Need a stylus for my iPad Air

WT Sharpe · 08-29-2016, 05:31 PM

I bought this stylus for my iPad Air. It looks nice, but perhaps because I write too fast, it skips. Has anyone got a better idea? What kind of stylus would you recommend? I need something that's precise.

HarryT · 08-30-2016, 10:07 AM

Unfortunately I really don't think that any capacitive touchscreen is up to the task of precise writing - the touchscreen just isn't accurate enough. You'd really need the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil, which is much, much more accurate (but has extra hardware to support that).

WT Sharpe · 08-30-2016, 10:10 AM

I was told on a Facebook group I'm in that the iPad Pro and Pencil combination is a hard one to beat. Short of successfully knocking over a liquor store, I don't see how that combo is in my future anytime soon.

incumbent · 08-30-2016, 12:01 PM

I use fiftythree's Pencil and their Paper app all the time. My use case is sketching though — I suspect it'd be not ideal for your needs. You've already god the one I'd recommend for precision work (I have one of those too) but maybe the issues you have are software related more than device related? Some software works a lot better with the Jots than others.

FlorenceArt · 08-30-2016, 04:04 PM

I would recommend a Wacom Bamboo stylus. You have to change the tip often if you want it to glide easily. I know some people prefer the Adonit Jot but I hated it.

WT Sharpe · 08-30-2016, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by incumbent

I use fiftythree's Pencil and their Paper app all the time. My use case is sketching though — I suspect it'd be not ideal for your needs. You've already god the one I'd recommend for precision work (I have one of those too) but maybe the issues you have are software related more than device related? Some software works a lot better with the Jots than others.

Why the Bluetooth connectivity? Does that help the accuracy? Also, every one I see seems to have a broad tip. Does that affect it's ability to do precision drawing? Have you ever used a Wacom? How does it stack up?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I would recommend a Wacom Bamboo stylus. You have to change the tip often if you want it to glide easily. I know some people prefer the Adonit Jot but I hated it.

Florence, the Pencil by FiftyThree Bluetooth has a slightly better customer rating at Best Buy. Have you ever used it?

tomsem · 08-31-2016, 12:43 PM

A Bluetooth stylus confers additional accuracy, but only with apps that integrate with the SDK for that device. Most of these apps will integrate with any 'active' stylus, including Apple Pencil (but that is only for iPad Pro). I have had several of these, my current favorite is Adonit Pixel. It has a pointy point so you can see what you are drawing, and two buttons that can be assigned functions for a given app. I don't do any note-taking with it however, and have not been impressed with its handwriting ability (short of iPad Pro, I don't think that is possible). A close second is Pencil by FiftyThree, nice design and feel, and it is less costly.

WT Sharpe · 08-31-2016, 02:47 PM

Thanks, tomsem. The app I'm mainly concerned with is called Notion, and it doesn't appear to have that ability; at least, I could find nothing in its Help section that mentioned it, although options were listed for the Apple Pencil for iPad Pro. What somewhat surprised me when looking through the Help section is that the developers themselves mentioned that the stylus they were using was the same one I stumbled upon almost accidentally; the Adonit Jot Pro. At the moment I'm using nothing because I've lost the tip guard. I have more tip guards on order, but as I've started, I'm not completely satisfied with the Jot Pro. I'll probably try a Bamboo and see how that does.

WT Sharpe · 08-31-2016, 02:55 PM

This screenshot from one of Notion's webpages will give you all an idea of what I mean when I say I need a stylus that's as precise as possible.

kyteflyer · 09-01-2016, 04:10 AM

I have the Adonit Jot Dash which I use with some photography apps which require some degree of accuracy. IN writing, though, it seems to slide across the "page" and I don't much like the result. That said, my writing has deteriorated since the advent of computers, so maybe its just me. I am looking for a stylus now which has the rubber tip but may, perhaps, be smaller than the old ones were.

As an aside, I have an antiglare screen protector on my phone and its much better using it on that. Might be worth considering.

WT Sharpe · 09-01-2016, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I have the Adonit Jot Dash which I use with some photography apps which require some degree of accuracy. IN writing, though, it seems to slide across the "page" and I don't much like the result. That said, my writing has deteriorated since the advent of computers, so maybe its just me. I am looking for a stylus now which has the rubber tip but may, perhaps, be smaller than the old ones were.

As an aside, I have an antiglare screen protector on my phone and its much better using it on that. Might be worth considering.

That one looks very intriguing, but what kind of tip does it have? The Amazon page says, "The powered 1.9 mm Pixel point tip offers a smoother writing motion than a rubber tip for seamless sketching and accurate signatures." I know what a pixel is, what a point is, and what a tip is, but what is a pixel point tip as opposed to a rubber tip? You mentioned that you used a screen protector. Does this stylus have a tendency to scratch naked surfaces?

romad · 09-01-2016, 09:14 PM

Could "1.9 pixel point" mean the tip is 1.9 pixels in size (diameter?)? If so, 1 inch = 72 pixels so 1.9 divided by 72 = 0.0264" or 1/38" For those more familiar with metric, 0.0264 X 25.4mm = 0.67mm or 2/3mm.

So if that is what they mean by "1.9 pixel point", it is very fine indeed.

WT Sharpe · 09-01-2016, 09:43 PM

It does appear to be very fine, but what's it made of, and could it scratch my screen?

romad · 09-01-2016, 11:57 PM

When all else fails go to the mfr website. The tip is actually 1.9mm in size, or about 5.4 pixels. Here is their FAQ page for it: http://www.adonit.net/support/pixel/

According to them the tip is designed to be softer than the screen glass and to last for about 100km (62 miles) writing distance. Of course if there is any dust on the tip or screen, THAT dust might contain particles HARDER than the glass. It is usually these hard dust particles that cause scratches.

kyteflyer · 09-02-2016, 03:32 AM

@WT no, it doesnt scratch the screen, it slides across very easily. I tend to lose control of it because my fine motor control has deteriorated over the years. It looks to me about the size of the average ballpoint.

08-29-2016, 05:31 PM	#1
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	Need a stylus for my iPad Air I bought this stylus for my iPad Air. It looks nice, but perhaps because I write too fast, it skips. Has anyone got a better idea? What kind of stylus would you recommend? I need something that's precise.

08-31-2016, 02:47 PM	#8
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	Need a stylus for my iPad Air Thanks, tomsem. The app I'm mainly concerned with is called Notion, and it doesn't appear to have that ability; at least, I could find nothing in its Help section that mentioned it, although options were listed for the Apple Pencil for iPad Pro. What somewhat surprised me when looking through the Help section is that the developers themselves mentioned that the stylus they were using was the same one I stumbled upon almost accidentally; the Adonit Jot Pro. At the moment I'm using nothing because I've lost the tip guard. I have more tip guards on order, but as I've started, I'm not completely satisfied with the Jot Pro. I'll probably try a Bamboo and see how that does.

08-31-2016, 02:55 PM	#9
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	This screenshot from one of Notion's webpages will give you all an idea of what I mean when I say I need a stylus that's as precise as possible. Attached Thumbnails

09-01-2016, 04:10 AM	#10
kyteflyer Wizard Posts: 1,844 Karma: 9547754 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle, Australia Device: iPhone 12 Mini	I have the Adonit Jot Dash which I use with some photography apps which require some degree of accuracy. IN writing, though, it seems to slide across the "page" and I don't much like the result. That said, my writing has deteriorated since the advent of computers, so maybe its just me. I am looking for a stylus now which has the rubber tip but may, perhaps, be smaller than the old ones were. As an aside, I have an antiglare screen protector on my phone and its much better using it on that. Might be worth considering. Last edited by kyteflyer; 09-01-2016 at 04:16 AM.

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08-30-2016, 10:07 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Unfortunately I really don't think that any capacitive touchscreen is up to the task of precise writing - the touchscreen just isn't accurate enough. You'd really need the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil, which is much, much more accurate (but has extra hardware to support that).

08-30-2016, 10:10 AM	#3
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I was told on a Facebook group I'm in that the iPad Pro and Pencil combination is a hard one to beat. Short of successfully knocking over a liquor store, I don't see how that combo is in my future anytime soon.

08-30-2016, 12:01 PM	#4
incumbent Opinionator Posts: 50 Karma: 395950 Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: United States Device: Kobo Aura HD / iPad Mini Retina • iBooks (macOS, iOS) & Marvin	I use fiftythree's Pencil and their Paper app all the time. My use case is sketching though — I suspect it'd be not ideal for your needs. You've already god the one I'd recommend for precision work (I have one of those too) but maybe the issues you have are software related more than device related? Some software works a lot better with the Jots than others.

08-30-2016, 04:04 PM	#5
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	I would recommend a Wacom Bamboo stylus. You have to change the tip often if you want it to glide easily. I know some people prefer the Adonit Jot but I hated it.

08-31-2016, 12:43 PM	#7
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,773 Karma: 26974049 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	A Bluetooth stylus confers additional accuracy, but only with apps that integrate with the SDK for that device. Most of these apps will integrate with any 'active' stylus, including Apple Pencil (but that is only for iPad Pro). I have had several of these, my current favorite is Adonit Pixel. It has a pointy point so you can see what you are drawing, and two buttons that can be assigned functions for a given app. I don't do any note-taking with it however, and have not been impressed with its handwriting ability (short of iPad Pro, I don't think that is possible). A close second is Pencil by FiftyThree, nice design and feel, and it is less costly.

09-01-2016, 09:14 PM	#12
romad U.S. Air Force, Retired Posts: 209 Karma: 5212 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Prescott, AZ Device: iPad Mini 5 & Mini 6	Could "1.9 pixel point" mean the tip is 1.9 pixels in size (diameter?)? If so, 1 inch = 72 pixels so 1.9 divided by 72 = 0.0264" or 1/38" For those more familiar with metric, 0.0264 X 25.4mm = 0.67mm or 2/3mm. So if that is what they mean by "1.9 pixel point", it is very fine indeed.

09-01-2016, 09:43 PM	#13
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	It does appear to be very fine, but what's it made of, and could it scratch my screen?

09-01-2016, 11:57 PM	#14
romad U.S. Air Force, Retired Posts: 209 Karma: 5212 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Prescott, AZ Device: iPad Mini 5 & Mini 6	When all else fails go to the mfr website. The tip is actually 1.9mm in size, or about 5.4 pixels. Here is their FAQ page for it: http://www.adonit.net/support/pixel/ According to them the tip is designed to be softer than the screen glass and to last for about 100km (62 miles) writing distance. Of course if there is any dust on the tip or screen, THAT dust might contain particles HARDER than the glass. It is usually these hard dust particles that cause scratches.

09-02-2016, 03:32 AM	#15
kyteflyer Wizard Posts: 1,844 Karma: 9547754 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle, Australia Device: iPhone 12 Mini	@WT no, it doesnt scratch the screen, it slides across very easily. I tend to lose control of it because my fine motor control has deteriorated over the years. It looks to me about the size of the average ballpoint.

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