PDAs as a College Notebook? 32
Eugene asks: "G'day everyone!
Here's the deal, I study Engineering in college and therefore, I have to write down LOTS of mathematical formulae and such. Now I heard that students of Law/English/etc. find great use of various PDAs
as a notebook replacement(that's pen&paper notebook). I'd like to know if there's a PDA software-solution for quickly writing down math expressions( Something like the equation editor shipped with MS-Word - but if possible with a more intuitive way of entering data). All I could find so far are lots of calculators, that do little in the way of easily entering equations and storing them for later review." Well, that would be one less thing to lug around in the ole backpack. Now if we could only get textboox in digital form...
Basically, no. (Score:4, Interesting)
To wit: where the fuck is our electonic paper already? I've wanted it ever since I saw Captain Kirk using an computer tablet some 35 years ago.
PDAs aren't it. Except for a few people who can do 40 WPM without concentrating using Fitalystamp [twsolutions.com] or something similar, there's no practical input for plain text, never mind math. And how can you possibly keep track of your notes on such a small display? (Even the Newton was too small for this purpose. And of course too big to put in your pocket. The worst of both worlds.)
IBM was on the right track with the Thinkpad 700 [onlinehome.de], which folded flat so you could use an electronic stylus instead of the keyboard. Alas, the 486 processor just wasn't up to serious character recognition, and IBM abandoned this option in later Thinkpads.
(The Transnote [ibm.com] is interesting, but I don't quite like the idea of having a separate input device.)
Here's what would make Captain Kirk smile. Somebody comes out with a mass produced pad device. Minimum requirements:
Ok, what about something now? Well, if you can't spring for a Transnote, there's always the Crosspad [lnl.net], which was an attempt to market the Transnote's input device as a separate product. No longer in production, but you can get them on ebay for about $150.
Re:Basically, no. (Score:1)
David
Re:Basically, no. (Score:2, Informative)
MS Tablet PC [microsoft.com].
Raw handwriting (not recognition) (Score:3, Informative)
I'd think that a hybrid that captures handwriting as a bitmap for later transcription would be ideal.
I swear I have seen something like the IBM TransNote [zdnet.co.uk] but more like a normal (paper) notepad with a Palm attached to it and less like a notebook (PC) with a notepad next to it.
Good luck!
-Peter
You might want to try this.... (Score:2, Interesting)
I agree, you probably want a solution that allows you to simply write on real paper, but have a copy on your palm. To do this you can use something like the smartpad [fingertech.co.uk]
or from the seiko web site: here [seikosmart.com]
This thing won't allow handwriting recognition, but will "draw" into your palm as you write on the paper. Combined with using the text entry on the palm this could be what you are looking for. Formulas and pictures can be sketched on the paper, and notes can be written on the palm.
Another bonus is that you can a decent size folder to protect your palm, and carry your mobile, pens, etc. etc.
Re:You might want to try this.... (Score:1)
Mi-Notepad [yahoo.com]
What about a small laptop? (Score:3, Interesting)
You could also look into something like the HP palmtops, or, dare I say it, the Newton.
This is really what the Newton could have become, if it had been given a chance. The problem was that it was waaaaay too ahead for its time!
--NBVB
Re:What about a small laptop? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've got one of those really-small really-cool Sony Vaio devices [sonystyle.com] of which you speak (an sr27k which I got free after Sony borked my previous sr7k in the shop), and I must say I *really* like the thing. I've taken it to a bunch of classes, and my notes are a lot better because of it. I type a whole lot faster and more accurately than I can write, as I'm sure a lot of other people do - the keyboard on this thing is pretty conducive to fast typing, too.
As for equation entry, I realised after much puzzling that doing all that in Mathematica [wolfram.com] is the best way to do it. It took me a while to get good at it, but after I figured out all the keyboard shortcuts it got pretty easy. The real bonus is that I can actually decipher what I took down when I look at it an hour later.
On a side note, I'm planning on trading this laptop in on an iBook soon. This one is fantastic, but it's shiny-newness has worn off for me for some reason, and that's mostly what I'm interested in.
Re:What about a small laptop? (Score:2)
I love my iBook, but make sure you get the 600mhz model. I have the 500, and you can definitely feel the speed difference. the 600 has the 100mhz system bus, where mine has a 66mhz bus. Yuck-o!
It's a great machine though, and OS X rocks. Really makes Linux pretty worthless for me. I use Solaris on my servers, and OSX on the desktop. Squeezed Linux right out of the picture....
Anyway, good luck on getting the iBook! I had great results getting mine from the Apple online store [apple.com], but you also might want to check out Small Dog Electronics [smalldog.com] too...
--NBVB
Star Office (Score:3, Informative)
Put that into star office equation editor thing-e and enjoy...
Using a PDA in school (not about formulas) (Score:4, Insightful)
Other than those points (mostly a healthy mix of common sense and paranoia) a PDA is far superior to a notebook for student tasks. Unless you need essentially a portable workstation with a large screen for graphics, compilation, viewing PDFs or web pages, the CPU and disk space offered by laptops are overkill, especially given their weight, bulk, fragility, cost, short battery life, OS problems, and appeal to thieves. Beyond backups, a PDA doesn't take any system administration, virus or defragmenting tools, or any other maintenance. With good battery life, you can stop watching the clock and apply your full concentration to your work.
Re:Using a PDA in school (not about formulas) (Score:2)
"WindowsCE models use various incompatible CPUs, and some apps work only on a certain OS versions (which usually requires a ROM upgrade to change), and models usually differ in screen depth, resolution, and the presence/absence of color, all of which can make short work of a casually written GUI app -- same story on the Psions"
This is just wrong. If you by a new Pocket PC based on Pocket PC 2002 or a iPaq or other StrongARM based handheld, you are using a StrongARM chip, all programs developed for the iPaq are instantly compatible no matter if you have a iPaq or a HP 565. That matter is going by the wayside if it was even there. Microsoft's devloper tools for PocketPC/WindowsCE all compiled for multiple platforms as well. Most everything I have run across has also been available for the older Casio MIPS based handhelds and HP's older SH3 based ones. It should be just a matter of finding the program.
Also, PERL and stuff like that DO NOT BELONG ON A HANDHELD! Handhelds do not have the processing power to spare (unless running handhelds.org Linux distro) for running the PERL interpreter. Besides, why would I want to write a PERL script on a handheld?? I would rather run compiled software on a handheld. Note, I don't mean that they would not be able to RUN these, in fact I believe Pocket Internet Explorer can do Java and even Shockwave based pages, they just run a bit slow. Everything on a handheld should be super fast. That means compiled code. NO SUBSTITUTION! They also would serve as BLOAT to a great many people these are targeted at. Do you think my boss needs to write a PERL script??
Back on topic, handhelds should be able to do equations, but they have just gotten it to recognize handwriting with relative accuracy. Math equations would be difficult (especially if you want the thing to calculate it....just recording it can be accomplished with the Notes app). The best calculator/handheld for writing and calculating thes are the HP 49GX's....you can enter the formula as stated and it will help you solve it with HPsolve. These calculators even have a small programming language and can link to a PC. HP may even have a solver for their handhelds too but as I have never bought a HP PDA I have no idea. I do believe if I was back in class, this would be the way I would want to go. I have paper and this would be better for me. A PDA would be great and a laptop would be marvelous!
Viewpad 1000 Tablet PC (Score:2, Interesting)
Found the <a href="http://www.viewsonic.com/products/viewpad10
Intel Celeron 800mhz
128mb sdram
10.4 svga touch screen
stylus
10gb hd
802.11
I'm surprised nobody's suggested this yet (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I'm surprised nobody's suggested this yet (Score:1, Funny)
Besides, when I was in college, the professor who go the quickest wrote with his right hand, erased with this left, blocked the equation with his body, and then note corrections a couple of lines back from memory. Not that you could read his hand-writing anyway.
Re:text-based equation systems require rendering (Score:2)
It doesn't have to be correct enough to pass the TeX parser - you don't even try parsing it until you're back in your room studying (you do study your notes, right?) later. It just has to be accurate enough that you can correctly fix any syntax errors yourself later. And people are generally more forgiving than parsers.
Re:text-based equation systems require rendering (Score:1)
Point taken, but it does still have to be the right formula. If you didn't get the source right enough that you can reconstruct exactly what the prof wrote, no amount of note reviewing will be helpful. I remember having particular difficulties getting certain container types to line up properly in the formulae I used to work on.
I haven't had to deal with such things in four years, so I've completely forgotten concrete examples.
Re:text-based equation systems require rendering (Score:3, Insightful)
You shouldn't have to write (Score:1, Interesting)
If the professor used this, no one would have to copy notes off the boad.
Not _really_ what you asked for but... (Score:2, Informative)
Don't just consider yourself (Score:2, Interesting)
However, it is *extremely* annoying to the rest of us! The keyboard makes that click-click-clack-clack sound, which wouldn't be annoying except for the fact that its in the middle of class.
Imagine if the whole class did that? It'd be as noisy as a touch typing course.
Why can't the rest of the world get our hands on.. (Score:1)
I use a Hitachi Persona and my wife can't live without her Sigmarion. These are little half laptop size WinCE based PDA/palmtops. Clam shell design with up to half VGA display, full(enough) size keyboard, plenty of ram for your purposes, PCMCIA support, built in modem, and great touch screens.
I don't know if there is the kind of equation editor you are looking for, but it is very easy to mix keyboard input and touch-screen-scrawled bitmaps in a single doc.
NEC sells some outside Japan, and they are great. The trouble is price. I picked mine up second hand in Osaka for about 200 USD. Great value if you can cope with the Japanese OS. The lack of market volume in the west means that deals like this are hard to find. You can find some NEC 780 or 790 models on eBay and such.
For me the form factor beats iPaq etc hands down. Plenty of screen real estate, but easy to carry. Not pocket-size, but most PDA's wind up in backpacks, cases, etc anyhow. A real keyboard makes any kind of writing easy.
If you are so inclined and have the time, you can get Linux to run on some of them, too.
Low End (Score:2)
Hmm, on further reading it doesn't look like it is enough. Sure, you can enter equations algebraicly but no support for any kind of advanced notation.
Others have suggested some alternatives: Drawing the equations using one of the free tools for the Palm that exports image files, but then you'd have to re-enter the equation in another program for printed output or so it would be legible. Assorted portables that run software you want, whether it be a laptop running maths software or something that let you enter the equations (LaTex, MS Equation thingie, etc)
Seiko SmartPad 2 (Score:1)
http://www.seikosmart.com
It allows you to input notes directly into your PDA while either writing on the pad or on normal notepaper on top of the pad. These notes then are saved onto your PDA to be printed/sorted out later in electronic form.
Well, TeX is the king. (Score:3)
But as pointed out, if you're transcribing a lecture you will want at least something that can render quickly so you can see how you are doing.
Might I suggest you investigate something along the lines of a sub-notebook? I imagine even an old cheap one will run Linux nicely, or if you have $$$ to spend, something slinky in the Crusoe line.
How about a PalmTop that runs Maple V (Score:1)
Casio has a CE device called the The Cassiopeia "Computer Extender" that comes in two flavors: one with/modem & PC Card (A22T) and one without (A22S). It is made for education. High School and College.
http://www.casio.com/personalpcs/section.cfm?se
The interesting thing about these two PDA/Palmtop devices is that they run 3 really nice Mathematical applications, namely:
1. Maple V for Windows CE-High School/College
2. The Geometer's Sketchpad
3. MRI Graphing Software
Now, all these applications do come at a cost (about $100) each, but then again, the Casio can be found for about $100(new) on eBay or another after market source.
I owned a A22T and the fact that it has two expansion slots (Compact Flash/PC Card) allow you to store a lot of data. And the modem let me share math problems to friends (who have Maple).
For me it was do everything machine. I took it traveling and used it like a digital wallet for any pictures I take and I used it as an MP3 player as well (handles 96kbps/128kbps OK). I could also, check in with friends using the modem. When I got home I could upload any files to a desktop machine.
PROS: The application set: Word, Excel, IE come with the device. Additional programs like MS Money, Pocket Streets, Mobipocket or Palm Pocket Viewer for ebooks, PocketC for development, MS Plus Pack (comes with an Image Viewer and Register Editor), and HUM MP3 Player will complete an excellent device. There is also a lot of older software for the SH3 available on the web (like Python which is too cool).
CONS: quick data entry is not all that possible. The keyboard is small and there is no handwritting software (unless you purchase Caligrapher or similar). The screen is not color, so the mathematical graphs, while very useful, may prove hard to read. Also, the 80mhz SH3 processor is a little slow compared to a device like the HP Jornada 720 which using the new MS standard 206mhz StrongARM. Also, only ARM devices will be used in future HandheldPC/PocketPCs so the applications will start to disappear for this little guy. Also, for those who HATE Microsoft, this is a Windows device. That means no Linux or MAC support.
TO SUM UP: It's worth a look, just don't expect lightning fast data entry.
Palm + Folding keyboard (Score:1)
I don't know what to say about the math notation. suff like "z=sin(x^y!/3)" and junk like that (i'm sure what you need to take notes of would be much more advanced) isn't very convenient.
If you want to go the slim laptop or tablet route, MathCAD [mathcad.com] might just be right up your alley. It's basically a mathematical word processor. It's no Mathematica, but it would probably work. The student price is $120 [edu.com]. That's if you want to run Windows on a laptop or (maybe?) web pad. If you you're a Linux guy (like myself) then i'm not sure. You might try lyx [lyx.org] like the other person suggested (i've never used it). I have used MathCAD, and it was really nice, although I was just using it for Calculus. I used it a long time ago, and i don't know how good or bad the program or the company is now. But it did a great job for me back when.
I don't know about equations, but... (Score:1)