I was a laptop bringer. I type way faster than I write and it allows me to keep the information from the class more organized. First laptop I had was a big 7-pound clunker that really sucked to carry around with a bunch of other books and whatnot and had horrible battery life. Then I got a nice super light 4-pound one that had awesome battery life, which made a huge improvement. I usually only brought it to big lectures where there's a whole lot of pre-arranged information being spat out by the prof that I need to remember. I tend to just remember stuff if I've typed it. For smaller discussionsn I did the notebook deal because it's kind of obnoxious to be sitting there with a laptop, and because a discussion between 10-15 people can go all over the place. Better to just scribble notes all over the paper and organize it later.

I say, any class that the prof is doin a whole lot of lecturing, and requires a whole lot of remembering what the professor is lecturing about, laptops are super helpful to the people who actually use em for what they're supposed to be for. Hell, by the time I got done with my first laptop several of the letters were completely worn off the keys I did so much typin on it, and my newer one some of the letters are partially gone. If people do stupid shit like play solitaire or go online, well that's their own fault, but don't take em away from the students who actually benefit from having em.