* Brian <bmcewen_at_comcast.net> [29 Oct 2002 20:18]:
> I know some of the people on the list have used the Newt almost exclusively
> for their class notes at one time or another; any experience along those
> lines (serious stationery use) that I could pass along would be
> appreciated.
Yes, I still have a year and a half's worth of notes on mine, in fact.
It came in handy in project class, when everybody else was looking
around blankly at each other wondering how they were going to get
information from a class they took the previous year when they'd already
sold their textbooks and thrown out their notes :-)
> Experience with system glitches/ notes vs Works, utils that are useful in
> real use etc. would be most appreciated. Did you use the HWR or just go
> with inktext, how safe were the "big note"-type apps in real use (thinking
> of backup integrity, etc), that sort of thing.
I used HWR, shapes, and sketches, switching frequently for text,
diagrams, and equations. "bignotes" has never caused me any problems
with backup or note export; the only thing I noticed is that if the
notes get *too* big the HWR slows down. Start a new note, and things
are good. So I just made a habit of starting a new note every minor
subject change. It makes overview mode more useful, too.
Other things I've run into:
* If you have a specialized vocabulary, you will fill up the newton's
custom dictionary fairly quickly. Well, after about two years I had to
start deleting words from my custom dictionary. If anybody happens to
know of a way to make the limit higher, I'd love to hear it.
* The first two weeks I used it I had to use inktext and convert it to
typing after class; there were just too many new, specialized words for
me to be able to keep up while correcting the Newton. After two weeks,
though, it had caught up with the necessary vocabulary and I could use
HWR live in class with no trouble.
* If you export your notes (as RTF) for example to archive them in
readable form on your computer, or to email them to a classmate or
something, you can only export a limited amount of stuff at a time. The
resulting RTF is 1Mb, never bigger. This seems to map to about 4-5
hours of lecture notes (1 class, 3hrs/week, just under 2 weeks). I
export notes in 1-week, 1-class sets, just so I don't have to open the
RTF and see how far it got before cutting things off, then finding that
point in my notes for the next export run. This results in RTF files
400-600kb in size, depending on how many sketches you use.
-Rhonda
-- www.write-on.indy || write-on.homeip.net \/ http://history.ubcengineers.ca/ Discuss the art and craft of writing /\ UBC Engineers History Project That's the problem with world domination. Nobody is willing to wait for it anymore, work slowly towards it, drink more and enjoy the ride more.-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries List FAQ/Etiquette/Terms: http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
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