Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
If you want to take note using digital pen, then the only viable option is samsung galaxy note ( preferably 10.1) which gives you feel like almost pen & paper. Moreover, they have great office suite (polaris and kingston) for free which you can only dream of with iPad. However if you like restricted iOS ecosystem and pay a bunch more for app and accessories go for iPad!!!
android has lots of great features, and so do the devices made for it, but unfortunately, it lacks some that i need for my work, so it is a non-starter. i am sure others have certain apps or certain needs that make the ipad a good fit. the quality and price of the restricted iOS is better overall than android. sorry. that is a fact (http://www.padgadget.com/2012/02/23...pps-cost-2-5x-more-than-iphone-and-ipad-apps/). and, you might be surprised at how good the ipad works with a relatively small investment in apps. $1 for notability and you get handwriting. doesn't seem so bad to me.

I have been using my iPad for notes the past 2 and a half semesters and it has been GREAT. I've tried countless note taking apps and Note Taker HD takes the cake. It has the smoothest "zoom box" writing and you can import PDFs to take notes on those as well. I don't have any trouble keeping up and my notes are much more accessible now.
i consider this far superior to notability. but, notability certainly gives you the biggest bang for your buck.
 

tanboom

macrumors member
Aug 19, 2011
98
0
android has lots of great features, and so do the devices made for it, but unfortunately, it lacks some that i need for my work, so it is a non-starter. i am sure others have certain apps or certain needs that make the ipad a good fit. the quality and price of the restricted iOS is better overall than android. sorry. that is a fact (http://www.padgadget.com/2012/02/23...pps-cost-2-5x-more-than-iphone-and-ipad-apps/). and, you might be surprised at how good the ipad works with a relatively small investment in apps. $1 for notability and you get handwriting. doesn't seem so bad to me.


i consider this far superior to notability. but, notability certainly gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

I have ipad 2, galaxy note and a galaxy tab 8.9. Handwriting on note is best as it gives you the same handwriting if you write on a paper. But if you are happy with iPad, dont look further. Without any additional paid apps, you can get better hand writing with galaxy note, thats my experience from three mentioned above.
 

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
I have ipad 2, galaxy note and a galaxy tab 8.9. Handwriting on note is best as it gives you the same handwriting if you write on a paper. But if you are happy with iPad, dont look further. Without any additional paid apps, you can get better hand writing with galaxy note, thats my experience from three mentioned above.

no disagreement there. the ipad is certainly not geared towards writing with a stylus, and i think the experience is definitely not the same as pen/paper, though it is tolerable, and for convenience sake, my preferred method of notetaking.

the problem (in my opinion), is that the ipad competes better overall, with a ton of really spectacular, low-priced apps for all aspects of your workflow. a concrete example would be pdf readers. i have tried several on android and none of them even come close to iannotate or even goodreader.

so, i guess it depends on your use case.
 

LushMojo

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2008
123
20
Camden, Maine
I use an iPad 2 (iPad 3 shipped this morning) for medical school. Love it. LOVE. IT. I use a Wacom Bamboo stylus and was using GoodNotes, but now I use Notes Plus. I have a MacBook Air and 27" iMac at home that I use if I ever need to type anything, but that's rare.
 

hchavarria

macrumors 6502
Oct 8, 2008
430
0
I have an iPad 2 (waiting delivery on iPad 3) and use Ghostwriter Notes for taking notes on all my classes and work meetings. I use a Bamboo Stylus and I find it to be simply the best. This app also allow automatic backup to Dropbox and annotate PDF.
 

Tom G.

macrumors 68020
Jun 16, 2009
2,340
1,389
Champaign/Urbana Illinois
For those who want to rest their palms on the iPad while writing there is a solution. Go to http://cregle.com/ and check it out. I have been waiting for them to begin shipping and they have in the last day or two. I just ordered one.

It is a Kickstarter program and I've been watching them since December.

P.S. If you totally check out their site you will find that it should work with most note taking app available for the iPad, and they believe that it should work with the "New" iPad as well.
 

Bigmacduck

macrumors regular
Feb 15, 2009
228
5
I use uPad and the adonit jot pro stylus http://adonit.net/product/jot-pro/

Tested many apps but I like uPad most because of the automatically advancing magnifying input window and wrist protection. If I only tested this app first bebore shelling out mone for 5 other handwiting apps.
 

thelookingglass

macrumors 68020
Apr 27, 2005
2,138
631
Law school is almost entirely text based, particularly in the first year. If I were entering law school now, there is absolutely no question that I'd use my iPad in class. The battery life and light weight of the thing beats carrying a laptop and a charger around.

I would use either Evernote, Notability or Pages (or some combination of the three to get the notes synced to my PC via Evernote or Dropbox). With a bluetooth keyboard, there will be virtually no difference compared to typing on a laptop (provided you learn the basic keyboard shortcuts so you don't have to touch the screen to move the cursor, highlight text, etc.).
 

Nightprowler

macrumors regular
Feb 27, 2012
103
0
For those who want to rest their palms on the iPad while writing there is a solution. Go to http://cregle.com/ and check it out. I have been waiting for them to begin shipping and they have in the last day or two. I just ordered one.
I saw these mentioned before too. Please come back and give your review when you get yours.
 

fridgeymonster3

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2008
493
13
Philadelphia
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

powerslave12r said:
Also something I've been considering.

Can someone tell me if I can do this on ipad:

- Highlight text or makes notes on pdf files, equivalent to a underlining/highlighting text on a paper book.

I am currently in law school. I would advise against taking notes on an iPad, but it's just a personal preference. Not a single student in any of my classes takes notes on an iPad.

I can recommend iAnnotate PDF for an app that lets you highlight PDF text with your finger. Its great if you pair it with having Acrobat Pro on your computer. I convert the majority of my law school books to PDF and then read them on my iPad. Nobody wants to carry around cherminisky's con law book!! On e you get your law school books, they'll be so heavy you wont notice the difference of a few lbs between a MBP and an iPad!!
 

linkgx1

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2011
1,766
443
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

A galaxy note 10.1 might be better 4 notes. I'll get both and see as a future law student
 

Zeos

macrumors 6502
Jan 24, 2008
425
25
I'm starting law school in the fall, I own a MBP 15in, but am strongly considering buying an iPad. I ride a bike to class and even the weight of th MBP at my side is uncomfortable.

I was wondering if anyone uses an iPad as a note taking device, and if so are there any accessories that improve the process (dock/keyboard etc..)

Yes, with Noteable and a stylus. Best combo I have found.
 

linkgx1

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2011
1,766
443
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Snapping pictures on Kodak is faster IMO
 

fridgeymonster3

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2008
493
13
Philadelphia
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

EDIT: ignore this post. iPhone plagued post. See below.
 

fridgeymonster3

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2008
493
13
Philadelphia
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

iDvisic said:
fridgeymonster3 said:
I convert the majority of my law school books to PDF and then read them on my iPad.

What's your conversion method? Scanning individual pages would take forever!

iDv.

I have two methods. For books that come with a DRM protected ebook, I generally remove the DRM and convert to PDF or if I cant remove the DRM, I find some sort of work around by print-screening by page (takes a few hrs an is my least favorite method.

Option 2, i have the book completely unbound and scanned in by Kinkos.
 

linkgx1

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2011
1,766
443
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

fridgeymonster3 said:
iDvisic said:
fridgeymonster3 said:
I convert the majority of my law school books to PDF and then read them on my iPad.


What's your conversion method? Scanning individual pages would take forever!

iDv.

I have two methods. For books that come with a DRM protected ebook, I generally remove the DRM and convert to PDF or if I cant remove the DRM, I find some sort of work around by print-screening by page (takes a few hrs an is my least favorite method.

Option 2, i have the book completely unbound and scanned in by Kinkos.

Unauthorized copying the Feds gonna get u and they won't be using ANY lube
 

fridgeymonster3

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2008
493
13
Philadelphia
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

linkgx1 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

fridgeymonster3 said:
iDvisic said:
fridgeymonster3 said:
I convert the majority of my law school books to PDF and then read them on my iPad.


What's your conversion method? Scanning individual pages would take forever!

iDv.

I have two methods. For books that come with a DRM protected ebook, I generally remove the DRM and convert to PDF or if I cant remove the DRM, I find some sort of work around by print-screening by page (takes a few hrs an is my least favorite method.

Option 2, i have the book completely unbound and scanned in by Kinkos.

Unauthorized copying the Feds gonna get u and they won't be using ANY lube

I consider it "fair use" as I keep my hardcopy and only use my PDFs for personal scholarship use.
 

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
stripping drm is definitely illegal. but, tearing apart your books and scanning them might also be illegal, even if you own them. speeding is also illegal. so is peeing in public.

"fair use" is a tricky thing that i doubt applies to anything that has been mentioned so far. i think the argument lawyers tend to use is one based on space shifting (copying a tape to a cd, for example).

it is debatable, and i don't see much in the cases so far that can give us any clear guidance on turning paper to digital. if the fbi wants to raid my house and stop me from scanning a book to read on my ipad, then i could find myself in hot water, but otherwise, i don't think it is something we need to lose any sleep over.
 

polbit

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2002
526
650
South Carolina
As a lefty I tried pretty much every note taking app on the market for my iPad 2, and none of them can do proper palm rejection when the hand is behind what you are writing.

I really wish that Apple would realize that there is a market for active-digitizer iPad, and release one. I would gladly pay an extra $100 for that. But I'm sure that will happen as likely as a removable storage...
 

MXSkier62

macrumors regular
Dec 4, 2006
151
3
iAnnotatePDF is a great organizer and annotator of PDFs (in the name). Highlight, scribble some notes, type directly on a PDF if you have a longer thought. It's great for that.

But if you're looking to do actual note generation, rather than just highlighting pre-made note sheets, then stick to either a laptop or pen and paper. As a third option (and one that many of my classmates use, I'm in med school by the way), is they bought an iPad, and got an accompanying case that has a keyboard so if they need to take real notes, they can easily type.
 

powerslave12r

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2010
702
149
I'm going to go through all the suggestions in this thread. Here's the result of fooling around on the new ipad

Here's a quick sample using my palm to rest, medium thickness of pen, the stylus was the one I mentioned in my previous post.

 

linkgx1

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2011
1,766
443
I'm going to go through all the suggestions in this thread. Here's the result of fooling around on the new ipad

Here's a quick sample using my palm to rest, medium thickness of pen, the stylus was the one I mentioned in my previous post.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/JarsHl.jpg]Image[/URL]

You write like a 5 year old. :p

----------

ahem:


galaxy-note-10-1-tip_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg
 

powerslave12r

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2010
702
149
You write like a 5 year old. :p

----------

ahem:


Image

That explains a lot of things :D

Yours is beautiful! I write a different handwriting depending on my mood, drastically different.

And your analysis is correct given that I've been waiting for my new ipad all week like a 5 year old :D
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.