iblade

I'm seirously considering buying a PDA and using it for note taking during class. Now I'm talking about extensive note taking for 2 - 3 hour lectures.

The 2 solutions I've come accross are the following.

1- Stowaway foldable keyboard
2- Calligrapher handwriting recognition software

The prices range from 40 to 90 dollars for both solutions (keyboards or software packs).

What in your opinion is the best solution for taking extensive notes?

I've just read about Fitaly, and I'm even more confused...

http://www.fitaly.com/fsinfo/fitaly3ppcnote.htm

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Martian

My girlfriend has a foldable keyboard for that exact purpose and it works like a charm. I'm wary of anything that recognizes handwriting, it tends to be somewhat imperfect. If you're a decent typist the keyboard will serve you well and working with it isn't so far different from using a full-sized desktop keyboard. I picked it up instantly when I tried it.

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Cynthetiq

fitaly is cool if you can get good at it.. there are people who can do over 100wpm on it. personally I don't think it's a good long term solution for long reports or note taking. I did get good at grafitti so that I could take notes when in meetings, but it had a downside of totally fubaring my normal penmanship.

I have a palm folding keyboard which I use for writing when I'm on a plane and I love it. I love it. Only drawback is that long writing does wear the battery down since it's IR enabled. The original cradle ones aren't much better for power saving either.

Mind you I have a tungsten|C which has a built in keyboard and I use that for quick notes, the fold up for long missives and journal entries.

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Psycho Dad

IMHO, the Pocket PCs and letter recognizer works better than the Palms and their graffiti input method. My wife and I both have Dell Axims. She uses a foldaway keyboard for note taking during meetings and I use the letter recognizer. She prefers her keyboard as she is a far better typist than I and I prefer the letter recognizer because I like to just jot things down as I would on paper.

I do not like the Transcriber input method though on the PPC. I think Microsoft may have licenced the technology from the makers of Calligrapher. The transciber just doesn't seem to work as well as the letter recognizer.

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Charlatan

The handwriting software I've used was never that great but you can get pretty good with it... it would be pretty cool if you link a PDA to a wacom tablet and some software... larger writing surface and ability to doodle...

I have a folding keyboard that I use when I have a lot of typing to do but find that the Querty keyboard on my Treo, once you are used to it is pretty efficent. If I was taking notes in class though, I would opt for the folding keyboard as I am sure I would develop a cramp using any building keyboard... you can type fast but not for great lengths of time.

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amonkie

Yet another with the folding keyboard, and I have a Palm IIIc. Cyn pretty much summed up my main points, but the keyboard is the best method I have come across so far.

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ratbastid

Yep. Before I had a laptop, I'd take my Palm IIIx and my folding keyboard to meetings. It was pretty slick, and worked just great.

amonkie

In a way its almost COOLER than a laptop - they come in with this "oh its not big at all!" computer... I whip out, of of my pocket no less, my palm and keyboard - don't need no carrying bag for that!

__________________
Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna

Charlatan

Size matters...

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

iblade

Keyboard? In your pocket? Crazy.

__________________
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.