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Anyone use their SP3 and Note as their daily notepad?

Chris Grew

Member
Hi dstrauss,

As I say, I moved over to Evernote which is so much better than OneNote and actually works on any device.

The Moleskin for me is a back up as I have no interest in writing on the screen of the SP3 due to being able to touch type. But when in a situation where I cannot type the Moleskin does the job exceedingly well. Being able to photograph the page and have it automatically go to a specific Notebook with full search ability on the hand writing is of course a superb feature.

I do also have a livescribe pen which records everything your write and audio, which also links straight into Evernote. I used this successfully in a situation where I needed to record everything being said in several meetings.

Best regards

Chris
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
And I totally forgot....OneNote Desktop client integrates with Outlook and Lync, so from OneNote I pull in the meeting details from my Outlook Calendar and if it happens to be a Lync Meeting I get a record of all who accepted and more importantly who actually attended :) Also any tasks I create in OneNote sync back to Outlook. I typically include PDF, Excel and PowerPoint Attachments in the OneNote page for that meeting as well....

No other note taking software offers this level of integration....which is why I stick with OneNote which is also available across all major platforms.
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
I use it every day for notes. I made sure that upon getting it, I didn't revert to pen and paper a single time for university work, and it got me in a habit. Initially i had been erring, but now i'm so glad i got stuck in with one note. Sure it's convenient having everything in one place, but you could argue that you can do this with a notebook, but for me the biggest sell is that if someone just makes a comment, i can quickly pull up a page of notes relating to it without flipping through notpads and ringbinders and such, and also means that if aything comes to light after the notes have been taken, it's not pen and paper, i can just move things around, delete things, add things, all into the same original note, keeping everything lovely and organised :)
 

bluegrass

Well-Known Member
Sounds like OneNote, Pen, & SP3 are a match made in heaven. I'm surprised MS doesn't show off the SP3 & OneNote more in their TV advertising. They would also be smart to train those sports anchor folks how to use OneNote and the Surface when they're on TV.
 

dstrauss

Active Member
Hi dstrauss,

As I say, I moved over to Evernote which is so much better than OneNote and actually works on any device.

The Moleskin for me is a back up as I have no interest in writing on the screen of the SP3 due to being able to touch type. But when in a situation where I cannot type the Moleskin does the job exceedingly well. Being able to photograph the page and have it automatically go to a specific Notebook with full search ability on the hand writing is of course a superb feature.

I do also have a livescribe pen which records everything your write and audio, which also links straight into Evernote. I used this successfully in a situation where I needed to record everything being said in several meetings.

Best regards

Chris

And I totally forgot....OneNote Desktop client integrates with Outlook and Lync, so from OneNote I pull in the meeting details from my Outlook Calendar and if it happens to be a Lync Meeting I get a record of all who accepted and more importantly who actually attended :) Also any tasks I create in OneNote sync back to Outlook. I typically include PDF, Excel and PowerPoint Attachments in the OneNote page for that meeting as well....

No other note taking software offers this level of integration....which is why I stick with OneNote which is also available across all major platforms.

Hi Chris: Sounds like you have a good working system there. I just happen to prefer OneNote to Evernote for many for the reasons Jeff spotlights above (I would add the invaluable ability to pull an email into OneNote to act as an agenda or outline for a phone or other conference). The OneNote client for iOS has been pretty full bodied (just no pen support, but if that were a critical deal breaker I would go Samsung Note 4/Note Edge). For me, the search function alone is far superior than waiting for Evernote to convert and index my notes for me. Plus, I really prefer having a local copy of ALL my notes.
 

zhenya

Active Member
I use both OneNote and Evernote, and now that OneNote is more widely available cross-platform I'm moving back to OneNote more heavily because I've never liked how Evernote organizes things.

I think my SP3 is moving more into the realm of a companion note-taking device for me than as my primary computer. I've thought since the release of the SP1 that Microsoft is missing out on a market of building a simpler, cheaper, but equally high-quality device that acts as a companion to someone else's primary computer instead of forcing everyone to try and integrate the two. Make it exactly the same as the SP, same digitizer, same stylus, same kickstand. Run it on Core M and maybe even an Atom variant at the bottom. Make it much thinner and much lighter and have people use it in just the way kiwigirl suggests - and the way that many of us are using the SP now. There are competing tablets that kind of do this - but none, in my experience anyway - have matched the overall quality and experience of the SP3 - it's just that the Surface Pro line is a bit overkill for this kind of use - I'd prefer to have it much lighter, cheaper, and have better battery life than try to make it my primary computer.

The big thing I've realized in the month I have used it as my primary device is that the biggest shortcoming is still the keyboard and trackpad. It is nothing like my Thinkpad in that regard, and so while it is powerful enough to perform that duty, and even the screen is now passable, without a better keyboard, it's not going to be my main device. Microsoft seems like they aren't likely to make another keyboard option, and the reality is that a tablet - where the computer is in the screen, is kind of backwards for making a great keyboard, as the keyboard requires a certain minimum depth in order to have enough key travel. You make a keyboard with that depth for the SP, and suddenly it's thicker than the ultrabooks it competes against which can integrate that keyboard into the naturally deep space required for the computer internals.

TL;DR - I wish Microsoft made a $600 thinner lighter Surface Pro as a 'companion' device for taking notes and extreme mobility.
 

TeknoBlast

Active Member
I use OneNote on a daily basis for documents with the combination of Office Lens and to-do check lists. Very helpful since it syncs up with all my devices.
 
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kiwigirl

Member
Well brought the SP3 into work with me this morning and after cleaning up my desk I managed to find a perfect spot for it. Im really enjoying using OneNote as a replacement for my coiled paper notebook! I think I will start bringing it with me to work everyday. Like I said, I want to get the most out of it, and Im not going to achieve that by leaving it at home everyday sitting on the coffee table.
 

BearFlag

Member
For those using OneNote, do you guys prefer taking notes on the regular Windows version or the Metro version?
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
For those using OneNote, do you guys prefer taking notes on the regular Windows version or the Metro version?

I stopped using the metro version the moment i installed the desktop one. My usage sees me frequently jumping around various notes and sections and such, and i find that the desktop version is just so much more efficient. Not to mention the plethora of tools available in the desktop version that are not available within MUI
 

BearFlag

Member
Yeah I used the Desktop version from the start and never really tried the Metro version, so I was just wondering if I was missing out on something.
 
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