Using Ink with OneNote on the desktop

[Can''t Drive 55]

I have created a Sharepoint site and I have shared my OneNote 2007 notebook
onto that site. This allows me to have 4 computers (my desktop at work, my
Tablet PC, my home pcs, etc.) to have synchronized access to the SAME
notebook, so I am truly approaching the point where any notes I take will
follow me around, without having to have the same PC with me at all times.

Now, the question, is: is there any practical way to have a 'notepad' at
work that will allow me to replace the ubiquitous legal pad on which I take
notes? I REALLY want to be able to scribble onto something wherever I am and
have it show up as ink and to be able to search on those words. I am willing
to use Tablet Edition XP on a workstation or to put the proper version of
Vista on it.

I have tried tablets (Wacom, and other third party devices) and I am not
happy with it because of the mental disconnect between the paper and pen and
what comes out on the screen. Is there any device for a few hundred bucks
that would allow something like that? Maybe a cool interface for the AceCAD
tablet where the defined top and bottom of the paper equals the top and
bottom of the OneNote page. That way, I would not have to look at the screen
as I am writing, since that is very unnatural.

also, is there any way to scan in handwritten notes and convert them to ink?
Or is ink's 'intelligence' derived by the strokes that create the words?

Thanks in advance!

Randy

 

[John Guin [msft]]

Well, I had the same problem and decided to pony up the money for an HP
tablet PC. Now that I've got it set up correctly, it works great (details at
http://blogs.msdn.com/johnguin/arch...ng-too-many-interrupts-with-my-tablet-pc.aspx).
Since I've bought mine, they drop into the $700-$800 range now and then.

You could also try "Live Scribe" - a pen which writes on custom paper.

http://www.livescribe.com/
It's pretty new and I haven't used it yet, so cannot vouch for it.

Also, your guess about handwriting recognition and ink is correct. The
character recognition software for pen input really needs the stroke data the
pen creates. Just yesterday I posted the results of some informal testing I
completed using photos of handwritten data:
http://blogs.msdn.com/johnguin/arch...gnizing-text-in-images-luckily-goes-awry.aspx

 

[Can''''t Drive 55]

John,

I have a Livescribe pen on order (4-6 week backorder) and I am anxiously
awaiting its arrival.

Evernote does an acceptable job of OCR'ing jpgs. I was not aware that
OneNote did the same...

 

[Caleb N. Waddell]

Randy,

If Livescribe is too much or doesn't work out for you, I just ordered a
product from Dell (not sure if you can get it anywhere else) by IOGEAR. It's
$130 and it requires no special paper or ink. You attach a little device to
the top of a legal pad or whatever you are writing on and that way you can
look at what you are writing as it transcribes into the computer (if you have
it hooked up via USB) or write and have the computer upload it later once you
hook it up. In this way, it's very effective because you don't have to have
your computer with you to take notes and then put them into the computer.
You can upload them whenever it is convienent. Here is the link for the
product on Dell's website:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1516092

Just wanted to make that suggestion incase the Livescribe isn't exactly what
you wanted or doesn't work out. Good luck!

- Caleb

 

[Can''''t Drive 55]

Caleb,

That looks pretty cool. I have seen the Logitech IO, but not this pen. Do
you have it yet? What format does it record in? Ink? or some sort of graphic
image?

I really, really want something that can record in Ink so that I can use
OneNote at any of my devices and capture all of my stuff that I write. Then
if there was a way to do a quick scan of paper documents and not overburden
the OneNote notebook (size-wise) then I think I would be getting somewhere.

Thanks for your suggestion!

Randy

 

[Caleb N. Waddell]

Randy,

I don't have it yet, but have it ordered from Dell. Should get it within a
week or two (free ground shipping). It's actually on sale for $99 until the
22nd of this month. All you have to do is clip the little box to a legal pad
or whatever (you don't have to be hooked up to your computer or even have
your computer with you). It stores what you write in the little box as you
write it and you can sync it up later. You can also use it like you would a
Wacom tablet and hook it directly up to your computer to Ink in OneNote or
Word or whatever. The pen it comes with is just regular ink. They even
throw in a few replacement ink refills. It's just regular ink that you could
go out and buy at Office Max for refilling a normal pen. That's what makes
it so applicable to me because I have the same disconnect you do. I don't
like not being able to see what I'm writing only on the computer. I have to
have real ink flowing on real paper to be able to do it. But this offers the
options you'd have with a Wacom tablet, but also allows you to be efficiently
mobile with not having to have it directly hooked up.

Hope all that helps.

Also, found another similar device, but it doesn't look quite as good (not
as many options, but possibly more space for memory for note taking). It's
called the zPen and it's from Dane Elec. Not sure of the website, but if you
just do a search on zPen you should be able to find it pretty easily.

I will let you know how the IOGEAR pen works once I get it.

Until then, take care.

- Caleb

 

[Can''''t Drive 55]

My Livescribe pen shipped yesterday, so I will be testing it out soon!