How about ipad (1) for taking study notes? Oriented towards mindmaps and diagrams

[LivresInOz]

I was thinking of getting an ipad to take study notes with, and i was wondering if people thought it would be able to do what i need?

I need to be able to take study notes of the standard you see here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56951993@N03/5521182169/

I don't mind not having it all on one screen - it seems easy to flip pages...

But i need:

* the level of fineness of drawing/writing you see in my screenshot
* the ability to paste images in
* the ability to move text and images around easily (eg. with loop-selection)

[Obviously point one is about hardware, the second two software - but I need all of them.]

Could people speak on whatever aspects they have had experience with?

Also interested in hearing possible alternatives (eg. I was checking out the Entourage Edge, which seems to have advantage that I could watch the powerpoint slides of a lecture on one screen, and notate them on the other)

I use OneNote now on a (heavy) tablet, and apparently onenote for the ipad is being offered free at the moment:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/micro...410395246?mt=8

Thanks alot - I'm really serious about this because I need something lightweight I can take notes on while reading heavy textbooks. My tablet computer, while powerful, is just too heavy. I've found that with study, variety is key. Ideally i'd like to be able to take notes not just while strapped to a desk, but while sitting in an arm chair, perhaps with the device resting on the arm of the chair. Variety!

(I'm mainly interested in hearing from people who have had actual experience in using such features. Thanks!)

[kjk]

While there are sketching/note taking apps, like Penultimate and styluses (styli?) that work with the iPad like the Pogo , you should realize that iOS is really not a note-taking/detail sketching oriented OS, in terms of pen/stylus input support. I don't think that focus will change either.

I think a mobile OS written directly for pen input might be a better long term investment. The coming Windows tablet OS, and possibly HP's WebOS (there have been rumors of stylus support in the past) will be a better bet.

[SolRaven]

Well, if Kno ever ships, that would probably be your best bet. How big do you need it? When do you need it? If you can use a smaller pad the HTC Flyer might be a good option.

[LivresInOz]

Hi guys,
I'm interested in what might come in the future, but really I'm talking about now.
Size-wise, the bigger the better. I would see the current ipad size of approx 9 inch x 7 inch as a minimum.

zenjii, I have to agree with the others here when I say that an OS which is based on finger and finger gesture input is not going to give you the fine input control of a stylus based OS. Think of a finger input OS as writing in the sand with your finger. Yes you can make drawings and write words and equations, but they will be rather large in size because your finger is rather large compared to a fountain pen or pencil. If you tried to put your finger writing done in the sand onto a notebook page size of paper you would not be able to fit much of it on the paper unless you shrunk it down. so basically we are saying that that kind of note taking requires too much space when done with a finger and thus won't be easy to do on an iPad. But a stylus based system with a similar screen size would most likely work well, but only if the stylus is pointed like a writing pen or pencil and not fat like a finger.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by zenji

Hi guys,
I'm interested in what might come in the future, but really I'm talking about now.
Size-wise, the bigger the better. I would see the current ipad size of approx 9 inch x 7 inch as a minimum.

Then an Asus Ep121 might work for you.

I did run across this app in iTunes, but I haven't tried it:

http://www.cocoabox.com/penultimate

I still think it would be difficult to get much precision as far as small handwritten text goes on a finger activated screen.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I did run across this app in iTunes, but I haven't tried it:

http://www.cocoabox.com/penultimate

I still think it would be difficult to get much precision as far as small handwritten text goes on a finger activated screen.

I heard that's a really good app. I still wonder about the iPads limitation but will be trying it out ... if my iPad ever arrives.

[LivresInOz]

Hi SolRaven, the Kno looks good - even a single screen would probably serve...but it looks like promises have been broken about release dates (not a good sign!). When have you heard is the latest release date?

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by zenji

Hi SolRaven, the Kno looks good - even a single screen would probably serve...but it looks like promises have been broken about release dates (not a good sign!). When have you heard is the latest release date?

I ordered a single screen. The double screen looks too cumbersome and heavy.
Kno last called on Valentine's Day to say that shipment has been delayed an additional 60 days. They didn't give an exact date, just a time frame. I don't see how they can take pre-orders for something that was not in its final stages of production. If I ever get it, I'll be sure to post about it.

[oleoleoleusa]

It will be easy to take notes on an iPad if this project goes through. A group of Carnegie Mellon students are creating an app to make textbooks available at low cost to students.

Check it out: http://www.indiegogo.com/ALIPT

I'm interested in contributing and pledge to do so after 25 people contribute to the cause.

[SolRaven]

I got my iPad today and the first thing I downloaded was Penultimate. Unfortunately, it won't work as something to take notes on. If you write slowly, perhaps, but I can't write normally and expect decent results. If I tried to take notes with it, I'd be craving paper and pen all the more.

Congratulations on the iPad arriving! Did you get the iPad 2?

I bought Penultimate too. I think it is worth $1.99, but you're correct in that it wouldn't work very well for taking notes in hurried fashion--like a classroom. And as I suspected, with my fat finger I wind up with large sized notes! But I think it will have its applications and if they get the glitch fixed where iOS 4.3 messes up the VGA mirroring capability, it will make a nice app for using with projectors in classroom situations where you want to illustrate an idea or perhaps solve a math equation.

I agree that probably nothing can compare to pen and paper for taking notes, at least in my case as I am a very slow typist. But even if I could type fast, my note taking includes illustrations, charts, connections, and all sorts of things that would not be possible with a keyboard or keypad.

[BrentKnowles]

I've been pleased with the Noterize app using a stylus but I don't use it in a classroom situation (and I don't think you can paste pictures into it).

One cool feature it has though is the ability to record the audio in the room and break it into separate files as you create new note pages. Again its years since I've been in a classroom but I find it useful for editing my writing.

I did a mini review of it http://blog.brentknowles.com/2011/02...-app-noterize/

Link to store http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/noter...364906681?mt=8

[SolRaven]

Thanks Jack. I got an iPad 1. I got tired of waiting to see if Kno will ever ship, so I just got on with it.