Tablet for note-taking for Dental School

[mkhan27]

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I really need insight on this from all dental students. I was accepted into dental school recently and the school requires us to have an iPad. My only concern is that I have read that the iPad is not the best when it comes to handwriting notes with a stylus. I am a person who writes a lot of notes and at times I write really small notes as well. If the school requires us to have the iPad, then I have no option. Those with iPads, what can you say would be a good stylus for handwriting notes. Those with other tablets, can you provide your experience as well (Samsung Galaxy Note, etc).

 

[CleverThought]

I have the Bamboo Fineline (http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/stylus/bamboo-stylus-fineline) it's pricey, but well worth it. I never have issues and take a lot of notes on my iPad.

 

[Digitalangel]

I have the galaxy note 10.1, and i love it! i started out using it a lot with handwriting, but i kinda fell off with it and just write a little on the powerpoints now and i think ill be switching over to typing notes on a laptop in ds. i do study off my tablet pretty religiously though. i find it easier on my eyes, and after i type up/edit my notes and powerpoints i just put them into dropbox and study them from the tablet. the stylus on the galaxy is pretty good though, i also write very tiny so sometimes its just not the same as writing on paper, but you get used to it.

 

[Incis0r]

I have the galaxy note 10.1, and i love it! i started out using it a lot with handwriting, but i kinda fell off with it and just write a little on the powerpoints now and i think ill be switching over to typing notes on a laptop in ds. i do study off my tablet pretty religiously though. i find it easier on my eyes, and after i type up/edit my notes and powerpoints i just put them into dropbox and study them from the tablet. the stylus on the galaxy is pretty good though, i also write very tiny so sometimes its just not the same as writing on paper, but you get used to it.

Don't get the new 2014 edition of the Galaxy Note 10.1. I bought the new one to play with it, and I returned it within 72 hours.

Happy note-taking!

 

[chip_skylark]

I use an app called Notability with a cheap $5 stylus. Pretty good.

 

[mkhan27]

If only the iPad had a certified stylus "iPen" that can actually work with it. I hear something like that will be coming out with the iPad Air Plus (or iPad Pro) which is going to be the 12 inch tablet.

 

[mkhan27]

I have the Bamboo Fineline (http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/stylus/bamboo-stylus-fineline) it's pricey, but well worth it. I never have issues and take a lot of notes on my iPad.

@CleverThought Are you able to write small with this one and still have the writing appear readable on the iPad?

 

[DentalDoge]

Wacom's bamboo would be your best bet. If you had to write.

With small handwriting, you'd love a Surface Pro. But alas.

It might be better to just type all of your notes

 

[beanie5]

I got an iPad and also went with the Notability + The Friendly Swede micro-knit fiber tip stylus combo:

(Amazon product ASIN B00E0GV9IC).

The stylus is CHEAP, effective, and lasts a long time. I bought a 6-pack for like $7, gave a couple to friends. Given how cheap they were, I thought they would wear out quickly, but we're all still using ours from the beginning of the year with no signs of slowing down. It's not a fine-tipped stylus, but Notability lets you select different line thicknesses, so that's not an issue for me. I always did paper/pen notes in college, so there was a bit of a learning curve making the switch. However, now that I'm used to it, I'm happy with it and am sticking with it for the foreseeable future.

I've used the stylus on a naked screen, a plastic protector, and will soon be getting one of those tempered glass protectors. I loved the feel of it on a naked screen - no scratches, glided easily over the surface (allowing me to write quickly), and is quiet (Notability lets you sync recordings to your notes, and I can't really hear my writing - way better than recording + typing on my computer, or tapping away with a hard-nibbed stylus).

With a plastic protector, I like it a little less - it still works pretty well, and doesn't skip, but I have to press harder, which slows down my note-taking and contributes a little bit to the slight hand fatigue I'm feeling this semester (I'm also getting used to holding a drill). I personally do tend to like my electronics to be more touch-sensitive though (e.g. the touchpad on my laptop is set to the highest touch sensitivity setting + a fast scroll speed), so the plastic screen protector may not bother others (my friends seem fine with it).

If you have a plastic screen protector, I found that the added weight of their 5.5" stylus helped. The longer length is probably also better if you have medium/large hands.

I can take a screenshot of some of my annotated slides if you think it would help - PM me.

 

[Lock_Jaw]

I think your best bet would be a smaller chalk board and some chalk. Super clear writing, can be as small as you want and super erasable. Otherwise etch-a-sketch has good reviews on amazon for note taking 😉

 

[superluminal]

I got the surface pro 3. Easily the best laptop I've ever used for school.

 

[LabCoatAndPearls]

I got the surface pro 3. Easily the best laptop I've ever used for school.

Wow, it's pretty expensive though! 😱

 

[Jbrowndds]

I second the surface pro 3. I don't have one YET but I have had a chance to demo one and its worth it, if you want to rely on a tablet for note taking. It's never comfortable to write on glass so the iPad isn't good for notes in my opinion.

 

[Incis0r]

I played with the Surface Pro 3....didn't like it very much. To me, the keyboard just wasn't good enough...too clunky.

 

[CleverThought]

@CleverThought Are you able to write small with this one and still have the writing appear readable on the iPad?

Yep! I have tiny, horrible handwriting and the notes turn out just fine for me. You can zoom in on the notes so that it magnifies what you write if you need that or it magnifies an image so that you can right on top of it or anything.

 

[DentalDoge]

Bought mine when it was on sale on black friday. Tested it out taking notes on powerpoint slides. Works like a charm. Cant wait to actually put it to some use.

The biggest deal breaker for the iPad, imo, is that there's no palm rejection. So you kind of have to hover your hands over the screen.

I played with the Surface Pro 3....didn't like it very much. To me, the keyboard just wasn't good enough...too clunky.

Which keyboard? On-screen or cover?
And I didn't buy the Surface Pro 3 for the keyboard.
Bought it for the power, screen, and pen.

 

[SableFire]

Throwing another vote in for surface pro! It's amazing many people I know have one and once I get into dental school that will be my gift to myself. Can't wait to get rid of my big clunky laptop.

 

[superluminal]

Wow, it's pretty expensive though! 😱

It is, but it was definitely a positive investment. It'll be years until I'll realistically need another laptop and until then, this one has so much going for it.

 

[Digitalangel]

do you guys completely replace your laptop with the surface pro? i feel like i would still need one on the side..

 

[Incis0r]

It depends on what you want to do with your device. For high portability, excellent note-taking, CHEAP PRICE, and the tablet experience , you cannot go wrong with Note 10.1.

The surface pro 3 offers integration with the windows OS which is decent, but its hybrid character makes it a poor laptop and to me at least, it is only moderately good at note taking. The cost is just not worth it. That is why I returned it.

 

[DentalDoge]

do you guys completely replace your laptop with the surface pro? i feel like i would still need one on the side..

I have a desktop that I mainly use all the heavy lifting and the SP3 for portable note-taking.

Cover keyboard. Horrible touch typing response. And I know, I don't buy computers for keyboards either, but considering that typing is still a major avenue of data processing, it is important to have a decent keyboard. Apple makes the best keyboards on their laptops IMO.

As for the power, screen, and pen, I found the Note 10.1 to outrank the surface pro 3 in overall note-taking experience. AND it is MUCH CHEAPER. Have you ever used S Note? It is so well-made...I have yet to find use for all of its functions..I can take pictures of a chalkboard or whiteboard and insert them into my notes instantly, record a lecture by audio or video and insert instantly, highlight/annotate powerpoints, basically do whatever I want with the Note 10.1.

But then again, I was looking primarily for a LIGHT note-taking device which could deliver the tablet experience with movies. I use my macbook for all heavy paper writing etc.

The advantage of Surface Pro 3 is that it packs a windows operating system. But, as @Digitalangel asked, surface Pro 3 CANNOT take the place of a computer without a decent keyboard...which it lacks. If you go detachable keyboard, then you're just increasing clunkiness and decreasing portability.

SO. Let me sum up my long-winded response. It depends on what you want to do with your device. For high portability, excellent note-taking, CHEAP PRICE, and the tablet experience , you cannot go wrong with Note 10.1.

The surface pro 3 offers integration with the windows OS which is decent, but its hybrid character makes it a poor laptop and to me at least, it is only moderately good at note taking. The cost is just not worth it. That is why I returned it.

No, I've never used Samsung. Probably will never use one (it's a cultural thing against Korean companies). I realize it's your opinion, but I really think you're overselling Macbooks' keyboards. Having used some of the best keyboards in the industry (red cherry mx), Macbooks' keyboards are just so-so, as is the type cover. What Apple excels at is making those dang good trackpads and drivers. Whatever keyboard a laptop has will never be as good as standalone keyboards. But I've been typing on the SP3 for the last 3 months and have no problems with key travel or placement. No one that I know that owns a SP3 much longer than I have problems with the keyboard.

As for the pen, I am not sure what technology Samsung Note 10.1 uses (I think it's wacom). But I know that SP3 uses N-Trig, which is pretty much the same as wacom. So the experiences shouldn't differ too much in terms of pressure sensitivity and accuracy. Most people prefer wacom for drawing and N-Trig for note-taking and so far I agree with those statistics.

While I'm sure Samsung produces good tablets, it's really not what I was looking for. A tablet just simply doesnt have the capabilities a full OS provides and a full blown processor as oppose to a mobile processor. There is a reason tablets are cheaper than laptops. SP3 is not a tablet. It's a laptop in the form of a tablet.

Having thought about it for a bit, I realized SP3 isnt for everyone. It's got a high buy-in for a peripheral, separate type cover, hybrid Windows 8 experience (although Winodws 10 is suppose to be much better, we'll see).

 

[Incis0r]

Fair enough!

 

[Incis0r]

.

 

[DentalDoge]

This is really off-topic to what op is asking. I just didnt want misinformation on Surface Pro out there.

I just want to answer your questions and point a few things out and I'm done. (note: I was definitely underselling Samsung, like I said, it's a cultural thing with the Asian economy)

The keyboard I'm referring to is a Corsair Vengeance k70. If you've never typed on a keyboard with cherry red mx switches. I'd highly suggest trying it out. It will ruin every other keyboard for you. Downsides are, they're loud, bulky, virtually immovable. One thing I will agree with you is that Apple makes very pretty techs, just look at the new Macbook. Practically useless, but eye-freakin'-gasm-city.

Here's a good comparison of N-trig and Wacom and why Microsoft moved away from Wacom (which makes amazing pens) from a reputable source:


From what you said earlier, you have owned and used the SP3 with the type cover. So you'd know that the damned thing is useless as a tablet, no matter what Microsoft market it as (probably a marketing scheme for the "older" crowd). You can't take advantage of the full OS without a full keyboard and mouse/trackpad, which is why it's ******ed that they didnt package SP3 with the type cover. But getting to your questions, looking at the specs is where the chasm emerges.

Samsung Galaxy 10.1 is running a mobile processor (ONE GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2), dude this thing was released in 2010. It also has only 1 GB of memory, which is probably fine since it's running Android Honeycomb, I can't even remember when Google released that one. 1200x800 screen with 149 ppi. While SP3 is running 3.5GHz Intel Core i3-i7. Not to mention the architecture is completely different. With 4GB of memory and 2160x1440 screen at 200 ppi.

Just saw Samsung is up to Galaxy 10.5, so the specs make a whole lot of sense now.

But yeah, those are the facts. So I'm done.

-DentalDoge

 

[Greyangel6]

I use iPad for classes, especially ones with powerpoints full of pictures and little to no words so I need to annotate what the professors say on the pic. I also use it to take pictures of slides that don't get uploaded to the students. I use my macbook air for homework assignments and to organize my notes (from iPad) into study guides (pdfs) and study from there (bigger screen). Save myself from a lot of printing cost. I kind of like to have 2 devices so that when I lose power on one device (forgot to charge or whatnot) I got another to take over. And the battery life per charge for my MBA is about 11hours total while the iPad gives about 6 hours. Syncing the iPad and the MBA is also easy with airdrop.

So yea like the saying goes: "if it aint broke, don't fix it", I got a system that works for me, I kind of hesitate to go into another device that I need to readjust. Disclaimer: I am not an Apple fanboy because I also own a Windows/Ubuntu system on another laptop that I use for recreational purposes.

 

[y3nd0]

@beanie5

We went the exact same route. 😛 Friendly Swede stylus + Notability.

I also used to do pen/paper in undergrad. Printing out ppt slides to write notes now on will break the bank (tried it last quarter for a class that met 3x a week and probably spent $5 a week for printing), so I had to adapt to the iPad, which I never used during undergrad for anything school related. Once you get used to writing on it with a fat stylus, it isn't so bad. I realized that it's super convenient, saves money, and trees. As for writing in small font, Notability has a zoom in function where you can focus on certain areas of a page. I personally don't use it too much since it's more time consuming for me to do so. I write on the screen as is. My handwriting looks horrible and sometimes I do run out of room (not often), but it works just fine for me.

Caveat: I do wish the screen were bigger though. If someone were to give me a Surface Pro for free, I'd take it and ditch my fat laptop and never bring my iPad to school anymore. I guess you don't really have a choice... but hey, the iPad isn't even bad.

I have no say for Samsung tablets.


@DentalDoge About palm rejection - the Notability app has one built in (I don't use it though).

 

[toothexplore]

at our school everyone uses a Lenovo tablet PC, but I never see people writing their notes on screen. People either print and handwrite or type up notes. Sometimes you just can't write fast enough in my opinion