Grad Student in search of perfect digital inker

April 4, 2012 7:16 PM

Tablet or Digitizer that works responsively with MS OneNote v2007 or 2010? Heading to grad school in the fall. My memory recall is much better when taking notes by hand and besides I have some math classes that will cover expressions that don't lend themselves to typing on a keyboard. Years ago had a fujitsu convertible laptop provided by a past employer that worked great when in tablet mode for digitizing handwriting using the stylus but I'm not so keen on purchasing one now as I don't want to outlay that much cash. I could either go for a digitizer - something like the WaCom Bamboo (but NOT the WaCom bamboo as its got known issues with OneNote) or even a full tablet that can do inking and supports OneNote. It seems like the new rage of tablets that Apple ushered in don't do much with digital ink (its all touchy feely touch screens now) and are better suited for consuming content then creating it. Your experience and advice? Difficulty: Budget under $700
posted by TestamentToGrace to computers & internet (8 answers total)

Lots of great tools have been released for the iPad for exactly this: Evernote, Skitch, and Paper are all very capable.
posted by Oktober at 7:23 PM on April 4, 2012

I don't understand what you mean by "digital ink". Do you want it to convert your handwriting to typewritten text?

If not, my husband uses his iPad to both write research notes and to give lectures (instead of writing on a chalkboard). He's a mathematician, so there's lots of mathematical notation. But it's not magically LaTeXed from the handwriting or anything.

I believe his preferred app is NoteShelf.
posted by leahwrenn at 7:50 PM on April 4, 2012

Oh, if you do go the iPad route, get a decent stylus.
posted by leahwrenn at 7:50 PM on April 4, 2012

Yes, i mean I want to use Microsoft's OneNote feature to digitize text I've written through OCR. And even when I don't mind leaving the notes in my handwriting, I want them in OneNote. I have no interest in iPAD and have been told many times that the digital inking on iPAD is not so great - take a look at this article here for details: http://activeink.typepad.com/active_inks_blog/2011/09/n-trig-vs-wacom-the-digitizer-wars.html.
posted by TestamentToGrace at 7:59 PM on April 4, 2012

Check out the hp tm2t series convertibles (somewhat recently discontinued)...i believe they make them up to core i7 (they def made an i5)...i got mine on ebay while they were still being made for 600, including the external dvd-rw...it runs windows 7, has a 12" wacom screen, and has dual graphics cards and a bajillion ports.
Also...be sure to check out the (also recently discontinued) htc flyer 7"tablet (just got it and LOVE IT!!!)...with ntrig stylus, 1.5ghz processor, android...super portable, long battery life, and insanely easy to use...under 300 with stylus on ebay...the 360 case is a must-have if you go that route...
Havent used onenote myself (use both mainly for graphics/drawing), but the handwriting recognition baked into win7 (on the tm2t) works really well when.ive played around with it and it should run onenote without problems (the wacom screen is well integrated with windows...any issues with the bamboo prob arent applicable...it works with every program ive tried...its handy for navigation and selection) and with its 500gig hd theres plenty of storage...with the flyer idk...there is a onenote app in the android market but it seems text only...mainly for phones...but look around...theres prob an ocr app in the android market somewhere...the 'notes' app is super responsive tho for handwriting, and it is pressure sensitive and really accurate...just as good as wacom imo....(just read that article...yeah the wacom miiiight be a bit better, but the difference is really marginal)
With your budget (esp if u went with the core2duo tm2t like mine) and some savvy ebaying, its quite possible you could get both...one for yr backpack and one for your (coat) pocket. :)
Also yeah...the ipad is crap or worse for what you want to do, and and even the bamboo tablet is going to be a hot mess...you need something you can write directly on. Samsung is coming out with a 10.1" galaxy note, prob for 700 or less, but not til the late summer or fall...
Ive also heard some good things about the asus thinkpad...the place to see all these in action is youtube.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:29 PM on April 4, 2012

(writepad seems like the best android app for handwriting recognition...$10)
posted by sexyrobot at 10:48 PM on April 4, 2012

You may want to take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Note, as well. It's a small tablet / large phone with a special, sharp-tipped stylus for improved handwriting capabilities. This, coupled with EverNote or Skitch might be an excellent combination for note-taking. It's a phone, as well, so you could kill the phone and tablet birds with one stone.
posted by syzygy at 12:00 AM on April 5, 2012

I use a HTC flyer for school. I love it. Easy to mark up PDFs. Handwriting works really well
posted by mattoxic at 5:09 AM on April 5, 2012