I will be starting medical school in the fall an

[samtaylor1]

I will be starting medical school in the fall and am pretty sure I will get a motion LE1600. I am not sure which software pack to order. Their software pack that includes office XP and one note is over 300 (you get: Microsoft Office® OneNote™ 2003, Colligo® Networks Colligo Personal Edition, Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC, FarStone Technologies VirtualDrive™, Microsoft Streets & Trips. Alias® SketchBook™ Pro, Shorthand, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, Award-Winning Motion Dashboard, Motion Security Center (LE-series only). Windows Journal and Sticky Notes. Speech Recognition). They claim that this is worth upwards of 800 dollars.

Given the fact that I am a student and can get both office and OneNote cheaper is there any reason I should buy this software pack. Is there something important that I would be missing by purchasing the software elsewhere? Also for a student any other software recommendations. Any flashcard software anyone recommendations?

[bhelzer]

Here is a free flashcard program http://www.infinotes.com/www/infinotes-samples.html.

If your school is using Blackboard (and even if they don't) I would recommend GoBinder www.gobinder.com, of course I am a little biased.

[Sagan]

As a student, you can likely do better by purchasing the Motion Pack software (all the stuff you mentioned except MS Office). This will cost you $35 or so. OneNote is more than that for a student, so you'd be getting all the other apps for free. Personally, I haven't used many of these, but I sure do like having the Streets and Trips software (it just helped me on a recent trip). All you have to do is get the student edition of Office from your university book store and you'll have spent under $200 for the same software. Be sure you get office 2003, as it has the inking features built in.

I have found that I use GoBinder more than OneNote, so you might want to look into this purchase also. I'd still get the Motion Pack, since it's a great price for all that software.

Good luck at Med School, I can only think how great the LE1600 will be. And one more piece of advice--get the optional extended life battery or purchase one of the other versions of this (N-Charge at valence.com or the PowerPad at electrovaya.com). You'll really be pleased that you did, as it will free you from sitting next to wall outlets all the time.

[Trev]

I think you got a bit mixed up in the software packages.

The Motion Office Pack comes with Office 2003 and the Motion Pack. Office XP is quite old and you don't want that on your tablet. The Office Pack is ~$300

The Motion Pack comes with a bunch of software including OneNote and Sketchbook. The Motion Pack is only $35.

I'd definitely get the MotionPack. At $35 it's a steal. The stroke-it software, called Shorthand in the MotionPack, lets you set up gestures that enable you to do almost anything with your pen. Sketchbook and OneNote are also very useful.

[dsin]

Check your school, through the MSDNA program they might offer most MS software for free to the students.

[Steve S]

<<Also for a student any other software recommendations.>>

Sam: In addition to the other worthy software apps mentioned, I'd suggest xThink's Calculator (~$45) or MathJournal 1.1 ($98). Note that these are student prices. MathJournal is an impressively capable application, but both xCalc and MJ are useful for a broad range of "casual" calculating, in addition to more formal uses like lab reports and math / science assignments. One of their most interesting advantages is their format-free interface. You can write anywhere on the virtual page, arrange calculations the way they make the best sense to you, and then annotate, draw pictures... whatever.

Highly recommended.