This article is currently an experimental machine translation and may contain errors. If anything is unclear, please refer to the original Chinese version. I am continuously working to improve the translation.
Starting university, I decided to look for an electronic handwritten note-taking solution.
After a quick search, I found the following options.
Writing on paper, then taking photos and uploading them
Pros: No special device needed, great writing feel, almost zero cost.
Cons: Tedious and inefficient, requires carrying paper and pens.Graphics tablet (without display)
Pros: Low cost, low latency.
Cons: Hand and eye aren’t synchronized. Need to carry both a laptop and tablet—bulky and heavy.Graphics display (with screen)
Pros: Writing directly on screen, hand-eye coordination, low latency.
Cons: Still need to carry a laptop and the display—again, heavy. Also, these displays are relatively expensive.Tablets with active stylus support
Pros: Hand-eye sync, and the tablet can be used for other tasks after class.
Cons: Higher input latency, and they’re expensive.Regular tablets with passive capacitive stylus
Pros: Dirt cheap.
Cons: Basically garbage.
After some research and weighing my options, I finally decided to go with a stylus-supported tablet.
Honestly, this is the most common choice for digital note-taking.
Devices like Surface or iPad come to mind… which I obviously can’t afford.
So I turned to Android tablets—options like the Lenovo XiaoXin Pad 2021, Huawei MatePad, Xiaomi Pad, or Samsung tablets.
Due to my financial situation admirable frugality, I eventually settled on the Cube iPlay 30, a budget Chinese “no-name” tablet. (Yes, it’s a “shanzhai” device.)
(I could’ve spent a few hundred more to get the XiaoXin Pad 2021, but where does spending stop? Plus, the XiaoXin Pad 2021 doesn’t currently have a custom ROM I like, so I ruled it out. Sure, shanzhai tablets require tinkering and might even brick—definitely not recommended for beginners.)
I lurked on Xianyu (a Chinese secondhand marketplace) for a bit and picked up an almost brand-new iPlay 30 with 4GB RAM + 128GB storage, plus a protective case, for 630 RMB. I bought a compatible Surface Pen Gen 4 from Pinduoduo, and a “paper-like” screen protector for 10–20 RMB from Taobao.
Photo
The tablet has excellent battery life. Fully charged in the morning, it still showed 100% by noon. With regular use, it easily lasts two days on a single charge; with light usage, even three. The screen is a full-laminated IPS 1080p panel with decent display quality. 4GB RAM and 128GB storage are more than enough. It’s a 2020 model with a USB-C port and supports 4G LTE. It also supports 4096-level pressure sensitivity with a stylus—pretty great value for money.
As for downsides: the camera resolution is low (8MP rear), and the dual speakers aren’t impressive. (But seriously, who takes photos with a tablet anyway?)
However, being a budget device, the stock system is unusable. Luckily, Cube iPlay 30 now has near-perfect support for Pixel Experience. You can find the unofficial ROM on XDA: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-11-pixelexperience-for-alldocube-iplay30-pro-unofficial.4294203/.
This Pixel Experience ROM actually supports the stylus better than the stock firmware—seems like the issue with pen disconnection has been reduced.
Nowadays, MediaTek fastboot drivers can be installed directly via Windows Update. Just connect the device, go to “View optional updates” in Windows Update, and check the driver to install.
The flashing process isn’t anything special—just follow the XDA guide step by step.
For note-taking, I usually use OneNote. It works well enough. Sure, the Android version has fewer features than the desktop one, but it gets the job done.
And of course, it’s perfect for browsing Bilibili after class.
That’s all.
This article is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Author: lyc8503, Article link: https://blog.lyc8503.net/en/post/iplay30-handwriting/
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