Refresh...ok What is a good alternative to paper textbooks? As well as overall college help.?

first of all yes my spelling/grammar sucks ect. ect. ect.

When looking at college i have figured out my housing, i have at least a plan to pay for class's and financing, but what I looking at now is the day to day life, my current school give us laptops to use and its amazing how light my bag and how much easier it is compared to life w/o one. So looking at collge what is the best way/s to reduce my bags overall weight?

I've seen some of the Ebook services but i don't like the expiration dates and not being allowed to keep it after the set amount of time(180, 365 day ect.) so what are some good services to use, or is that set time long enough for class?

Any other college advice is welcomed as long as it isn't trolling or negative directed at my crappy spelling/grammar.

also a side note is Microsoft word/office worth the money or is it better to use something like Google docs?