Firs off, answer the poll, I'm curious.

So my question is:

I'm considering buying an iPAD and replace it as my notebook, pdf reader and internet browser, for university. I will no longer spend money on paper notebooks, printing PDF's and I'll save on electricity since I no longer need a light on for seeing what I'm writing down.

But I've read on recent reviews that it doesn't support multitask.

This means I can't have an App open, let's say a notebook app for writing stuff, and having a PDF reader open at the same time, while having music in the background or something ??

It would be perfect, very portable and classy. Look at this:

Damnn !

NO no no, for a university you need an actual laptop or netbook, an ipad is just sort of an extra if you have a computer already. If you don't it's the most worthless pile of junk you can buy.

Yes I have a laptop, but I don't like to be sitting in front of it, looking at it and then having a paper notebook by my side and writing stuff down on it and having my study material all spread across.

With the iPAD everything would be in the same easy to access, clean and intuitive place.

My question stands though.

They'll probably release a newer version early next year given they are on a yearly refresh cycle. Chances are that multi-tasking will be available then.

I don't and I won't buy one. I never even had a laptop. I just don't get that market in all honesty.

On multitasking:

iOS 4 is coming to iPad sometime in November, and it will bring the same multitasking functionality that the iPhone already has to the iPad. Right now, you can listen to music in almost any app (some will kill the iPod app in favour of their own audio), but you wouldn't be able to flip between a notes app and a pdf reader, as in your example. That said, there are quite a few apps which will let you annotate pdf files, and jumping between apps is often so fast that I don't miss having multiple open windows.

On writing with the iPad:

The on-screen keyboard is more capable than I thought it would be, once you learn a few tricks, but I wouldn't want to write a term paper on it. I use it to take notes in meetings, type up e-mails, and post on the internet, but for really serious writing, you need a really serious keyboard. You can use Apple's keyboard dock or a bluetooth keyboard for this, but at that point you lose a lot of the iPad's portability advantage. iPad should work fine for research, notes, and playing around with ideas, but once you're ready to sit down and type up a report, you might find yourself wanting a more conventional computer.

I've heard of some people who use the iPad like a second display while writing. They prop it up next to a desktop and use it to pereuse a web page or pdf while typing up text on their main machine. I'm not much of one for dual screens, so I can't personally vouch for how effective this is.

The multitask function will come with the next OS release sometime this month but it will likely come at the expense of battery life. Though youd still get  a really long charge with how it is now.

The iOS4 update is coming out soon which will enable Multitasking like the iPhone 4.

Good old Steve Jobs said it himself.

iPad makes a great notetaker, but a poor wordprocessor. I've used it to take notes in many environments, and it works surprisingly well. It would have served me perfectly when I was at university, especially as there are several apps designed for univeristy life and lecture notes. For me, the device is spot-on for my needs barring the lack of multi-tasking, and that will, to an extent, be resolved soon.

I expected to hate it -- I bought one for my wife for her birthday, not for myself, and not because I wanted it -- and my hate has been proven as completely misplaced. It's a great wee machine, and all the better if you have an iPhone/Pod as you can use many of the apps on all devices.

Well I'm not willing to use the keyboard. I mean writing stuff down, like, actually writing like in a notepaper.

Anyone has a clue of the battery life of the thing with the new multitask OS?