[apos]

Hi,

as far as I know - and I am looking into this subject for a very, very long time - I can only give you one advice:

Don't invest any time or money into this subject when it comes to REAL handwriting capabilities if you cannot afford the price for a good device and / or don't really exactly know for what purpose you would use this device. E. g. "handwriting" and just "notes taking" are total different tasks. Or do you just like to annotate a PDF, make a sketch? If you like take the device to university doing you work there is just one answer: 200 bugs are not enough - sorry!

There are only a few devices out there that have REAL WORLD handwriting capabilities - and most of them are tablets or tablet pcs (in order from best to worst):

- Mac Book Pro (> 800 €) -> MOSTLY PERFECT, see Video link at the bottom !!!
- Microsoft Surface Tablets with special pen and e. g. MS OneNote
- Lenovo touch screen pc with special pen
- Samsung Note tablet with S-Pen

... which are all expensive devices ...

There are technically reasons and marketing issues for that manufactures simply did not adress or integrate such components into an e-ink device yet - despite the techniques are available (Apple, Samsung, ...).
These components are:

1. a dedicated* touch screen
2. and / or a dedicated* software for palm rest recognition
3. a dedicated* stylus
4. To get the real "handwriting" feeling, the device has to react very fast which is simply no possible due to the fact that most e-ink devices have not that fast hardware (due to power consumption) and lack a fast and responsive display!
5. * "dedicated" hardware components and must work together in high efficiency to be capable to catch mens handwriting in affordable speed

There are however two kinds of e-ink devices that try to address this problem:

Sony "digital paper":
- Sony DPT-S1 (> 700 €) -> most advanced technique (not in terms of hardware specs, but proof of concept when it comes to PDF!). The price of the device drops constantly .
-> "Sony DPT-S1 Digital Paper, go paperless" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y04s3bdlgNg

Android devices:
- Goodereader 13'' (> 700 €) which has a Wacom Stylus (new device, not really proven yet)
- Onyx Boox Max is an 13'' device (>700 €) (new device, so not really proven yet) I never saw a real world example using it as an hand writing device.
- Pocketbook Cad Reader (not released yet)

And given you an answer about affordable devices:
- The Onyx Boox m96 devices with stylus seam to to have such capabilities (~350 €):

->Video shown here "Onyx Boox m96 - Handwriting Speed Test" with a stylus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMnPo4pN_qA

However there exists a newer model, the Onyx Boox n96 with ether front display or dual touch that now which costs > 400 € (thanks Dr. Drip ;-) )
probably you can take advantage of the new model and get the older M96 for a good price (https://www.amazon.de/Onyx-BOOX-M96-...1&tag=mr000-21 for around ~300 €).



I only saw a few proof of concept real world videos using such devices, as the one shown above. Most of those videos come from people that are just play around with such devices making silly sketches but do not seriously work with them (like some videos from goodereader!!!):

How serious work could look like using a tablet for studies is shown here:

- "ipad pro handwriting" -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vguu_1dXiB8
- There is a video about a guy did mathematical writing with the Sony DPT-1 out there in Youtube, but I cannot find any more ... But I really know from reading comments of people that use this device on a daily basis for working with documents and handwriting. And see the opinion of this guy "OMG! the handwriting is AMAZING! it's fast, responsive (takes a second to antialiasing and delete)" ( cross reference: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=516 )


You should definitely consider to digitize your handwritten notices with apps like e .g. CamScanner.

[Update] Or _wait_ until prices drop: I am sure (hope), prices for 10'' or 13'' e-ink devices will fall during the next years down to ~350 € (10'') and <500 € (13'').

Best regards
Axel


Addendum:

I by myself tried different solutions digitizing my handwriting but never was really satisfied. I had bad experiences buying third party pens for existing devices and I ended up scanning or using an app like Cam Scanner.

I cannot (or will not) afford 900 € for an Apple iPad Pro, but it would be definitely the device I would use for real hand writing.

For just notes taking or working within given (PDF) documents, the Sony DPT-S1, the Onyx Books Max (every format) or the Goodereader 13'' device could be the best choice.