Laptop/Tablet for note taking with Smartpen

aaabbbb

I have a smart pen for college like this: http://www.livescribe.com/en-ca/smartpen/echo/ that I use for taking notes.

The only downside to the pen I've found was that you are limited to using the dot matrix paper and since many of my lecture notes come with pre-prepared slides its really not ideal.

I've tried using the special paper to print the pre prepared lecture slides but the result wasn't great really.

Ideally what I want is to get a tablet (but would consider a touch screen laptop too) that I can use to write directly onto the lecture slides on the tablet using the smartpen.

First off does anyone know if using the smartpen/tablet combo is actually possible ?

What app do I need ?

All I can find on the app store is this which isn't really what I'm looking for: http://www.livescribe.com/en-ca/smartpen/echo/

Secondly what tablet will do this ? Any recommendations?

Other than taking/reading notes the tablet would be only really used for web browsing,checking emails and maybe some small amounts of video streaming. As I already have a laptop for other stuff.

Would need to be ultra portable (as tablets generally are) but with a reasonably generous display with taking and reading notes in mind and also have a superb battery life.

I don't really have a budget as such yet as I'm planning on saving for it over summer (basically I need an idea of how much I should save)

Also will probably be buying it in one of the major retailers here as opposed to online.

Overheal

The Microsoft Surface Pro is the perfect choice. Several models to choose from now, 1st 2nd and 3rd gens. 3rd is getting high praise.

timetogo

The Galaxy Note range can do this too.

If your notes are in PDF format you can use an app called ezPDF to make notes on your PDF documents.

Actually, after watching the video below you can do it on normal Android tablets too. You just need to buy a pen. The pen with the Note range is much finer though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrntS5kc8h4

If your notes aren't in PDF then I'm not sure if you can do it with Androids. You could convert them to PDF on a PC but then it starts getting messy.

aaabbbb

Overheal wrote: »

The Microsoft Surface Pro is the perfect choice. Several models to choose from now, 1st 2nd and 3rd gens. 3rd is getting high praise.

Will they work with the smartpen though ?

timetogo wrote: »

The Galaxy Note range can do this too.

If your notes are in PDF format you can use an app called ezPDF to make notes on your PDF documents.

Actually, after watching the video below you can do it on normal Android tablets too. You just need to buy a pen. The pen with the Note range is much finer though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrntS5kc8h4

If your notes aren't in PDF then I'm not sure if you can do it with Androids. You could convert them to PDF on a PC but then it starts getting messy.

I have a smart pen that I want to use with the tablet for taking notes (the smartpen records audio and syncs it to what you are writing with the pen at the time) so buying another different pen would defeat the purpose

Also not all of my lecturers use pdfs for their notes. Some are in word and others use powerpoint. I could change them but that would get messy.

Overheal

aaabbbb wrote: »

Will they work with the smartpen though ?

of course, it comes with it's own.

I have a smart pen that I want to use with the tablet for taking notes (the smartpen records audio and syncs it to what you are writing with the pen at the time) so buying another different pen would defeat the purpose

Also not all of my lecturers use pdfs for their notes. Some are in word and others use powerpoint. I could change them but that would get messy.

Your pen only works on your paper and that company makes no PC counterpart in aware of.

You can use OneNote on the surface to record audio, even video, as you take notes (though in practice video capture and writing are mutually exclusive. Typing works well though) it will not sync with your note timing as you say, but in the few lectures I've toyed with audio recording I just always write Timestamps at regular intervals in my notes, so I know where the audio was when I wrote it.

Obviously, the surface is fully compatible with office and yeah in practice it will eliminate the need to use your laptop but you are free to carry both of course. Note the Pro comes with the Pen and PC capabilities but the office suite is not included. Most institutions offer it free though or microsoft sells it to students for a reasonably low price - $80 for a 4-yr 2-device subscription. And that includes access to the future Office 2016

timetogo

aaabbbb wrote: »

Will they work with the smartpen though ?

Ah I know what you mean now. I'm not sure if what you want exists. The tablets mentioned (Surface, Galaxy Note) come with their own pens for the screens, you can't just use any brand pen, so I've no idea if they'd work.

Wouldn't be hard to try though. Take it into a PC World etc and try it out on their tablets.

I think you'll probably need to do some file conversions no matter what platform you use. E.g. if you get powerpoint files I'd imagine that Powerpoint isn't expecting input from a pen so you'll have to do some messing about.

Here's a second vote for OneNote for Windows. I'm pretty sure you can copy many files into a note and then write all over them.

If you ever went Android there is an app that'd probably do some of the job for you.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acadoid.lecturenotestrial

It has a plugin that allows you to record audio to the app as you take your notes. It'd be dependent on the microphone in the tablet though so you'd probably need to be sitting close to the lecturer.

Overheal

it will 200% guaranteed not work.

Also incorrect about Office: 2013 supports pen and touch in its apps (Word, Powerpoint, etc) as an example my instructor regularly writes algebra by hand on the projector, on top of his powerpoint slides, right through PPT2013

When the office program detects touch or pen input devices are installed on the PC an Inking tab appears on the ribbon.

Rucking_Fetard

Why you should take notes by hand — not on a laptop

Walk into a college lecture these days and you'll see legions of students sitting behind glowing screens, pecking away at keyboards.

Presumably, they're using the computers to take notes, so they better remember the course material. But new research shows that if learning is their goal, using a laptop during class is a terrible idea.


It's not just because internet-connected laptops are so distracting. It's because even if students aren't distracted, the act of taking notes on a computer actually seems to interfere with their ability to remember information.

Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer, the psychologists who conducted the new research, believe it's because students on laptops usually just mindlessly type everything a professor says. Those taking notes by hand, though, have to actively listen and decide what's important — because they generally can't write fast enough to get everything down — which ultimately helps them learn.

Same goes for taking pics of important stuff, studies show the person taking the pics remember very little of the event they are snapping.

Overheal

thats not what we're talking about. Hand writing notes. which supports learning.

Overheal

aaabbbb wrote: »

I have a smart pen for college like this: http://www.livescribe.com/en-ca/smartpen/echo/ that I use for taking notes.

The only downside to the pen I've found was that you are limited to using the dot matrix paper and since many of my lecture notes come with pre-prepared slides its really not ideal.

I've tried using the special paper to print the pre prepared lecture slides but the result wasn't great really.

Ideally what I want is to get a tablet (but would consider a touch screen laptop too) that I can use to write directly onto the lecture slides on the tablet using the smartpen.

First off does anyone know if using the smartpen/tablet combo is actually possible ?

What app do I need ?

All I can find on the app store is this which isn't really what I'm looking for: http://www.livescribe.com/en-ca/smartpen/echo/

Secondly what tablet will do this ? Any recommendations?

Other than taking/reading notes the tablet would be only really used for web browsing,checking emails and maybe some small amounts of video streaming. As I already have a laptop for other stuff.

Would need to be ultra portable (as tablets generally are) but with a reasonably generous display with taking and reading notes in mind and also have a superb battery life.

I don't really have a budget as such yet as I'm planning on saving for it over summer (basically I need an idea of how much I should save)

Also will probably be buying it in one of the major retailers here as opposed to online.

Livescribe just pushed an update to their software for export to OneNote

http://blogs.office.com/2014/03/18/capture-your-handwritten-notes-with-livescribe-3-and-onenote/?WT.mc_id=CIC_FBPAGE_Outgoing%20-%20OneNote%20Third%20Party%20Thursday_20140618_65352607_OneNote&linkId=8552187

ED E

I use one of these with OneNote for college. Find it very good. Theres a newer model out as of last year too, depending on budget.



nTrig pen is very good. Only downside to it vs a Wacom system is Adobe support(probably not something you care about by the phrasing of your question). Advantage of this transformer format is that I can both program with a keyboard and take notes/do maths by hand in tablet mode. And its small on the bike. Win Win.

aaabbbb

timetogo wrote: »

Ah I know what you mean now. I'm not sure if what you want exists. The tablets mentioned (Surface, Galaxy Note) come with their own pens for the screens, you can't just use any brand pen, so I've no idea if they'd work.

Wouldn't be hard to try though. Take it into a PC World etc and try it out on their tablets.

I think you'll probably need to do some file conversions no matter what platform you use. E.g. if you get powerpoint files I'd imagine that Powerpoint isn't expecting input from a pen so you'll have to do some messing about.

Here's a second vote for OneNote for Windows. I'm pretty sure you can copy many files into a note and then write all over them.

If you ever went Android there is an app that'd probably do some of the job for you.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acadoid.lecturenotestrial

It has a plugin that allows you to record audio to the app as you take your notes. It'd be dependent on the microphone in the tablet though so you'd probably need to be sitting close to the lecturer.

Maybe I should just quit my degree in Biology and become a super evil computer genius and create what I want instead....!

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

Why you should take notes by hand — not on a laptop




Same goes for taking pics of important stuff, studies show the person taking the pics remember very little of the event they are snapping.

I re-write my notes on paper after lectures anyways so its not much of an issue.

Overheal wrote: »

Livescribe just pushed an update to their software for export to OneNote

http://blogs.office.com/2014/03/18/capture-your-handwritten-notes-with-livescribe-3-and-onenote/?WT.mc_id=CIC_FBPAGE_Outgoing%20-%20OneNote%20Third%20Party%20Thursday_20140618_65352607_OneNote&linkId=8552187

That looks interesting but sadly I only have the echo version of the pen =(

Basically what I want is a way of taking notes using the smartpen (so that audio is synced to each word I've written) with the pre-given notes my lecturers will give me without having two sets of notes (mine & lecturers) and not being restricted to the dot matrix paper for the pen.

If there was a tablet out there that came with a pen that had the same functionality (mainly audio syncing to what I've written/recording the lecture around me so I can fill in gaps that I've missed later) as the smart pen I currently have I'd consider switching to that.

I've found this app for the pen: http://www.wired.com/2010/10/livescribe-paper-tablet-makes-the-pen-as-mighty-as-the-mouse/

Does anyone have any experience using this ? Does it actually work ?

What tablet would work best with this ?