I think that examining the per-class benefits of laptops is, honestly, taking much too localized a view of this issue. The question isn't: "How will students use laptops in class X" but instead should be "How can we best prepare our students to be successful out in the world?" 
 
Again, my argument is that we are producing students on campus that, even if they can quote Chaucer and tell me the biochemical makeup of Sucrose, still hit the spacebar to line things up in Word.
 
And that is a lack of literacy that is very worrisome for the future. I would be prepared to argue that basic web literacy (can I produce a basic webpage?), as well as basic document creation and other computer skills are a necessity for 99% of the students in their futures. Having manditory laptops is one way to increase their contact with computers in general, which will then increase their comfort and skillset.
 
This is a seperate issue from what I believe to be the social benefits of laptop use, as well as the research benefits (I love the idea that students will be able to access the library databases while sitting on the grass one spring day).
 
Jason
Assistant Professor
Reference/Instruction Librarian
 
*****

I second Nick's concern. There aren't many people on campus more
pro-technology than I am. But I also believe in applying where it is
most appropriate. If it were appropriate for archaeology students to
have laptops in the field, I know Nick would have been one of the first
to use it! And as far as GPS and GIS goes, I was helping Nick figure out
how to get some GPS data off a 5 1/4" floppy a couple years ago. He's
been pushing that edge as far as possible.

The fact of the matter is: so much of the undergraduate educational
experience can and should take place on paper - either written or read.
In upper-level courses in most fields, it becomes more appropriate to
introduce automated methods. But even in GIS, you need to learn the
basics of cartography and spatial analysis before you should be turned
loose on the computer. Otherwise, you end up with output that looks like
a 2-year-old was banging on the keyboard in Word.