So there's a laptop requirement.

Do people bring these to school every day (means I need a small and light laptop)? Or are they only used to take exams (cheap heavier laptop ok)?

Most students type lectures, so they bring laptops with them every day...

Cheap, heavier laptop is ok, provided it fulfills the system requirements.

And yes, most of the students take notes with their laptops.

I'm not sure I agree that taking notes on a laptop is such a great idea.

I did my JD completely with handwritten notes and even handwritten outlines.

But thanks for the tips.

Then you missed out. Laptops are WAY better. You can create your outline as you go, organize the information immediately, etc. Plus, at least for me, I type much faster than I write, so its a no-brainer. Try it. You'll like it after you get used to it.

I`ve just visited NYU and I could see several students using small laptops to take notes during class and also to study in the library. I`ve never tried either, but it seams to be very useful!

I am so bored that I just have to add my two cents (or pennies as they say here):

Personally I find that I think about the concepts more when I handwrite notes because I have to write more concisely and clearly summarize the points. I find I think more as I go along. When I type my notes, however, I end up just writing down what the lecturer says verbatim and not thinking about it. And I end up with way too many detailed notes that miss the broad concepts.
I then just use my handwritten class notes to get the big picture and the textbook to fill in any details later.

Plus I hate lugging my laptop around.