Laptop or iPad for Uni?

[GrumpyOldBag]

DS's laptop is dying. He uses it a lot - mainly for watching football matches.

I am thinking of getting a new one myself so he could have my old one when he starts Uni - but wondered whether an iPad might be more useful to him recreationally?

Will he need a laptop for his studies? He's reading Maths.

[noblegiraffe]

Oh if you do your proofs as you go along in LaTeX then that counts as doing maths.

It's just weird

[noblegiraffe]

Incidentally, if sitting at a computer running reports and fiddling with calculations is 'doing maths', then I am a mathematician.

[BossyBitch]

He'll need a laptop for practically any degree. Latexxing is just one part - there's also the fact that a lot of software that may otherwise be required or even just come in handy simply won't run on an iPad.

Ask me about my experiences of Excel for iPad, I dare you!

[HotelEuphoria]

Laptop, no way on earth can you write 5000 words on an iPad.

[confused123456]

Laptop, for typing up assignments.
I know everyone is different, and the library will have computers, but I personally hated working in the library, so I did most of my assignments in my room, on my laptop.

[user7214743615]

Incidentally, if sitting at a computer running reports and fiddling with calculations is 'doing maths', then I am a mathematician.

No, you are not because you know perfectly well that academics doing research at computers are not sitting running reports and fiddling with calculations - they are using state of the art numerical methods, developing sophisticated mathematical modelling etc etc. And publishing research papers on their results, which may range from modelling the development of cancer cells to describing the beginning of the Universe. (Stephen Hawking is in a Maths department - and he has not been able to write for decades. His calculations are done in his head and then typed to communicate to others.)

I don't think you actually believe that all/most academics in a maths department these days are spending most of their research time doing pen and paper work; you must know that maths departments research more than pure maths.

[noblegiraffe]

Mere calculations of the grocery-bill variety. Of course they can be very good statisticians and physicists and so on.

And of course maths can be done in your head. Fermat's proof was too big to fit on the small margin of his page after all.

[sendsummer]

GrunpyOldBag. if your DS was lucky enough to have the new laptop rather than yourself I have several colleagues who very much like the Microsoft Surface Pro because of its dual functions


Many people on here advise students who are weak at writing to do maths degrees, on the grounds they won't have to do any writing

Let me know user7214743615 if you can point to a degree that requires less writing of prose than maths . I am not a professor of maths but I know several quite severe dyslexic (as well as of course non dyslexic) mathematicians who have achieved a first in undergraduate maths at top universities and had very little problems with any report writing including the computer modules. They would have struggled more with for example undergraduate engineering and biosciences. Postgraduate, it obviously helps to be a good 'scientific' writer to produce well explained mathematical research papers and reviews.

[Ttbb]

Why would he need an iPad for uni?

[blueskyinmarch]

I am starting back at uni as a mature student. I have a laptop but am thinking of getting an iPad Pro with keyboard as well for note taking etc. My DH has one as his work computer and uses it all the time for report writing as well as e mails and stuff. He loves it.

[GrumpyOldBag]

Thank you all for the advice.

I think we'll be getting a new MacBook as that's what DS currently uses.

[user7214743615]

Mere calculations of the grocery-bill variety. Of course they can be very good statisticians and physicists and so on.

Ok, I do know that you are trying to be provocative but if you genuinely believe this then please (as an advisor to A level maths students) educate yourself. A significant fraction of Fields medals have been awarded to applied mathematics/mathematical physics. Trying to pretend that this isn't real maths just because you don't know what it is just isn't fair to your students.

[noblegiraffe]

That's your opinion. However you should also be aware that dismissing me as 'not a mathematician' is also an opinion.