organization. Whether I do this or not is really not up for questioning. I am doing it. It simply seems like too much fun to resist.