Technology Paper and Pencil or Comp for note-taking?

I like the laptop - completely paperless. all our notes and lecture power points can be downloaded form the class website and I dont need a special room just for the printed materials - its all backed up on a pocket sized hard drive and extremely organized.
some people use MS one note - I have not had a chance to play with it but they say its cool.

I'm set to graduate in about a week, the massive amounts of paper in binders that are about to be thrown out of my apartment are screaming to you...

GO DIGITAL, and back up frequently! if you really feel the need to write stuff out to get the concepts then get a dry erase board that fits in your bag and use that - the paper is a waste.

good luck next year!

I rarely take notes and don't even use notes for studying actually. I go textbook and review books all the way. I've always been like that really, since high school I never really have taken much notes. I prefer to just listen to the professor. Or if the class is boring, I just bust out my iPod and . I know. Bad med school mentality. lol

I have using OneNote 2007 for the past few months, whether be it taking notes during courses; or organizing self-learning notes at home. I think it is a cool software, really works like advertised, and resembles our many ring bound files with index dividers!

But to fully utilize OneNote, it is better to have a tablet pc, so that u could draw and write anywhere! With just a laptop, you can't fully utilize the functions or unleash the power of OneNote!

i say go with what's popular

almost no one carried laptops into the lecture hall to take notes

i opted for pen and paper

OP- is there a computer that your med school is issuing to you? Before sinking money into such things, you might check into that.

Otherwise, I'm saving up for a tablet pc. I attempted notes via laptop, and sadly both my note-taking style and the teaching style of my profs is rather non-linear, with histograms and all sorts of other non text stuff. Thus, a tablet seems right up my alley. I've gotten to play with a couple of them, and some software will convert even my chicken scratch to text (helpful when you can't read your own notes)

acrunchyfrog said:

OP- is there a computer that your med school is issuing to you? Before sinking money into such things, you might check into that.

Otherwise, I'm saving up for a tablet pc. I attempted notes via laptop, and sadly both my note-taking style and the teaching style of my profs is rather non-linear, with histograms and all sorts of other non text stuff. Thus, a tablet seems right up my alley. I've gotten to play with a couple of them, and some software will convert even my chicken scratch to text (helpful when you can't read your own notes)

Click to expand...

where have you done this at? im interested in a tablet but dont want to throw the money down until i can pick it up in my hands but no where seems to carry display models.

hp has a new model out that looks sweet and isn't horribly priced

xanthomondo said:

where have you done this at? im interested in a tablet but don't want to throw the money down until i can pick it up in my hands but no where seems to carry display models.

hp has a new model out that looks sweet and isn't horribly priced

Click to expand...

Seriously, electronics stores do a horrible job selling tablets. Whenever I ask an employee if they have a stylus for the tablets, they say that they put them away so they will not get stolen. The funny part is that they are never able to find them. Tether the pens to the table and let us try before we buy.

I also once saw a sales guy try to steer someone to a tablet. The customer was like "why the hell do I need that." The salesman sat there with a blank look on his face.

I was able to play with an HP model once. It didn't work well, but then again I didn't have the correct stylus and Onenote was on some janky trial mode.

Right now, I have my heart set on the Gateway model (C-142XL) because I hate those 12'' screens. Unfortunately, it seems like nobody is especially happy with them. Anyone know why?

I use a Fujitsu T2010 and it's a laptop + digital notebook:





Take notes and stuff in "notebook mode" and if you need more info, flip the screen back to the original "laptop mode" and Google away!

s1lver said:

I use a Fujitsu T2010 and it's a laptop + digital notebook:

Take notes and stuff in "notebook mode" and if you need more info, flip the screen back to the original "laptop mode" and Google away!

Click to expand...

Yeah these are the only types of tablets im interested in. Do you really get much use out of the "tablet" portion? How practical is it use for notes? And how does OneNote work?

ClockworkDoc said:

Seriously, electronics stores do a horrible job selling tablets. Whenever I ask an employee if they have a stylus for the tablets, they say that they put them away so they will not get stolen. The funny part is that they are never able to find them. Tether the pens to the table and let us try before we buy.

I also once saw a sales guy try to steer someone to a tablet. The customer was like "why the hell do I need that." The salesman sat there with a blank look on his face.

I was able to play with an HP model once. It didn't work well, but then again I didn't have the correct stylus and Onenote was on some janky trial mode.

Right now, I have my heart set on the Gateway model (C-142XL) because I hate those 12'' screens. Unfortunately, it seems like nobody is especially happy with them. Anyone know why?

Click to expand...

Electronic stores already suck with selling computers - tablets are even worse- circuit city wouldnt even take it out of the cage that it was in to let me see it swivel in action or see how heavy it was - the manager wouldnt even demo it FOR me

Best buy was nice enough to unlock it for me and let me play with it at my own free will, but like you said they didn't have a stylus because "they're frequently stolen". I couldn't see what it's like to write at all because the stylus on my phone wouldnt register (maybe the screen was off, the kid didnt know either)

and I can't stand the spiel i get from the salesman everytime i look at a laptop in these stores. "Our Geek Squad will abuse the hell out of you, steal all of your private information and completely rob you while not even doing what you asked f you only pay $10000 up front"

How does geeksquad, firedog, et all stay in business? They charge like $100 just to install memory!

xanthomondo said:

How does geeksquad, firedog, et all stay in business? They charge like $100 just to install memory!

Click to expand...

You answered your own question. I know my mom would take it to the "professionals" rather than trying to do something like that herself. People are afraid to open things up and look inside.

On another topic: How does the tablet note taking compare to paper note taking? Do you really feel more productive because of it or is it more of a novelty? Are the 12'' screens big enough for note taking or would you recommend a 14'' model?