Evaluating the potential of a PPC for note taking..

[halcyon]

Hi I'm a college student.. I was looking at getting a tablet pc to take notes, but they are way expensive. As an alternative I was thinking the other day about grabbing one of the new PPC's with VGA resolution. However I've got a couple things I'd like to do specifically, and wondering if there is software for a PPC that can do it:

1) Take notes using one of those mini keyboards, and in the notes be able to use the stylus to draw diagrams/pictures that will embed into the document.

2) Later on be able to open this document on my desktop machine and search it and what not.

Is this doable? And perhaps more importantly, feasible?

Thanks,
David

[Supaiku]

As far as I know the version of pocket word that most of them come with can't do pictures in the documents... but i don't think it would be hard to just open up a second program and switch between the two for pictures and words... but it might not be quite right.There might be another program that can do it though... I am curious as well... for pretty much teh same reason.

[halcyon]

I know that Microsoft's OneNote or Journal or whatever the main app for tabletPC can handle this..

But when I'm taking notes on the PPC I don't want to have to open another app to do any kind of drawings, I want to keep it all together just like if I was taking notes in my notebook..

Anyone else know of any software that can do this?

[Underwater Mike]

Textmaker can do all this just fine, but it can be a bit slow depending on your PPC. Unfortunately, it has only very rudimentary shape tools for drawing within the program itself. You'd be far better off having a drawing app open on the PPC, switching between the two, and then going back to Textmaker to insert the saved drawing into the Textmaker doc. You can do that easily, you just can't create detailed drawings within Textmaker.

FYI, I use my Axim all the time in meetings, at conferences, etc., for just this purpose and leave my notebook at the office whenever possible. But, having tried a thumb board for that kind of extended writing, I can definitely say that a regular keyboard is far more useful and easier to keep up with. I have the Dell folding keyboard, but you could use a BT keyboard or even one of those cheap roll-up ones.

Whatever PPC you use, be sure to carry a spare, charged battery. Keeping the PPC on and in use all the time will drain you quicker than you think.

[gregmills]

How about the built-in notes application in Windows Mobile?

I don't normally draw pictures in my notes but I just tried it and it works fine. You can switch between text input and drawing mode inside of the same document with no problem. Whenever you sync, your note will be automatically moved into the notes section of Outlook where you can open them and cut and paste into Word if you need to.

Just out of curiosity I pasted my notes with drawings from the notes app into Pocket Word and that worked great too.

[halcyon]

Ya I don't necessarily need shapes or anything like that, I just need to be able to jot down quick pictures or diagrams or whatever, freehand is fine.

Also yes I'd definitly buy some kind of fold up keyboard.

With textmaker can you convert its documents into something microsoft word or another program can recognize?

Also is there ability to underline/bold do font changes and stuff in textmaker or the built in notes app in windows mobile?

Really what I'm shooting for is speed when I'm trying to take notes, be able to be typing along then need to draw something real quick being able to do that quickly.

Thanks,
David

[halcyon]

Also if I was using a bluetooth keyboard and had my backlight on the ppc turned off, what kind of battery life could I expect? (I know thats hard to answer since theres a zillion kinds of ppc's and battery configs, just curious for a ballpark figure)

[Badandy]

Here is goes.



With textmaker can you convert its documents into something microsoft word or another program can recognize?

Yes, I have TextMaker. TextMaker can create its own document forumat (.tmd files) but what it is most noted for on the Pocket PC is its amazing features for Microsoft Word on the PPC. It does almost everything Microsoft Word does, and can open, edit, and modify any Microsoft Word document.

Also is there ability to underline/bold do font changes and stuff in textmaker or the built in notes app in windows mobile?

Yes, in TextMaker (full featured word processing) and NO in the built in Notes App. However, you can get Note programs to do this through the purchase of programs such as PhatPad I think it is called. www.phatware.com i think is where you can find it.

Really what I'm shooting for is speed when I'm trying to take notes, be able to be typing along then need to draw something real quick being able to do that quickly.

To tell you the truth, you are probably not going to have an easy time drawing and integrating that into your notes. If this is really important, a tablet PC would be the way to go.

And for your next post

Also if I was using a bluetooth keyboard and had my backlight on the ppc turned off, what kind of battery life could I expect? (I know thats hard to answer since theres a zillion kinds of ppc's and battery configs, just curious for a ballpark figure)

Well, realisicly, you would probably NOT have the backlight turned off. You could use it at its lowest setting, however. The battery life is hard to guess, but I would GUESS anywhere between 2 and 4.5 hours. It really depends what battery/ppc you get.


Hope that helps.
Thanks,
David[/quote]

[halcyon]

Thanks for the headsup, I'm still a little hazy though, did you say textmaker can convert into .doc or another format that Word can read and still contain the drawings?

I suppose when the 640x480 units come out I really just need to try one out at a store and see if its feasible to draw little diagrams on it or not..

*Sigh* tradeoffs.

[Badandy]

Yes. Just imagine TextMaker as Word on your desktop pretty much. It creates edits and modifies .doc files.

[galt]

Thanks for the headsup, I'm still a little hazy though, did you say textmaker can convert into .doc or another format that Word can read and still contain the drawings?

Looks like it, from their product page for the PPC version:

http://www.softmaker.de/tmp_en.htm

Multi-language spell-checker? Graphics? Footnotes? No problem. Tables? Sophisticated character and paragraph formatting? At your fingertips. Lossless conversion of Microsoft Word .DOC files? Right on your Pocket PC.

Although, I'm not 100% sure that they support what I believe you are requesting, that the files created on the PPC can be saved in the MS Word .doc format without any loss of formatting or graphics that were created on the PPC. I don't have a PPC to try it out (but there is a trial version), so I downloaded and browsed the TextMaker manual.

http://www.softmaker.de/tmwdemo_en.htm

Saving a document in another file format:
"...If you are going to open the file in another program, you can save it in one of the standardized
formats such as Text file, Text file/DOS, or Rich Text Format, as well as in specific formats such as
Microsoft Word and HTML. If you choose one of the text file formats, all text in your file is saved,
but no graphics, objects, styles, or formatting are saved. If you choose the Rich Text Format (RTF)
or Microsoft Word format, all text, text frames, tables, pictures, OLE objects, styles, and formatting
are saved."

To me it looks like you can save a file in TextMaker in the MS Word format without any loss, but as their manual supports all versions of the software (including a desktop version) and notes that "...some features of TextMaker are not available on all platforms.", I'm still not sure that the PPC version does what you are asking.

Here's a link to a review of the TextMaker software for the PPC, given one statement in the review it still isn't clear to me whether or not you can save a document created on a PPC via TextMaker as a ".doc".

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/n/2817.html

TextMaker’s default format is not Word’s ‘doc’, however. SoftMaker invented their own ‘tmd’ format, which is where the desktop version comes in - currently, it is the only program that can handle such files. Fortunately, both versions of TextMaker can also handle Pocket Word, Word, RTF and text documents with aplomb.

I question what they mean by "handle", does that mean read and edit as well as "save as"?

[Janak Parekh]

Having used both, I'd suggest you budget for a tablet PC sometime in the future if you're planning to use it in class, etc. The large writing surface is extremely useful. Some new cheaper units have come out too, I believe...

That said, a Pocket PC might be serviceable, but I'd strongly recommend you go check one out in a store and make sure the formfactor works for extended notetaking. I've taken extensive handwritten notes for about an hour on the Pocket PC at a time but I started going nuts at the end. ;) A keyboard may help, and your mileage may vary.

--janak

[SteveHoward999]

As far as I know the version of pocket word that most of them come with can't do pictures in the documents...

Sure it can ... select View, then choose form Writing, Drawing, Recording, Typing.


This is pretty cool because you can take spoken notes too.

Sure other apps can do a lot more than Pocket Word, but it is free and so far I have not felt compelled to look for something more powerful.

I usually us the Notes feature to write notes in class that I can 'recognize' and retype later. They open up in MS Word on the PC. I guess I could have used Word too, but the Notes app works fine for me ... you can also draw and add audio notes to the Notes files. Pocket Word has more text formatting options if you plan to enter notes using a keyboard.


Steve

[newst]

Textmaker is a great program, essentially MS Word in a pocket PC, and I won't use a PPC without it. That said, I don't use it for taking notes.

My notetaking software of choice today (they continue to improve) is Phatware's public beta version 2. It uses ink technology, so you don't have to worry about waiting for the PPC to translate your handwriting to text, and allows you to draw diagrams etc. on the fly. You can translate the entire document-or just sections, into text after you are done taking notes.

In addition, it gives you the option to save files anywhere in your PPC, rather than limiting you to the My Documents folder as some note taking programs do.

Another great feature is that it comes with a companion desktop version that can sync with your PPC and allow you to work with your notes on your desktop/laptop.

The current Beta version is good through Oct 30.

[halcyon]

newst: that is exactly what i'm looking for, an app I can draw into using 'ink' and not have it translate anything im drawing into text, if I want to do text I'm going to use the keyboard.

I guess primarily I want an app that I'm not having to switch screens to either be drawing notes or typing, i can switch between the two without doing anything to the program, and itll just insert that into the doc i'm working on.

What program by phatware are you referring to by the way?

[fmcpherson]

I use my Pocket PCs for notetaking, probably more than most people that I know, however, I am out of college so I can't say whether it would work for trying to take notes during lectures.

I think they key to notetaking on a Pocket PC is how you are going to write your notes. If you want to try and capture every single word verbatim, then a Pocket PC is a bad choice. If you summarize what you write, or abbreviate, then a Pocket PC could get a good choice.

Just this week I heard about an program coming called Evernote (www.evernote.com) that looks very appealing. There are desktop and Pocket PC versions that synchronize with each other, and from the screenshots it looks like the desktop program could be a good alternative to OneNote.

[SteveHoward999]

that is exactly what i'm looking for, an app I can draw into using 'ink' and not have it translate anything im drawing into text, if I want to do text I'm going to use the keyboard.

Not trying to knock anyone's suggestions - but you should at least give the native Notes and Pocket Word a test drive before you go spending your cash on third-party solutions. Both can do what you say here, and if you are a student you are on a tight budget, right? So $30 for Phatware or whatever could be money better spent on beer and women ...

... oops I mean schoolbooks and food.


Steve

[Badandy]

Galt-I was speaking from experience of textmaker. read my posts. I have it, I bought it, and it does everything the previous poster AND I said. No need to look through the manual, i know what it does, and I posted it there. it does everything word does. It can create AND modify .doc files. :)

[Badandy]

TextMaker’s default format is not Word’s ‘doc’, however. SoftMaker invented their own ‘tmd’ format, which is where the desktop version comes in - currently, it is the only program that can handle such files. Fortunately, both versions of TextMaker can also handle Pocket Word, Word, RTF and text documents with aplomb.

They are correct that its default format is tmd's. You just go into preferences, and set it to docs. it effectively turns the program into Microsoft Word by automatically saving in .doc format and not in .tmd



I question what they mean by "handle", does that mean read and edit as well as "save as"?

Yes, it does everything Word does. It creates and modifies word documents. You can save it, you can save as it. You can do anything you want.


Just for redundancy. I have the PPC version, so do other people , and it does exactly what I claim and what the previous poster claimed about tables and such.

[galt]

Galt-I was speaking from experience of textmaker. read my posts. I have it, I bought it, and it does everything the previous poster AND I said. No need to look through the manual, i know what it does, and I posted it there. it does everything word does. It can create AND modify .doc files. :)

Awesome. Thanks for the clarification. :)

[Badandy]

You're welcome. it is a great program and I highly recommend it to anyone who uses .doc files on their pda. Cant rave more about it, really.

[newst]

newst: that is exactly what i'm looking for, an app I can draw into using 'ink' and not have it translate anything im drawing into text, if I want to do text I'm going to use the keyboard.

I guess primarily I want an app that I'm not having to switch screens to either be drawing notes or typing, i can switch between the two without doing anything to the program, and itll just insert that into the doc i'm working on.

What program by phatware are you referring to by the way?

Sorry-It's Phatpad. (I also use Phatnotes for the ability to have independent folders for different topics).