Going back to university as an iPad only user

[Brammy]

IMO that is NOT the point. The OP started this thread out stating pursuing an "iPad-only lifestyle". If using library/lab PC's on campus is part of that lifestyle, then that undermines the whole stated purpose. And if it is NOT iPad-only, then it would be prudent to take a step back and see if another device can serve the purpose better

Well, even staunch iPad folks like Federico still need a Mac. He is doing some video conversion for his article, and he uses one to record podcasts.

That said, a lot of schools have some sort of VDI solution where someone can remote into a thin client and upload files from there.

 

[David58117]

Oh you kids.

I was using an iPad for notes back with the iPad 2 and NoteTaker HD, with a regular stylus. You guys are spoiled with the Smart Keyboard / Apple Pencil, nowadays.

Although it seems to still be largely the same - the iPad is great for taking notes / writing on slides / reading, but you may need an actual computer for other tasks.

Good luck.

 

[mrklaw]

I'm curious how the different workflows would compare - in particular for things like revision
- paper : easily riffle through past notes, have tabs and sticky flags to highlight topics for easy reference. Can easily spread out and rewrite up notes, annotate existing ones etc.
- ipad : can't really 'browse' notes as easily, but can have good search capabiities if you've typed things up, have access to audio recordings of lectures if needed. But more difficult to annotate/rewrite up as you are working off one screen all the time.

 

[0989383]

I'm curious how the different workflows would compare - in particular for things like revision
- paper : easily riffle through past notes, have tabs and sticky flags to highlight topics for easy reference. Can easily spread out and rewrite up notes, annotate existing ones etc.
- ipad : can't really 'browse' notes as easily, but can have good search capabiities if you've typed things up, have access to audio recordings of lectures if needed. But more difficult to annotate/rewrite up as you are working off one screen all the time.

I actually had photos / screenshots / a web page open on one side of the screen to use for writing on the iPad. It’s multitasting is useful. I also had my iPhone as another small display

 

[jeremiah256]

For essays and written reports I’ll use Microsoft Word for ease of sharing with Windows users.

Also look at using Google Docs when working on projects where you are collaborating. Many universities provide free Google email accounts and it’s pretty easy to then download the finished product into Word for cleanup and submission.

 

[Synergie]

I use my iPad Pro for almost everything for my university study. Writing notes, watching lectures, reading/marking up PDFs, writing essays, etc..

There is only ONE thing that I can't do on my iPad Pro, and that's actually submit an assignment via TurnItIn. The webpage doesn't have scroll bars on the iPad for some reason, so I can't scroll down to the submit button! It's ridiculous, but that's the only thing I use my MacBook Pro for now. I wanted to sell it, but it seems I can't.

Hoping iOS11 Safari fixes the problem, but it's not likely.

Try Chrome and 'Request Desktop Site' or one of the other browsers available. I found sometimes Safari won't work but others will.

 

[0989383]

Two Week OP Update:

It’s been two weeks since I’ve been back at university now and using the iPad every step of the way. In no particular order, here’s some updated experiences from the field:

Light Weight
The iPad takes up much less space in my backpack!!! It’s smaller and lighter than most textbooks and in practice really lives up to the mobility you’d expect. I don’t even need to be extra careful setting down my backpack like I would with a laptop in feat of breaking the screen.. The fact it weighs less than my accounting text book and theoretically could hold thousands of those text books is a technological feat that we’ve grown to take for granted... well my spine is grateful. My 13” MBP last year was always a daily commitment “Will I bring it?” Only when needed. Though it had a sleek and thin profile it was still very heavy.

Work Load
I’ve had to start making revision notes based on my lectures (PowerPoint slides) and in some cases the lecturers upload videos of themselves talking through the PowerPoints. Thanks to multitasking on the iPad in class I’ve been able to take my notes - though rather than use Notability / OneNote as I planned to I’m finding it much easier to view the PowerPoint slides we’re going over and simply typing up notes in the ‘Notes’ section of PowerPoint. Then, later in the day I return to the slides on PowerPoint on the right side of my screen and Word onthe left to type up detailed notes that make it easier to revise content. The Picture-in-Picture ability to watch the spoken through recorded lectures as well as write up notes as well as look up tips in Safari has been excellent. Though there has been some issues: The small screen means I’m looking down and my neck is at a not great angle for extended periods. I’m focussing a bit too hard with split screen view which is tiring after a while having to zoom and pan a lot. Sometimes I’m finding myself throwing the PiP video around as I need to read or write. It’s not as ideal as say a 15.6” screen where you can have simpler minimising and overlaying Windows with more sheer real estate. This is an area that I’m not sure will ever be solved, at least not on the 9.7” as we know it. The 10.5 probably wouldn’t help much and the 12.9” will remain consistent so who knows if this will ever be solved on iOS. This is an honest experience for potential iPad only interested forum members so I’m not slamming the idea, just sharing my personal frustrations as well as positive experiences.

Power
What the iPad and iOS might lack vs say a Core i7 and its performance power, it makes up for with the kind of battery life only Apple ever seems to be able to deliver on. The battery has been phenomenal. Other than the latest Macs I wouldn’t say there’s many devices able to survive a work day as well as the iPad unless you spend Mac money on a PC.. I started the other day at 9.30 - making notes on Word with PowerPoint open. Then, at 10.15 until 1.15 constant screen on, Bluetooth keyboard note taking, slide following and iMessage in between sending. Then until 2.00 until literally 5.30 of Word, PowerPoint, Safari searches and constant PiP video feed on almost full brightness as I finished my last page of my write up, 4% battery. It’s unreal how this thing can survive an intense, long screen time on workload which involves switching apps, downloading remote content etc in random patterns. Certainly a cheap PC would have been tethered into the wall by noon. Though, as stated above it’d have it’s own other advantages.

Whilst the iPad is doing a great job, I did consider buying a MacBook Air or Windows laptop again to do work loads with more screen real estate. I know that’s a pretty bad thing to say given I’ve invested in the iPad only as well as really tried to sell the idea to others on here. And I think it can be done. I’ve spent the money and made the investment, so it’s looking like the iPad is here to stay for me. Because I think if I trade it for a cheap Windows laptop now I’ll just be too bothered by the poor battery, washed out screen, lack of integration with my Apple stuff.. whilst it would excel at my university work it would fail in almost every other category. A new Mac? If I bought one now I’d be tight for cash until January and my savings would take a pause so I’m resisting the idea. I also don’t think a MacBook Air is the best investment 2017 and the next MacBook up is a £300 additional commitment which is out of the question for me right now. I’m going to continue saving and by this time next year I should well be in the position to buy a new MacBook Pro - that’s if, from bearing an entire year on iPad I still want one. We’ll have seen iOS 12 in that time. I might have found solutions to my problems. Maybe developers have something up their sleeves?

Who knows.

 

[Mainsail]

OP, thanks so much for the update. I think it was very honest and insightful.

You are trying something new to you and somewhat different. I say "different" because the vast majority of College students probably use laptops. Someone has to explore, take chances, and stick their neck out a bit. So, if you ultimately find it isn't the right solution for you, I say "kudos" nonetheless for trying and pressing the envelope.

As for getting a Mac, there will be some great Black Friday deals pretty soon. If cash is tight, don't be afraid of a refurbished or older model MBA. My guess is that you will find more MBAs on campus then any other laptop.

 

[576316]

Yeah...you'd have to be on a pretty 'standard' or 'traditional' course to be able to just use an iPad. I'm a programming student and I make all of my lecture notes with my iPad mini 4 and OneNote. All coursework is done on my Windows build. Too many specialist programs and horsepower needed.

 

[Titus]

I'm a retired accounting professor at the university level. I taught 100% online for the last five or six years. My students were required to use Quickbooks Pro and Excel. We had labs on campus to access the software but most students bought the student version for their home computers.

I owned a CPA practice. We used Quickbooks, Excel, and proprietary software for auditing.

As far as college, I think your iPad will serve your needs for lectures and routine tasks very well.

 

[0989383]

OP, thanks so much for the update. I think it was very honest and insightful.

You are trying something new to you and somewhat different. I say "different" because the vast majority of College students probably use laptops. Someone has to explore, take chances, and stick their neck out a bit. So, if you ultimately find it isn't the right solution for you, I say "kudos" nonetheless for trying and pressing the envelope.

As for getting a Mac, there will be some great Black Friday deals pretty soon. If cash is tight, don't be afraid of a refurbished or older model MBA. My guess is that you will find more MBAs on campus then any other laptop.

Thanks, I’m quite glad to share the experience and am really trying to be honest about it as to not mislead anyone. One of my relatives talked me out of buying the Air, he said because I’m into technology it’d be a shame to not go the extra mile and go for that sleek new MacBook or MacBook Pro vs the 2010 Air. Though initially the Air personally seemed like a fantastic choice regardless of display or generation of processor! I think in a year’s time I’ll have enough money to buy any of them so hopefully I can hold out until then regardless. I’ll continue to post updates.

Yeah...you'd have to be on a pretty 'standard' or 'traditional' course to be able to just use an iPad. I'm a programming student and I make all of my lecture notes with my iPad mini 4 and OneNote. All coursework is done on my Windows build. Too many specialist programs and horsepower needed.

I certainly get that about programming! Unless you’re able to own more than one device to manage the work then iPad’S have a long way to go yet before being recommended! We can’t fully programme iOS apps on here yet let alone OSX let alone Windows C++ (i assume that’s what it’s centred around?) so fair point indeed! Nice to hear you use the iPad though as part of your studying. I do Accounting which is pretty much old school text book theory and written exams. Though in the real world there’s powerful analytics software and information management such as Sage I feel like we’re learning what the figures on the page are doing the old manual way first, so that when we go on to use Sage in the real world we can visualise what’s happening with the cash!

I'm a retired accounting professor at the university level. I taught 100% online for the last five or six years. My students were required to use Quickbooks Pro and Excel. We had labs on campus to access the software but most students bought the student version for their home computers.

I owned a CPA practice. We used Quickbooks, Excel, and proprietary software for auditing.

As far as college, I think your iPad will serve your needs for lectures and routine tasks very well.

QuickBooks - is that the online service that can do accounts for you that my classmates are joking will make our profession worthless within our lifetime?! Lol. So far, so good. It’s all written exams and theory. Though one of the UK Tax books which updates annually that we have to buy is around £38 .. eBook edition is £21... though it’s not your standard .ePub it’s some proprietary online or Adobe Desktop Software version of a book that won’t go well on the iPad. Certainly don’t want to make the investment to find out anyway!

I appreciate your comments as women who actually taught finance! CPA is the US version of our Chartered Accountant status, right?

 

[Mainsail]

I get it. I recently tried to go iPad (2017 gen 5) only as well. I kept my MBA and just mothballed it as an experiment. I am retired, but do some work in our family’s real estate business.....not nearly as demanding as being an accounting college student.

Anyway, I was pleased with how much I could do with the base iPad and a separate BT keyboard. However, there were times when I felt like I was forcing it. The MBA is just so much better at creating documents (writing, spreadsheets, and presentations). For document creation, MacOS with keyboard and trackpad is just way more efficient than iOS and touch.....even with a separate keyboard.

So, I am just going to use both devices. IPad for light productivity and casual content consumption. MBA for serious productivity and significant content creation. Why not? I spent less $800 on the MBA and $300 on the iPad. So together, they are still significantly less expensive than the cheapest rMB or MBP.

 

[dogslobber]

Nobody needs laptop or tablets for note taking. They are simply a waste of time and interrupt your attention span. The proper way to take notes is with pen and paper and rewrite them after class. There’s a reason you should always rewrite your notes and it’s nothing to do with your terrible handwriting.

Tablets should also be banned from grade school. Totally worthless and a waste of taxpayers money.

 

[0989383]

Nobody needs laptop or tablets for note taking. They are simply a waste of time and interrupt your attention span. The proper way to take notes is with pen and paper and rewrite them after class. There’s a reason you should always rewrite your notes and it’s nothing to do with your terrible handwriting.

Tablets should also be banned from grade school. Totally worthless and a waste of taxpayers money.

I think your username sums your reply up nicely.

 

[TheColtr]

There are majors that it’ll work for as your only device. This is actually my first semester of using iPad Pro only (I usually use my MacBook in conjunction with my iPad) for my major (crim) it works great because we don’t use any intensive programs. For people like engineering it is possible, but you’d need to have a computer you can remote into for using larger programs.
[doublepost=1507399381][/doublepost]

Nobody needs laptop or tablets for note taking. They are simply a waste of time and interrupt your attention span. The proper way to take notes is with pen and paper and rewrite them after class. There’s a reason you should always rewrite your notes and it’s nothing to do with your terrible handwriting.

Tablets should also be banned from grade school. Totally worthless and a waste of taxpayers money.

Couldn’t disagree more, I have struggled with writing most my life. With the iPad I don’t have to worry about how it looks, or how it’s organized because I can go back later and rewrite/organize my notes in a way that works for me.

 

[sparksd]

Nobody needs laptop or tablets for note taking. They are simply a waste of time and interrupt your attention span. The proper way to take notes is with pen and paper and rewrite them after class. There’s a reason you should always rewrite your notes and it’s nothing to do with your terrible handwriting.

Tablets should also be banned from grade school. Totally worthless and a waste of taxpayers money.

I disagree on the "nobody" - I have hand tremors and can't handwrite legibly at any decent speed even for myself.

 

[gim]

I‘m really happy to contribute to this discussion by telling my story.

When I started studying a few years back, I had nothing but an outdated iPhone 4 and an old gaming desktop PC.
I‘m a student of the humanities, and I quickly realized that a proper computing setup was key for optimizing my productivity. I never needed more than Word/Pages and a proper PDF application, but I never considered going iPad only, even though the first device I bought for my study was indeed an iPad Air 1. I read hundreds of PDFs on that thing while sitting comfortably on the sofa. A Laptop couldn’t have done that for me. The amount of reading for both my major and minor subject was always going to a problem for me, and the iPad solved that. But it never became more than that.

When the first long papers were due, I bought a MacBook Pro 15“, because neither the iPad nor the old gaming desktop I mentioned earlier would cut it. Too loud, too stationary...and the awful Windows 8 on top. The iPad on the other hand was too small and there was no full version of Word available back then.
The 15“ screen of the MBP was more than sufficient, until I had to write my 40 page Bachelor‘s thesis. I was juggling with dozens of PDFs and always had to use cmd+tab to switch between the windows, which costs more time than I imagined. I bought two adapters and hooked up the two old monitors I had on my old gaming rig. I‘m still grateful to have that shabby old 19“ 4:3 second screen exclusively for my sources/PDFs, while my main display is for Word only.

So what’s the moral of that story? I almost took the whole 3 years of my study to find my perfect computing setup, even though I didn’t have any special (software) needs. I may be a little spoiled now, but I would never even start to write a 30+ pages thesis without my dual monitor setup.

Can you study only with an iPad? Sure.
Should you? My answer is no.
No matter how basic your needs are, the iPad, with all its limitations (small screen, iOS etc.), is not a PERFECT all-in-one productivity solution. It‘s great for taking notes, reading and annotating PDFs, and doing some creative stuff with the new Apple Pencil, and that’s about it. If you accept its limitations, an iPad can be a powerful supplemental tool for your study. Effectively taking notes and reading PDFs was an essential part of becoming a successful student, at least that’s my experience.

 

[0989383]

I‘m really happy to contribute to this discussion by telling my story.

When I started studying a few years back, I had nothing but an outdated iPhone 4 and an old gaming desktop PC.
I‘m a student of the humanities, and I quickly realized that a proper computing setup was key for optimizing my productivity. I never needed more than Word/Pages and a proper PDF application, but I never considered going iPad only, even though the first device I bought for my study was indeed an iPad Air 1. I read hundreds of PDFs on that thing while sitting comfortably on the sofa. A Laptop couldn’t have done that for me. The amount of reading for both my major and minor subject was always going to a problem for me, and the iPad solved that. But it never became more than that.

When the first long papers were due, I bought a MacBook Pro 15“, because neither the iPad nor the old gaming desktop I mentioned earlier would cut it. Too loud, too stationary...and the awful Windows 8 on top. The iPad on the other hand was too small and there was no full version of Word available back then.
The 15“ screen of the MBP was more than sufficient, until I had to write my 40 page Bachelor‘s thesis. I was juggling with dozens of PDFs and always had to use cmd+tab to switch between the windows, which costs more time than I imagined. I bought two adapters and hooked up the two old monitors I had on my old gaming rig. I‘m still grateful to have that shabby old 19“ 4:3 second screen exclusively for my sources/PDFs, while my main display is for Word only.

So what’s the moral of that story? I almost took the whole 3 years of my study to find my perfect computing setup, even though I didn’t have any special (software) needs. I may be a little spoiled now, but I would never even start to write a 30+ pages thesis without my dual monitor setup.

Can you study only with an iPad? Sure.
Should you? My answer is no.
No matter how basic your needs are, the iPad, with all its limitations (small screen, iOS etc.), is not a PERFECT all-in-one productivity solution. It‘s great for taking notes, reading and annotating PDFs, and doing some creative stuff with the new Apple Pencil, and that’s about it. If you accept its limitations, an iPad can be a powerful supplemental tool for your study. Effectively taking notes and reading PDFs was an essential part of becoming a successful student, at least that’s my experience.

Thanks for sharing. Very honest and I appreciate that.

I’m seeing the same sort of problems in my experiment now too. My neck and eyes are getting sore of the 9” display despite what’s on screen being seemingly adequate - it’s not so ideal.

An iPad (non-Pro) issue to is the reflectivity. I ignored this and really underestimated the problems it would cause.. but boy, indoors, well lit as well as sitting near any windows during the day is doing my head in. There’s a clear image of the reflections. The iPad Air 2 and Pro don’t have this issue.. but let this be a warning to any other iPad productivity hopefuls out there. My experience is here for you to hopefully evaluate before suffering the problems!

 

[IamDave]

OP, appreciate you posting this as I was considering doing exactly the same for my second year at university, also in the UK (Paramedic Practice).

I already had a 12” MacBook but bought the 10.5” iPad as I missed having one and decided to “go digital”. I thought about trying to do everything on my iPad but thought to myself “I have a perfectly good MacBook that I don’t really want to sell. Why don’t I use the iPad as a supplement rather than replacement”. This is exactly what I’ve ended up doing.

I take notes in notability on the iPad with the pencil during lectures by creating a PDF of the presentations beforehand with note space at the side. I can then go back to them later and reread them or add to them. When I started my first assignment for my second year I used the iPad to display digital textbooks (bit of a pain as the system for downloading the book means you have to re-download it after a day) and notes/plans whilst searching for evidence and typing my assignment on the MacBook. If I found a journal on my MacBook I’d open in a PDF reader it using handoff on my iPad for thorough reading/markup later.

There’s plenty of other things and all my personal usage but I’ve found it to be a very handy companion device. Not sure my MacBook will be disappearing and that’s mainly because even though it’s not much bigger it’s nice to have the extra screen space. Plus I can connect it to my 23” monitor when I’m back home. In reality I probably could have gone iPad only with a 12.9” but I prefer the versatility of the 10.5” and just feel the former may be too big for actual tablet usage. That’s not to say that I may not reconsider going iPad only further down the line (still have an itch to get another Smart Keyboard as I returned the last one).

 

[0989383]

OP, appreciate you posting this as I was considering doing exactly the same for my second year at university, also in the UK (Paramedic Practice).

I already had a 12” MacBook but bought the 10.5” iPad as I missed having one and decided to “go digital”. I thought about trying to do everything on my iPad but thought to myself “I have a perfectly good MacBook that I don’t really want to sell. Why don’t I use the iPad as a supplement rather than replacement”. This is exactly what I’ve ended up doing.

I take notes in notability on the iPad with the pencil during lectures by creating a PDF of the presentations beforehand with note space at the side. I can then go back to them later and reread them or add to them. When I started my first assignment for my second year I used the iPad to display digital textbooks (bit of a pain as the system for downloading the book means you have to re-download it after a day) and notes/plans whilst searching for evidence and typing my assignment on the MacBook. If I found a journal on my MacBook I’d open in a PDF reader it using handoff on my iPad for thorough reading/markup later.

There’s plenty of other things and all my personal usage but I’ve found it to be a very handy companion device. Not sure my MacBook will be disappearing and that’s mainly because even though it’s not much bigger it’s nice to have the extra screen space. Plus I can connect it to my 23” monitor when I’m back home. In reality I probably could have gone iPad only with a 12.9” but I prefer the versatility of the 10.5” and just feel the former may be too big for actual tablet usage. That’s not to say that I may not reconsider going iPad only further down the line (still have an itch to get another Smart Keyboard as I returned the last one).

I think once invested in, if anybody had to choose yes the Mac would be the keeper.

Thanks for sharing your honest experiences and decisions.

My opinions of the iPad only lifestyle are quickly changing to favour a Mac gradually, and quite sadly to an optimistic and exciting experiment

 

[gim]

One thing I forgot: I recently handed my iPad Air 1 over to my girlfriend, who‘s also studying now.

Got an iPad Pro 10.5“ last week, it‘s a huge upgrade, no doubt. But I can‘t stop wondering if a Surface Pro would be the better solution for me. We kind of agree that the iPad is a great secondary device if you have a MacBook. But thinking about that, a Surface Pro could do it all (in theory), couldn’t it?

Taking notes (with the Surface Pen), reading/annotating PDFs in Tablet mode - no problem.
Using it as a laptop with the Type Cover - sure.
Connecting it to an external monitor for the big assignments - possible.

I know that I won‘t make any friends by talking about a Microsoft device here, but the Surface seems to check all the boxes, for which we‘d need a MacBook AND an iPad in the Apple universe (of which I‘m still a big fan, otherwise I wouldn’t be here).
Food for thought, I still have 10 days to return my iPad Pro.

 

[0989383]

One thing I forgot: I recently handed my iPad Air 1 over to my girlfriend, who‘s also studying now.

Got an iPad Pro 10.5“ last week, it‘s a huge upgrade, no doubt. But I can‘t stop wondering if a Surface Pro would be the better solution for me. We kind of agree that the iPad is a great secondary device if you have a MacBook. But thinking about that, a Surface Pro could do it all (in theory), couldn’t it?

Taking notes (with the Surface Pen), reading/annotating PDFs in Tablet mode - no problem.
Using it as a laptop with the Type Cover - sure.
Connecting it to an external monitor for the big assignments - possible.

I know that I won‘t make any friends by talking about a Microsoft device here, but the Surface seems to check all the boxes, for which we‘d need a MacBook AND an iPad in the Apple universe (of which I‘m still a big fan, otherwise I wouldn’t be here).
Food for thought, I still have 10 days to return my iPad Pro.

If you can live without the Apple ecosystem Windows 10 is fine. Though I missed it being so well clicked on with my phone iCloud natively. So it was a no from me, but many on here gladly use both.

Though many regard the Surface Pro at not being a great laptop versus other Windows machines for the money due to the keyboard cover and kick stand. Then others say it’s a poor tablet because Windows 10 even today is ‘not flawless’ in tablet mode and can, in tablet situations, be more hassle than an iPad.

But needless to say it’s a great device and I think Microsoft’s build quality is up there with Apples. It’s a different beast to any iPad though due to Windows.

It all comes down to your own preferences and opinions.

There’s lots of really die hard widows fans surprisingly on the ‘Alternatives to Mac’ section of the forum. Ironically, I became VERY criticised for criticising Windows on there more so than I ever have when criticising Apple when I had a MacBook Pro! Lol

 

[macgeek18]

I have an iPad Pro 12.9. I have been experimenting and have found it to be excellent device. It can not do everything I need as an IT guy. But I have the iPad and a MBA that fits my mobile needs perfectly. I have a brand new Ryzen build at home for any tasks the MBA and iPad can not handle. Nice write up and awesome to see what your doing with your iPad!

 

[macgeek18]

One thing I forgot: I recently handed my iPad Air 1 over to my girlfriend, who‘s also studying now.

Got an iPad Pro 10.5“ last week, it‘s a huge upgrade, no doubt. But I can‘t stop wondering if a Surface Pro would be the better solution for me. We kind of agree that the iPad is a great secondary device if you have a MacBook. But thinking about that, a Surface Pro could do it all (in theory), couldn’t it?

Taking notes (with the Surface Pen), reading/annotating PDFs in Tablet mode - no problem.
Using it as a laptop with the Type Cover - sure.
Connecting it to an external monitor for the big assignments - possible.

I know that I won‘t make any friends by talking about a Microsoft device here, but the Surface seems to check all the boxes, for which we‘d need a MacBook AND an iPad in the Apple universe (of which I‘m still a big fan, otherwise I wouldn’t be here).
Food for thought, I still have 10 days to return my iPad Pro.

Surface Pro is a nice device. I almost picked one up but couldn't justify it with having a MBA and iPad Pro. My next device in a year or two is probably going to be a 2-in-1.

 

[maflynn]

Surface Pro is a nice device. I almost picked one up but couldn't justify it with having a MBA and iPad Pro. My next device in a year or two is probably going to be a 2-in-1.

I had a surface pro (SP3), and now own a Surface Book. The SP is a really nice product, basically a tablet that can do laptop sort of things, and runs desktop quality apps.