<p>^^^ Well said bamabound7. I am glad that the NMF students last were awarded a laptop rather than the ipad that is being awarded this year, otherwise I would have been facing and posting the same question you asked. As it was, we obtained an iphone for our son (his old non-smart phone was very old) as a HS graduation gift which included our covering the cost of the plan, which I don’t feel makes him spoiled or us indulgent when we consider the money saved because he earned the NMF scholarship. Besides, the Iphone provides us some peace of mind because he tends to keep in much better contact with us via facetime than he did when we were limited to a voice connection and there are other features on the iphone that help him stay organized and on schedule.</p>
<p>^^^ Good point.</p>
<p>D uses FaceTime to keep in touch with us and also likes being able to track the buses in real time on her iPhone. The UA offers a security app, the Guardian for added peace of mind. As random parent said, the smartphones offer man useful (but not necessary) apps to make life easier and help with organization. While you could use the iPad or the Macbook Pro for some of these, I’m not sure how practical it is to walk around with it all of the time.</p>
<p>Even if you have nationwide coverage, I would still verify with US Cellular that having the phone an extended time in Tuscaloosa won’t be an issue. A few years ago T-Mobile sent us a letter terminating S1’s line under our family plan because he was away as school in an area where T-Mobile didn’t have their own tower and had to pay another company for coverage of that particular area.</p>
<p>Apple app store that seems to be popular, but I consider that an unnecessary luxury and that will not sway me towards spending more for an iphone.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that Android has an App Store as well with a gazillion apps as well.</p>
<p>I disagree that there is no way to justify an ipad in college. Older D just came back from athletic training convention and had the opportunity to play with ipads w/ some great STEM apps on them. One of them is key to pre-med, PT, AT students allowing them to do virtual visuals of cadavers. Peeling away and zooming in on very small areas of anatomy that would be very difficult to see otherwise. Rotating visuals to see from all angles. </p>
<p>Head of program highly recommends use of ipads in anatomy classes and for diagnosis assistance. MD’s are using them more and more frequently in practice. This is where technology is going.</p>
<p>If you have not had the chance to really understand what the ipad can do, don’t dismiss it out of hand. Might not be needed freshman year, but many of D’s junior and senior friends are buying them to help w/ high level science classes, engineering, etc.</p>
<p>I was amazed at some of the stuff that they were showing me. had no idea how robust they were.</p>
<p>Thanks for giving me food for thought, I will contact US Cellular to see if there will be any issues due to the phone being OOS for an extended period of time.
Also thanks again for mentioning US Cellular does not have a presence in Alabama, we will send his existing phone with him as back up , in addition to his yet unpurchased smart phone.</p>
<p>A couple of more questions.
- From the responses it sounds as if we should move forward with purchasing a laptop. It doesn’t sound as if the ipad can replace a laptop.
- Does anyone know why the NMF’s are receiving ipads instead of laptops? Either way, thank you, thank you Alabama.
- Can he access and download apps from the Apple app store on his ipad?
- The letter the NMF’s receiving regarding the ipad indicates a choice of carrier Verizon or AT & T, does that mean we will need to purchase a data plan or can he just use Wi-Fi?</p>
<p>A couple of notes, our son’s first choice was not originally Alabama. It was a school his best friend and several classmates are attending. One set of parents, who accepted early decision, recently realized they will not receive FAFSA or scholarships and are now scrambling to fund their child’s “dream school” which has a cost of over $60,000. Purchasing a laptop and smart phone seems like peanuts by comparison.</p>
<p>His friends, who are attending Ivy and Southern Ivy schools cannot understand why our son is attending Alabama. After visiting Alabama, our son made it his first choice-ROLL TIDE! Indulgent parents that we are, we turned him loose at the supe store during Bama Bound orientation. He is now decked out in bball shorts, t-shirts and even a beach towel.
If this continues we’ll have to take out a HELOC. LOL.</p>
<p>One final note, I’ve always loved the song Sweet Home Alabama, it now brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it as our son will soon be leaving…</p>
<p>The Macbook would be beneficial to him, as well as any laptop. There are better phones out there than the iPhone, but obviously having a phone at school is important. I don’t think it’s necessary for you guys to buy him the iPad though. In my opinion, the iPad is another iPhone. I would suggest getting him the Macbook and iPhone.</p>
<p>^^ They don’t have to buy him an iPad. The University of Alabama is buying him an iPad. How cool is that???</p>
<p>I think iPhone and Mac would be the best combo for him. Let’s face it, if he can sit down to use an iPad, he may as well use his full fledged laptop. </p>
<p>iPhone is great on the go for information accessing.</p>
<p>FWIW
My DS started his freshman yr with a Macbook pro and a iPhone
he sold the iPhone and got a Blackberry halfway through the school year
said that the Blackberry is a better communication device, and much more durable
(Econ major)</p>
<p>1. From the responses it sounds as if we should move forward with purchasing a laptop. It doesn’t sound as if the ipad can replace a laptop.</p>
<p>Yes, he will need use of a “real” computer, desktop or laptop. Engineering or computer science major should go Windows based, graphics design or video editing should go Apple, all others who will use for research and typing of papers, Mac or PC is personal preference.</p>
<p>2. Does anyone know why the NMF’s are receiving ipads instead of laptops? Either way, thank you, thank you Alabama.</p>
<p>Educated guess it’s that’s it sounds more enticing to an 18 year old student who probably already owns a laptop but may not own the latest iPad. But that’s just my own guess.</p>
<p>*3. Can he access and download apps from the Apple app store on his ipad? *</p>
<p>Yes</p>
<p>4. The letter the NMF’s receiving regarding the ipad indicates a choice of carrier Verizon or AT & T, does that mean we will need to purchase a data plan or can he just use Wi-Fi?</p>
<p>He can just use the Wi-Fi but he needs to indicate his choice anyway.</p>
<p>If you can afford both a Mac and iPhone, I say go for it. Your son is getting an iPad with the NMF scholarship (congratulations)!</p>
<p>I previously had a Blackberry and changed to an iPhone which I love and my Mac which is a few years old has always been a reliable performer.</p>
<p>the iPad has a ton of apps built specifically for it. it’s not just a big iPod touch like people think. you have to tell Bama whether you want AT&T or Verizon, but you don’t have to buy a plan. you can just stick to using wi-fi.</p>
<p>I think part of reason UA switched to ipads was because there were enough kids that already had a laptop. There were also some who were disappointed that they couldn’t choose the type of laptop they got, Apple people especially. They wanted an “allowance” to buy their own preference. Of course, another possible reason was to save a little money since the ipads are cheaper than the laptops.</p>
<p>Why not just save the money.</p>
<p>Apple makes the most profit from Macs. Many of them have severely marked up prices. At best get an Iphone or Ipad. Ipad’s are pretty useless but they are definitely one of the best tablets out there.</p>
<p>I use my iPad all the time, so they certainly aren’t “useless”. I wouldn’t use it as much if I didn’t have the bluetooth keyboard, but Bama is including the keyboard with the NMF scholarship. </p>
<p>I just have wifi, but that’s because my Galaxy IIS is a wireless hotspot, so since I always have my phone with me, my iPad always has internet if I’m someplace that doesn’t already have wifi. </p>
<p>I don’t know how the iPad 4g plans work, but you may be paying for an amount of high speed, which if you use up, then you have a slower speed for the rest of the month. So, if that’s so, then always default use to any OTHER wifi that’s available so that you don’t use up your high speed.</p>
<p>“I use my iPad all the time, so they certainly aren’t “useless”. I wouldn’t use it as much if I didn’t have the bluetooth keyboard”</p>
<p>I completely agree…it makes it more like using your laptop. My girls use theirs for school routinely…except the older one, but she uses her Macbook Pro because she a little hard headed about it. The girls all love the fact that they can sync the Macbook Pro, the Ipad2, and the iPhone. They also use dropbox quite a bit. Having wifi on campus, at school, and at home, we use very little of our data plan.</p>
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<p>I think that this statement is mostly true. The only change I would make is replace “iPad” with the word “tablet”. </p>
<p>I do not think that the iPad is the requirement, but a portable tablet of some type. Most apps are available in both Apple and Android versions, or there is a comparable app on the other platform. </p>
<p>I actually have an issue with HS’s that do not allow the use of technology like smart phones or tablets for organization or resources/ note taking in the classroom. I understand their rationale of limiting distractions- but I think they are missing an opportunity for productivity and preparing students for the future. </p>
<p>Don’t get me started on paper planners that are used in HS’s. </p>
<p>FWIW- I think we will continue to see a morph of tables and phones so that they become one thing in the future. Already headed that way. So we will be down to laptops that are essentially used as a desktop for most, and a phone/tablet hybrid type of thing for portable requirements.</p>
<p>Of course none of my predicting actually helps the OP right now…LOL</p>