MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Considering buying a tablet - but only if it has good handwriting-to-text capability

sun surfer · 10-03-2011, 10:02 PM

Thanks for all your help so far. I was hoping it would be a standard feature on all tablets so it's disappointing to hear these responses! I'll check out the few tablets and apps mentioned by some of you.

This does lead to another question though - I suppose handwriting-to-text would be the best, but hearing about the Graffiti app made me put two and two together and what I want most is a fast and easy way to input text into a tablet, so definitely not an on-screen keyboard. I hadn't even thought of the Swype capabilities of my phone.

So I wonder if you could use Swype on a tablet for a word processing application. Or even Graffiti, but for word processing. I am thinking this must be very possible, which may open up all the tablets to options for me again. Despite any problems with handwriting-to-text, it would still be preferable to Swype or Graffiti, but they themselves are much preferable to an on-screen keyboard and are a possible compromise.

I'm trying to imagine how easy (or not) it would be to write for awhile with Swype rather than just a quick text. Swype is annoying sometimes but it is quick, and with a bigger Swype keyboard on a tablet instead of a phone it would probably be more accurate. I could see using it or Graffiti quickly for text and then going back to proofread capitalisation and punctuation. Definitely not a perfect solution but a possible one.

I do have one question - so a "Wacom" screen is needed to use a stylus instead of fingers? Even if all tablets had handwriting-to-text, it would be so much easier with a stylus than using fingers.

10-03-2011, 10:02 PM	#10
sun surfer languorous autodidact ✦ Posts: 4,235 Karma: 44637926 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: smiling with the rising sun Device: onyx boox poke 2 colour, kindle voyage	Thanks for all your help so far. I was hoping it would be a standard feature on all tablets so it's disappointing to hear these responses! I'll check out the few tablets and apps mentioned by some of you. This does lead to another question though - I suppose handwriting-to-text would be the best, but hearing about the Graffiti app made me put two and two together and what I want most is a fast and easy way to input text into a tablet, so definitely not an on-screen keyboard. I hadn't even thought of the Swype capabilities of my phone. So I wonder if you could use Swype on a tablet for a word processing application. Or even Graffiti, but for word processing. I am thinking this must be very possible, which may open up all the tablets to options for me again. Despite any problems with handwriting-to-text, it would still be preferable to Swype or Graffiti, but they themselves are much preferable to an on-screen keyboard and are a possible compromise. I'm trying to imagine how easy (or not) it would be to write for awhile with Swype rather than just a quick text. Swype is annoying sometimes but it is quick, and with a bigger Swype keyboard on a tablet instead of a phone it would probably be more accurate. I could see using it or Graffiti quickly for text and then going back to proofread capitalisation and punctuation. Definitely not a perfect solution but a possible one. I do have one question - so a "Wacom" screen is needed to use a stylus instead of fingers? Even if all tablets had handwriting-to-text, it would be so much easier with a stylus than using fingers.