I’m an adamant notebook user, so my room filled with notebooks new and old, some empty, some filled to the brim with any and everything.

I tried to start a paperless system over my last semester with my laptop, a surface pro 7. However, with a 12.3” screen, my surface pro was sized more like a large sketchbook than a notebook for on the go. Although I did use my laptop to draw, it was only convenient when I had a table to sit down at. The surface pro is great for anyone looking for a laptop that is like the tablet, however, it is just as heavy as a laptop. Although Windows is great for productivity, the windows store is quite limited when it comes to decent notetaking applications.

This is when I decided I wanted an iPad. I needed something that was easy to carry, had good options for productivity, lots of storage, and solid battery life. Although I didn’t want it to be a replacement for my laptop, I wanted it to be useful for whenever I need to make quick changes to anything.

Notetaking and Creative Work

The iPad is very lightweight and has been great to bring with me between classes and to use during downtime. The apps I've used the most are procreate and goodnotes.

As a designer, I use a lot of Adobe apps. For drawing and digital art, I would use Adobe fresco. However, it would always freeze up and didn't have many features.

Procreate has been great to use. When I had to use my laptop to draw, I wouldn't want to go through the process of setting everything up and dealing with overheating or program stalling. Now, whenever I want to do a quick sketch or edit something it's nice and easy to do from anywhere. I'm still learning new settings and adjusting to the apple pencil.

Goodnotes is another great app. I've always wanted to bullet journal and goodnotes makes it much easier. Anytime I want to create a new spread or rearrange pages, I can. They have great features that are helpful for notetaking and annotating. Although the app is still lacking in some features, it's still great for productivity.

Other Features

The iPad Air is also great for streaming, with plenty of apps available through the app store. My favorite feature is the picture-in-picture option that allows me to minimize video and float over apps. It's really handy for when I'm drawing or taking notes but I want to watch a video. However, to use the feature with YouTube, you have to use Safari instead of the YouTube app itself.

Accessories

When it comes to the iPad, there are an endless amount of accessories available for purchase. I knew that I needed a screen protector and a solid case, because I tend to drop things at random. There were plenty of options, but I knew that I wanted everything to have a similar green color.

I left links to all of my accessories below, including the apple pencil. Although I use the apple pencil, I don't think it's necessary to have it specifically, especially since the newer model costs $100. But, I would definitely recommend purchasing some sort of stylus if you plan to get an iPad Air. Although it isn't necessary, I know that for me, I would have been very limited if I didn't have one. But it all depends on what your primary use is for your iPad Air.

Just looking at my screen time and app usage, you can tell that I definitely make use of the iPad. I would recommend an iPad for anyone that is looking to switch to a paperless routine, or needs to be productive on the go.