Like most college students, I was wondering about the usefulness of having an iPad alongside my laptop for school.
When thinking about it, I heard so many people talking about how great an iPad was for taking notes, how it helped them while learning and studying, and I was intrigued. After reading countless reviews and watching videos on Youtube, I finally decided to purchase one, along with an Apple Pencil of course and in rose gold, of course.
For reference, I have the 4th generation iPad Air and the 2017 MacBook Air
Now, a year later, I feel as if I can provide honest and helpful feedback for others who were in a similar position as me.
Right off the bat, would I recommend it? Not necessarily…
Yes, I have used it for notes and it’s nice having all of them in one place and being able to easily insert in pictures, but I honestly haven’t used it nearly as much as I thought I would.
For my creative writing minor, we need to share a lot of our writing and it is too inconvenient to type it out on the iPad. With that being said, it also becomes more convenient to take notes on my laptop as well so that I don’t have to switch back and forth between devices.
And even though I prefer reading paperback or hardcover books by far, it has been convenient to get my books for my English classes on a tablet that I have with me at most times. This saves space in my backpack and on my shelves.
For being a marketing major, it has come in handy, but once again, for how much I paid for it, I truly didn’t use it as much as I thought I would.
In comparison to my laptop, it is slightly lighter, but not by much. I also keep cases on both so that probably doesn’t help it in that sense. This has made it easier for me to bring with me on quick meetings but even then I can only do so much without bringing along the keyboard as well.
Ultimately, it is nice to have, but I personally didn’t need it. I have one of the fancy note taking apps, the pencil, a keyboard, and all sorts of useful apps. However, I would encourage others who are using these articles to make their decision to think about the relevance it’ll play in your major or career, and to realize you probably won’t use it as much as you thought.