Hello everyone,
Next semester I want to try to use my iPad exclusively, and ditch my battery-shot, crash-right-when-I-need-it, shoulda-spent-more-and-bought-a-macbook Windows Laptop completely. I wanna know what accessories and apps can help me do that. I am a psychology major, and a student Pastor, so I'm thinking an iPad can be a powerful tool in both roles.
What I'm looking at right now, is "a" bluetooth keyboard. I am not sure about the Apple one, it looks nice but two double-A's, plus it doesn't seem very ergonomic. I've also heard it has poor battery life compared to other non-apple models. I have one I use on my desktop (not bluetooth, however, but wireless), it has one single triple-a battery that I replace once every 4 months or so (read above, I'm a Pastor/Student, I type ALOT!), and it never bothers me to type. So, first I'm going to see if the camera connection kit will work with it. Failing that, I'd like alternative reccomendations for a bluetooth keyboard. If it's not too expensive, one that's rechargeable would be a big plus. Or at least has decent information about battery life. My only beef with my wireless logitech I use now is, about the time it starts skipping letters it finally gives me an on-screen low battery warning (no indicators on the keyboard). That's okay for at home but I have some professors who don't slow down, I can't afford to be caught with dead batteries!
Second is a case. A professional/sleek look would be my preference, anything flashy is an absolute no. I really like the Cyber Acoustics leather portfolio case, it looks great. I also like that aluminum one that I think Zagg makes, with the integrated keyboard. My preference would be leather though, is there a decent leather one with a dock or Bluetooth keyboard? Another big function for me would be easy removal. When I'm not working with it, I might wanna slip it out of the case real easy and just use it. All of the cases I've seen look like they would do a great job of helping it be a laptop replacement, by removing the need to be held, but also hinder the experience when I want to hold it.
Finally, apps and additional accessories. I'm planning on nabbing iWork, but the one thing I'm looking for is a good note app. I LOVE One Note. Microsoft actually did something right there. I love taking notes, and clicking on any random spot to add something else, easily adding screen clips, images, whatever. Is there something like that? Where I can type a paragraph here, tap over there and type there instead, etc.? Anything that supports one note formats? Anything else that might help me professionally and academically?
I'm looking forward to this, to see how it works out. When my laptop battery was still good, it only lasted 2 hours or so (new out of the box). After that, I killed it because of cold winters, and my first two semesters working at a hardware store with my shift starting too soon to make it home first, so the laptop sat in my trunk for a 4-6 hour shift. It gets cold in Missouri, and batteries don't like it. Plus a bad habit of leaving it on, plugged in, battery in, overnight. I know better, but still, now my battery life is 15 minutes. I'm gonna love this 10 hour thing. Beyond that, it's simple and fast, and will be much easier to setup and move around I think. As you can imagine, with a 15 minute battery life, sitting next to an outlet is a priority, and plugging in / unplugging... yeah it's not exactly a mobile computing experience.
I appreciate everyones help! Let me know what you think!
Edit: I should mention that I'm talking about replacing my laptop with a iPad, but not replacing my desktop. I will continue to use my laptop for writing papers (or more likely my desktop PC), and that sort of thing, if that matters.
Next semester I want to try to use my iPad exclusively, and ditch my battery-shot, crash-right-when-I-need-it, shoulda-spent-more-and-bought-a-macbook Windows Laptop completely. I wanna know what accessories and apps can help me do that. I am a psychology major, and a student Pastor, so I'm thinking an iPad can be a powerful tool in both roles.
What I'm looking at right now, is "a" bluetooth keyboard. I am not sure about the Apple one, it looks nice but two double-A's, plus it doesn't seem very ergonomic. I've also heard it has poor battery life compared to other non-apple models. I have one I use on my desktop (not bluetooth, however, but wireless), it has one single triple-a battery that I replace once every 4 months or so (read above, I'm a Pastor/Student, I type ALOT!), and it never bothers me to type. So, first I'm going to see if the camera connection kit will work with it. Failing that, I'd like alternative reccomendations for a bluetooth keyboard. If it's not too expensive, one that's rechargeable would be a big plus. Or at least has decent information about battery life. My only beef with my wireless logitech I use now is, about the time it starts skipping letters it finally gives me an on-screen low battery warning (no indicators on the keyboard). That's okay for at home but I have some professors who don't slow down, I can't afford to be caught with dead batteries!
Second is a case. A professional/sleek look would be my preference, anything flashy is an absolute no. I really like the Cyber Acoustics leather portfolio case, it looks great. I also like that aluminum one that I think Zagg makes, with the integrated keyboard. My preference would be leather though, is there a decent leather one with a dock or Bluetooth keyboard? Another big function for me would be easy removal. When I'm not working with it, I might wanna slip it out of the case real easy and just use it. All of the cases I've seen look like they would do a great job of helping it be a laptop replacement, by removing the need to be held, but also hinder the experience when I want to hold it.
Finally, apps and additional accessories. I'm planning on nabbing iWork, but the one thing I'm looking for is a good note app. I LOVE One Note. Microsoft actually did something right there. I love taking notes, and clicking on any random spot to add something else, easily adding screen clips, images, whatever. Is there something like that? Where I can type a paragraph here, tap over there and type there instead, etc.? Anything that supports one note formats? Anything else that might help me professionally and academically?
I'm looking forward to this, to see how it works out. When my laptop battery was still good, it only lasted 2 hours or so (new out of the box). After that, I killed it because of cold winters, and my first two semesters working at a hardware store with my shift starting too soon to make it home first, so the laptop sat in my trunk for a 4-6 hour shift. It gets cold in Missouri, and batteries don't like it. Plus a bad habit of leaving it on, plugged in, battery in, overnight. I know better, but still, now my battery life is 15 minutes. I'm gonna love this 10 hour thing. Beyond that, it's simple and fast, and will be much easier to setup and move around I think. As you can imagine, with a 15 minute battery life, sitting next to an outlet is a priority, and plugging in / unplugging... yeah it's not exactly a mobile computing experience.
I appreciate everyones help! Let me know what you think!
Edit: I should mention that I'm talking about replacing my laptop with a iPad, but not replacing my desktop. I will continue to use my laptop for writing papers (or more likely my desktop PC), and that sort of thing, if that matters.
