Technology Ipad air vs Note pro 12.2

[Doc552]

Well , hello there ! I`m very new to the forum so please do warn me about possible flaws on the thread. I`ve found some similar threads but they were either outdated or did not include the note pro 12.2.

I already own a laptop but it is quite heavy to be taking it to college everyday. I have recently started med school and i tought about getting one of the new fancy tablets out there.

The thing is, i`m struggling to decide between the ipad air and note pro 12.2 , i will be using both of them for note taking and if i do choose the air i will buy a stylus. The price for them, considering the cost of the stylus for the ipad will be similar so that factor can be ruled out.

Now, if i consider note taking alone ( wich is my primary goal ) the note pro 12.2 is a clear winner. However i have never owned an apple device and the word is that it has the best medical apps.

So, i would greatly appreciate any thoughts you guys could throw to help me decide which one is the best for my needs. The bottom line here is : Is the ipad app store more interesting than the integrated samsung stylus ? Thank you all in advance !

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[chemicalbull]

Hey Doc,

I just picked up a note pro 12.2 and so far this tablet has blown me away. I too was split between the note pro and the I pad air. Both are great choices. While both tablets end up being around the same price when the specs are added up together, the main switching point for me was the a availability of running two applications at the same time side by side. Which is something the I pad just can't do at this moment, I'm sure later down the road an update may happen which will allow side by side apps on the I pad but I am unsure when that would be.

Either way you are going to make a great choice picking up either tablet! Happy shopping. If you have any questions about the note pro just let me know.

 

[Neurophage]

Have you found a good way to maintain a single searchable, cloud-synced database of all your notes and articles? That's the main thing holding me back from thinking these devices are a good choice over Windows tablets.

 

[chemicalbull]

Files are organized in a similar fashion as you would see in most computers. You can organize these files to your specific preference if you like but I personally enjoy how it's set up straight out of the box. You will see with the image I attached that Dropbox (cloud service) is integrated with the tablet. From there, drop box can be as organized as you want it to be. As you see I have my starting folder for school, which eventually breaks into individual classes. You can therefore sync your base pc/mac (if you have one) to update whenever any file is edited on either the tablet or the computer.

Just an fyi: when you purchase a note pro it comes with 50 gigs with of space on Dropbox for free. Plus a few more bonuses as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[Neurophage]

Good info, thanks.

The other day I was having an argument with someone about the efficacy of exercise for weight loss. The other party wanted to see my source. I didn't remember where my info came from. I pulled out my laptop, loaded OneNote, did a global search and found it. Turns out it was from an undergrad lecture four years ago. I grabbed the professor's citations, downloaded 3 articles, and was good to go in a few minutes. If it was from a journal article, freehand notes, or even a scanned class handout, I still would've found it because I stored all of that stuff in OneNote.

Can your system do that? I'd really like the answer to be "yes." I like both Android and iOS devices, but can't give up my peripheral brain.

 

[chemicalbull]

I am uncertain about the I pad but as for the note pro the answer is yes. You can utilize both one note and ever note on this tablet as well using a cool feature called S Finder. Which searches through your entire tablet for anything that can be related as well as bring in additional information from the Web in case you don't have a file. For example I searched for "drawings" on my tablet using s finder. As you see the first things that pop up are files on my tablet that have something to do with drawings. Followed by searching ebay incase I want to buy drawings, it even brings up my picture gallery since I have some of my drawings there. It's a pretty handy search tool, so you will definitely have your options depending on your preference.

 

[Neurophage]

Interesting. Is it searching the bodies of your files, or just the titles?

 

[chemicalbull]

Yes you can search handwriting as well. Attached are two photos, the first photo is a split screen of SDN and my S Note program. I highlighted the term auto scroll just to show you that this will be the word I am going to look for (you don't have to highlight for the function to work.)
The next photo is of S Finder, where I am looking up the term auto scroll. From there it pop ups the multiple options of auto scroll, where I can see I have an S Note with the term auto scroll hand written within it. You can also isolate searches to handwriting only if you know your notes are handwritten. The speed is very fast on this tablet that I have just been doing general searches with no wait time what's so ever.

 

[Doc552]

Awesome man , thanks a lot for the info

 

[Neurophage]

Thanks for the info. You've piqued my interest. At the very least I'll go into a store and play with one before I buy a Windows tab.

 

[chemicalbull]

No problem. Definitely play around with it and see if you like it. The new windows surface tablet peaked my interest but it was going to end up being quite a bit more than my budget. All three tablets (Surface, Note, and Ipad) are phenomenal devices, now it just comes down to personal preference.

 

[cevans]

@chemicalbull how do you feel about the app selection on the note? I'm currently deciding between the note and the surface but I've have heard mixed reviews about the study/medical apps available on Microsoft vs. Android and this is making this decision even more difficult.

 

[chemicalbull]

@cevans I personally haven't had any issues with app selection. Mind you that is my personal preference as I do not heavily rely on medical apps. Are there specific apps you would like for me to look into for you? I know that the Google play store is adding new apps every day so if there is something in specific you are looking for I can take a peak around the store for you.

 

[cevans]

@cevans I personally haven't had any issues with app selection. Mind you that is my personal preference as I do not heavily rely on medical apps. Are there specific apps you would like for me to look into for you? I know that the Google play store is adding new apps every day so if there is something in specific you are looking for I can take a peak around the store for you.

Nothing in particular other than anki--I'm not a huge app person so just wanted to know if you thought there was a decent selection in general. Thank you!

 

[chemicalbull]

Yes, Anki is available on the Android platform and can be downloaded onto this tablet. As for me I believe this tablet has plenty of options when it comes to medical apps. Most of the popular apps used in the health care field are on both iOS and android. The area in where you will see the biggest difference is in the quantity of similar apps. While the apps you need are available to you on the android platform you may not get multiple varieties of the same product as you would on the apple store. I personally have anki, medscape, medcalc, and a few other applications that run on both the android and apple. All it comes down to is personal preference as I have mentioned before.

 

[Stroganoff]

I'm really impressed with your Note Pro 12.2 review. Thanks @chemicalbull. I have yet to buy my first tablet -- keep putting it off.

Question for you guys who use a tablet to take notes in class (whether that's Surface/Android/iPad): can you guys write fast enough with the stylus or do you use a keyboard as well?

 

[chemicalbull]

On the note pro I have found it rather easy to be up to speed. The pen that comes with the tablet, I have felt it to be very close to pen and paper and haven't seen any lag. Mind you sometimes you are just making annotations to pdfs and ppts, so you wouldn't necessarily be writing long paragraphs of notes at a time.

With the note pro the larger screen makes the on screen keyboard look and feel like a natural keyboard. (I've attached screen shots of the various on screen keyboards.) Then like all tablets you can use a blue tooth keyboard if you feel more comfortable typing on something plastic. Hope this helps.