Taking notes with the stylus - accuracy

[Profoxcg]

I have a love hate relationship with this aspect of the tablet. My previous device an Asus TF810C which also comes with Win8 and a stylus was very accurate.
I would write and the letters would appear in a very predictable place - ie on the line I was writing. However I have noticed that with my SP, that is not the case.

I have played with the calibration several times and its pretty hit or miss. Sometimes it write where I am pointing and sometimes it write slightly below or behind. This drives me crazy !
Does this happen to anyone else?

I wonder if this is related to the all the "pen issues" I have read about - and I wonder if its a driver issue they will address soon.

What is interesting is that I get much more accuracy using the Asus stylus that the MS one. I have asked MS to send me a replacement pen, but I really doubt that would be the problem. What do you guys think?

Other than that I love this thing even though its "fat" lol and has very little battery life and not real keyboard dock unlike my previous Asus TF810C.

 

[Russ]

Profoxcg --

I think this is one of those "YMMV" issues. My Ladyfriend was here today and was delighted to show me that her Surface Pro could recognize her handwriting and translate it into English words in an email. Then she showed me how it could do the same thing with her handwritten Chinese characters. I doubt that it is a "driver issue," since her Pro has the same drivers and updates as yours.

It could be a "pen issue," or not.

Regards,
Russ

 

[ximoosea]

Profoxcg, I agree with you. I have been through the calibration a few times and have spent careful time on the extended 210?? point calibration and I am still occasionally have problems where it seems the Pro writes a little bit off from where you are intending. This feature was one that I was most excited about as I sit through many monthly meetings and like to be able to take notes on the slides that are presented.

You mention that the Asus stylus seems more accurate. Does anyone have any recommendations for good other alternatives that also feature the erasure? Also, what writing enabled software is everyone using? My favorite so far is PDF Annotator. Powerpoint 2013 also allows you to write on slides but I prefer the flexibility of PDF Annotator. Any other recommendations?

 

[Profoxcg]

Profoxcg, I agree with you. I have been through the calibration a few times and have spent careful time on the extended 210?? point calibration and I am still occasionally have problems where it seems the Pro writes a little bit off from where you are intending. This feature was one that I was most excited about as I sit through many monthly meetings and like to be able to take notes on the slides that are presented.

You mention that the Asus stylus seems more accurate. Does anyone have any recommendations for good other alternatives that also feature the erasure? Also, what writing enabled software is everyone using? My favorite so far is PDF Annotator. Powerpoint 2013 also allows you to write on slides but I prefer the flexibility of PDF Annotator. Any other recommendations?

The asus pen does have an eraser, but it came with the TF810C. I have seem it sold separately.
I use bluebeam PDF to annotate cad drawings or write notes on something I am reading on the tablet. However my number one program for handwriting is Onenote, both the app and the office version.

 

[ximoosea]

I can't believe I forgot about Onenote. I have not yet started using it on my Pro, but will try soon. Thanks for info on the pen, I will check it out. I also saw another thread about good replacement pens although they do not attach to the pro.

 

[Profoxcg]

Can you link the thread?

I hardly ever attach mine.

 

[ximoosea]

Here is the link to the thread discussing pen alternatives.

http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-pro/3729-alternative-pens.html

 

[tonyz3]

I had the Asus 810 while waiting for the pro..but I felt it lagged for me while writing- before that Samsung ativ 500, and fijitsu win 7 that I upgraded to win 8 but lacked drivers. love the 30day return policy.... . I never see that with the pro. I did like the asus pen but have no issues with the pro. I use the pen a lot while with clients in business meetings, and even drawing etc. and I do not have the calib issues. perhaps try going to the calibration and reset it to the original, sometimes you can screw it up by doing too much. I use windows journal (comes on your proand think that has they best inking experience once you set the pens check off pressure sense etc in the menus. I only wish it had the options such as one note. I also use note anytime from the app store and like it but do get some lagging on occasions. I do like the look of that bamboo pen...

 

[machistmo]

I have a love hate relationship with this aspect of the tablet. My previous device an Asus TF810C which also comes with Win8 and a stylus was very accurate.
I would write and the letters would appear in a very predictable place - ie on the line I was writing. However I have noticed that with my SP, that is not the case.

I have played with the calibration several times and its pretty hit or miss. Sometimes it write where I am pointing and sometimes it write slightly below or behind. This drives me crazy !
Does this happen to anyone else?

I wonder if this is related to the all the "pen issues" I have read about - and I wonder if its a driver issue they will address soon.

What is interesting is that I get much more accuracy using the Asus stylus that the MS one. I have asked MS to send me a replacement pen, but I really doubt that would be the problem. What do you guys think?

Other than that I love this thing even though its "fat" lol and has very little battery life and not real keyboard dock unlike my previous Asus TF810C.

Vook Posted this in another thread:

I haven't experienced any lag but I don't run photoshop.

Try this for calibration problems:

Reset any existing calibration in Tablet PC settings.

Press Win key, type "Run"

Copy and paste the following into the Run window:

tabcal lincal novalidate XGridPts=10,60,110,360,660,960,1260,1560,1860,1910 YGridPts=10,60,170,330,490,650,810,970,1020,1070

Run the command, allow permissions, go through the calibration. This makes for near perfect pen accuracy, but it's never going to be perfect. Corners will still be messed up, but that's how it works, apparently. More X and Y points can be added to the lists for even more precision. Each number just corresponds to the X or Y coordinate of a pixel on the screen.

 

[joga]

I had the same issue as the OP. After adding the tabcal command and going through the calibration the pen is working much more accurate then before.

thx for the tip.

 

[cienveryon]

I have the same problem. The stylus was not so accurate especially when the pen have an angle with the screen. And in some small certain area, the point in the screen was not linear with the position of the stylus. Maybe other stylus can solve this problem. But according to my few handwritting works, I don't want to buy a new one now.
Above all, I can get used to that.

 

[cienveryon]

Vook Posted this in another thread:

I haven't experienced any lag but I don't run photoshop.

Try this for calibration problems:

Reset any existing calibration in Tablet PC settings.

Press Win key, type "Run"

Copy and paste the following into the Run window:

tabcal lincal novalidate XGridPts=10,60,110,360,660,960,1260,1560,1860,1910 YGridPts=10,60,170,330,490,650,810,970,1020,1070

Run the command, allow permissions, go through the calibration. This makes for near perfect pen accuracy, but it's never going to be perfect. Corners will still be messed up, but that's how it works, apparently. More X and Y points can be added to the lists for even more precision. Each number just corresponds to the X or Y coordinate of a pixel on the screen.

thx, I will try this.
And could you tell me how to clear this command if I dont want it any more?