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iPad mini iPad Mini for college note taking?

I use Notability on my mini for typing notes in lectures.

It's awesome. I see other people printing papers, writing notes on it etc. and I'm just there thinking man that's gonna stack up soon and will be a bitch to organise.

I also like the keyboard and type very fast on it. If I make a mistake the auto correct does its job well. I have mine set up as landscape and the keyboard is split. At first I couldn't get my head around typing in a split keyboard. But literally minutes after typing it seems very natural.
 
Very curious to see your observations. Will def continue to read the blog. Has anyone considered an inexpensive iPad (mini) and a Samsung Chromebook for school work? Total price would be under $600
 
Hey everybody. I finally bought an iPad for note taking. I've posted my experience on this thread (last two posts). Overall, excellent experience with the right app and stylus, no different than pen and paper, probably even more efficient because if you make a mistake you don't need to wait until the liquid paper is dry.
 
GRMM said:
Hey everybody. I finally bought an iPad for note taking. I've posted my experience on this thread (last two posts). Overall, excellent experience with the right app and stylus, no different than pen and paper, probably even more efficient because if you make a mistake you don't need to wait until the liquid paper is dry.
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did you get an ipad mini ? 16 or 32 GB ?
 
Some professors may allow you to use open notes while taking tests... but, they don't allow cell phones or tablets to be used due to cheating-- you would be in big trouble.
 
macking104 said:
Some professors may allow you to use open notes while taking tests... but, they don't allow cell phones or tablets to be used due to cheating-- you would be in big trouble.
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This is true, and hadn't thought of it. In my college there are no surprise test, so in case I'm allowed I would have the time to print my notes.
 
Guys please help me out .....

I also want to take notes on my mini but the experience has been poor ..

I tried notes anytime app and bamboo paper and some others ....
Stylus i bought os bamboo Wacom but my wrist keeps getting in my way a lot
The only way i can write is
1. Hold iPad and stylus perpendicular at all time or near perpendicular .
2. Wear a glove with thumb and two finger cut out ,,,,

:(
 
I find that nothing beats the old fashioned pen and paper you can take notes quickly and easily and you are able to place things where you want them to go. Digitally this is hard and no app really does this as fast as you can write it out by hand so I stick to the old fashion way. I would like a app that enables me to scan my notes and place them in online database with dates and time as well as subject, anyway that would be helpful to me but others may find this tedious.
 
IMHO I preferred the full sized iPad for note taking plus text books were a lot easier to use when you put them on the iPad, well it was just easier for me to use
 
narutoninjakid said:
I find that nothing beats the old fashioned pen and paper you can take notes quickly and easily and you are able to place things where you want them to go. Digitally this is hard and no app really does this as fast as you can write it out by hand so I stick to the old fashion way. I would like a app that enables me to scan my notes and place them in online database with dates and time as well as subject, anyway that would be helpful to me but others may find this tedious.
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I agree with this 100%. If I could scan in my notes and be able to go through them and highlight, make notes, etc. on-screen I'd be willing to pay $10-20 for that app if it was set up well.

I've had my new MBA with me at class this whole first week of school and I still find myself doing it just like always with a pen and a notebook.

Maybe I'll get used to it as time goes on, since this is the first laptop I've had that I actually wanted to have with me in class, but I can't imagine wasting time trying to use a stylus and a 7" or 10" iPad to take notes..yikes.

I do still want the mini 2 whenever it comes out next year..but definitely not for note taking. Calendar, maybe pdf & word document reading and iStudiez to keep my assignments in order is all I'd bother using any tablet for at school..I would just get the current mini, but hate getting something when a new model will be out, or at least announced, so soon.
 
narutoninjakid said:
I find that nothing beats the old fashioned pen and paper you can take notes quickly and easily and you are able to place things where you want them to go. Digitally this is hard and no app really does this as fast as you can write it out by hand so I stick to the old fashion way. I would like a app that enables me to scan my notes and place them in online database with dates and time as well as subject, anyway that would be helpful to me but others may find this tedious.
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I have to respectfully disagree. I have been taking notes on an iPad since day one in college. I have two classes left. Part of what you say is true. Some if not most actions do take more time. But we are not talking 2x faster at all. After you get comfortable with your note taking app and use it for several weeks you can get pretty fast. If someone expects it to be as fast as paper on day one then they will for sure be disappointed.

There are several great things that come along for the ride with digital note taking. Copy and paste, an eraser, multiple pen and pencil styles, colors, highlighting, resizing and moving content, paper templates, grab a photo from safari and paste it into you notebook. You can save notebooks as PDF and easily share with others.

So yes it is a bit slower, but all the additional benefits for me clearly outweigh the hit in speed.
 
jeffkempster said:
I have to respectfully disagree. I have been taking notes on an iPad since day one in college. I have two classes left. Part of what you say is true. Some if not most actions do take more time. But we are not talking 2x faster at all. After you get comfortable with your note taking app and use it for several weeks you can get pretty fast. If someone expects it to be as fast as paper on day one then they will for sure be disappointed.

There are several great things that come along for the ride with digital note taking. Copy and paste, an eraser, multiple pen and pencil styles, colors, highlighting, resizing and moving content, paper templates, grab a photo from safari and paste it into you notebook. You can save notebooks as PDF and easily share with others.

So yes it is a bit slower, but all the additional benefits for me clearly outweigh the hit in speed.
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What is the name of the app ? I would like to check it out. True what works for some doesn't work for others. Good opinion.:)
 
narutoninjakid said:
What is the name of the app ? I would like to check it out. True what works for some doesn't work for others. Good opinion.:)
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I started out with notetaker hd but moved to noteshelf. I like it because it is very simple. I mostly take hand written notes, so audio recording and text tool are not that important. I am a bit concerned though because the app has not been updated in quite awhile. It works well but it could alway use some new features.

Again I think the most important thing is to just work with whatever tool you choose so you can get comfortable with its layout and features.
 
ItHurtsWhenIP said:
I agree with this 100%. If I could scan in my notes and be able to go through them and highlight, make notes, etc. on-screen I'd be willing to pay $10-20 for that app if it was set up well.
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You can use an iOS scanning app and annotate a PDF. Or my normal choice: scan the notes using a fast document scanner such as the Fujitsu ScanSnap series. I routinely use my ScanSnap S1300 to scan hand-written notes, etc. and put them into a DEVONthink Pro database.

Fujitsu has a small portable USB-powered scanner that easily fits in a daypack, messenger bag, etc. The S1300 can also use USB power but it is larger.
 
Issue w/ Onenote on iPad

I am having problems opening MS Office documents in Onenote on my iPad. No problems logging into Onenote itself, which functions properly in every other way. The Office document icons appear as they should, and the documents open just fine on all my other devices, but don't do so on the iPad. Any suggestions?
 
honestly dude,
I went through this obsessive search for the best electronic note taking process.
and the ipad does not beat pen and paper when it comes to taking notes at school.
it just doesnt. This is because inherently, the iPad when used as a handwriting notetaker, is an imitation. It's an imitation of pen and paper.
When used with a keyboard, its an imitation of a laptop with microsoft word and even then, it's not better than simply getting a notepad (or printing out the power point slides for lectures) and jotting down notes, arrows to ideas, diagrams...
It is much much more efficient to do that manually still.
If you want paperless, scan it/take a picture using your iphone and send to evernote.
Now relating this to me, I am now studying post graduate by correspondence. All materials are sent via PDFs - barely any lectures. In this situation, the iPad beats paper hands down - no need to print 50 page PDFs again and everything is synced through dropbox (including minor pdf annotations and highlights). But during the few days a module that I do have to go to a lecture, paper still beats iPad.
 
teknikal90 said:
honestly dude,
I went through this obsessive search for the best electronic note taking process.
and the ipad does not beat pen and paper when it comes to taking notes at school.
it just doesnt. This is because inherently, the iPad when used as a handwriting notetaker, is an imitation. It's an imitation of pen and paper.
When used with a keyboard, its an imitation of a laptop with microsoft word and even then, it's not better than simply getting a notepad (or printing out the power point slides for lectures) and jotting down notes, arrows to ideas, diagrams...
It is much much more efficient to do that manually still.
If you want paperless, scan it/take a picture using your iphone and send to evernote.
Now relating this to me, I am now studying post graduate by correspondence. All materials are sent via PDFs - barely any lectures. In this situation, the iPad beats paper hands down - no need to print 50 page PDFs again and everything is synced through dropbox (including minor pdf annotations and highlights). But during the few days a module that I do have to go to a lecture, paper still beats iPad.
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True on so many levels I guess some people like the convenience
 
I started with Note Taker Hd, then changed to Notability due to its auto sync feature with Google Drive.

As for a stylus I use the Adonit Jot Pro.

I've been using my iPad to take notes for almost 3 months. No problems, you just need to get use to it. I study engineering and I have no problems in writing on my iPad. You just need to find the app and stylus that suits you best, for this you need to try a few options.

I'm attaching a class written in Notability, due to the limited file size that the forum allows to upload I'm attaching a very small file, just one page.
 

Attachments

  • Capítulo 1 (Introducción).pdf
    1.3 MB · Views: 315
jojoba said:
It's not an imitation - it's a different tool, and for many of us it has multiple strengths over pen and paper.
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The stylus is an imitation of a pen. The ipad is an imitation of paper.
True an electronic paper hence the advantages you speak of. But in here fly, it's an imitation and lacks the advantages of the real thing.
Can you rest your palm on it? What happens if you accidentally touch it with our finger? On a real piece of paper, nothing happens. On an ipad, you then accidentally write on it.
 
teknikal90 said:
The stylus is an imitation of a pen. The ipad is an imitation of paper.
True an electronic paper hence the advantages you speak of. But in here fly, it's an imitation and lacks the advantages of the real thing.
Can you rest your palm on it? What happens if you accidentally touch it with our finger? On a real piece of paper, nothing happens. On an ipad, you then accidentally write on it.
Click to expand...

You CAN rest your hand on it, for example on Penultimate I write resting my hand on my iPad and nothing happens. If you touch the screen with your finger you write on it, that is correct, BUT you delete mistake with the push of a button.

What happens if you make a mistake on pen and paper? You either use a corrector,which will make you lose time because you have to wait until it is dry; or you cross out your mistake, which will make your paper look bad. If you make a mistake on the iPad, you just press a button.

As with almost everything in this life, it's a matter of choice. What do you like, what suits you best, what you feel more comfortable with.
 
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