PDA Productivity Journal: PhatPad or PhatNotes? Or some other?

[Phillip Dyson]

Hey guys.

In my effort to Turn over a New Leaf (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,36910) I've been trying out both PhatPad and PhatNotes at work.

For notetaking seemed more natural in PhatPad because of the free form-ness (is that a word?). But then, after the meeting, I wanted to make my notes into a more action-able form. Such as tasks and appointments. But didn't find a very intuitive way to do it. (Without simply re-typing everything). A simple cut and paste would be ideal.

I found that PhatNotes took more effort. Did Calligrapher recognize correctly. Or which SIP should I use? Usually I went to the Letter Recognizer. However, I can cut and paste right from my notes. Insert dates for the subject. And the organization of phatnotes is better IMO. Althought I can't figure our how to categorize my notes.

I think I'm making progress. They are both demos at this point and I haven't decided to buy both or either.

What are your thoughts?

[chefz]

Not so much PhatNotes yet, but after a long time of wavering back and forth I finally went and bought PhatPad - I knew it was the best note-taking program I'd used yet (in terms of jotting things down quickly), just wasn't sure if it was worth $29 or not (my mental threshold for software is about $20). Anyway, I've been getting more and more things at work to keep track of, and also read the same thread you referenced that made me think about how to do more digitally, as I had been writing everything in a 8x5 notebook and just haven't been able to break away from it. :roll:

But I ran into the same things - while PhatPad is great for taking the notes, how do you categorize them or export the text next? I think I tried PhatNotes briefly in the past, but didn't like that it wasn't integrated with Outlook's notes, but maybe will have to revisit. Especially if PhatPad can be better integrated into PhatNotes, that would be really neat. On a side note, I ended up downloading a trial of Calligrapher, and am really impressed with how it works so far - if I can justify spending more money I'll probably end up registering that too before the trial period ends, I really like the "smooth ink" writing factor. :) I can't believe I didn't get this sooner. And handwriting recognition is good but could be better, I think once I try to train myself and/or the program more, it will get lots better. I found this post (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107872&highlight=PhatPad) recently and am going to try the recommendations there to improve recognition and see how that goes.

Just my thoughts so far in my efforts to make my PPC more than a skinnable MP3 player :roll: :lol:

[PhilH]

I believe Calligrapher can actually read what you've jotted in PhatPad and store it as text.

Would be useful if it works (unfortunately, I've not been able to test it as I think it only works if you register both products $!$!$!$!$)

Love PhatPad, though. May well part with my $29 although I'm like you Chefz: if it's over $20 I start to sweat a little.

[applejosh]

I have PhatPad, PhatNotes, and Calligrapher. PhatPad is great for quickly writing notes and such. PhatNotes is great for organizing notes. The recognition in PhatPad via Calligrapher leaves a little to be desired, but then again, my handwriting is absolutely terrible (soemtimes I can't figure out what I wrote, so I shouldn't expect Calligrapher to be able to with 100% accuracy). When you do the recognition in PhatPad, it creates a two pane view. The top is the "recognized" text while the bottom is the actual handwriting. From there you can copy the text out of the top pane and paste it into something (eg. PhatNotes). I really wish there was a way to write something in PhatPad, run the recognition, and then have it automatically shoved into a PhatNotes entry for later organizing. But cut and paste is the only way I know of now.

You can get a good idea of how well the recognition works in PhatPad by using Calligrapher by itself. I'm not too keen on using Calligrapher in everyday use - usually just for recognition in PhatPad. I'm actually quicker using the block recognizer (long time Palm user) than anything else for actual text based notes.

[chefz]

I believe Calligrapher can actually read what you've jotted in PhatPad and store it as text.

Would be useful if it works (unfortunately, I've not been able to test it as I think it only works if you register both products $!$!$!$!$)

Love PhatPad, though. May well part with my $29 although I'm like you Chefz: if it's over $20 I start to sweat a little.

Yep, I just tried to create a note and have it recognized in Calligrapher, and got a message saying it only works with registered versions of the software. :cry: Nuts! The concept is a good one though. And PhatPad is definitely worth it! I bought it a slight discount, it's only $23 through Jan 31st if you go to this link (http://www.phatware.com/offer04%2D12%2D15/), I may try to get Calligrapher before the 31st to get it for $23 too. :D

[Ripper014]

Not sure what your best solution would be... I know for me that keeping notes tapping on a Pocketpc is tough. Phatpad is great to scribble down notes but I am not sure if it is a viable solution... Calligrapher I find still has to many mistakes...

You can always be the ultimate geek if you don't mind what other people think and just pull out your keyboard. I have done that in the past, it is still the quickest method of text input... well for me anyway.

Phatpad is still good for those sketches you may need.

Categorizing is always a chore... but maybe something like this is worth looking at... I have yet to try it... but maybe I can convince one of you to...

http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en/index.php?soft=371

Oh and its free...

[Phillip Dyson]

I have a licensed copy of Calligrapher, but not of Phatpad yet. I took some notes in a natural way (Which is to say scribbled, mostly) and tried the recognize. It created the 2nd pane but the output was total gobble-de-gook.

Phatpad would be ideal if I had the ability to turn it into real data when I was done. Tasks, appointments, maybe even contacts. Cut and paste would make me happy. Perhaps I should try PhatNotes more.

Also, I haven't figured out a way to actually apply categories to PhatNotes. But I know you can. Because there is a sorting option.

I briefly had ADB Idea Library installed but removed it because Intellisync on my work computer started failing. I seems like a nice product. Some useful features would be the ability to add contacts and appointments as well. It seemed harmless, but Intellisync to me is nortoriously flakey so I couldn't take any chances.

Here are other products like Idea Library that may also have potential.
Pocket Thinker (http://www.pocketthinker.com) and Pocket Mind Map (http://www.pocketmindmap.com/) I may try out Pocket Thinker. the other seems too complicated.

[ctmagnus]

...Pocket Thinker (http://www.pocketthinker.com)...

:drool: That looks like a total must-have app!

I currently use Pocket Mindmap, CalliGrapher, PhatPad, PhatNotes, Listpro and Pocket Informant, but there's gotta be a way to fit Pocket Thinker in there somehow.

Anyone on the review team willing to do a review on this?

[newst]

You might also try out Pocket Notepad by Tillanosoft at:

http://tillanosoft.com/ce/pnotepad.html

This is a simple text note program. No ink and no drawing. However, if you use it with the free tgetfile.dll, also available on the website, you can set up your own file folder structure, with multiple levels. You can't do this with either of the Phatware programs.

Also, since it saves in standard .txt format, you can use any number of PC or Pocket PC programs to modify, cut/paste, spellcheck etc. your notes.

As for input, it will work equally well with calligrapher or the built in transcriber. This isn't surprising because transcriber uses the same handwriting recognition engine as calligrapher. Microsoft leased it from Phatware. Calligrapher's strength is in the additional features it offers, not the hwr function itself.

[tregnier]

Why is so much of the concern of people focused on Phatpad/PhatNotes? Why not just use Calligrapher with a robust word processor like Textmaker? I think it works great. Set your memo button to load Textmaker. You can organize files better, they sync with the PC and you can edit them easily on the PC w/o cut/paste.

Thoughts?

[Ripper014]

Pocket Mindmap is a unique program... it is for brainstorming... and works well for the enviroment it is restricted to. I also love the fact that you can print it out when you are done.

I am not fimilar with Pocket Thinker...

[ctmagnus]

Jenneth (www.Jenneth.info) ran an interesting article on the use of PhatNotes (http://www.jenneth.info/archives/2005/01/virtual_filing_1.html) recently.

[Phillip Dyson]

Why is so much of the concern of people focused on Phatpad/PhatNotes? Why not just use Calligrapher with a robust word processor like Textmaker? I think it works great. Set your memo button to load Textmaker. You can organize files better, they sync with the PC and you can edit them easily on the PC w/o cut/paste.

Thoughts?

I think that the idea (atleast in my mind anyway) is that the ideal solution would:
Something that can start up quick.
Something that would allow free-form, in the case of PhatPad.
And a natural way to organize them.

IMO, TextMaker is very powerful for heavy duty editting. But for the quick thought or 'Note' it takes too much effort. First it takes longer to start. Then you have to do a quite a bit more work to organize individual files.

'Notetaking' programs help you capture things quickly with minimal effort.

IMO

[PatrickD]

Personally I find PhatNotes worth it just for the desktop application. I actually use the desktop application more than the PPC version, but it is nice to sync and bring my info with me. I used to use the Outlook sticky notes, but ended up with so many notes, it was difficult to find what I was looking for. With PhatNotes you can categorize them, prioritize them, and give them different colors.

For those of you wondering how the three products integrate. If you open a PhatNote and select insert ink, it will open a new PhatPad screen. You can then write in “ink”. If you then select recognize, it will convert the “ink” into text and insert that text into your original PhatNote. The PhatPad file will be saved as a file attachment to the PhatNote. You need to have licensed versions of Calligrapher, PhatPad, and PhatNotes for this to work. I don’t know why they don’t let you try this in the demo.

The three products are on the expensive side, but I have come to find them indispensable. I don’t really use PhatPad that much, but since I was using Calligrapher as my primary input method and PhatNotes to organize my notes, I figured I might as well complete the set. Like many of you, I want to try using my PPC for quick notes, so I plan to start using PhatPad more than I have been. Overall these are three nice apps that really add a lot of utility to the PPC.

[applejosh]

For those of you wondering how the three products integrate. If you open a PhatNote and select insert ink, it will open a new PhatPad screen. You can then write in “ink”. If you then select recognize, it will convert the “ink” into text and insert that text into your original PhatNote. The PhatPad file will be saved as a file attachment to the PhatNote.

Well, that's kind of cool. Works better than my cut and paste method. Guess I should read the manuals, eh?

[Glohamar]

Just wait until EverNote, http://www.evernote.com , comes out. I have been using the beta desktop version since its release, and if the PPC version is anywhere close to the desktop version, I have found the ultimate notes program. They are expected to have the beta for the PPC out by end of 1st quarter 2005.

[ctmagnus]

As much as I love the concept of Evernote on a Pocket PC, this seems like another one of those apps I've been hearing about forever without actually seeing anything of it. I'd love to use it if it ever comes out, but I'm just not getting my hopes up about it.

[Glohamar]

My hopes are not that high. I should have made my "if" a great big "IF" the PPC version is anywhere close to the desktop version. I'll believe it when I use it for the first time.