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  #16  
Old 05-21-2018, 01:30 PM
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Jim Owen Jim Owen is offline
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Congrats on the graduation, and good on you for thinking of a useful gift.

Porkpieguy (who is a college teacher) has a good point about Office—and others have pointed out that a full size keyboard is a must for writing papers.

Students at my uni pay a tech fee—and for that fee get to download MS Office to a couple of devices. So before you bite that bullet, check any discounts students may get.
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  #17  
Old 05-21-2018, 03:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw View Post
My daughter has an Apple phone, but a windows laptop.

She will be starting college this fall with music as her major. I love my little iPad mini, use if for my crappy videos and multi-tracking in Garageband.

She is more into opera, theater and classical stuff.

I just don't know if tablets are the best tool for college kids, or if they drag laptops around or use the Chromebooks.

I can't ask her because that would blow the surprise ()

Enlighten me.....
Well it's a great gift and especially with the Keyboards that can be used with them. That said you might also want to think about a Mackbook Air for close to the same price . I cant see going wrong with either one really . But not knowing what her corses might involve, and looking forward a small laptop might have more overall use.
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  #18  
Old 05-21-2018, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Shoreline Music View Post
My youngest is in high school, and she uses an iPad Pro exclusively. She paid for it with her own money, although we did pitch in for the keyboard. She uses the highly functional Apple pen for drawing—it's her favorite leisure time activity—and the nifty Apple keyboard is also a must; that thing is water resistant (it has already resisted at least one cup of coffee, unlike the keyboard on my last laptop!). For my purposes, I currently rely heavily on legacy apps on my laptop for photo and video editing, but when this thing finally dies, I'm strongly considering making the leap to the iPad pro myself. This would complement ditching my smartphone for a Lightphone 2 rather nicely, I think.

I have two in college and one in high school, and no one uses Microsoft Word anymore, even if they have full-featured laptops (as my older ones do). Google Docs gives them access on any device in any location, with easy collaboration and editing, and nearly all assignments are turned in electronically these days.

All this to say, I think that would be an awesome gift. You can get a Macbook Air for around the same price, but if your daughter is anything like mine, she'll be happier with the iPad Pro.
This is interesting to me,re the no one use MS Word anymore. All thru school my daughter used Google Docs,but now that she's in college it's strictly Word.
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Old 05-21-2018, 07:00 PM
Dirk Hofman Dirk Hofman is offline
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This is interesting to me,re the no one use MS Word anymore. All thru school my daughter used Google Docs,but now that she's in college it's strictly Word.
Weird. I haven't seen anyone use it in maybe 10 years in the workplace. I hope they're at least using the online version.
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  #20  
Old 05-21-2018, 07:59 PM
GCWaters GCWaters is offline
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I teach at a state university....virtually all faculty/staff in my college use Word, as do the students...it’s free as long as you’re affiliated with the university. I see maybe one paper per year turned in on google docs....
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  #21  
Old 05-21-2018, 08:23 PM
ManyMartinMan ManyMartinMan is offline
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First an iPad Pro 12.9" is a wonderful tool for many things. In addition to most Apple products, I enjoy my Pro with an attached bluetooth keyboard that makes it a touch-screen computer.

Next, it's time to speak to the university's tech department. Many schools have very specific computer requirements and either have discounted computer purchasing available or Apple certainly has student discounts. If the school does require a specific computer platform, maybe that would be the gift to purchase. If not, the iPad would almost certainly be appreciated.

Last edited by ManyMartinMan; 05-21-2018 at 08:30 PM.
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  #22  
Old 05-22-2018, 12:25 AM
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Apple is discontinuing the MacBook Air--the basic MacBooks are as light and slim, more powerful and will probably support more future MacOS upgrades. You can get one fairly reasonably with either 1 or 2 USB-C ports. (I suggest getting at least 2 such ports, because they're the only way to charge the battery as well as serving for peripherals. You can get "dongles" to connect std. USB peripherals).

My former setup was a 15" MBPro at home and an 11" MBAir for travel (with a Mini 3 as an e-reader). The Air's small font size drove me nuts (if you zoom, you lose screen "real estate" and get fuzzier type). I switched to a 13" MBPro with TouchBar and 4 USB-C ports to use both at home & on the road, and it's MUCH easier on the eyes and fingertips than the Air was. But I soon got nervous about the possibility of it breaking or getting stolen while on the road. And with its protective shell it's still heavier than I'd like, especially slipped into a brieftote or the computer compartment of my Voyage-Air case. And since much of my travel involves taking notes at seminars, I had to add a legal pad or notebook as well.

So I thought I'd combine functions. I have an older iPad Air, but it doesn't hold a charge as well as it used to, and with a BT keyboard case it's not stable enough to use on my lap in a hotel room bed (and sometimes even on a desk). And the keyboard, folio and iPad were nearly as heavy as an MB Air. When the new 9.7" iPad came out, I liked the Apple Pencil compatibility, but it would still have the same problem that the Air did when using a BT keyboard & case (which I'd planned to use with the new one).

Went to an Apple Store and tried all 3 options: "new" iPad 9.7" with my keyboard case & folio; 10.5" iPad Pro with the Apple Smart Keyboard (no BT nor battery needed, ultralight, magnetically attaches to the tablet and doubles as a cover); and the 12" iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard. The 12" felt like overkill. No contest--the 10.5-incher with the Smart Keyboard hit the sweet spot. The Smart Keyboard leaves the metal back uncovered, but I got a clear snap-on ultralight back protector with a slot for the Apple Pencil. (Get a rubber slip-on tether accessory to hold the charging-plug cap and the Lightning cable adaptor--the tether is about $5 and allows use of a Lightning-to-USB cable & little wall charger to charge the pencil instead of having it sticking out the bottom of the iPad, which has a single Lightning port. Using a separate cable & charger allows you to charge both the pencil and the iPad).

And unlike the newer iPhones (7 & 8 series & X), it has a normal mic/headphone jack.

After 2 trips (Rome, Boston) using it to replace both the old Mini 3 and a laptop, I couldn't be happier. I used the pencil to take notes, and it felt like writing on a legal pad. The Smart Keyboard for that model is a bit smaller and lacks some function keys (notably Esc), but those functions are performed by touching the screen. It has a dedicated Emoji key which my palm sometimes annoyingly brushes if I'm using it on my lap (I hate Emojis), but all in all it's the perfect solution--and much lighter than my MBAir was. I especially like that I can fold the cover back and use it as just a tablet or e-reader, take notes with the Pencil, and use it as an almost-laptop when I need it to.
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Last edited by Chicago Sandy; 05-22-2018 at 12:32 AM.
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  #23  
Old 05-22-2018, 04:44 AM
Murphy Slaw Murphy Slaw is offline
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Thanks for the kind words, all.

As I mentioned in the OP, she already has a laptop, albeit a PC.

I just pulled the trigger on the iPad 10.5 pro from the Apple store. We can go to Best Buy this weekend and pick up a smart keyboard and pencil, I'll split those with her, she needs some pain in the game......

High School has been all Google Docs, and with enough iCloud Storage she'll have "Pages" as well.

I guess we could buy "Word" if needed, but she's never mentioned it ever.

Actually, I didn't think a music major would even have to write much........
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  #24  
Old 05-22-2018, 08:20 AM
Dirk Hofman Dirk Hofman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GCWaters View Post
I teach at a state university....virtually all faculty/staff in my college use Word, as do the students...it’s free as long as you’re affiliated with the university. I see maybe one paper per year turned in on google docs....
Super interesting, thanks. I wonder if Microsoft has some deal with the university. How do kids turn them in? Email? Link or attachment?
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  #25  
Old 05-22-2018, 11:26 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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iPad Pro with pencil and keyboard should do the trick. Be ready to spend $1300+ for the whole deal unless you go minimal storage space. For college, I’d think you should go with the highest storage available.

If she doesn’t mind Microsoft, then I must say that the Surface Pro does offer more than an iPad Pro (runs on desktop OS and that alone is a huge advantage) for a bit cheaper.
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  #26  
Old 05-22-2018, 02:42 PM
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Oh, for those still on the fence, I would advise popping for the cellular version. Yeah, it's more expensive and one more monthly bill to pay, but if secure wi-fi (or any wi-fi) is unavailable on the fly she wouldn't have to burn through her cellphone's data plan using the phone as a wi-fi hotspot. That's my one regret--I got the wi-fi-only version.

Those little white rubber adaptors I mentioned are available on Amazon (mine is made by Fintie), and invaluable--even if you get just the end-cap "leash" it'll save you a lot of grief because users report the end-cap's magnetic closure isn't as secure as it should be, and you don't want the pencil's Lightning connector exposed & vulnerable. Maybe Best Buy has them (but don't hold your breath). And the Apple Pencil and SmartKeyboard are the same price everywhere. (With a student discount, she can get the Logitech Crayon much more cheaply--it's available only for the education market, which I assume includes students as well as teachers & schools). As for capacity, 128GB wasn't available and 64 is no more than what my phone has, so I went for the 256GB version. All told, I paid less than I did when I bought my 128GB MBAir in 2013.

SanDisk also makes Lightning jump drives.
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  #27  
Old 05-22-2018, 03:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw View Post
...I just pulled the trigger on the iPad 10.5 pro… Actually, I didn't think a music major would even have to write much........
Good choice. A great many musicians are using the iPad Pro or a somewhat similar Android tablet in place of a music stand - pianists, orchestra and jazz players, vocalists, composers. It can be a very handy tool in many ways. But if you thought music students don't need to write much, I think you will be in for a Big Surprise!

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  #28  
Old 05-22-2018, 04:23 PM
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Anyone know of a foolproof mic stand iPad holder? I bought one a few years ago so poorly constructed that the screws & holes were misaligned.
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  #29  
Old 05-22-2018, 04:47 PM
Murphy Slaw Murphy Slaw is offline
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so I went for the 256GB version.
That's what I got her, but it's just Wi-Fi. She may have to work in her dorm.......
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  #30  
Old 05-22-2018, 04:49 PM
Murphy Slaw Murphy Slaw is offline
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Originally Posted by cotten View Post
Good choice. A great many musicians are using the iPad Pro or a somewhat similar Android tablet in place of a music stand - pianists, orchestra and jazz players, vocalists, composers. It can be a very handy tool in many ways. But if you thought music students don't need to write much, I think you will be in for a Big Surprise!

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