Ipad Users!

[tangerine15]

I am considering purchasing an Ipad and keyboard for school next year. I take all my class notes on my laptop, but I want it to last a few more years and one corner of the screen is already shattered.  Would an Ipad be a good affordable alternative for note-taking purposes?  I figure I can throw all my notes into Dropbox and pull them up on my laptop at home, right?

[Cheshire_Cat]

Yup.  Or get Evernote.  If you take them in Evernote then you can search by keywords. 

[zupgiusto]

Yes! I use my ipad for exactly that. The system that has worked for me is: 

- evernote for meeting minutes/notes when talking to supervisors etc, then I can have evernote open for reference on my computer later while I'm working on documents (and can switch between notes easily)

- google docs for class notes (I tried Word for ipad because it syncs to dropbox, but I found the saving/overwriting to be buggy so I use google docs and have the app on my computer - doesn't make a difference to me)

 

I also use papership to sync with my zotero library, which is a dream. You can sync google drive with Goodreader as well to get at PDFs that way. I use that to mark students' papers which I find to be faster than marking them up in adobe reader.

 

I hope this helps!

[HistoryGypsy]

Yes!  My iPad was the smartest purchase I ever made.  There are tons of great apps that really help in grad school, plus iPads travel really easily for when you need to attend conferences, present papers, etc.

[CBclone]

I've been wondering/debating the same thing as the OP. I'm starting a terminal Masters degree this fall and will have an iMac in my apartment (purchased new fall '14). I'm curious as to what size iPad is "enough", obviously knowing it varies for each person. An absolute minimum? 

 

I tend to retain info better when I take notes by hand, but would like to be able to pull up and edit docs/pdfs while on campus or traveling, read a file on the go easily, etc. Some web browsing and definitely e-mail checking. Possibly an app to write out notes by hand on the iPad?? (noob, sorry) Something to be able to take with while traveling home or on breaks would be nice as well. Potentially also doing an internship next summer that will be pretty remote (i.e., traveling all over a state and living out of my truck) and am debating iPad vs Macbook Air? I'm completely new to tablet/iPad world -- never had one (and yes, I'm only 27)!!! I had a Macbook as an undergrad, it's actually still around but is better served being a paper weight these days...it was brand spankin' new in 2006!

 

(all are student prices)

Air2, 128gb, wifi only = $679 or wifi + cellular = $809 + have to get AT&T data plan I think?? + about $100 more for keyboard-case combo on Apple Store?

Mini3, 128gb, wifi only = $579 or wifi + cellular = $709 + data plan... + $100 keyboard-case combo...

13" MB Air, 128gb = $949 or 256gb = $1149 

 

RE: iPads -- is 128 necessary? RE: Air -- should I go 256? Which will have a longer lifespan? Keep in mind I managed to keep my Macbook functioning, okay it was on life support it's last several months, from July '06 to Sept '14. 

[eeee1923]

128 for an ipad seems like overkill unless you have a bunch of media (music, movies, photos) on the device as well. If it's mostly for notes and reading 32 gb or 64 gb should be fine.

[juilletmercredi]

Yes! I got an iPad when I was in exams and I wish it had come out when I was still in coursework - it would've been the perfect thing to take notes on. I wouldn't want smaller than the regular iPad to take notes with though, and I also like it for reading articles and books. The mini is more portable, but I have an iPhone 6 and I feel like that's a great size for any quick reading I need to do.

 

I definitely second Evernote - best app for note-taking. But you can also use Microsoft Office on the iPad now. I only have a 32 GB iPad, because I store everything in the cloud and don't keep my music on there. My phone, however, is 128 GB, but I have a 40 GB music library that lives on there too.

 

Another option is the Macbook Air 11", but I would honestly go for the iPad before that because it's more versatile - tablet, or attach a keyboard.

 

I wouldn't get the 3G/cellular version. Most university campuses these days have WiFi, and if you have a smartphone you can use tethering. But most of the time you'll probably be on WiFi anyway. It's an extra expense you don't need.

[CarBob]

I've been wondering the same thing as Tangerine and i've pretty much decided that I will go ahead with the purchase. I'm wondering if any of the current ipad users would help me decide if the Mini's screen size would be sufficient or should I go with the Air? I pulled up a typical, double-columned, academic paper on both screens and figured that I would pretty much be having to zoom in to read those on either screen. I will use it to take notes with and maybe even do a little writing. I'm just not sure if the Mini is too small for the other functions. 
 
Any feedback would help.
 
Thanks!

[eeee1923]

@ CarBob: I personally like screen real estate (which is why I have a 15" macbook pro), so in the case of having to zoom for both iPads, I would go with the air. I have an iPad Air 1 and honestly the mass difference between the Air 1 and a Mini 3 is around 0.3 grams. If that would bother you, then go with the mini. However, I enjoy my Air quite a lot - for it's portability and screen real estate.

[Guest]

I'm not going for an iPad, but I definitely will be taking notes on something more light and portable for grad school (tablet size). In undergrad, I lulled and biked my 15 inch Macbook pro around for the sake of note taking. As a person who is car-less and bikes around from home to campus, that was a hassle. If interested, I'm going with Microsoft Surface.  But, an iPad sounds like a cool choice as well.

[1Q84]

I bought an iPad for this reason but found most professors a little hostile towards notetaking on it or even having any electronics out during seminars. Anyone else experience this?

[shinigamiasuka]

I'm not going for an iPad, but I definitely will be taking notes on something more light and portable for grad school (tablet size). In undergrad, I lulled and biked my 15 inch Macbook pro around for the sake of note taking. As a person who is car-less and bikes around from home to campus, that was a hassle. If interested, I'm going with Microsoft Surface.  But, an iPad sounds like a cool choice as well.

 

I was originally interested in the Surface, but I've instead bought an HP Pavillion x360 convertible laptop where I'm going to experiment with electronic note-taking when I start my graduate studies. Till yet I have only taken physical, handwritten notes in copybooks.

[TakeruK]

I bought an iPad for this reason but found most professors a little hostile towards notetaking on it or even having any electronics out during seminars. Anyone else experience this?

 

In my classes, many students often have laptops while in class. Sometimes students are even working on other things while in the lecture. I think it's a poor use of your time to go to one lecture but work on stuff for something completely different but in general, we are treated as adults that can do what we want (as long as we are not disrupting others). I would say that for most of the graduate classes here, the environment is more like "conference presentation audience" (i.e. there are people working on their own talk slides, checking email, writing code etc.) rather than typical undergraduate classroom.

 

But I do know this conversation have been had here before! I definitely agree that if the classroom is meant to be mostly a discussion space, then having computers/electronics out can be disrupting to that. And, depending on how the room is laid out, laptops can be distracting to people behind them (in my classes, it's often like a conference room or there are only like 5 students so we can all sit in a row etc.). 

 

One new thing I read today was this post about accessibility: https://tenureshewrote.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/guest-post-every-student-uses-your-access-statement/

 

It basically encourages instructors to be aware of their students' accessibility needs and that electronics can sometimes help that. But I especially like the parts that highlight (and remind the instructor) that seeking help/documentation for services like this can be very stressful and not always easy for a student. I like how it encourages instructors to respect the fact that the student is their own best advocate and trust that they do know what is best for them. In most cases, the instructor is not going to be qualified to determine whether or not a student with a disability "needs" that electronic device or not...why not trust they are using it because they need it and let it be?

[Cheshire_Cat]

I have an iPad, but the screen is broken, and costs a lot to replace.  So I may as well just get a new tablet.  But I think I'm going to have to take paper notes in class. I do get distracted easily, and I don't want to seem that way towards these professors. But I generally don't take notes to begin with, so we'll see how that goes.  On Saturday I'm going shopping for school supplies with a friend who is going back to undergrad.  Maybe she'll convince me to buy good school supplies and get organized.  I think in my master's program I used a portfolio and printer paper for notes, and that was it.