OneNote as the backbone of a Surface Mobile Device

OneNote seems to be a widely used, versatile application with plays into both education and enterprise. A hardware device such as a small tablet designed specifically for OneNote could be good foundation for Microsoft to work its way into the mobile(ish) market.

I personally use OneNote for project management and reports and would love a small device (but larger than my phone) I could use in the field – A Surface Notebook.

Just me or could anyone make use of such a device?

Conversation 10 comments

  • harmjr

    Premium Member
    29 May, 2018 - 9:11 am

    <p>I have an Asus Vivo Note 8 and 8" tablet that is several years old. It runs Windows 10 1803 just fine. I find it perfect size for note taking with a pen. Apparently the 8" market is dead and most PC makers will not make this size anymore. I do hope that someone will produce a updated version soon as I an in need of an upgrade. </p><p><br></p><p>I am hoping this Andromeda device Microsoft is working on might fill the gap.</p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      29 May, 2018 - 3:05 pm

      <p><a href="#279119"><em>In reply to harmjr:</em></a></p><p>I figure there just isn't much potential user base for anything between 6" phones and 10" tablet PCs, and what user base there is is already sold on iPad Minis and Kindle Fires. What would remain for Windows, MSFT and OEMs is maybe no more than 10 million users at most. If devices would have to be priced under US$250, that'd ensure small Windows tablets wouldn't be a US$ billion revenue business for anyone.</p>

  • TheJoeFin

    Premium Member
    29 May, 2018 - 9:40 am

    <p>My first reaction to the idea of a OneNote heavy mini tablet is, "Sweet! Yes that sounds awesome!" </p><p><br></p><p>Then I start to think about it. If it is ARM based and can't replace my laptop or my phone. So this would be a third device for note taking, maybe light email… and some light web browsing and reading. I don't see myself spending more than like $300 on a tablet which doesn't add any killer functionality or simplify my device lineup. </p><p><br></p><p>I see how a Surface Notebook could be perfect for some people, just not me.</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      29 May, 2018 - 1:20 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#279133"><em>In reply to TheJoeFin:</em></a></blockquote><p>Once we get bendable screens I could see Apple doing something like this to create essentially a digital moleskine notebook. The Apple crowd would swoon, lol.</p>

      • TheJoeFin

        Premium Member
        29 May, 2018 - 2:07 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#279217"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I would love a 6" foldable pen device from Apple which can run all iOS apps. I'd probably replace my iPhone with it. But the same device which can't replace my iPhone is much less interesting to me.</p>

  • AnOldAmigaUser

    Premium Member
    29 May, 2018 - 1:13 pm

    <p>Does anyone know if OneNote supports pen input on a Samsung Note?</p>

    • Josh

      Premium Member
      29 May, 2018 - 2:55 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#279216"><em>In reply to AnOldAmigaUser:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yes it does. </p>

  • Orin

    29 May, 2018 - 2:38 pm

    <p>I've thought about something like this. But my Toshiba Z20t does this and runs Windows. So it is my OneNote device and my full blown laptop. I'm not sure I could justify a OneNote only device. An 8 inch tablet with an active pen running full blown Windows optimized for OneNote would be pretty slick though.</p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    29 May, 2018 - 3:00 pm

    <p>The only application which makes sense as a foundation is a browser. Maybe that'll change at some point, but not now.</p><p>There's the obvious: you can access OneNote Online from most browsers, but there's only limited browser-like functionality in OneNote. Then the less obvious: a dedicated note-taking device may make sense for some, but it'd be a limited potential user base compared to those interested in more general computing devices.</p>

  • Kerrpe

    29 May, 2018 - 3:36 pm

    <p>I just recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8" for this very purpose – well, that and photo previewing during international travel. I love my Surface Pro, but this little thing is a great size – like a paperback book. (and no, no&nbsp;inking for OneNote, that would be ideal.)</p><p>And for an older model device, this is snappy and the screen is quite nice. So now I'm using PC / Surface Pro / Galaxy Tab S2 / OnePlus 5. Pretty happy with that combo (…except, dang, I sure do miss my Lumias.)</p><p><br></p><p>I'm very sad that the 8" genre is&nbsp;gone. That being said, I do use it for more than just OneNote, so I agree that a single-purpose device might be limiting. </p><p><br></p>

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