Ipad 1st/2nd Gen for College

[spaceshipj]

sup fam,  I am looking into purchasing an Ipad for college for primarily note-taking internet browsing, email, and netflix. Would a 1st/2nd gen ipad work well enough for this?

 

[yeezusdisciple]

The 1 gen is no longer receiving updates as its kind of old, if i were you id get a 3rd gen

 

[big j 33]

I'd rather get a Chromebook.

You can get an Acer C720 for 200 dollars. It'll last you 8 hours of use, light, keyboard, fast, etc. It'll do exactly what you want it to do.. internet, email, notes, etc.

Dell also has a new Chromebook out that's gotten great reviews as well for under 300 dollars.

 

[mivish06]

I'd rather get a Chromebook.

You can get an Acer C720 for 200 dollars. It'll last you 8 hours of use, light, keyboard, fast, etc. It'll do exactly what you want it to do.. internet, email, notes, etc.

Dell also has a new Chromebook out that's gotten great reviews as well for under 300 dollars.

This. I have an ipad mini that I use for college, and I would've really preferred something small with a keyboard and touchpad instead, it's a lot easier

 

[Top Boy]

I have an iPad as a replacement laptop....

Just get a laptop.

 

[sea manup]

my grandparents gave me an ipad for college

it was a decent mousepad 

 

[yeah]

I'd rather get a Chromebook.

You can get an Acer C720 for 200 dollars. It'll last you 8 hours of use, light, keyboard, fast, etc. It'll do exactly what you want it to do.. internet, email, notes, etc.

Dell also has a new Chromebook out that's gotten great reviews as well for under 300 dollars.

Came in here to post this.

If you are anything like most college students, that iPad will become little more than a paperweight... Used only when your smartphone is dead and the work to unpack your laptop is simply too daunting to check your twitter timeline.

The Chromebook can do everything the iPad can, minus the gaming aspect that the App store provides. However, in losing the games and entertainment factor, you gain the productivity that simply is not possible on an iPad. Sure, you can buy a Bluetooth keyboard and even download Office for iPad if you're set on using the iPad for class...but wait until you forget to charge that Bluetooth keyboard. And if you're looking to buy an older model? It will be painfully slow, even compared to an iPhone 4s.

The keyboard alone makes the Chromebook a better buy for your needs. Don't trip about Chrome OS; you can use it offline. Better yet, put Linux on it.

 

[Mark Antony]

IPad 1 is slow and pointless at this stage. Crashes all the time while browsing.

 

[big j 33]

The biggest downsides to the Chromebook isn't the "you can't do anything without the internet" claim because most of what we use computers for requires internet so that's dumb. Plus you can use apps offline such as Google Drive so you can still type docs and all that without internet. But for me the only problems I've run into is one or two specific programs that require Windows or Mac, and then printing. You can't just plug in a printer and be good, you need Google Cloud printing. So that's where you can install Linux/Ubuntu and be good there.

But since you're in college, you'll likely have a computer lab or library where you can easily access your Google Drive from their computers and print off everything you'd need there.

One of the first things I did was install Ubuntu, but I've literally spent 99.9% of my time in ChromeOS. I uploaded all my music to Google Play Music, so I have my library with me at all times. The battery life lasts me all day long. The screen isn't the best on the Acer C720, but it's perfectly suitable and I haven't had any problems using it for several months. It isn't fanless like the Samsung Chromebooks, but I've literally heard the fan "kick in" once or twice and even then I had to put my ear right up to the computer. It does get a little warm, but nothing worse than a standard notebook. But that is one of the benefits of the Samsung Chromebooks is they're fanless and cool.

The Dell Chromebook 11 has gotten solid reviews and I've seen it called the new "best Chromebook", then you have the Acer C720 which was the current consensus best choice. I have the 4GB Acer C720 which is harder to find now compared to the 2GB version. There's also a touchscreen Acer C720 available. Then there's going to be an Asus version coming out soon, there's a Toshiba out there, then the much anticipated Samsung Chromebook 2 is coming soon as well.

But I can't recommend a Chromebook enough, at least as a secondary/school computer. It's not the best choice for everyone as their primary computer.. so maybe if you have an old Windows you hold on to that just in case you need it for something. But I've been perfectly fine for months using just a Chromebook.

 

[am1x90xnike]

Made it through undergrad and half of law school (so far) without ever taking a comp. to class. Not needed, pencil x paper x pay attention in class. But a nice Chromebook should get you out the way for paper and email.

 

[flyny]

So you want an iPad to take notes?
Sounds like you just want to show off
Use a pen and pad, boy

 

[thug]

So you want an iPad to take notes?
Sounds like you just want to show off
Use a pen and pad, boy

Have you been in a college classroom? There's nothing to show off with an earlier gen iPad. Half the kids have MacBooks and the latest gen iPads

 

[davizzy]

Most my classes don't allow any electronic devices to be used during class. They realize people don't pay attention

 

[big j 33]

I might have had one college class where it wasn't allowed. Most teachers would say though "I can tell when you're taking notes and when you're on Facebook"

Some classes I wouldn't need my laptop.. there wasn't enough notes to be written down.. a lot more discussion than straight lecture.. so a paper notebook and a pen was all I needed. Other classes that were traditional lectures, hell yeah I used my computer. I can type like 115 wpm so I'll be able to get down everything I needed far quicker than I could write it.