<p>how would you use it?/college substitute for a laptop?</p>
<p>opinions please</p>
<p>I wouldn’t think so. The main purpose of the iPad is to act as a media consumption device. This means that you’ll be able to research online and read notes/lectures/powerpoint slides easily. The downside is that the iPad is a terrible media creation device, meaning it won’t be great at word processing, creating spreadsheets, and the like, which is why I would never recommend it to a college student.</p>
<p>IMO, an iPad is just a niche item. For practical purposes, it’s useless. It’s definitely not a laptop replacement.Not a good device to write some hardcore term paper.</p>
<p>Trust me, use the money to pay for rent. Not an ipad.</p>
<p>I have used an iPad for over a month now, and find it to be an intriguing device. The word processor, spreadsheet and presentation applications ($10 each) are outstanding, and the mechanical keyboard/charger stand allows one to be quite productive in writing long passages.</p>
<p>Still, I am not sure that I would go to college with an iPad as my sole computer. It will not always be easy to exchange MS-Word/Excel/Powerpoint docs while retaining formatting. This may be problematic for some courses where you will be sending and receiving files in those formats. Also, printing documents from the iPad is a little challenging. Lastly, although I really like the on-screen keyboard, you cannot touch-type with it. So, you will be lugging around an external keyboard to some places. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Maybe in the near future the iPad could be your sole computer, but I don’t think that day has come. I’d suggest spending a little more money on a more comprehensive and fully-featured laptop, like a MacBook.</p>
<p>The ipad is more of an accessory than a necessity like a laptop.</p>
<p>If you have an extra $500 then feel free to buy one…</p>
<p>iThink so.</p>
<p>IMO the iPad is just a bigger iPod with some more features. It’s definitely NOT a replacement for a laptop and certainly isn’t a necessity.</p>
<p>Absolutely not! big NO no, you will find your self in the lab or library late at night trying to finish term papers. That is unless you find a keyboard for it somewhere. </p>
<p>I do however think that I can see Pre-Med Students using it when engaged in the lab, but if you are considering typing out your notes in class then I think you might be better off with a laptop, or iMac/Book and then use the iPad as a companion which is exactly what it is, a Personal Computers companion.</p>
<p>I find the iPad to be a big touch-screen PDA, or personal digital assistant. But many features in the iPad can be found in PCs and Macs as well. And you can store tons of data with an laptop.</p>
<p>However, in certain cities in California, several school districts are test piloting interactive eBooks for the iPad. So I think only time well tell if the iPad really has use in college.</p>
<p>^The thing is the original post asks if the iPad can be used as a laptop replacement. While it’s fine as a media consumption device (like your example of an eReader), it fails miserably as a media creator. For creating media such as word documents or excel spread sheets, a laptop would still be the clear choice.</p>
<p>I have used an iPad to create some quite intricate documents that include graphics and tables. I have also created a 20-slide presentation with graphics and tables. Lastly, I have set up several multi-page spreadsheets with some complex calculations. So, as I noted above, if you use an attached (or Bluetooth) keyboard, you can generate sophisticated and complicated documents. </p>
<p>An iPad still may be not the best choice for a college student, and I have researched this pretty thoroughly, as my daughter is a new Freshman and we considered this very topic. She ended up with a 13" MacBook Pro, and I think that today it is the best all-round choice for storage, compatibility, portability and versatility. The iPad needs to mature a little more, in my opinion, before it is a fully viable choice for college students, but it sure comes close.</p>