ONENOTE 2003 A CD
1 Excellent Product!
Think of this as a tabbed notepad program that can take input from just about any source, index all the words and allow you to search them. (though searching could be beefed up - with that improvement, it could blow away infoSelect or AskSam)
The tabbing has two levels. Across the top are the tabs for different projects. down the side are different pages for each project.
For instance, I am studying for the Teradata Physical Implementation certification test. I created a project tab for the test. I created page tabs for each chapter of the study guide. on each page, I type the learning goals for each chapter (posed as questions) and answer them. I scan in any diagrams that I feel are important. with my Wacom graphics tablet, I write notes and impressions on the charts. I also scan in the chapter test questions and then answer them. for me this has been a very productive study method.
I know it got off to a troubled start, but the 2003 version is VERY good, so don't let old impressions steer your buying decisions.
2 Very Cool Product for Organizing
Contrary to what some people say, this product is very useful and does exactly what its is advertised to do. I use it to keep writing notes and ideas together. I took 81 pages of Microsoft Word documents and consolidated them into my notebook. It lacks the ability to create a completely separate notebook and does not save one notebook into a complete section rather saves in files and sections. Those two are the only downfalls of the product. Hopefully Microsoft will fix that next time.
3 so so quality but very bad service
I bought one , but it is not convinient for those that with the touch pad, it is hard to write unless you have pen.
also I bought hope there will be a rebate, but they said the coupon must be original, but they did not send me the one, which means they give you better hope but not real result.
that is bad feeling!!! very bad!! since then I will never buy one microsoft product privately.
4 Very efficient and easy to use
This is a very well thought out program, that makes it much easier to stay organized and take notes quickly. I find that I am able to type far quicker than I can write, so taking notes is much easier on the computer. Plus, afterwards, it's a lot easier to reorganize or rearrange digital notes than paper notes. You can click anywhere and start typing, just like you can do in a "real" notebook.
One of the best features (that makes this surpass Word for any type of note-taking situation) is that you do not need to save, EVER. I have accidentally lost power on my PC and not lost any information. It's quick to load, and loads to the last "page" in your notebook that you were using, which makes getting started fast really easy.
The only thing I have trouble with figuring out how to incorporate drawings or mathematical formulae easily, since I do not have a tablet PC. I find that I can do well with a science class like Biology, which isn't all that Math intensive, but for Math I haven't found a good solution. (I'm still using paper and pencil for Calculus.)
All in all, however, this is a sleek program, that runs swiftly and is a great tool for note-taking.
5 Its just WORD!!!
This is the biggest waste of money in the world! It is just a word program that saves it in a directory. Use Microsoft Word, and save in special folders, and save the money. Shame on you Microsoft for taking advantage of your customer base.
6 Great Product for Entrepreneurs
As an Entrepreneur, I find this product very useful.
I do research to better my business, and also need
to take quick notes.
7 Great for students!
This program replaces the need for a notebook. I keep all my notes in there and its easy to search for particular notes.
Also keeps everything organized.
Great software, I recommend it highly!
8 Does exactly what it says it does
I've been using this program for almost a year and like it. It's simple, well designed and customizable. The best way to explain One Note is to say it's like MS Word and Excel combined... it's a Word Processor with Spreadsheet "tabs".
The main reason I bought One Note was because I had 30-40 seperate word documents that I accessed regularly. It was cumbersome and inefficient. One Note fixed that.
Also, One Note has a good search tool, and also I like the formating options. I only gave it four stars because I wish that they included Excel tables with some basic calculating capabilities.
If you need a program to take notes, consolidate various documents and get organized, I'd recommend it.
9 Take It For What It Is
I've been using OneNote for about two months now. I'm a college student and I don't have a tablet pc - I use a normal Toshiba 15.4" wide screen laptop to take notes on. I used to use Microsoft Word or OpenOffice to take all my notes simply because that was all there was. After finding out about OneNote and using the free trial I found it to be very useful for me.
Many people will complain about it's lack of features compared to a normal word processor, but you really have to take OneNote for what it is. It's a note taking program. It's not going to make you do better in your classes, it'll just help you do it faster. And to me, that's really valuable - as I'm sure any college student will tell you.
Organization:
The first thing you will deal with when you open OneNote is setting up how you want your notes to be organized. I decided to make a few folders - one for classes, one for personal, one for home & car maintenance etc. I will only go into detail about the most important one: Classes. In my classes folder I have a new "project file" or tab for each subject. For example, one tab reads Personal Finance M04, another reads Photography 10, you get the idea.
Underneath these tabs I have a blank writing space and another set of tabs on the right hand side. With the tabs on the right hand side I organize my class meetings and subjects we cover. Depending upon the class, I will make a new tab on the right for each subject (example: Investments, Estate Planning, Taxes). In other classes that do not follow a strict subject form I label the tabs with the date of the class.
Actual Note Taking:
OneNote works in a different way to normal word processors. A way which is much better because your notes are usually not printed. They live in your computer - so why leave blank margins on the sides of the page when you can use that space? This is a question OneNote answers brilliantly. I can click anywhere in my blank space to start a new text box. I can write down the main topics in one column on the left hand side and write key points and definitions on the right wherever they are applicable.
You are also able to put in drawings so you can take down diagrams from the white board and you can put in pictures. If you have a microphone built into your laptop or if you bring a small one you can record what the professor is saying and it will show up with play controls right in the notes space.
Of course, the larger the resolution of your laptop's screen the better. Having a widescreen laptop really benefits you when using OneNote because you can take advantage of it by using every part of the screen to write your notes.
Searching:
Probably one of the best features of OneNote is the ability to search through your notes with ease. For example, I can type in the word "estate" in the search box and hit enter. OneNote then instantly searches (and I mean no waiting, it's instant) through all of your notes and highlights every time the word estate is mentioned. If you have mentioned the word estate in multiple areas of your notes then OneNote will also highlight the applicable tabs so you know where and where not to find what you're looking for.
On The Whole:
I think OneNote is an excellent tool for any student, and even if you just want to keep better track of your life without having to setup a complex database. I don't think I could live without OneNote anymore. That said, it's probably not worth getting unless you can pick up a copy for under fifty dollars. If you're a student, try seeing if you can get a copy with your student discount, or if your campus's student store has it for a good price.
10 This is Microsoft?
OneNote is the weakest Office product Microsoft has ever released. It has minimal features and fails to integrate in any useful way with other Office products. OneNote even fails to read Journal files, which is ridiculous for a TabletPC user. There is great potential for this product, as the basic structure for organizing files is well thought out, but the rest is amateurish at best. Unfortunately, software titles for TabletPC are still rather limited, and this poor product isn't about to woo any new users to the technology.
