iPad or NOT iPad that is the question

joseyjo · Dec 7, 2015

1st level nursing student here- I would say no to the Ipad. My suggestion would be the combo of a smart phone and 13" laptop. A 13" laptop is light enough to carry around to all your classes, and not take up too much room on the table/desk. It is also high powered enough to do all your school work on, and you can easily attach a real keyboard and mouse to it at home (better for writing papers, etc). It really depends on your program requirements and study style though. I like having paper books (so I can mark them up), and we do all our tests on our own devices (not a school computer or on paper) so a real laptop is pretty much a must. We do have some students in our class who have tablets with keyboards (surface, etc), but most have said they wish they would have gotten a laptop instead. A 15" laptop might be okay, but a 17 is way too big to haul around (IMO). A smart phone is required at my school, and is also very useful for nursing apps.

WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 7, 2015

I have a 2-in-1 laptop (touch screen that I can convert to a tablet) that has been helpful in class. I also have an iPad, but since getting the 2-in-1 laptop I've noticed I've really cut down on my iPad use. We were always using our laptops for activities in class and I could reference my textbook online so it was well worth it.

iShaybie, ADN · Dec 7, 2015

I always buy my textbooks for my iPad mini. It's so much more convenient to have ALL your books in one place. Plus, much much less to carry. And only one thing to remember! iPad supports Word, Powerpoint, etc. So at home, I type my papers on my laptop, and then I can still access it from my iPad if need be :)

AZBlueBell · Dec 7, 2015

When my 2 in 1 computer works (grr, sent it off for warranty repair this morning) I love it. It's a touch screen laptop that is 11.5 inches. The keyboard comes off but it's a perfect size for carrying around and has been so convenient (again, when it works). I have an iPad at home for personal use but I don't like it for school work. I can't give you an exact reason why, but probably because I'm just used to Windows for computers. Anyways, I'd go with a touch screen small laptop that can do it all for you.

Edited to add: I am not doing the e-books. I don't care for them and it's hard for me to read books in electronic format. I don't know why, it's just difficult for me.

turtlesRcool · Dec 8, 2015

I liked having my books in electronic format. Mine were on my laptop (a laptop is required for my program anyway) and my iPhone. The phone was key because I could steal a few minutes here and there to do a bit of reading. If you're out and about, you probably won't have your textbooks with you if you discover you have some downtime, but you're likely to have you phone. Now, personally, I didn't love the format on my phone, so I did most of the reading on my laptop, but 10 minutes waiting for my kids' school bus, 15 minutes waiting for my oil change to be done, etc. can really add up.

pecas · Dec 8, 2015

None of my ebooks are compatible with iPad or iPhone. I ended up getting a little 2 in 1 so I wouldn't have to lug my big laptop around. I really dislike the ebooks but for some of my classes it was the only option. I order loose leaf copies of the books in addition to the ebooks when possible.