Hello guys I need some help. So I hate working on a laptop I much prefer a desktop, however I really need something to take down notes in class. While I'm in my last year of my degree I could purchase something I could use further down the line. My mentality of only using a desktop was put to the test during my recent holiday to Spain which kept me isolated to my Samsung galaxy S4. which was a massive pain. some options I'm considering OPTION 1 - Samsung Tab S 10.1" along with a Logitech keyboard (see link). http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KW9KH...UTF8&colid=2D4K21FJINK7V&coliid=I9U1OWPBCVGWE total price is £400 for tablet and £70 for keyboard OPTION 2 - Macbook air 13" or Macbook pro 13" Retina - but I have never used a mac so unfamiliar with any of it. I could wait for the rumoured retina display macbook air arriving end of this year or start of next. Pricing is around £800 including educational discount for the Air and £1000 for the Pro OPTION 3 - Asus zenbook UX302LA - I hate the glossy touchscreen and have never used Windows 8. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FGIY0...TF8&colid=2D4K21FJINK7V&coliid=I2VD195E5DDJNB Priced at £1000. Any help would be great in making this increasingly difficult decision
cannot believe I over looked this. will youtube the different models and check them out. thanks so much. So the cheapest surface pro 3 is the i3 along with keyboard comes to £750. Is it really worth it ? or shall I just go for a Ultrabook
Or if that's too rich / overspecced then a Lenovo Tablet 10 - just creeping onto the market now. http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/tablets/thinkpad/thinkpad-10/ I've been using the previous generation model over the last year and personally I've actually found it handier (and therefore more productive as a notetaker) than the Surface Pro 2 despite the vastly weaker specs all round. Having said that, the new aspect ratio of the SP3 makes it considerably more compelling for notetaking than all of the FHD tablets. I'm expecting the SP3 shortly, and hopefully the Tablet 10' not far behind that, so I'll have yet another Surface vs Lenovo Tablet-off.
Dunno how the 'driod version of onenote holds up but +1 for onenote Evernote is ok too but onenote is better if you don;t want to type everything, not really tried google keep...
Dude.. why are you looking at something else? Get the Surface Pro 3! As a student myself, I can tell you it's super awesome, and also really powerful system (for its size. Beats many ultrabooks). You wont' be playing PC games on it, that's for sure. Due to the form factor, the CPU will throttle down under such demanding situation. But tablet games, indie games, anything not intensive for the Intel integrated graphics, and it will hold up just fine. The components inside is good. Fast SSD, LPDDR3 with decently good timings for LPDDR3, and 1600MHz which is the max the CPU supports (LPDDDR3 is more costly than DDR3, as it consumes less power, so better chips are needed to achieve this, especially if you want 1600MHz speeds). Full size USB port, great for mouse, or anything you want. Solid build quality. And I go on. What makes the Surface Pro series shine, is the pen. The pen tracking is very good, detects the pen floating over the screen, reject your palm as well, and detects pressure applied from the pen. You should check it out. I think the MacBook Air is the worst purchase you can do, especially that the Surface Pro 3 cost about the same, and you have more power, better display (Mac Book Air, still uses a TN panel, and the resolution is pathetic at only 1400x900 for the biggest size model) And, due to the lack of pen, the moment you need to draw a graph, formula, diagram or what not in your notes that you are typing, you are screwed. I know that, as I used to have a laptop. I have the Surface Pro 2, and I love it. The only thing that frustrates me, is Intel piss-poor drivers, which are clearly outsourced, as they are buggy, and I encountered options that work on reverse of what they are suppose to work as. Pathetic. But oh well... It's not like if I had any choices. Oh the keyboard of the Surface Pro.. don't think it will be like those netbooks, where it's awful. If look at the size of the keys, they are near the size of a full size keyboard. So it's quick to get used to.
You can lose your notes, no organization, no ability to record classes, kills trees, can't type notes, can't do nice drawings, can't copy content from an online book and insert it in your notes to writes notes around it, can't insert professor PDF file or segment and write notes, no syncing ability with your other systems, can run out of paper, when reaching end of page when doing a diagram, or math example, you have to cut your work into 2 to reach the other page, which the problem can occur again, if it's long. No ability to change pen color on the fly, out of a selection of 16.7 million colors. Can't insert PowerPoint slides. Oh and the pen can run our of ink. Oh and you can't search through your notes with a handwriting detection and normal typed text search engine
That's because Microsoft's marketing department sucks salty, sweaty balls. EDIT: let me put it this way: if Microsoft released a small, lightweight hand-held device that instantly cures all known illnesses in a 100 mile radius, from cancer to Ebola, at the press of a single button, with a ten-year battery life, and costing only $5,--, then Microsoft would still manage to cock up the marketing so badly that people would believe it is the biggest piece of fail since Windows ME.
Last year the problem I had was the speed at which notes were taken really made my handwriting hard to read which made them nearly useless. the second problem was I opted for a notebook for each module to somewhat organize them but with 7 different modules I was forever leaving one notebook at home. I will find a place that stocks the surface pro 3 and will go and check it out. Getting the Macbook Air was only really an option due to its design and educational discount. I have never used mac OS and can see myself using windows on it 24/7 which it isn't optimized for. I could however get a asus zenbook UX303 which is around £700 and without seeing the surface pro can see it being used more in the future. like on the train to work etc. Windows shop for students has the Surface Pro 3 with i3 and 64gb for £575 and the i5 with 128gb for £764 which is a great saving
Cheap option: HP Chromebook 11 and evernote / onenote in a browser. Requires wifi, but does the job and saves you £££ for other things. If you want to splash out, the Surface Pro 3 gets my vote too.
I would consider getting down to a John Lewis and trying out the Surfaces, especially with both the touch and type keyboards. Personally, I loved the Surface 2 (ARM) with the type keyboard, but it was really expensive for what it was (and I don't need a laptop, so Surface Pro was even worse). I've now ended up with a Nexus 10 and Logitech KB for <£200 which is more my budget, but it achieves the same end.
Will deffo get myself down to the local john lewis to check and compare these. Iv been using OneNote on my PC and Samsung S4 and its amazing. I love it at £675 for the surface pro 3 with i3 + 4gb ram + 64gb storage + type cover - its a tough decision on a totally new system out of the ordinary laptop desktop tablet which im use to. will deffo take a trip to John Lewis to check it out. Also the £700 zenbook which is an i7 + 6gb ram + 128gb ssd. okay its only 1600x900 resolution but ...
