Having attended classes with our son during Parents' Weekend, I can attest that he uses the note taking feature on his issued laptop A LOT. Not sure if you would be allowed to use a personal tablet in classes (a current cadet on this forum can answer that), but there's another factor to consider. As a C4C, you are required to carry your backpack in your left hand while running the strips to and from class. With textbooks and your laptop, it gets pretty heavy. Adding ANY unnecessary items to the backpack may not be the best idea.