Hey guys, it's Janice. Welcome back to my channel!
I decided that it's finally time to talk about my experience with the budget iPads for school particularly in relation to notetaking,
which is what I've been doing on the budget iPad models for the past two years or so
I will not be comparing them to the iPad Pro because I have not used the Pro model yet
And I also won't be going into the super techy details like processor speeds or whatnot
I'll just be talking about whether I think it's adequate for school based on my experience as well as its pros and cons from a student's perspective.
I also have a giveaway of Paperlike so just keep watching the video for more information on how to participate.
As I said, I've been using the budget iPad model for about two years now starting with the 9.7 inch iPad 6th generation
Up until the iPad 7th generation that I was gifted back in December. Both of these are 32 gigabyte models.
Now the size of these iPad models themselves are great
They're extremely portable, light, thin, just perfect for fitting in your backpack and it will definitely fit on your desks in class
So that's a huge plus in my book. I think I have small to average-sized hands
So my palm fits nicely on the iPad when writing with the Apple Pencil. If you have large hands you might find this iPad small
Or you'll have trouble with your hands falling off the edge when writing.
Other than that, t's a nice size not bulky and it's very easy to carry around
however
I do think the size can be its biggest limitation as well
depending on how you like to use your iPad as a student and I'll be talking more about this later in the video.
Performance-wise, I've not noticed any problems that would hamper my use as a student.
Keep in mind that the apps that I open 99% of the time are GoodNotes, Notability
Notion, Drive, Safari, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Calendar
Absolutely no problem. Both budget iPads have executed these tasks smoothly and quickly
I have rarely experienced any lag with opening apps and writing on it with the Apple Pencil.
In class, I can pull up lecture notes fairly quickly and all the note-taking apps that I use run pretty smoothly.
In terms of battery life,
as a note-taker who uses GoodNotes and Notability a lot of the time
I found that at mid-brightness level the battery drains probably about 1-2%
every 20 minutes or so of active note-taking and this has actually held up well for me in my lectures
which are usually about 2.5 to 3 hours in lengths with breaks.
My assignments in nursing school don't require any image or video processing related tasks
so this is not something that I have to worry about with the budget iPad.
Now in terms of note-taking, some of you may be worried about the non laminated screen
It is at first noticeable
especially with the silver or rose gold versions of the iPad because the front of the iPad is white
You will definitely see it when writing notes, especially if you're writing on white paper.
In my experience, it doesn't affect the function of writing on the iPad at all
A non-laminated display doesn't mean that you should overlook the other things that the budget iPad has to offer for students given its relatively affordable price
I'm not necessarily trying to compare it to the iPad air or pro
I'm simply just saying that it works and it's 100% enough to get by with doing lecture notes, reading, review notes, etc.
But if you're someone who really wants the best, brightest, and most vibrant display on the iPad for note-taking and reading
then of course that's a personal preference.
I believe I had the iPad 6th generation for almost a year and a half before I put a Paperlike screen protector on it, and I think that my experience
with it for the last several months definitely outweighs that of the first year and a half of just writing on the glass screen
I like having the screen protector on because it gives me the feel of writing on paper and it also
reduces glare which has helped with my eye strain
I know some people might be worried about the quality of the screen
But really it doesn't even change the quality of the screen that much and as a student
I think the feel of the screen for students in this case should weigh more heavily than the look
which is also one of the reasons why the non-laminated display doesn't bother me.
Paperlike has been a huge part of my experience with both the iPad 6th and 7th generations
and I think it really has helped me improve my handwriting on the iPad
I've made a few videos with Paperlike in the past but my opinions and experiences with the product
are always genuine because I don't want to recommend something that I don't enjoy and I will keep on using this
over and over again with future iPads.
On another great note, I am doing a giveaway of the Paperlike screen protector to five lucky winners
I will put the rules in the description box
All you have to do is make sure you're subscribed to Paperlike's channel and my channel.
Like this video and comment what your favorite subject to study is and why?
Now the only disadvantage that I want to talk about is the size of the screen.
What I found is that my efficiency and multitasking can be really hampered by ineffective split screening
The screens produced on both sides are pretty small and you still have to zoom in to see a lot of the text
especially if you want to read and take notes at the same time.
And for students this is something that you will probably be doing if you want to take notes out of a textbook chapter or see your lecture notes
on one side at while writing your review notes on the other side
And this is what I want to do a lot of the time but I feel very limited by the small screen size
If you have a laptop to view your textbook
then you will not need to split screen on the iPad and it should be fine for you
And if you just don't split screen in general, then this will not be an issue for you
however it was for me because I do want to be able to do those tasks together on the same display
and this is the sole reason why I would upgrade to a larger iPad - at least 11 inches or
even the 12.9 inch one and I'll actually be trying out the new iPad Pro in a couple weeks
so please stay tuned for some videos on that
The small screen size is also one of the reasons why I choose not to type my papers
which I have to do a lot of in nursing school
Not only is the screen small but the applications also sometimes have limited functions, so it's not very efficient
I do have a Logitech keyboard case for the iPad 7th generation, which I love for typing up active recall spreadsheets
but other than that
I would not use my iPad for typing anything like a paper just because it doesn't feel efficient
Especially if I'm doing a lot of research at the same time
and I want to be able to quickly switch tabs and access websites for information
and if I want to see my research on one side and my paper on the other side
And in terms of storage space. I know a lot of you guys wonder whether 32 gigabytes is enough
I actually haven't been able to use up 32 gigabytes on any of these iPads
So I would think that 32 gigabytes is enough just for note-taking
however, if you are storing a lot of textbooks, photos, videos or other files
then I would recommend upping the storage just so you have that little safety net and not have to worry about running out
so really my main verdict is that the budget iPad is 110% adequate for student tasks such as
Annotating and note-taking
Reading digital textbooks, viewing photos and videos based on my experience because these tasks are really not that intensive
However after using the budget iPad model for two years
I've come to acknowledge that the main downside is that the screen size is very limiting which can make split screen and
multitasking difficult and this is the reason why I would upgrade to a pro just for the bigger size
I think it's a great device for someone who is just getting started into digital notetaking
or if they already have a main device like a
MacBook or some other laptop and as always it depends on your personal needs as a student as well
Keep in mind that this was just all based on my experience and my needs as a student, but regardless
I hope that you guys found this video helpful. If you did, please give it a thumbs up
leave a comment, hit the subscribe button and don't forget to participate in the giveaway.
I'll see you guys next time! <3