Advice for helpful tools, such a ipad

[u/No_Vermicelli_636]

Hi - I am doing a Phd in History and am using a macbook air and a 24 inch monitor - how many others have found it very useful to have an iPad alongside their laptop or is it just a ‘would be nice but not essential‘. I am open to getting one, but am interested to see if others found it really useful, thanks, Alan - based in UK and field is History - pure research with no classes

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[u/nathie5432]

You can annotate papers on MacBooks’s preview, but no doubt reading and annotating is 100x easier on an iPad. I wouldn’t say it is essential, but productivity is definitely higher. I imagine the next step up after the iPad, if you want to remain in the Apple ecosystem, would be the new foldable iPhone which will support annotation through the pencil soon. Very expensive tho

[u/Abject-Asparagus2060 → u/nathie5432]

Bought an iPad just before the PhD and I pretty much only use it for reading, which is a lot. Being able to annotate with the Apple Pencil is really helpful. Any time I have to read on my MacBook if I’ve left my iPad at home or something it’s total torture. A tablet is honestly a really important investment even if it’s not iPad if you can set up a decent syncing system

[u/fleemfleemfleemfleem]

I've had a couple of ipads over the years and they mostly ended up unused. I'd rather print and annotate with a pen, and take notes with a notebook. A $75 15 inch portable monitor makes a better second screen for a macbook. Macbook airs are so light now that there isn't much travel advantage for conferences and things.

In my experience tablets are good for content consumption; great for youtube when on a couch or sitting in bed, or reading books or PDFs you don't need notes on. They're compromised for anything that requires input.

[u/Double-Hall7422]

That is an absolute essential for me (I have a windows laptop and a Samsung galaxy tab, but it works the same). I set up a system where I put articles in Zotero om my laptop, read and annotate them in the Zotero app on my tablet, take all my other notes (typed, written, slides, links, etc) in OneNote, and everything synchs in real time on my laptop. I then have a Word plug-in for OneNote and Zotero. So I can cite while I write in Word, and check my notes and incorporate them if needed.

If that makes sense. Couldn't have done that without my tablet. 

Edit; I synch my tablet with my laptop trough OneDrive. 

[u/Sad-Restaurant4399 → u/Double-Hall7422]

How do you make sure that the files are synced between your laptop and tablet over Zotero? I've been having trouble with that...

[u/Double-Hall7422 → u/Sad-Restaurant4399]

Sorry I can't write down an instruction manual here 😅. But there's a couple of different ways you can do this, and I synch them trough OneDrive. Zotero has instructions online on how to do this, and there's YouTube video's on it as well

[u/lake_huron]

Maybe just get an additional monitor?

[u/Acheleia]

I loved my iPad for courses where the professor used PowerPoints. I could take a picture of the PowerPoint projection on the iPad and take notes right on the picture with an Apple Pencil. Made my note taking a LOT easier and revision was much more efficient because everything was in one place.

[u/fernpolley]

I got a tablet alongside my laptop for my PhD. Mostly I use it for reading and annotating. I wouldn't call it essential but I personally find reading long articles or whole books on my laptop to be really miserable, so the tablet is nice to have.

[u/AceyAceyAcey]

If you’re in a field where you take a lot of notes by hand, or if you need more screen space via sidecar, then it’s useful.

[u/AlbatrossWorth9665]

I have the iPad Air and pencil. It’s great for annotations and sketching diagrams out before drawing them on the computer. I also use the Notability app which I find is better than Apple Notes plus it’s only about £18 per year.

[u/Broad_Poetry_9657]

Honestly iPad alongside my MacBook ended up being at best a second screen with sidecar. I enjoyed having the second screen on the go while writing my dissertation, but it’s a very expensive purchase for just living as a second screen. I bought it hoping it would be good for note taking in classes and seminars, and lighter to travel with than my laptop at conferences. I still have my M1 iPad, but its utilization over the course of my PhD was minimal. It does not function at all on the level of a computer, and writing on the iPad with the pencil sucks.

If you really want the hybrid utility setup the surface pro is just so much better for note taking with a pen, and then you will save money only buying one device. I prefer MacBooks for laptops in general, so that’s really only if you’re determined to handwrite. Surface was what I used before switching to a school issued Mac.

[u/CapableP3nguin]

Zotero with the Attanger plug in, set up so your files are in one drive and Zotero has links to the files.
I strongly recommend Obsidian to organize thoughts or make a Zettlekastan and Scrivener for writing assignments in.

[u/CapableP3nguin → u/CapableP3nguin]

If you like to hand write annotations, an iPad with Goodnotes is another strong recommendation

[u/jon-chin]

ipad + pencil is great for annotating

[u/Federal-Demand-2968]

I find an iPad invaluable. I download as much as I can onto Notability (app) and then annotate to my hearts content with an apple pencil. No printing required!!!

[u/ZachAttackonTitan]

If you’re taking classes, an iPad or a Remarkable is very useful. Once that is over, its usefulness diminishes a lot

[u/Abject-Asparagus2060 → u/ZachAttackonTitan]

Presumably they’ll still need to be reading while dissertating

[u/ZachAttackonTitan → u/Abject-Asparagus2060]

I do my reading on my laptop or phone. To each their own.

[u/Abject-Asparagus2060 → u/ZachAttackonTitan]

reading on a phone is diabolical I’m sorry 😂

[u/No_Vermicelli_636 → u/ZachAttackonTitan]

Thanks - no classes to take - in the UK it’s just pure research, but centrally reading a lot and taking lots of notes 

[u/ZachAttackonTitan → u/No_Vermicelli_636]

It really depends on how you like working. For me, I so my reading on my laptop mostly and my notes are either on paper or typed in my notes app. If it’s mostly just for reading and note taking, the remarkable or the kindle scribe would be a better fit and cheaper. The advantage of the iPad is really just sidecar and iCloud syncing at that point.

[u/Calm-Crazy-3377]

Got an Ipad mini since my undergrad years, and that was a life changer for me.

The ipad mini is light and the size feels like a real book. It has enough functions that I don’t need to carry my laptop all the time, but also portable enough to read and not get distracted much (always in do not disturb mood).