Any tablet recommendations for note taking?

[EnVy_28]

Hi,

 

Anyone here have recommendations for a tablet? Specifically for writing notes, like thats the only purpose Im gonna use it for...

Up until now, I'm still using good'ol yellow pad paper for taking notes but my main problem about it is that when I need to review something,

Most of the time, I need to flip a billion pages before I even find what I was looking for.

 

I tried to search for any digital notepads on google, some looks good like the reMarkable and the Sony DPT-RP, but they cost like $900, lul.

Most people though recommends iPad with Apple Pencil. It does cost $500 in total from where Im from, but is it really worth it?

 

Just for reminder again, Im only going to use it for note taking, its kinda part of my job. I dont really need anything like video playback and coconuts or whatevs.

I do need it to have at least an SD card or internal memory.

 

I also found some cheap ones on amazon like these guys: https://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?__mk_ja_JP=カタカナ&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=電子メモ

But I can't tell if theyre good. Also one more thing that I'm looking for is something with good precision, because I write very small. I want to cram as much info in one page so I don't have to flip many pages when looking at them.

 

Another problem with the ones on amazon is that most of them dont have SD card slot, so you have to use a companion mobile app to save your notes on your phone or tablet.

[Darkseth]

iPad + Apple Pencil.

Yes, it is worth, it is the best possible way to "take notes". No other OS has so many different Note taking apps available, that might fit your taste (Notability and GoodNotes for example are the most popular).. Just look on youtube or something, which features you like most. I personally enjoy Notability the most, and use it for my school right now.

 

Android: Yea.. no. Android Tablets often get 1-2 years updates ast best, then it stops. iPads 5 years easy.

Performance is better on iPads, Google kinda gave up on tablets so zero optimization there sadly. i used Android tablets for almsot 3 years, and switched to an iPad Pro 10.5" (as consumer tablet replace, AND for my school to write digitally Paperless".

Also, Android doesn't have many Tablet-optimized Apps. let alone, many "good" note taking apps, like iOS has. (Notability, GoodNotes 4 (5 is coming out this year sometime, i hope), Nebo, Noteshelf 2, Notes plus. Even OneNote)

 

if you don't want iOS, Windows is the next best. Like a Surface Go, or more expensive, Surface Pro.

Main advantage: Full windows 10 = x86 applications. This will be a 100% Laptop replacement for more productive work, that requires x86 stuff.

 

If you do NOT need x86 Applications at all, an iPad 2018 + Apple pencil (or if you find a cheap iPad Pro 2nd gen), this will be the best choice kinda.

 

 

If you want to spend some time on Youtube, there are alot people who "work" with it, and have a lot of Videos about digital Note Taking.

For example: Tom Solid

or Paperless Student.

[DrMacintosh]

iPad and Apple Pencil 

[EnVy_28]

 

12 hours ago, Darkseth said:

iPad + Apple Pencil.

Yes, it is worth, it is the best possible way to "take notes". No other OS has so many different Note taking apps available, that might fit your taste (Notability and GoodNotes for example are the most popular).. Just look on youtube or something, which features you like most. I personally enjoy Notability the most, and use it for my school right now.

 

Android: Yea.. no. Android Tablets often get 1-2 years updates ast best, then it stops. iPads 5 years easy.

Performance is better on iPads, Google kinda gave up on tablets so zero optimization there sadly. i used Android tablets for almsot 3 years, and switched to an iPad Pro 10.5" (as consumer tablet replace, AND for my school to write digitally Paperless".

Also, Android doesn't have many Tablet-optimized Apps. let alone, many "good" note taking apps, like iOS has. (Notability, GoodNotes 4 (5 is coming out this year sometime, i hope), Nebo, Noteshelf 2, Notes plus. Even OneNote)

 

if you don't want iOS, Windows is the next best. Like a Surface Go, or more expensive, Surface Pro.

Main advantage: Full windows 10 = x86 applications. This will be a 100% Laptop replacement for more productive work, that requires x86 stuff.

 

If you do NOT need x86 Applications at all, an iPad 2018 + Apple pencil (or if you find a cheap iPad Pro 2nd gen), this will be the best choice kinda.

 

 

If you want to spend some time on Youtube, there are alot people who "work" with it, and have a lot of Videos about digital Note Taking.

For example: Tom Solid

or Paperless Student.

 

3 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

iPad and Apple Pencil 

Thanks for the insights...

A while ago I went to a shop and actually got a chance to try the iPad Pro with apple pencil and, I dont know if its an popular opinion but, I don't like it. It feels unnatural for me, I think because it lacks friction between the screen and the pencil. Its also not very precise when writing very small texts, which I always do because I want to cram as much info in one page/small corner.

 

I also got a chance to try the Surface Pro with the stylus, the iPad is better than it, IMO. And I dont even like the iPad.

 

I think I'm gonna stick with good'ol paper and pen for now, and I'm thinking of just getting a very good document scanner instead. Its a pain though so I'm still looking for alternatives.

 

Thank you though... Really appreciate it...

 

If anyone has experience using cheap digital notes though, Im all ears...

I don't really need a very expensive, stylish ones, just need it to do the job with very good writing experience...

[Darkseth]

- For more friction: https://paperlike.com/

Video: 

Most who try it, say, it feels nearly as paper, and MUCH better for writing.

Or here on a later date: 

 

Minute: 8:08~ he starts talking about the protector a bit more than on the first Video

 

- For writing small texts: Why don't you just zoom in? ^^ That's why it's digital, you can just zoom in and write small.

Every decent Note Taking app will let you zoom in. I do it all the time. And i can write smaller much better, than on actual paper with a VERY thinn Pen.

especially if you don't have the 12.9" model, you kinda "need" to zoom in. i have 10.5", and even when writing somewhat "normal", i often zoom in a little in Notability, to write much more neatly/better/cleaner.

If you were trying out "Apple Notes", then yea.. i don't like this at all. I can't change the thickness of the lines, and i can't zoom in to write any decent. Anything i write there, absolutely looks horrible.

 

 

Maybe with these 2 things... even fi they are not the most perfect solution imagineable, it might actually solve your problems with it.

 

@ Document Scanner: Instead, just buy a Smartphone with a good Camera?

There are alot of Apps, that will capture the Paper-format, cut out the background, and even stretch it automatically, if you make the photo from a non-perfect Angle. It REALLY looks perfectly scanned (even better, because the App rotates/stretches it perfectly), with a very decent quality.

Most even come with image procesing stuff, like making the white paper + shadows perfectly white.

The Apps will also stitch multiple Scans together into 1 big PDF.

Did that with my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge without issues (Scanbot on Android works great, there are others like Adobe scan), or with my iPad Pro 10.5" (Adobe scan).

 

 

Edit: i already heared from others, the "writing experience" on ipad is alittle better than on Surface Models.

But i think, both will be better than any Android combo (however, you COULD try how galaxy tab S4 + S-Pen work?).

[EnVy_28]

The paperlike sounds promising.

 

6 hours ago, Darkseth said:

For writing small texts: Why don't you just zoom in? ^^ That's why it's digital, you can just zoom in and write small.

Every decent Note Taking app will let you zoom in. I do it all the time. And i can write smaller much better, than on actual paper with a VERY thinn Pen.

especially if you don't have the 12.9" model, you kinda "need" to zoom in. i have 10.5", and even when writing somewhat "normal", i often zoom in a little in Notability, to write much more neatly/better/cleaner.

If you were trying out "Apple Notes", then yea.. i don't like this at all. I can't change the thickness of the lines, and i can't zoom in to write any decent. Anything i write there, absolutely looks horrible.

Ok, maybe zooming might solve my problem about small text writing. Also when I tried the iPad with the pencil at a shop, only apple notes is installed and nothing else.

6 hours ago, Darkseth said:

Instead, just buy a Smartphone with a good Camera?

I don't really wanna buy a new smart phone though, my iPhone7 still works fine. Plus if Im gonna spend money on new smart phone with good camera, might as well use it to buy the iPad instead. I dont know.

 

6 hours ago, Darkseth said:

Edit: i already heared from others, the "writing experience" on ipad is alittle better than on Surface Models.

But i think, both will be better than any Android combo (however, you COULD try how galaxy tab S4 + S-Pen work?).

I saw some galaxy tab with pens and some huawei tablet with pens too but I didnt bother to try them. Maybe I shouldve.

 

Also to be honest, when I tried the ipad pro, I just wrote one sentence and just kinda gave up after 5 seconds coz I didnt like the feel. Maybe I just need to try it more?

Ill try again when I get a chance.

[Darkseth]

yea that is bad Apple store here in Germany (at least the one in my region) has several note taking apps installed.

I would ask them, if they could download another app. even if it's only the free Microsoft One Note.

 

But like i said.. the difference between apple notes and one of the big note taking apps is like Day and Night. Just check some youtube videos about Notability, GoodNotes 4, Noteshelf 2 for example, they work quite good.

I personally don't like Apple Notes at all. Maybe for some half-sentences - quick notes for minor small stuff you want to remember in 3 days or something.

But otherwise.. i think the organisation is bad (categories, etc), no zoom, low amount of colors, i do not like the eraser tool at all... and writing itself feels weird.

 

iPad Pro 2nd gen (10.5" and 12.9" with A10X cpu) feature exactly the iPhone 7 Camera ^^ And i have zero objections about it when it comes to document scanning

 

Idk, i can not speak for yourself. Maybe you will never get warm with it. But i think, it needs a bit more playing around with it to be sure.

Of course, writing on glas will have a different feel than on Paper. That Paperlike is supposed to come quite close. But it will never feel 100% exactly the same, because the tip is still plastic and not a little Ball rolling around with some Ink.

 

Of course it will have a different feeling. But after a short while, i have no problems with it and i can write just fine. Even without Paperlike.

I even enjoy all the possibilities i have now:

Mistake? Just redo, and write again.

Or simply use the lasso tool, and drag the text to a different place. Or whatever you write, or draw, you can even make bigger or smaller. Or copy it to make certain things faster.

I can make a picture of the Task from the Book, paste it into my Document, and solve the Question directly underneath it. So when i go through my notes later, i have the question + my answer without having to look the question up in a script/book/anything.

On the other hand, i can't have 2-3 piece of paper in front of me at the same time. So it's always a pro/con balance.

 

It's for sure difficult, to get the ipad + pencil + paperlike, because there is a chance digital note taking itself just won't satisfy you enough.. Then you would have to return all of that - minus the paperlike, idk if you can return it.

 

But i think, No other setup than iPad + paperlike (+ all these note taking apps) should come as close to real paper, if you want to go digital.