eWriters / Digital notepads

[SteveO69]

Anyone got one, use one?

Think this is what these are called.

Just spent 3 thrilling days on an IOSH (health & safety) course and there was copious note taking.

The person next to me had one and it looked quite good, it was a Boox model. She bought it as she is dyslexic, although didn’t elaborate on the benefits in her case.

I have several note pads for work which are a bit of a pain, not least because I have the handwriting of a 4 year old / GP.

The Boox model I saw converted handwritten scrawl into printed text, quite effectively.

I am conscious that this is another gadget that has limited use, and the typical cost, (seem to range from £300 - £600), would buy a veritable forest‘s worth of notebooks. Although, I’m overly partial to a gadget, or two …

Any thoughts?

 

[markemark]

Bought GSCE age daughter a Surface Pro with the official pen and she uses OneNote. She thinks is really good. It turns scrawls into text, you can dictate, you can draw graphics and it turns them into proper shapes, you can underline things and it turns them to headings. Really very clever.

I think the Boox is slightly better for note taking but the Surface Pro is a PC that does so much more so it depends on your needs.

 

[Dadam]

I've not tried it for notetaking yet but I recently bought a Kobo Libra Colour to replace my aging Kindle Paperwhite (partially to object to Amazon's decision to stop downloads to non Kindle devices)
So it's not necessarily a recommendation. Even I am in two minds about even trying it for note taking as I'd need to buy the special stylus to do so and it ain't cheap. Might have to watch a lot of videos to get the idea.

I kind of like the idea of jotting notes down on something that looks and feels roughly like paper but can digitise the handwriting and the image. At work I just take notes on my laptop by typing and at home either on my phone or a paper notebook. Problem with the latter is I rarely have it to hand when I want it, even just to check a note, and actually transcribing paper notes into digital form takes way more discipline than I have! It's something I'll do once or twice just after I decide to be more organised and then it never happens again!

handwriting of a 4 year old / GP.

Yes this describes me too!

 

[Dadam]

Bought GSCE age daughter a Surface Pro with the official pen and she uses OneNote. She thinks is really good. It turns scrawls into text, you can dictate, you can draw graphics and it turns them into proper shapes, you can underline things and it turns them to headings. Really very clever.

I think the Boox is slightly better for note taking but the Surface Pro is a PC that does so much more so it depends on your needs.

Which model? A previous employer issued Surface Pros as the default laptop. I went for the "proper laptop" option and didn't regret it one bit. The surface was too clumsy as a tablet (Win 10 just wasn't any good for touch operation), too a small a screen for a laptop and the supplied clip on keyboard had loads of problems. The styluses used to fall off and get damaged or lost. In fact just about every aspect was poor or half-arsed. Reliability, connecting to peripherals etc etc.

 

[markemark]

Which model? A previous employer issued Surface Pros as the default laptop. I went for the "proper laptop" option and didn't regret it one bit. The surface was too clumsy as a tablet (Win 10 just wasn't any good for touch operation), too a small a screen for a laptop and the supplied clip on keyboard had loads of problems. The styluses used to fall off and get damaged or lost. In fact just about every aspect was poor or half-arsed. Reliability, connecting to peripherals etc etc.

Surface Pro 9. 13inch. It’s brilliant.

 

[Dadam]

OK good to know they've addressed some of the issues. I still think it's trying to be too many things but glad your daughter is happy with it.

 

[Electric_Andy]

A colleague of mine got work to buy her an apple one. This was at least 5 years ago. It worked very well, and would convert writing to text on a word doc.

 

[Time Waster]

We had an external auditor who uses the Scandi one, called Remarkable I think. It had to work through an annual subscription app if you wanted to get the content off the device I think he said. Plus you had to use their special stylus which has replaceable tips that needed replacing a lot!!!! He said they cost a lot and it was not a cheap e-notebook to run he said. Also complicated because we should have told him he could not take it on site because it had bluetooth / wifi and storage so security would have had kittens!!

It was nice to write. He said that device felt more like a pen and paper to write on than tablets, surface pro and the like. Apparently this auditor guy had tried them all and the e-notebook he had was way better for the feel when writing.

I am someone who likes a new gadget but the price of these are too high for the novelty factor I have for them. I can't use for work which takes up most of my writing. So it would not get much use. A paper notebook and pen/pencil I can take and use anywhere without charging batteries so I will stick to analogue for now.

 

[SteveO69]

I am someone who likes a new gadget but the price of these are too high for the novelty factor I have for them. I can't use for work which takes up most of my writing. So it would not get much use. A paper notebook and pen/pencil I can take and use anywhere without charging batteries so I will stick to analogue for now.

Although I would primarily use it for work, I share your sentiments over price and convenience of a (paper) note book.

Although, gadgets…….