Tablet for stylus notes

[TeaLeaf]

I'm looking to add a tablet & stylus to my business IT mix so I can take manuscript notes during meetings, draw diagrams etc.    I'll then be able to get rid of A4 paper notes which I then have to scan and shred. I'm looking for something that gives a screen size of greater than 10", up to a max of say 13".   I'm not buying a 12.9" iPad Pro, so I'm really looking at Windows or Android-based tablets with a good stylus and software to support stylus notes.  

Initial research has come up with:

Microsoft Surface Pro 6
Samsung Galaxy Tab S4
Lenovo Yoga Book

Does anyone have any experience with these, or other devices for the above purpose?

[Penfold]

I have a Microsoft Surface Pro and think it's excellent.

I take notes frequently at client meetings and have resorted to using One-note. I find it covers everything I need from hand-written notes to taking screen shots, to showing project photos, press articles I've written etc etc. Also great for drawing and explaining. (I did a most excellent drawing of Grenfell Tower showing how the lack of fire stops in the ventilated facade was a major cause of the ACM cladding to go up).

The screen is both responsive and fast and it handles my hieroglyphic-like handwriting well. It even converts handwritten text to typed text with remarkably few errors.

Well worth considering imo.

[TeaLeaf]

Yep OneNote sounds ideal, with the bonus being that I have licences for it which are currently unused.   The Surface Pro 6 was top of my initial list, so your feedback is really helpful Pen, thank you.   I think I'll organise a trip to a local stockist and have a play with one.  Out of interest, which version do you have and which CPU?  I was thinking i5 256GB SSD, but was wondering if I would get by with a lower spec version, or alternatively if I needed to go for an i7 version for smoothness of operation.

[Penfold]

I bought the expensive one with the 1TB SSD and independent graphics card.

This was the spec  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Surface-Tablet-Graphics-Windows/dp/B01H763TPC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1543505238&sr=1-1&keywords=Microsoft+Surface+Pro+4+Tablet+%28Intel+Core+i7%2C

It was just under £2k when I bought it.

There are plenty of cheaper ones but as you know with the way the VAT and the capital allowance thingy works on the flat rate scheme I needed to spend £2k to get £400 vat back making it in essence £1600 which worked out the same price as buying a lesser one.

[Chaosphere]

You won't notice any difference between the i7 and the i5 with light weight tasks (the sort of stuff described in this thread). The i5 with whatever size SSD you think you need should serve you well.

[Penfold]

The independent graphics card though does make a big difference imo. Although I fully agree with Ben's comments about the suitability to usage factor.

Things may have changed but certainly when I was researching them it was a big factor in my decision-making. I forget who was at the LAN playing Elite with it on their Surface Pro (sorry!) but it was impressive to see.

Would I have spent the extra is if wasn't ultimately a cost-neutral exercise? No, probably not but I don't regret having it now.

[Chaosphere]

Probably this was Faust? He has a surface with a 1060 in it. This indeed makes a big difference, but it doesn't really matter what processor you pair it with.

By that I mean if they make an i5 and an i7 with the same graphics card, you'd see no difference between the two.

If only the i7 comes with the 1060, and you need the graphics grunt (gaming, content creation, etc) then you'd be stuck with the i7, for sure.

Only when you don't need the extra graphics horsepower can you disregard discrete graphics and make it a CPU only decision (where the i5 and i7 both have the same iGPU).

As pen quite rightly said, it just depends on your particular usage / needs, and if you want to spend a little more for 'bling' I think the latter is something most of us can relate to!

[albert]

Guy at work has a Lenovo Yoga book. It's a stunning piece of hardware. He uses it for mindmaps and story mapping for development planning.

[Jamoe]

@tealeaf - what did you go for in the end? I'm considering a Surface Pro 6 for my wife's school work as the XPS13 is on it's way out. Mostly just word editing and basic resource creation. That said the school seem to have gone the google route so perhaps a decent chrome book would be better.... I just like the look for the Surface Pro's

[TeaLeaf]

I ended up concluding that I wanted a Surface Pro 6, but the lack of a USB C and only having 8GB with an i5 put me off sufficiently to wait.   There are now some US Surface Pro 6 deals that can get you an i5 with 16GB, but these are not in the UK yet and are still without the USB C.  

However the Surface Pro 7 now seems to have one in its spec, so I think I am going to hang on to that.   Everyone I have talked to says they are not the cheapest, but it is brilliant bit of kit.

If you can live with 8GB and no USB C then they are stock dumping at the moment and you can get some cracking deals on a Surface Pro 6.

[Penfold]

I think they're brilliant.

I got the tablet one with a 1tb SSd, i7, 16gb ram and independent graphics card and it's excellent.

ONe of my clients use Surface Books as they like the functionality of the full keyboard and the ability to pull the screen off to show imagery. Also slightly better specced.

[Jamoe]

Thanks TL/Pen, I'll take a look and see what deals are about. Pro 7 might not be out this year, maybe Oct 2019, maybe 2020.

[TeaLeaf]

Might end up with a 6 then, I'd be tempted enough probably if the USA ram deal comes over here.  I'd still love a USB C port though :sad:

@Penfold What's the noise level like on the i7 version of the Surface Pro 6?

[Penfold]

Yes, good question. It's noisy when the fans or whatever kick in. You know when they're on.

I'll take a vid to show you if you'd like.

[TeaLeaf]

Thanks, that's initially why I had figured the i5 as it is allegedly a lot quieter.  I'm not going to be using it for anything other than business and I was reckoning an i5 would do it all just fine.