Is a tablet practical for Engineering students?

Hi everyone. I'm currently in the planning stage of getting a tablet (preferably a Motorola Xoom) to take notes in Engineering classes. Doing some research online, I've came across some well know apps that allow the tablet to become a electronic notebook for notetaking (IE writepad 2.1, etc). I couldn't find within the documentation if it understand math equations and inserts them into the notes as written (IE, stigma notation, definite Integrals, Limit notation) What I'm wondering: 1) Is a tablet practical for such math intensive classes? 2) If writepad 2.1 cannot understand math notation, are there any other note taking app that understand the symbols used? Thanks