Is iPad worth it for University?
Starting uni soon, wondering if I should get one or not. Do lots of students use them?
I currently have a laptop but the battery life is not good and it reaches VERY high temperatures (causes it to shut off sometimes) so I'm replacing it with a desktop PC soon. Picking PC over another laptop because I enjoy gaming.
But I feel I'd struggle without the portability of a laptop and wondering if I should go for an iPad for my notes instead of another laptop to save me a bit of space and possibly money as well as the apple pencil benefit. I'll be studying chemistry so will need the drawing ability.
Are iPads really as great as they're hyped up to be? I'd probably go for a 5th gen iPad Air based on budget.
Could anyone help me decide? Not sure if I'll end up regretting going for one instead of something else.. thanks!
I currently have a laptop but the battery life is not good and it reaches VERY high temperatures (causes it to shut off sometimes) so I'm replacing it with a desktop PC soon. Picking PC over another laptop because I enjoy gaming.
But I feel I'd struggle without the portability of a laptop and wondering if I should go for an iPad for my notes instead of another laptop to save me a bit of space and possibly money as well as the apple pencil benefit. I'll be studying chemistry so will need the drawing ability.
Are iPads really as great as they're hyped up to be? I'd probably go for a 5th gen iPad Air based on budget.
Could anyone help me decide? Not sure if I'll end up regretting going for one instead of something else.. thanks!
(edited 8 months ago)
If you already have a smartphone I'm not sure what an ipad adds that your smartphone and a pad of paper don't already achieve, personally.
Original post by artful_lounger
If you already have a smartphone I'm not sure what an ipad adds that your smartphone and a pad of paper don't already achieve, personally.
Yeahh, thanks, that's why I'm still slightly unsure.. but if I end up with a desktop PC I'd have nothing to carry around with me that I can make digital notes with. I am a terrible organiser and having stuff digitally works a lot better for me, of course would still use paper but just not for my non-scribbled notes which I'd probably make after lectures.
Just stuck between ipad or if I should change my plan entirely and get a new laptop or something.
Original post by dontknowlol
Yeahh, thanks, that's why I'm still slightly unsure.. but if I end up with a desktop PC I'd have nothing to carry around with me that I can make digital notes with. I am a terrible organiser and having stuff digitally works a lot better for me, of course would still use paper but just not for my non-scribbled notes which I'd probably make after lectures.
Just stuck between ipad or if I should change my plan entirely and get a new laptop or something.
Just stuck between ipad or if I should change my plan entirely and get a new laptop or something.
Handwriting notes improves recall compared to typing - there is research on this which found a statistically significant difference! So I'd recommend writing notes by hand if you are able
with an ipad you are still writing notes by hand if you can afford to stretch for a pen with it. It can be really useful and if you do find you prefer typing notes you could get a keyboard attachment and get an almost laptop equivalent. It may be worth looking into getting a refurbished one as opposed to brand new they tend to be considerably cheaper. Also if you aren't attached to the apple system it'll also be worth looking at other brands of tablet you can usually get ones matching or better than iPads for much cheaper especially if all you're using it for are notes, I find apple products tend to be quite overpriced and not really worth it if you have just a singular use for them.
Original post by dontknowlol
Yeahh, thanks, that's why I'm still slightly unsure.. but if I end up with a desktop PC I'd have nothing to carry around with me that I can make digital notes with. I am a terrible organiser and having stuff digitally works a lot better for me, of course would still use paper but just not for my non-scribbled notes which I'd probably make after lectures.
Just stuck between ipad or if I should change my plan entirely and get a new laptop or something.
Just stuck between ipad or if I should change my plan entirely and get a new laptop or something.
If you haven't found it already, you might find the iPad vs laptop for university thread handy
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7246846#:~:text=Laptops%20%2D%20advantages&text=If%20you're%20used%20to,is%20subjective%20to%20your%20experience.
Another thing to consider would be a 2 in 1 laptop
Original post by artful_lounger
Handwriting notes improves recall compared to typing - there is research on this which found a statistically significant difference! So I'd recommend writing notes by hand if you are able
Yeah but with the speed of lectures, it's normally better to do the hand written notes in your own time no?
Original post by dontknowlol
Starting uni soon, wondering if I should get one or not. Do lots of students use them?
I currently have a laptop but the battery life is not good and it reaches VERY high temperatures (causes it to shut off sometimes) so I'm replacing it with a desktop PC soon. Picking PC over another laptop because I enjoy gaming.
But I feel I'd struggle without the portability of a laptop and wondering if I should go for an iPad for my notes instead of another laptop to save me a bit of space and possibly money as well as the apple pencil benefit. I'll be studying chemistry so will need the drawing ability.
Are iPads really as great as they're hyped up to be? I'd probably go for a 5th gen iPad Air based on budget.
Could anyone help me decide? Not sure if I'll end up regretting going for one instead of something else.. thanks!
I currently have a laptop but the battery life is not good and it reaches VERY high temperatures (causes it to shut off sometimes) so I'm replacing it with a desktop PC soon. Picking PC over another laptop because I enjoy gaming.
But I feel I'd struggle without the portability of a laptop and wondering if I should go for an iPad for my notes instead of another laptop to save me a bit of space and possibly money as well as the apple pencil benefit. I'll be studying chemistry so will need the drawing ability.
Are iPads really as great as they're hyped up to be? I'd probably go for a 5th gen iPad Air based on budget.
Could anyone help me decide? Not sure if I'll end up regretting going for one instead of something else.. thanks!
Hi @dontknowlol,
I'm a second-year chemistry student and I use an iPad to take notes.
In first year, I would hand-write my notes but there was so much content and I was very disorganised so I'd lose sheets and forget to file everything. I also had to remember to print off the powerpoints if I wanted them. However, I didn't like typing during lectures in case I needed to draw a molecule or something.
During second-year I got an iPad and used Goodnotes for my lecture notes. I found it so much easier to organise everything and would write notes around the lecture slides that I imported. This helped me focus more on what was being said rather than writing everything down.
I have a laptop and an iPad. I use the iPad everyday at uni without fail as I write down absolutely everything on it. I also use it to access my textbooks online and annotate. I do not take my laptop everyday, so I imagine you could be fine having a PC in your room. I use my laptop for larger pieces of coursework like essays and computational simulations that a portable device cannot run. However, I will take my laptop if I think the PCs at the uni might be in high demand.
The way everyone works is different and this is what works for me. Other people on my course take hand-written notes an scan them in online. Others have a touchscreen laptop so they can both type notes and draw when necessary. Other people just have tablets and use PCs as and when needed.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions about chemistry let me know!
-Beth (Lancaster Student Ambassador)
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- iPad Air or iPad Pro (with keyboard) or Macbook Air for University?
- Can I use an iPad for psychology degree at bath or do I need a windows laptop?
- Are iPads worthwhile for distant learning?
- Ipad for University
- IPad for university
- Essex university
- Laptop / iPad for University
- Dsa help please!!!
- Is an ipad or macbook worth the cost for sixth form?
- iPad, Laptop or Paper
- iPad or laptop?
- iPad Air (5th gen)?
- iPad Pro 11 or iPad Pro 12.9?
- is a kindle worth it?
- best laptops for students
- Laptop recommendations for uni
- Is a Macbook worth it?
- Sixth form essentials
- should i buy an apple pencil (from amazon) for my studies?
- advice abt getting an ipad needed!
Latest
Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%
