Road to buy an iPad

[elerouxx]

After seeing that Notion for iPad finally supports touch entry, I woke up this morning (I actually didn't sleep) with the strong determination of buying an iPad just because of Notion.

Executing such a plan involves more complex financial and emotional tasks. iPads are very, very expensive in Brasil.

IN the meantime, I'd like to know about other people's experience with different models of iPad. 16GB is enough?
What about the iPad mini? I'd really like the mini if it works good enough with a stylus.

I thank you in advance for your opinions!

EMi

[thorrild]

Hi Emilio,

I was in the same emotional state as you, but in my case it happened when Notion for iPad was released about 18 months ago. As a longtime Apple customer, I had been wondering why I should buy an iPad in the first place. I had my Mac and my iPhone, and I didn't need yet another device. Well, Notion became my excuse. Now I use the iPad more than my phone or my laptop.

My first iPad was an iPad 2 with 64 GB storage. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with Notion on it. Especially the limited number of instruments the processor could handle without stuttering annoyed me. When the iPad 3 came out, I thought it was too early to update, but when the retina iPad 4 came out a couple of months later, I couldn't resist and bought it, again with 64GB. I was able to sell my iPad2 to a friend, which helped with the finances.

Since the Notion app has been improved in so many ways, I now use it more and more, but always as a "little brother" to my desktop Notion program. I do all the detailed editing on my iMac and use the iPad mostly to check things when I am away from my office, and to make simple changes. I love that the iPad app will play back even the things you cannot yet create with it: Instrument changes on the same staff, complex repeats, and so on.

If you don't plan to store a lot of full length movies and such, I think you would be alright with 16GB of storage. I make good use of Dropbox, where I store all my current work so that I can get to it easily, both from my computer and my iPad. It also cuts down on the amount of storage I need on the iPad, since everything is "in the cloud."

I don't have any experience with the iPad Mini, but for my rather clumsy, big fingers, and my middle-aged eye sight, the regular iPad is already small enough. If you have the chance to try out the two models personally, you should be able to decide which model would suit you better. By the way, I believe the "big" iPad has a slightly faster processor (and more RAM for samples) than the mini. But I could be wrong.

With best wishes,
Thorrild

(On vacation, with only my iPad!)

[Wawoodman]

Like Thorrild, I'm quite happy with a 16GB iPad. I have the retina display, and I gave my iPad 1 to my sister, who appears to have it surgically grafted to her hand.

Unless you plan on storing a lot of movies, the 16 should be plenty.

And I highly recommend using a stylus. I have the Kensington Virtuoso.

[url]http://www.kensington.com/kensington/us/us/p/1450/K39538WW/virtuoso™-pro-stylus-fine-tip-stylus.aspx[/url]

[elerouxx]

Thank you guys! Your replies are very useful.

In fact, I am rethinking the iPad mini. The regular ipad isn't in any way huge or clumsy, and it's actually a bit small already, but just enough for reading notion or pdf music for practicing. Now I think the ipad mini will be just too small for those tasks.

I'm very happy with Notion on windows. I have two monitors, can open references or other scores in the other screen - it's a video and music workstation. I want the ipad to note ideas, port my work around to school and other places, make modifications. I think it will work very good!


As a side note, I have been an Apple customer for years. But about 10 years ago I got sick of their closed attitude - I had to buy specific SCSI scanners, ADB wacom tablets, things that were expensive, and then they got lost because of Apple having their own specificatioins and changing them at will. I'm a bit of a rebel regarding impositions, like not having a SD card slot, having to install iTunes in my PC, that sort of things. "we" (apple users) used to be the rebels, now "they" are the Empire! lol.

But right now I think different. Life is short. I'm 43, I'm diving into music, studying at the conservatory. Guys at Notion made a wonderful tool, it's ready to use. All I have to do is to buy an iPad, period.

[Wawoodman]

I started with Apple in 93, thanks to my son's insistence, switched to PC in about 2000, and came back to an iPhone and iPad about 3 years ago. I bought an iMac last year. Those old SCSI and ADB things are gone. Now, it's pretty much all USB. Yes, Apple still has some limitations, but overall, I'm delighted with how well everything works together.

I don't know about the iPad mini, though. Big hands, old eyes...

[elerouxx]

By the way both of you mentioned 'if you want to store lots of movies...'

Is it in any way related to notion? Or are you talking about my entertainment habits?

Does the iPad internal memory make a big difference in installing and using applications, as well of storing working files, in practice?

[Wawoodman]

No. As far as I know, the processor is identical in all of them. The only difference is storage.

[thorrild]

By the way both of you mentioned 'if you want to store lots of movies...'

Is it in any way related to notion? Or are you talking about my entertainment habits?

Does the iPad internal memory make a big difference in installing and using applications, as well of storing working files, in practice?

I was talking about your entertainment habits. Full length movies take up lots of storage space, typically over 1 GB each. If you get the Notion app and install the full sound expansion package, it takes up over 2 GB. The iPad's operating system probably occupies another 2 GB. You may not think that you are going to get a lot of apps, but they tend to add up. Here are some numbers from my iPad:

Number of videos: 28
Number of songs: 15 (because all my recordings are stored in iCloud)
Number of apps: 120 (most much smaller than Notion and its sounds)
Number of photos: 2911

My 64-GB iPad (which actually only has about 57 GB in capacity) is about two-thirds full. I try to be very judicious about what I store on it and what I leave on my iMac or in iCloud, or on Dropbox.

I found one source on the Internet which tells me that the iPad mini has an A5 processor and 512 MB RAM. The iPad 4 has an A6X processor and 1 GB RAM. I have to assume that 6 is faster than 5, and I think that the Notion app is very dependent on a speedy processor. And if you plan to play orchestral music, you'll need the full 1GB of RAM. For storage, just get as much as you can afford – but more is definitely better.

Best wishes,
Thorrild

[elerouxx]

Thanks again. And I have a further question...


One of the features I use most in Notion is the ability to change note values at will. I select a bunch of eight notes, hit the keys "= e" and they turn into eighths with a poof of magic dust.

Can the iPad version do that?

[Wawoodman]

I don't see a way. It's easy to change the duration of one note at a time, but I can't find a way to do it as a batch. Thorrild?