<p>I was recently introduced to the idea of taking notes/buying textbooks on the iPad instead of using the actual physical material. This, of course, saves some money and makes transporting much easier. I was just wondering if you guys who have had experience with using iPads in college have an opinion on whether it was worth the high price tag? </p>
<p>I plan on using the iPad mainly to read (and listen to music while reading) textbooks and pdfs for class, especially while I'm in the gym - I waste hours every day just from lack of productivity when going to the gym. For entertainment purposes, I will also be streaming movies on the device. </p>
<p>Do you guys think the high price tag is worth it? Also, if so, which storage size should I get? I'm leaning towards the 16 GB right now because of price, but 32 GB may also be an option. </p>
<p>I got an iPad during my third year in college, and I loved it. I use it all the time, and I ended up getting a keyboard and a stylus for it. After a while, I started taking all of my notes on my iPad, since I could type or handwrite as needed and then they were stored electronically. I used dropbox to sync all of my notes with my computer and my phone so I could look at them whenever I needed. It’s also easier to store them on my external hard drive, in case I want to refer to them again later, rather than having to worry about notebooks or stacks of paper.</p>
<p>I also stopped printing anything out. If the professor provided slides, I’d write directly on them on my iPad. If I had to read articles or other readings, I’d read them and highlight or write notes on them directly on my iPad.</p>
<p>It’s also convenient when I travel, as well. Because when I’m not going to be gone very long, I just bring my iPad and I can do pretty much everything on it. For longer trips, I still take my laptop, though.</p>
<p>Whether the price is worth it or not depends on you. I’ve never had another tablet, so I can’t speak to whether getting a cheaper tablet would achieve all of the same things at a cheaper price (although it probably will). I would say that I personally wish I had gotten the 32GB, instead of the 16GB that I got. I didn’t think I was going to use that much space, but I regularly run out of room and have to delete stuff from it. I like to put movies on it to watch on plane rides or when I’m traveling and don’t have internet, but I can really only fit one movie and a selection of apps that I regularly use. If the money would be a stretch, it probably wouldn’t be worth it, but if you can splurge for the bigger size, I would.</p>
<p>Thank you for your detailed response! Have you experiences with putting etextbooks on it and do you run out of room for articles, books, and notes?</p>
<p>I usually run out of room when I try to add more apps or more movies. I’ve never really run out of room for articles or notes, but I suppose I could, if I wasn’t regularly deleting stuff to make more room. I don’t put books on my iPad, but I suppose if I did, that would use up even more room =D If you’re around internet access all of the time, you can always store things on the cloud or in dropbox, if you don’t have enough room on your iPad for it. I also used google drive a lot to work on papers and things on my iPad and on different computers. I make do with 16GB, but if I get a new iPad, I’d definitely get a bigger size because for me, I find 16GB pretty cramped. You might not have the same experience though.</p>
<p>Yeah, I have a 16 GB iPhone and it’s getting pretty cluttered with just my music, photos, and apps (no movies). I used to have a 32 GB one and I never had problems with memory on that one. Did you find the keyboard and stylus useful? How is writing on the iPad? I know writing on smartboards is a pain because it never seems to make a mark where you want it to. And will a stylus scratch the iPad screen without a screen protector?</p>
<p>I definitely found the keyboard and stylus useful for taking notes. It’s hard to write quickly on a tablet with a finger or type quickly on the screen keyboard (although, I’ve seen other people doing so in class). Since I essentially use my iPad like a touch netbook, I find it’s easier to have a keyboard to take notes. But it depends on what you do with it. My friend had an iPad and never got a keyboard, but she did get a stylus after playing with mine. Writing for me at least is very smooth. I’ve never had a problem with errant marks or anything like that, and the process is pretty smooth.</p>
<p>Like barrk123 said, good styluses are made so that they won’t scratch up the screen. I don’t have a screen protector, and my iPad doesn’t have any scratches on it after frequent use for years.</p>
<p>If you’d like to see what I use, I have both of these styluses:</p>
<p>And have never had a problem with either of them, though they do feel very different. The boxwave one is much lighter than the bamboo one and is smoother when you write with it.</p>
<p>It also acts as a cover for the front, since it snaps on like the Apple smart covers do, and it connects via bluetooth. I was worried that it wouldn’t be very stable, when you’re typing on it, but it snaps into place with a magnet and I haven’t had any problems with it. I also love the feel of the keyboard, and I think it types very well.</p>
<p>You can probably find much cheaper things that are just as good, but if you’d like to look at what my set up is, I figure it could give you an idea of what I use =D</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your input! I think I’ve decided to go for the 32 GB (I figure I’ll earn the money with my campus job anyway so why not go big? :D) and no keyboard. I figure I prefer the ol’ pen and paper method and will be doing most of my typing on my computer anyway. I intend to get the iPad for reading books and articles on-the-go and at the gym. Perhaps I’ll invest in a keyboard and/or stylus later if I decide I need one (I figure that I can still just take my computer to class and take notes on it and classes that don’t allow computers wouldn’t let me use an iPad anyway).</p>
<p>For buying textbooks maybe not, because I haven’t had much luck with that either because they aren’t available for iBooks or the Kindle app or my school uses a special code that means I have to get it in Nook format, and Nook textbooks don’t work on iPad or Nook yet. That said, however, iPad is worth every penny! There is an incredible assortment of great apps as well as video in iTunes, plus youve got internet, and the quality is phenomenal in such a slim, lightweight, convenient package. Even at home I use my iPad to web surf instead of my laptop. I don’t regret my purchase for a second!</p>