I went to university, and I've never had a laptop. Maybe I'm just not a mobile guy. I've never really felt like I needed a laptop. I love my desktop. Granted, I wasn't taking comp sci, so maybe that would be more demanding, laptop wise. Really up to you I guess. What would you do that would require a laptop? Besides security... but I think if you locked down your desktop computer, there's not much more you can do.