Recommended Note-Taking and PDF editor apps?

[VBD]

Hi all. Apologies if there have already been topics on this, but a quick search pulled up no existing topics for note-taking apps..

I recently got a (Android) tablet (yay Christmas and post-Christmas electronic sales), and am completely green to whole apps thing. I intend to use this tablet as a good way to cut down on all my paper usage for notes and article reading. It would be ideal if the pdf editor allows me to highlight, write notes/markup, edit the pdf and be in a format that is easily transferred to a laptop. As for note taking, I've guiltily used up reams and reams of notebook paper just for one semester. If there's a note-taking app that's good for free-form stylus use (I need it for writing equations and drawing diagrams) and keyboard use that would be great! Fellow grad students, what are the note-taking and PDF editor apps that you use?

Relevant Follow-up question: I use dropbox, would that be well paired with such apps? Or is it better to get some file managing app and manage files on my device that way? 

Edited January 9, 2014 by VBD

[radiomars]

I've been using iAnnotate. It syncs directly with Dropbox and is great for tablets. It cost a little bit of money, but it's worth it for the seamless Dropbox integration.

[Chasely]

I just got the Nexus 7 and love it for reading PDFs. I had the same question about PDFs and found my answer through trial and error.

 

I use ezPDF for reading/annotation, and use DropSync as a companion app to sync PDFs between the app and Dropbox.
 

As far as note taking, I'm not so sure. Most tablets can't be used with fine-point styluses (like the WACOM tablet ones) so they're not the greatest for jotting down notes. I've heard good things about Papyrus, but haven't used it myself.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Do you want something to recognize handwriting via stylus? I know Windows has OneNote, which comes with Microsoft Office, and Apple has Notes Plus and a few other apps. EverNote is really popular. You can get it on Android. But it's more of a notes organizer; I don't think you can write with it. 

[perfectionist]

I second iAnnotate. It was on sale for $1 a while ago and I bought it. It's great for marking up PDFs and taking notes on slides. I wish I had bought it a while ago. 

[woosah]

I use the plain old (free) Adobe Reader app on my iPad. I tried to make the switch to Goodreader not too long ago because I had seen good reviews and wanted seamless Dropbox integration, but it lagged too much when I tried to scroll through pages.  Once it froze on me mid-article before I could save/sync my annotations. Over an hour's worth of reading notes, gone! (Still not over it.) Since then, I've figured out how to upload PDF files from the Adobe Reader app back to Dropbox after I've taken notes: Just select "Dropbox" under the "Open In..." option in Adobe Reader, and select the desired location in Dropbox. If the file already exists there, you have the option to save a copy or overwrite the existing file with the most up-to-date version.  I keep all of my articles in a single folder in my Dropbox that automatically syncs with Mendeley whenever I open it. 

 

I still like taking class notes by hand, it helps keep me focused. I might look into getting a Livescribe pen next year. 

[lemony]

Evernote! I'm still new to the class note-taking capabilities, but I have the smartphone app and I'm loving it. Especially love the document camera feature--SO helpful when you want to take a picture/obtain an electronic copy of a physical document but don't have a scanner nearby.