What is the best solution for going paperless?

[Saar2k]

Student going paperless

Hello, I'm a computer science student in my 1st year, and I want to go paperless.

I've searched around a lot for the best solution but I couldn't find the best answer, so I ended up coming here

I have a powerful laptop, capable of doing a lot of stuff (programming, gaming, etc), but I find it hard to write math on it, so basically i need another device for digital writing (handwriting).
I've found Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 and Surface Pro 3 and heard a lot of good stuff about them both, but the sp3 is a bit more expensive.

My needs are :
1. Handwriting that will be on the same level of writing on a paper.
2. Being able to type on a keyboard and handwriting without too much delay (it is possible with SP3's OneNote).
2. NOT laggy device when talking about handwriting.
3. Organizing all of the data in folder. For example : a folder of 1st year, inside it a folder of linear algebra, inside a notebook of linear algebra.
4. Recording every lecture and storing it in the device / cloud.
5. Writing and handling PDFs and scanned papers.

So, can the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 handle all of my needs?

Thanks!

 

[the tall guy]

Re: Student going paperless

The SP3 seems to suit your needs more, due to the detachable keyboard - plus I personally find it easier to organise files and folders in Windows than I do Android, that's not to say the Note Pro isn't a good option. It would handle note taking better than the SP3 I would think. Plus I'm sure you can buy a detachable keyboard.

I played about with the Note Pro a while back and didn't notice any lag while scrolling through the device.

 

[muzzy996]

Re: Student going paperless

For the Note Pro I use LectureNotes to take notes which I find to be more functional than One Note in terms of features. The interface isn't pretty but it works well once you learn it. It also takes some time to set up up syncing of your notes to Dropbox (using Dropsync). LectureNotes has optional add on modules for recording lectures and scanning (I hate the scanning module) and also handles importing PDF files into notebooks or exporting notebooks to PDF. About the only thing it won't do is OCR, so your handwriting in your notebooks won't be fully searchable. If you do go Note Pro I highly recommend checking out LectureNotes.

 

[mickeylittle777]

Muzzy I've tried to like LectureNotes but I've never figured out how to type in an easy manner. With One Note I can click anywhere on my page and type like having a text box. So I can have various boxes of typed text and handwritten notes scattered on my pages. But with LN every time I go to type it starts in the upper left hand corner. Am I missing something?

 

[muzzy996]

Muzzy I've tried to like LectureNotes but I've never figured out how to type in an easy manner. With One Note I can click anywhere on my page and type like having a text box. So I can have various boxes of typed text and handwritten notes scattered on my pages. But with LN every time I go to type it starts in the upper left hand corner. Am I missing something?

You're not missing anything, and thanks for bringing that up. LectureNotes is horrid for text typing, plain and simple. I NEVER do it which is why I ignored it. Honestly, I just tried it for the first time ever after you noted the issue today. Keyboarding is just not something I do for note taking on my Pro. LectureNotes seems to treat typed in text as a separate layer on the page and a full page layer at that; you are unable to create text boxes anywhere and type within them independently like you can in One Note. I'm probably missing something but I don't see an intuitive way to move text around on the page either . . LOL

I think it boils down to note taking style really. I tried S-Note, Papyrus, One Note, Evernote and LectureNotes and settled on a combination of Action Memo (for quick jot downs of info) synced in Evernote and LectureNotes synced via Dropbox (for meeting minutes/notes). What I like about LectureNotes the best is layering and importing of PDFs. With the others the import process for PDFs was either non-existant (S-Note and One Note lack it) or cumbersome.

With LectureNotes I can take a meeting agenda that I get in an email or website as a PDF and import it into a new notebook prior to a meeting. I then create a new layer to annotate on top of the agenda as the meeting progresses and I'll add pages to take notes on as needed. My entire meeting/lecture is saved right there in a single notebook that syncs up with my Dropbox (via Dropsync) for me to retrieve at my desk for reference to create meeting minutes or to PDF out and email to someone else to task them with minute writing.

What I dislike about some of the others is lack of page control. With S-Note and One Note the page sizes are either too restrictive or completely unrestricted. I can't stand the infinite page size on One Note because I don't want to have to deal with pagination later on when I try to print my notes at my workstation.

If PDF import and complete page layout/size control was there in One Note (android version) I think I'd love it because the interface is clean and intuitive but I just don't see a way to control page size at all in One Note on the Note Pro.

@Saar2k - if text typing in your notebook is something you think you'll do then its very clear that LectureNotes isn't a good recommendation. Given the PDF handling requirement noted in your post I think its best to take a close look at how One Note works on the Surface 3 and see if the feature set is robust enough for you. I'm not sure what your PDF requirements really are but for me I've found PDF handling on Android a mixed bag; if PDF's are relatively small and simple its perfectly fine but opening up a big PDF with a few hundred scanned 24"x36" sized blueprints in it . . forget about it . .

 

[fatyank]

Re: Student going paperless

muzzy996 what are your thoughts on Evernote? I am using One Note for general notes, Lecture Notes for meetings. I have Evernote but feel I am keeping notes in too many places. I'm one of those real organized types and don't like to have stuff everywhere. I use Dropbox also.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Saar2k]

Thanks for the comprehensive answers! It really looks like the galaxy note pro is not for me. OCR is important and will make my life much easier when preparing for exams, and I really want the real feeling of writing on a paper - writing wherever I want, without being restricted.
Is there something that I'm missing that might give the galaxy device an advantage over the Surface Pro 3?

 

[muzzy996]

@Saar2k - entertainment, customization and simplicity. Can't beat mobile platforms for that IMO.

@fatyank - when it comes to leveraging the capabilities of the Note line of devices from Samsung, Evernote sucks a$$ plain and simple IMO. I use it for two things and two things only 1) to sync S-Notes between my Note 4 and Note Pro and 2) to act as a second repository for scanned business cards for contacts that I do NOT want synced with my main Gmail/Email contacts lists. The reason I find it to suck at note taking is there's limited flexibility when it comes to mixed content. Images and handwriting boxes end up being thrown into a note "in line" meaning you cant resize them or move them around the page to arrange your notes/thoughts around them. As far as handwriting goes its a mixed bag. Evernote's advantage is that your handwriting is indexed and searchable but the major downside is it's like writing with a thick marsh pen with no pressure/velocity sensitivity.

Evernote has their cloud storage and sync stuff down pat but when it comes to freedom of creativity it's kind of lacking. Mixed content notes seem clunky since every type of element is basically treated as a separate object in a list.

At the end of the day I think we can all look at various offerings and nit pick all of them. It's too bad none of them tick all of the right boxes . . For handling mixed content other than typed text I think LectureNotes works best for me. I should count myself lucky that I don't need typed text for notes . .

 

[goin_nil]

Re: Student going paperless

Battery life has to be a big consideration. Make sure to research that well based on people's real experiences, not just in claimed specs.

I can easily go all day on my Note Pro 12.2.

I've read reviews of the Surface Pro 3 getting less than 4 hours which is a shame since that's about the best that the first Surface Pro got too.

If you can be near a power outlet a few times a day, no big deal. But if you are stuck in the middle of a classroom with no access to power, that's a big deal.

If you go the Surface route, be prepared to have an external battery backup charger (or two) and keep that charged each night too. I'm sure that you will be fighting other students to try and find a power source throughout the day.

 

[Grimgrak]

I never use that keyboard feature. When I type I click on the pen button and I can use the pen to place the box anywhere I like and type into a text box. I can even more the text box after I type if I want to. Never been a problem.

Muzzy I've tried to like LectureNotes but I've never figured out how to type in an easy manner. With One Note I can click anywhere on my page and type like having a text box. So I can have various boxes of typed text and handwritten notes scattered on my pages. But with LN every time I go to type it starts in the upper left hand corner. Am I missing something?

 

[muzzy996]

I never use that keyboard feature. When I type I click on the pen button and I can use the pen to place the box anywhere I like and type into a text box. I can even more the text box after I type if I want to. Never been a problem.

OK see . . I wouldn't have thought to use the text tool in the pencil box to create text boxes but that makes total sense now lol. All this time I figured the keyboard icon on the top toolbar should INVOKE the same darned response but instead of starting a text box drawing interface it goes full page text box with cursor on the top. I think from now on I'll remove that icon from the top bar so I never use it LOL. From the looks of it the text becomes rasterized though so editing it other than deletion or moving it isn't possible, true?

 

[mickeylittle777]

This sounds promising but I can't figure out how to make it work.

Ok slow me got it to work but yeah once you type your text you sure better mean what you say because there is no edit.

So I'm not sure that I can use this but hopefully they will make some updates.

 

[acadoid]

@muzzy996: The text layer (accessible via the `keyboard´ icon) is essentially a simple word processor embedded into the notebook page and does not allow free placement. The text drawing tool allows free placement but draws the text into the notebook page. To add text boxes which combine the free placement of the text drawing tool with the modifiability of the text layer is on my agenda.

 

[muzzy996]

@muzzy996: The text layer (accessible via the `keyboard´ icon) is essentially a simple word processor embedded into the notebook page and does not allow free placement. The text drawing tool allows free placement but draws the text into the notebook page. To add text boxes which combine the free placement of the text drawing tool with the modifiability of the text layer is on my agenda.

Thanks for the explanation! Glad to see you monitoing threads such as this.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

 

[PlanetPluto7]

Re: Student going paperless

I have the 12.2. Usually use the Logitech keyboard case and Logitech mini Bluetooth mouse when I am in 'Laptop' mode. The stylus is very good but the 2 note apps, Action Memo and S-note, are awkward to sync between Note devices. The stylus itself is very good. There is a nice calculator for the stylus called Myscript Calculator. The windows machine will probably have more limited battery and a lower res screen but the file organizing should be easier.

 

[Grimgrak]

You can edit it or anything you add simply by adding a layer then you can choose which layer to edit.

This sounds promising but I can't figure out how to make it work.

Ok slow me got it to work but yeah once you type your text you sure better mean what you say because there is no edit.

So I'm not sure that I can use this but hopefully they will make some updates.