Digital Notepads and OneNote

[Greg]

Are there any digital notepads (e.g. cyberpad, digimemo) that can sync with
OneNote without requiring an extra import/conversion step with 3rd party
software. I'm ok with 3rd party software, as long as it's seamless (no extra
steps).

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

Not sure what you mean by "sync" but if an external tablet appears to
Windows as a mouse-type device, then OneNote can use it.

The kicker is that the version of Windows you're using must support the
Tablet PC software. The XP version of the Tablet PC OS is only available
from hardware manufacturers if you purchase Tablet PC hardware. In Vista,
it's a little easier - Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business,
and Windows Vista Ultimate have the Tablet functions available and can be
used with any type of input device.

Otherwise, you can use an external tablet to write in OneNote but ON will
only treat that input as a picture and cannot perform handwriting
recognition or indexing of the written content.

 

[BGIC]

I was looking into this as well. My employer won't get tablet PCs. I make
written notes in meetings (some managers forbid notebook PCs in meetings). I
transfer written notes to PC and use OneNote to manage information.

A "digital notepad" that integrates with OneNote would be helpful, where the
digital notepad pages show up as unfiled notes (Greg's sync comment below).
Handwriting recognition would be a bonus, but I'd be satisfied with writing
keywords over the image.

It looks like the technology isn't there yet. I could take notes on a
digital notepad, convert proprietary format to graphic image and paste into
OneNote.

This is probably a comment for digital notepad manufacturers, but if anyone
knows of a product that can do this, I'd much appreciate a reply back.

 

[Steve Silverwood]

Another alternative is to use a PDA running Windows Mobile 5 or later.
There is a Windows Mobile component for OneNote that lets you sync
notes between your PC and PDA. I usually use that just to keep news
items and other stuff handy for reading (CERT bulletins, ham radio
news items, and the News of the Force daily postings, to name a few)
when I have a few extra minutes' time on my hand (like holding my
wife's belongings while she's in the dressing room at the mall, for
example).

One of these days I'll get a Tablet PC, but the money's too tight for
now. I'll content myself with the PDA approach for the time being,
because "if it ain't broke don't <deleted> with it."

//Steve//