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HELP: Adonit Jot It for Note Taking?

D

dannn

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2008
107
0
Hey guys,
I am considering buying an Ipad for many reasons, one being for note taking. I plan on primarily annotating pdfs, powerpoint slides, and word documents with an Adonit Jot It stylus.

However, before I go through with the purchase, I'd love to see someone that's adept with the stylus demonstrate how well it performs such tasks. I've searched the internet and can only find a few videos that aren't particularly helpful.

To be as clear and specific as possible: I want to see someone write as quickly and as small as possible to see the stylus' limitations.

If anyone could provide a video of of themselves demonstrating this for me, I would be so grateful. Even a comment would be very useful to me.

Thanks guys!
 
Here's a quick & dirty test using my Jot Pro on the NoteTaker HD App. I had some issues with my wrist touching the screen, I missed placed my glove so I had to hover over the screen while writing. Please pardon my penmanship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgr11FCI_II&feature=youtube_gdata_player

What helps is finding the line thickness that suits you writing style. I started off with a line thickness that what looks to be maybe 3-4 pixel thick. Then switched to 2-3 then to 4-5. The thinner the line, the more jagged the line gets but the fidelity of you input is finer. The thicker the line, the smoother the line gets but the fidelity of your input is broader.

I hope that makes sense.

Also tried going back to a typical rubber tipped stylus. Night and day, the Jot owns any of the rubber or foam tipped styluses out there.
 
Last edited:
Many thanks for the video. Very helpful. After trying a number of styluses I've more or less decided that the variation in styluses is less important than practicing the use of any stylus on the iPad. Having said that, however, it does appear that the Jot has some real advantages over most (if not all) other styluses.
 
what's the difference with the pro model? Is it just the rubber grip and nothing else?

thanks!
 
Thanks xray! Your video gives me a good idea of what I can really expect!
 
This is the awesome stylus especially for notes and especially for school season.:) Check the eBay to get one.
 
Also, for those of you who are also interested in this, I found a useful video of the dagi stylus, which is more or less the same thing in concept:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtG_ozerSFU

My conclusion: you can write pretty proficiently with this kind of stylus, however, I think it would be best suited for annotating powerpoint slides and other pdf's where you can write reasonable big. I was hoping that I'd be able to write precisely enough to write close to size 12 Times New Roman print, but I don't think that's possible.

I plan on purchasing an IPad when it ships with iOS5. I will share my findings when I do if this thread remains alive. For anyone else though, please feel free to share more videos! I'm still highly interested in seeing someone write quicker than these videos and in even smaller print
 
dannn said:
Also, for those of you who are also interested in this, I found a useful video of the dagi stylus, which is more or less the same thing in concept:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtG_ozerSFU

My conclusion: you can write pretty proficiently with this kind of stylus, however, I think it would be best suited for annotating powerpoint slides and other pdf's where you can write reasonable big. I was hoping that I'd be able to write precisely enough to write close to size 12 Times New Roman print, but I don't think that's possible.

I plan on purchasing an IPad when it ships with iOS5. I will share my findings when I do if this thread remains alive. For anyone else though, please feel free to share more videos! I'm still highly interested in seeing someone write quicker than these videos and in even smaller print
Click to expand...

It takes a stylus contact tip diameter of about 6mm to register an input. Yeah Size 12 may be pushing the lower limits of screen sensitivity.
 
the only downside of the stylus is the loud "tapping" sound it makes against the glass. I have had to switch to the std boxwave type when watching a movie with family as all of them said the tapping was too much...
 
Jot Stylus Review

Here's my review:

So I finally got my Jot Stylus in.
The build quality is very high and looks nice. I purchased the model with magnets in it that will stick to the iPad 2 on the right side, where the smart cover closes. It is not designed to be packed away like this though and is only for temporarily holding it.
So how does it preform? Its very precise, probably the most precise capacitive stylus on the market. It works well in penultimate which can keep up with your speed of writing. Other apps work well too (notetaker HD, notes plus, Ghostwriter etc..) But there is a big Flaw for me. I write really fast, mostly printing (not cursive) so this has me constantly lifting up the stylus and taping the screen. The noise the Jot makes when touching the screen is loud! Think about taking the back of a pen hitting glass with it. Its very Annoying. Now for people who write cursive or doing drawings this probably wont be a deal breaker. But for me I cant see my self using this to take notes (unless in a very loud room or with headphones on) Since the small disk on the stylus can be pulled off and put on back on I'm hoping that they might come out with a disk with some coating that will help with the noise. Until then I'm still searching for the perfect Stylus for my iPad.
 
peteo said:
Here's my review:

So I finally got my Jot Stylus in.
The build quality is very high and looks nice. I purchased the model with magnets in it that will stick to the iPad 2 on the right side, where the smart cover closes. It is not designed to be packed away like this though and is only for temporarily holding it.
So how does it preform? Its very precise, probably the most precise capacitive stylus on the market. It works well in penultimate which can keep up with your speed of writing. Other apps work well too (notetaker HD, notes plus, Ghostwriter etc..) But there is a big Flaw for me. I write really fast, mostly printing (not cursive) so this has me constantly lifting up the stylus and taping the screen. The noise the Jot makes when touching the screen is loud! Think about taking the back of a pen hitting glass with it. Its very Annoying. Now for people who write cursive or doing drawings this probably wont be a deal breaker. But for me I cant see my self using this to take notes (unless in a very loud room or with headphones on) Since the small disk on the stylus can be pulled off and put on back on I'm hoping that they might come out with a disk with some coating that will help with the noise. Until then I'm still searching for the perfect Stylus for my iPad.
Click to expand...

I just recently received mine as well. Turquoise models were delayed because Adonit was not happy with the color on the initial run of turquoise. Kudos to them for not shipping that first batch of turquoise. The turquoise does look sharp. I like the ability to stick to the iPad for a holding spot.

Re: Tapping noise.
Even in cursive, the tapping is also frequent enough to be annoying. (not dotting i's and crossing t's helps) The jot is precise and the build quality is high as you noted.
 
I've had the Jot pro for quite a while now and here are my thoughts:

The disk separated pretty soon with just gentle usage (hand writing notes). Didn't drop it whatsoever. Contacted adonit and received replacement disks 2-3 weeks later.
This time I am really careful about it and it seems to be holding up. But lately it has been losing its sensitivity. I can hardly draw a complete line now in every single note taking / drawing app. The line always cuts off during the process.
I can deal with the tapping sound but this sensitivity issue is driving me nuts. I give them credit for taking care of my replacements, but there seem to be a number of widespread flaws about this stylus (as seen on their kickstarter comment page). I don't know how much testing they have done but it probably isn't enough.
For the moment I purchased a Bamboo stylus for note taking. Yes it is still using those rubber tip thing and quite expensive but the stylus itself feels great and performs very consistently.
 
ctbear said:
I've had the Jot pro for quite a while now and here are my thoughts:

The disk separated pretty soon with just gentle usage (hand writing notes). Didn't drop it whatsoever. Contacted adonit and received replacement disks 2-3 weeks later.
This time I am really careful about it and it seems to be holding up. But lately it has been losing its sensitivity. I can hardly draw a complete line now in every single note taking / drawing app. The line always cuts off during the process.
I can deal with the tapping sound but this sensitivity issue is driving me nuts. I give them credit for taking care of my replacements, but there seem to be a number of widespread flaws about this stylus (as seen on their kickstarter comment page). I don't know how much testing they have done but it probably isn't enough.
For the moment I purchased a Bamboo stylus for note taking. Yes it is still using those rubber tip thing and quite expensive but the stylus itself feels great and performs very consistently.
Click to expand...

One more thing worth mentioning is that dust particles trapped between the disk and surface of iPad while writing can badly scratch iPad's surface. :eek: Some users have already reported the incidents on Adonit's Kickstarter.com and Facebook.com. :(
 
writing on the iPad with a stylus is different for everyone, everyone works differently, and I think it's important to find the stylus that works best for you. People seem to really like the Jot, but again, it's probably not for everyone. My suggestion is to buy as many types of styli you can on eBay. (many styli are less than $3 on eBay, so if you spend $20 on a bunch of different types, you're more likely to find one you really like).
I ordered more than 15 different styli on eBay in the past month, and I've found a few that I really like, but all styli have their limitations, and the Jot seems to eliminate many limitations traditional styli have. I decided to try the Jot, and put my preorder in last week. I think i'm going to like it, it looks really nice. If the Jot looks like it will work well for you, then go ahead and try it, but remember that there's more to a stylus than accuracy.
 
Thanks for the input, guys

ctbear said:
I've had the Jot pro for quite a while now and here are my thoughts:

The disk separated pretty soon with just gentle usage (hand writing notes). Didn't drop it whatsoever. Contacted adonit and received replacement disks 2-3 weeks later.
This time I am really careful about it and it seems to be holding up. But lately it has been losing its sensitivity. I can hardly draw a complete line now in every single note taking / drawing app. The line always cuts off during the process.
I can deal with the tapping sound but this sensitivity issue is driving me nuts. I give them credit for taking care of my replacements, but there seem to be a number of widespread flaws about this stylus (as seen on their kickstarter comment page). I don't know how much testing they have done but it probably isn't enough.
For the moment I purchased a Bamboo stylus for note taking. Yes it is still using those rubber tip thing and quite expensive but the stylus itself feels great and performs very consistently.
Click to expand...

Does the bamboo perform well in note-taking? How small can you write with it?

I'm reconsidering the adonit. I don't know if I'll be able to deal with the clicking in a classroom, and I don't want to scratch the glass screen or put a screen protector on an ipad
In fact, maybe it's too impractical to expect decent note taking on this thing :confused:
 
I agreed with buying a few styli....I use the jot for note taking but have found a STD sponge ball or faraday beter for using with keynote presentations for advancing slides, pushing buttons, etc...

I love the faraday for it's smooth gliding but the shirt clip breaks off after just a few uses...I have snapped 4 already....
 
dannn said:
Does the bamboo perform well in note-taking? How small can you write with it?

I'm reconsidering the adonit. I don't know if I'll be able to deal with the clicking in a classroom, and I don't want to scratch the glass screen or put a screen protector on an ipad
In fact, maybe it's too impractical to expect decent note taking on this thing :confused:
Click to expand...

The bamboo feels more like a stylus than an actual pen, but it is not bad at all.
Its tip is thicker than Jot (obviously) but still thinner than most other competitors. I thought it would be hard to take notes with it but it turned out pretty well. You will have some difficulties drawing very precise line though.
 
Any updates since September? I am interested in using this for note taking, but maybe other competitors have entered the field since then?
 
As for updates I don't think there is any new big contender. For my money the jot stylus is still the hands down winner. I've been using it for a few weeks and haven't experienced any issues at all. The clear disk makes a huge difference in accuracy and also just the psychology that has you feeling like you are writing with a pen on paper.

One comment I will make is that the choice of apps is pretty important in terms of keeping up with your writing speed. I have had good luck with penultimate and notability but decided to try and few others and my writing firmly outpaced the ability of the apps to keep up. I had assumed the limitation would be the stylus contacting the screen or the iPad digitizer but it would appear (in my experience at least) that a big YMMV factor is the actual app you are using to take notes and how optimized and efficient it is at keeping up with writing speed.

Good luck.
 
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