Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Question for you all in college

Cody21

Cody21

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 9, 2012
544
0
Knoxville, TN
Are you planning on getting the iPad mini or sticking with/getting the 4th generation iPad? I'm trying to decide if I should get a mini or the 4th generation. Mini since it is smaller and could be stored in more places in a bag but the full size because of the larger screen.
 
I currently use an iPad 2 in college, but I'm definitely ordering a mini and selling my old iPad to Gazelle. The thing is, I take my MacBook Air to all my classes and rarely use my iPad in public, since it's annoying to carry around, but I'm excited to tote around and iPad Mini at all times, since it'll just be so much lighter!
 
At University, plan on pre-ordering a black iPad mini on Friday. Lighter, hold with one hand easily. Specs aren't a big worry, since I've got a Macbook Air for any real computing, I just want something bigger than my iPhone (but not as big as a regular iPad) for consumption.
 
I'm a 4th yr Atmos Science student, and I'm definitely picking up a 32GB Black iPad 4th Gen. I find the bigger screen and cpu/gpu power very attractive and will suit my needs well. It's gonna replace my 4 yr old HP laptop and sit comfortably next to my custom built desktop PC!
 
TM WAZZA said:
I'll be getting a mini

It will be far easier to carry in between lectures etc
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. I dislike having to put my iPad in my backpack so I just end up leaving it in the dorm. With the mini I will be able to put it in my jacket.
 
I recommend the main ipad if you are going to view lecture PDF/PowerPoint slides or read ebooks on it. I'm currently using my ipad 3 for this purpose and I find the screen size just nice for it. The ipad mini might be too small for this
 
I plan on selling my iPad 3 and getting a mini. I've barely used my iPad since I came to college. I find that it's too big and heavy to pull out of my bag and use in class or leisurely use. I know the mini would is going to be much smaller and lighter so i'll definitely use it a lot more.
 
Karr271 said:
I plan on selling my iPad 3 and getting a mini. I've barely used my iPad since I came to college. I find that it's too big and heavy to pull out of my bag and use in class or leisurely use. I know the mini would is going to be much smaller and lighter so i'll definitely use it a lot more.
Click to expand...

Well said in the fact that I think the same thing. I have an iPad 3 and I am selling it to get an iPad mini because I feel that the iPad 3 is too heavy for everyday usage such as note taking or browsing the web.

Since the iPad mini has the same resolution, having a smaller screen won't be so bad since you are still seeing the same screen real estate just smaller.

The iPad mini would be better for typing too when it comes to taking notes, emailing, and any app that requires typing.
 
LouieSamman said:
Well said in the fact that I think the same thing. I have an iPad 3 and I am selling it to get an iPad mini because I feel that the iPad 3 is too heavy for everyday usage such as note taking or browsing the web.

Since the iPad mini has the same resolution, having a smaller screen won't be so bad since you are still seeing the same screen real estate just smaller.

The iPad mini would be better for typing too when it comes to taking notes, emailing, and any app that requires typing.
Click to expand...

I am sticking with the iPad 3. The iPad Mini does NOT have the same screen resolution. It has significantly lower pixels per inch, which means things will look pixelated. I read and work all day on the iPad, so I want something that is at least as good or better looking than the competition (Google Nexus 7). I use an external keyboard (Apple) and the Incase Origami, so it basically functions just like a regular computer, except that I can also handwrite notes, I have a full day of battery life (good for back-to-back lectures), and it is great for reading (portrait mode). It fits quite comfortably into a tiny man bag, and since I have digitized or purchased digital versions of my books, I don't carry around books anymore. The iPad Mini will still need a bag, so I would only save a few ounces with the Mini in order to buy a much slower (ancient processor) and much lower quality display.
 
I'm in grad school. I use a macbook air during class but I like to read and annotate PDFs on a tablet. I sold my iPad 2 yesterday and will be preordering a mini (16gb wifi) on Friday. I always wished the iPad was a bit small so that it felt more like my kindle. Obviously it isn't quite that small but it's better for my needs if it is small and light.
 
Karr271 said:
I plan on selling my iPad 3 and getting a mini. I've barely used my iPad since I came to college. I find that it's too big and heavy to pull out of my bag and use in class or leisurely use. I know the mini would is going to be much smaller and lighter so i'll definitely use it a lot more.
Click to expand...

I may be willing to buy your iPad if you're looking to sell it...
 
Heads up... Blasphemous post coming...

Caveat to the next couple of sentences: My wife and I own:

2 MBAs
1 MBP
3 Minis
2 ipads
6+ iPods (touches, nanos, shuffles)
2 iPhones
6 Apple TVs

Ok, obviously, I am an enormous Apple nerd, but...

I am in school in an Exec MBA program and decided to give the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 a try just for note taking and PDF (textbook annotation). IT IS AWESOME (for this purpose, and this purpose alone). The stylus that comes with it blows away anything I have ever seen for the iPad. If you need a tablet for school, this is it. Now, I pretty much HATE using it for anything other than school and in fact, will be ordering an iPad mini on Friday. But I would encourage you to check out the Samsung for school.
 
I'm selling my wifi/4g ipad 3 and getting a 4! Since being in university, I never take my laptop at all anymore. I have digital versions of all my text, so carrying my ipad is way easier than 4 texts each day.... And pair it with my logitech keyboard and it's as good as a laptop for me.
 
For school I got an 11" MBA, and I've been waiting for the iPad mini to be announced, while investigating alternatives if it didn't get announced (e.g. B&N Nook HD and Kindle Fire HD), as I've already decided that I want a 7" (ish) tablet to complement my laptop. The iPad is simply too large and doesn't to me seem to complement what I already have, but a smaller tablet (prefer iPad) seems to me to be ideal. It's not too big to haul around (even if I am carrying my laptop), so I don't lose the portability benefit of the laptop or make it redundant by throwing in a full sized iPad into my bag.

The laptop will be used much more for writing, transcribing my notes (into Evernote), running a whole lot other applications that either don't run on the iPad (aren't available) or are just simply better on a laptop. On a 7" device I plan on doing a lot of reading on it (my programme is a lot about PDFs), and a smaller tablet will always be easier to take everywhere as well as take out of my bag.
 
pjfla said:
I am in school in an Exec MBA program and decided to give the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 a try just for note taking and PDF (textbook annotation). IT IS AWESOME (for this purpose, and this purpose alone). The stylus that comes with it blows away anything I have ever seen for the iPad. If you need a tablet for school, this is it. Now, I pretty much HATE using it for anything other than school and in fact, will be ordering an iPad mini on Friday. But I would encourage you to check out the Samsung for school.
Click to expand...

Just curious, a stylus with an iPad / mini wouldn't do the same thing? I've got no reason to annotate PDFs but I did a quick search and see there are Apps that do this for iOS / iPads, like iAnnotate. Adobe Reader and pdf-notes let you do it for free too.
 
ckurt25 said:
Just curious, a stylus with an iPad / mini wouldn't do the same thing? I've got no reason to annotate PDFs but I did a quick search and see there are Apps that do this for iOS / iPads, like iAnnotate. Adobe Reader and pdf-notes let you do it for free too.
Click to expand...

I use a stylus with my iPad (drawing mostly), but it isn't the same. They work, but they aren't accurate or responsive enough for actual note taking. At least not if you need to quickly annotate during lecture or something.

I'm still going to keep my iPad 2 around for college. I like the mini, but size alone isn't really worth me changing over. The 9.7' screen is about right for reading lecture slides or note taking.

If it had a retina display however...(not being picky, but I use the iPad 3 we have about the house occasionally...there is a big difference)
 
I am a freshman in undergraduate electrical/computer engineering. I have a MacBook Pro 15" but I find that I can't even take notes on it because most of my classes are equation based. I need to be able to handwrite, so a stylus is not out of the question.

I am leaning towards the 4th-generation iPad for the larger screen real estate and Retina display, and portability is not an issue because I am used to carrying around my MacBook Pro and heavy textbooks.

Seeing as the MacBook Pro is only now for gaming, Facebook, browsing, and an engineering program that I work with in groups only (so we can share - not cheating :p) and is present on school computers anyway, I think I can safely get a new iPad and ditch my MacBook Pro.

EDIT: actually, I can't completely ditch the computer because of programming and other activities I'll have to do on it. The iPad would be more like an e-notebook.
 
Last edited:
My PDF textbooks are on my 3rd Gen iPad, I also use it during the day to log into my Uni page, emails etc. It is honestly a bit big sometimes, but I think the smaller non-retina screen would annoy me more having to scroll side to side to read a textbook, or a value from a table.
I'm looking at the 4th gen. But I want a mini too :)

Those guys looking to use a stylus and replace your notebooks, I suggest you practice awhile watching an online lecture. I tried with Physics, and it was horrendous, half the time the hand written equations and drawings deleted the typed text etc,
 
Well, I teach at a college, so I'm not sure if you'll feel that my opinion counts for much, but I'm planning to get a 3rd generation refurb.

The mini is cute, but I'd rather have extra screen real estate for reading e-textbooks and PDFs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back