yeah a dictophone would be useful. it depends on the lecture really. some lecturers (nice ones) put summaries of the lectures on the subject forums or hand out lecture notes. others (mean ones) make you scribble them all down as fast as you can! they usually put up some sort of slide show so you can copy stuff down...i like to write notes, even if they are being put on the net or handed out cause i think i tend to absorb more that way. it also keeps you busy in your lectures and saves you doing stuff later cause i know i couldnt be arsed going back to my room and retyping/ writing eveything down!
i suggest- a good supply of pens and a heap of notepaper and some scribbly (yet legible) hand writing!