Also whenever someone's on a laptop on a meeting I just assume they're not listening and looking at their emails, doesn't matter what they say before or during. Happens too often. Double if it's a googler lol.
I remember it having a fantastic feel to it for being plastic. Other than that though, things like this were about having a system that you could write on without having to worry about battery life. Laptops were more expensive back then (oh man, I finally feel 31).
Currently to take notes in class, I use a 2008 MacBook Pro running Manjaro w/ i3wm. I try to copy the instructors talking points with shorthand.