Digital notepads | TheaterFire

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Thanks for all the helpful input, everyone.

I got back to work today to go check the spares shelf to see what we had that I could repurpose instead of buying something new.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A - Tab A can only do capacitive styli, so that's out. Shame, as I prefer the size and weight compared to an iPad.
iPad 9th Gen - I'm an Android/Windows guy, but eh, I'll make it work. Currently running OneNote with my stuff on it, and an Apple Pencil on order (sadly the Pencil 1st Gen is the only one compatible, but oh well.)

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MrCertainly@reddit

Pen + Paper.

Scan it with a flatbed (if needed high quality) or a snapshot with a phone (so many applications do this with OCR fairly well).

I'm far better at typing. I don't have to look at my screen OR keyboard to know what I'm (supposed to be) typing. Sure, sometimes I flub it...but writing? That's far worse. I need 100% of my attention on what I'm writing. Even more so with digital, since you might have failed palm rejection, glitches, etc.

I'm also aware enough to recognize there are times when writing with a pen and paper, no matter how bad my chicken scratch, is the right tool for the job.

Digital writing is so miserably sub-par, even today. It's like tapping on a super-slick hollow slate. It's doable, it's better than it used to be, but it's still a far cry from writing on a normal piece of paper with pretty much any writing pen or pencil.

Yes, you can get screen protectors that "simulate" paper -- at the cost of wearing your $100+ digital pen's tip down to fine dust. And they also ruin the screen quality of your $800+ fancy ass-tablet.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

I don't feel digital writing is sub-par at all. My only issue with it is that the device I was trialing was too slow, and Windows devices need rebooting/patching etc. The actual writing experience itself was great.

Also, the double-handling aspect of pen/paper + scanning really rubs me up the wrong way, and I want a live document that I can edit both in meetings and at my desk. I'm happy with OneNote, if I can get the hardware and syncing sorted.

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MrCertainly@reddit

My only issue with it is that the device I was trialing was too slow, and Windows devices need rebooting/patching etc.

Aka....the digital writing experience is sub-par.

Look, digital is expensive. It has a high up-front cost. It has a higher total cost of ownership. You need to constantly maintain it.

It better be damn near perfect. Knock the experience out of the park. If there are any blemishes, there are so few and minor....with the benefits being absolutely easy to justify.

Pen + Paper is cheap. It's been around for a long time. A. Really. Freaking. Long. Time. Can it get better? Sure. But it's pretty much at a pinnacle of performance and quality.

if I can get the hardware and syncing sorted.

Enjoy the headaches of a "non-sub-par" system!

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

I'm not in a position to argue with any of your points 🙂

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wrt-wtf-@reddit

iPad with pen and friction screen protector - hands down beats out the remarkable for capability and price. Direct access to iCloud, MS Office, and onedrive 100% aligned with other apps available on your desktop. Has wifi and/or mobile connectivity for full internet for access to internet and file stores. Full cloud backup and applecare ($4 a month) gets up and running again quickly in the event of loss or failure.

Surface is good if you need to run windows software. Have had a Go and 2 x Pro's. The downside is that once they start to die there's not a lot you can do, in some cases I've had the machines stop dead in their tracks. The Go with 4G mobile was as good as an earlier model iPad when paired with pen and onedrive. It was a very good solution when the processor was in the software sweetspot - newer program updates unfortunately lead to needing more resources.

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BirdLover950@reddit

I use a Galaxy Tab S9 FE with onenote. Battery last a full work week and everything is synced to my workstation.

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fuzzusmaximus@reddit

I've never been able to effectively use a stylus on a touchscreen for writing. If I'm taking notes while following along with someone I'll use pen and paper then type it later if needed. If I just need to make some notes on my own then I use Google Keep.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Yeah, when I first started using the Surface Go, I found it tricky to write because it was so slippery. Once I got used to it, I was fine, then when I went back to pen and paper I found it weirdly hard.

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InsertNounHere88@reddit

you can get a paperlike screen protector, they're pretty nice

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Kingkong29@reddit

iPad with Apple Pencil. I have cellular on mine and it’s super handy for looking things up on the fly. Don’t have to worry about connecting to wifi all the time

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HermyMunster@reddit

Palm Pilot III was the last "digital notepad" that I used. I thought we had moved on...

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

I'm not sure what you mean. I often go into meetings away from my desk and want to take notes. I have used a spiral-bound paper notebook for years but prefer a digital solution so the notes are available on my PC. I could use a laptop to type notes but they're rather obtrusive by comparison.

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omniuni@reddit

Samsung and Lenovo both make very nice Android tablets with styluses. The Pixel tablet also supports it. Acer is coming out with a tablet this month with a stylus.

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TheAnniCake@reddit

I love GoodNotes on my iPad. It's also available for Android for about a year now and can sync with the Windows version depending on your license. Or you can simply use OneNote

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Ohh. Reasonably priced Android tablet with a pen + OneNote syncing with [something] - now we're real close to a happy solution!

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TheAnniCake@reddit

No matter if base model iPad or Android one, in both cases, you‘ve got everything on every device if you use OneNote. Best thing for me personally is that you‘re going completely paperless. I did this in vocational college (part of a German apprenticeship) and it was awesome!

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

We have some older Samsung tablet at work sitting around doing nothing, but I don't think they have pens (and unsure of the possibility of buying a compatible pen).

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pdp10@reddit

The "Galaxy Tab S" series works with a stylus, but the "Galaxy Tab A" series doesn't, I believe.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Thanks. Definitely might be a possibility.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Certainly a better-priced option compared to spending $800+ on a Remarkable.

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omniuni@reddit

I have a roughly $250 basic Samsung with stylus, and it's actually pretty great, but I'm probably going to treat myself to the Acer when it comes out for around $350 later this month.

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_DoogieLion@reddit

Remarkable and rocketbook security is appalling last I looked.

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clvlndpete@reddit

Came here to say this as well. Surprised no one else has. No encryption, corporate data being saved to remarkable’s cloud, all kinds of issue. Hard no for my environment

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Oof, yeah that's a no.

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ExpressDevelopment41@reddit

I use my Samsung S22 Ultra if I'm in a pickle and need to jot something down in the field. Otherwise, I just have a few hundred tabs open in notepad ++.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

I just have a few hundred tabs open in notepad ++

I do that on my PC, but I don't want to sit in a meeting with a laptop.

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ExpressDevelopment41@reddit

I use a rocketbook for meetings and scan them into onenote when I don't have my laptop handy.

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mandrack3@reddit

Surprised no one mentioned Joplin.

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robot_giny@reddit

This came up at work recently, a few staff have bought the Remarkable 2 but as personal devices. Management doesn't want to pay that much so my solution for the rest is an iPad, an Apple Pencil, and OneNote to convert handwriting to text. It's working pretty well, but man those who have a Remarkable 2 really like them.

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burger4d@reddit

SuperNote by Ratta. It's basically the functionality of a Remarkable but without cloud. I had the Remarkable 2 for a week, didn't like it. No handwriting recognition without an internet connection (the Supernote can do it without internet). I've never even turned on the wifi on my Supernote and that's the way I like it. I just need a notebook to take notes.

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pdp10@reddit

without cloud.

The big Sony e-ink notetaker had/has WebDAV support, which would work with a local server. The SuperNote has an SD card, which I'd consider mandatory for an offline workflow.

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hoeskioeh@reddit

Looks cool, but the price tag... Woah.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Starting at $529 AUD.. so way cheaper than the Remarkable, but still pretty spendy.

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pdp10@reddit

This reviewer liked the Surface Go with Linux installed, noting only that the camera didn't work (maybe for industry reasons talked about here:

One point of contention with earlier Surface Go reviews was the fact that most of them reviewed the more expensive model with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD, which is also what I bought. While that may almost be a necessity when it comes to Windows 10, especially after breaking out of S Mode, it may be a minor consideration if you have Linux in mind right from the very start. Linux is more efficient with both RAM and storage, though the 64 GB eMMC type on the base model could be a bottleneck. If, however, you plan on dual booting Windows and Linux, at least get the third model with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD storage.

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Reddit_User-256@reddit

Pen and paper, then take a photo with phone and convert it to text.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

My current process, after giving up on the Surface Go/Pro, is pen and paper, then type it into OneNote later, but I hate the double handling.

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Soap-ster@reddit

Rocket book. It'll OCR it for you if your writing isn't too terrible.

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NoncarbonatedClack@reddit

This. Rocketbook has been really helpful so far, but I’ve only been using it for about 2 weeks

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Reddit_User-256@reddit

There's a bunch of apps that will use your camera to scan the writing and convert it to a text document.

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Lonecoon@reddit

Same. I have a shelf full of notebooks I change out yearly.

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SpocksSocks@reddit

This is what I do. Nothing quite like the physicality of writing to get my ADHD brain to lock in info.

I have a shortcut on my iPhone to scan and save it to a location. End of day routine.

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MzMag00@reddit

The Samsung S7+ tablet comes with a pen. I've been pretty happy with it for a few years now and have no intention of getting a newer version (s9+). The Samsung Notes app is great for most of my needs and the writing to text conversion is pretty good.

I've tried a few apps specifically for the writing to text but Notes works fine and can be exported as PDF.

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TheAnniCake@reddit

Got an iPad from my work as a demo device to test configs. Because I'm currently helping a customer with a migration full time, I use that one with OneNote for notes etc.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

I'm not too familiar with iPads. Is it possible to use a pen with a regular iPad, or do you need specific iPad models?

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TheAnniCake@reddit

The pen has to be compatible but there are lots of affordable options. I‘d recommend not using the cheapest ones though because they break very easily. The Logitech crayon is normally a fairly good choice.

Otherwise, every modern iPad can use a pen.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Thanks. I just spent a few minutes looking at the various Apple pens. So I wouldn't need an Apple pen specifically?

I'm generally an Android guy but getting an iPad through work might be a possibility.

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TheAnniCake@reddit

It doesn’t need to be a pen from Apple since they’re also expensive.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Thanks. If I can pick up an iPad from work, and a cheap pen, I'll be good to go.

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Loki_991@reddit

You can access your notes on PC with Microsoft OneNote

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Macmadnz@reddit

I bought a Rocketbook as a cheap notebook based on the marketing of Onenote and OneDrive sync. That requires M365 global admin approval which is never going to be approved, so I’m limited to just the scan and email as PDF functions. Still for cost has reduced paper notebook use.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

I'd never heard of that. It's not what I'm looking for, but very interesting!

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

On what hardware?

I'm quite happy with OneNote, but the hardware is the sticking point.

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Dynamic_Mike@reddit

Kindle Scribe is awesome.

I just wish it had a full sync with OneNote.

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Zaphod_The_Nothingth@reddit (OP)

Do you access your notes on your PC, and how?

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Dynamic_Mike@reddit

I send them from the Kindle and they arrive as a PDF in email.