I've gone through a bajillion iterations of this: notebook + pen, tiny carry everywhere notebook + pen, surface pro + pen (this was really good for sitting down studying and class, not good for quick notes obvoiusly), and right now am on samsung zfold 3 and pen as a replacement for all classes of notetaking.
I have three note taking times:
1. Meetings, online or in person
2. Instant. Examples: vet suddenly telling me medicine mgs for my lizard. At hackathon and someone telling me some new software I wanna try. Unexpected philosophical insight from podcast while at gym.
3. Reading book (anywhere: cafe, train, desk, couch)
4. Studying time (at desk)
For said methods, the crosssection of effective note taking strategies I've found to be:
Spiral notebook and pen: meetings, reading book, studying time. Too big to have on me at all times for instant.
Smaller notebook (like, traditional moleskin sized) with pen: effective at all, including instant IF I had my backpack on me, so not truly great for instant.
Surface pro + pen: good for meetings and study time, somewhat ok at reading notes, phenomenal at reading notes if reading on the device itself (splitscreen reading app with onenote). EXCELLENT for classes and meetings because of quick multi-color pen functionality.
Upgrade to notebook resulted from surface pro: use multi-color pen instead of simple black pen. Now same study benefits as smaller notebook, with increased effectiveness in meeting and classes. Missing: cut + paste from surface pro, uploading to onenote to read on phone, etc.
Teensy tiny notebook + pen: best at instant notes, kinda shit at all other notes because so tiny, like think detective notebook. Possibly improved by better strategies, just had conversation with actual detective who made me realize I was probably using the notebook wrong.
Foldy phone with samsung pen thing: Similar to surface pro in effectiveness, better in terms of portability and always having on me (making its instant effectiveness better), worse in terms of its simply kinda small. Would love to use this for reading notes as well, right now can "kinda" split screen but it's really too small for that, would prefer in-same-reading-app note taking feature, yet to find good app for that (considering my books are epubs, this is probably impossible. PDF markup not bad though! in samsung notes app. Surpsrisingly good app). Thing about instant notes is, it's hard to hold, and still slower to get going than a tiny notebook + pen. I'm going to attach a little ring to the back and see if that makes me feel more confident holding this absurdly expensive device in one hand while writing on it while standing up.
TLDR: Technological investment cost of ipad + pen could be worth if you really like the digital features of cloud, multi-device, organization etc. Otherwise, recommend much cheaper option of smaller ipad-sized notebooks + multi-color-in-one pens (check jetpens). Also, this is more fun imo than using digital device, and retains better tactile experience (good for me with ADHD: can click pen as fidget activity).
I have three note taking times:
1. Meetings, online or in person 2. Instant. Examples: vet suddenly telling me medicine mgs for my lizard. At hackathon and someone telling me some new software I wanna try. Unexpected philosophical insight from podcast while at gym. 3. Reading book (anywhere: cafe, train, desk, couch) 4. Studying time (at desk)
For said methods, the crosssection of effective note taking strategies I've found to be:
Spiral notebook and pen: meetings, reading book, studying time. Too big to have on me at all times for instant.
Smaller notebook (like, traditional moleskin sized) with pen: effective at all, including instant IF I had my backpack on me, so not truly great for instant.
Surface pro + pen: good for meetings and study time, somewhat ok at reading notes, phenomenal at reading notes if reading on the device itself (splitscreen reading app with onenote). EXCELLENT for classes and meetings because of quick multi-color pen functionality.
Upgrade to notebook resulted from surface pro: use multi-color pen instead of simple black pen. Now same study benefits as smaller notebook, with increased effectiveness in meeting and classes. Missing: cut + paste from surface pro, uploading to onenote to read on phone, etc.
Teensy tiny notebook + pen: best at instant notes, kinda shit at all other notes because so tiny, like think detective notebook. Possibly improved by better strategies, just had conversation with actual detective who made me realize I was probably using the notebook wrong.
Foldy phone with samsung pen thing: Similar to surface pro in effectiveness, better in terms of portability and always having on me (making its instant effectiveness better), worse in terms of its simply kinda small. Would love to use this for reading notes as well, right now can "kinda" split screen but it's really too small for that, would prefer in-same-reading-app note taking feature, yet to find good app for that (considering my books are epubs, this is probably impossible. PDF markup not bad though! in samsung notes app. Surpsrisingly good app). Thing about instant notes is, it's hard to hold, and still slower to get going than a tiny notebook + pen. I'm going to attach a little ring to the back and see if that makes me feel more confident holding this absurdly expensive device in one hand while writing on it while standing up.
TLDR: Technological investment cost of ipad + pen could be worth if you really like the digital features of cloud, multi-device, organization etc. Otherwise, recommend much cheaper option of smaller ipad-sized notebooks + multi-color-in-one pens (check jetpens). Also, this is more fun imo than using digital device, and retains better tactile experience (good for me with ADHD: can click pen as fidget activity).