Handwriting

[Mac]

Hi
I am planning to purchase OneNote, i think it is a usefull application for
me. Currently I am using a laptop and plan to take notes without typing, is
there a handwriting stylus which I can use to write notes? Since I dont have
a touchscreen laptop, I am looking for a addon device, which can work equally
good

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

It will work, with some big (in my opinion) caveats.

Any device for which a Windows driver exists will work in OneNote.
However, that device will be treated as a mouse, and not as a pen in
OneNote.

OneNote will only treat what you "write" with this device as a picture
and will not be able to perform handwriting recognition nor will you be
able to search/index the contents of what you write. These features are
provided to OneNote by the Tablet PC OS, which is only available on a
Tablet PC.

 

[James Gockel]

There are products from wacom that you can use to do this function, but the
drawings (as erik has stated) will be seen as drawings, not as text. There
was a workaround with office 2003 that has hand writing recog. It was posted
earlier.

www.wacom.com for the USB Tablets

But I realllllyyyy recommend finding a tablet pc that will work for you.
I bought a gateway m275 which i'm very pleased with. (their supports sucks,
but i digress) There are other tablets that can acommidate your needs.

-James

 

[Selcuk Demiray]

Have a look this:
http://www.pegatech.com/Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=84&CategoryID=101

and this one
http://www.pegatech.com/Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=102&CategoryID=107

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

Keep in mind that this is not a true replacement for the Tablet PC nor
will it give the same experience in OneNote.

If you want to use it for handwriting recognition, it will be subject to
the same features and limitations of the Office handwriting recognition
engine - "write, then immediately convert and insert into the document".

If you want to record your actual handwriting in OneNote, it will be
imported into OneNote as a graphic image, and that picture cannot be
converted to text or indexed/searched using OneNote's tools.

I state this based on poking around on the pegatech website. The second
link below conspicuously does not mention handwriting recognition as a
feature. (this is not marketing sleaze on their part nor an intent to
deceive potential customers - I'm just pointing it out)

Having said all of that, it seems like a reasonable solution if you don't
have a Tablet PC and still want most of its features.