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Why I bought a Stylus for my iPad

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While eliminating greasy finger marks is not the only reason to buy a stylus for your iPad, it is likely to be the major reason for most people. I certainly got tired of wiping down my screen several times a day, but honestly that is not the reason I bought this.


Drawing?


I bought it for drawing.

Yeah, I thought that was kind of odd, too. In the first place, I'm no artist. I do some crude cartooning for some of my posts here, but that's about all. The software I use for that already far exceeds my abilities to make use of it and what's wrong with using my finger to draw?

I don't know. I just felt that I would have better control with the stylus. It just feels more natural; maybe it makes sense, maybe i doesn't, but I thought it would be better and now that I have used it, I am convinced.


It may be all in my head, but I think it's easier to draw on the iPad with a stylus.


Stylus attached to earplug jack
See all 2 photos
Stylus attached to earplug jack
It may all be in my head, but drawing seems easier with a stylus
It may all be in my head, but drawing seems easier with a stylus


Typing also


I also immediately realized that typing was easier. I'm a one finger typist anyway, so adjusting to the iPad keyboard was never an issue in that sense, but I did find myself fat fingering keys frequently.

Because of that, I had shut off the spelling correction feature - my typing errors would cause that to annoyingly substitute entirely different words. I felt I was better off catching my own mistakes than having those gross substitutions. Overall, that was true, but now I missed simple misspellings!

However, with the stylus I am less likely to hit the wrong key, so I was able to turn the spelling feature back on. I'm happy about that.


Can't get away from fingers entirely


So, easier drawing (psychological or not), better typing, and a mostly clean screen. I say mostly screen because you can't do pinches or reverse pinches with an iPad stylus and also because of that little indented button at the bottom of the screen that you use to switch to the desktop. That indent isn't easy to find with the stylus, so I find myself switching to my finger, so the bottom of the screen still gets smudged.

The stylus I bought is from Boxwave and has a little clip that fits into the earplug jack so that it can stay handy. That's convenient, but I'm not sure I'd like that bouncing and clicking away at my screen if I didn't have a cover on my iPad.

There are many different styles and lengths to choose from. I think this short little stub is handy for leaving attached and ready, but I might buy a longer one later. Again, I just feel like a longer,more pencil like stylus would give me at least the illusion of more control when drawing.


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Comments

LillyGrillzit 20 months ago

I don't have an !Pad yet, but have seriously investigated them since your Hub about !Pad. I like everything about it. Thank you for this good information. I do some little sketches I could certainly use in publishing pieces and Hubs. :8->

Uninvited Writer 20 months ago

I got one and I'm using it more and more. I wanted one for drawing too. And now that I have an app that allows me to write right on the iPad, it'll be very handy for that.

Pcunix 20 months ago

See if you two agree with me about drawing with your fingers vs. a stylus if youdo end up getting one. I'm just curious.

heelal 20 months ago

nice article, good information and great job!

telecommuter 20 months ago

They are not as expensive as I thought. Rated up

Pcunix 20 months ago

Yes, I also though they cost more.

Pcunix 20 months ago

I've been using this for 3 days now and am VERY happy I bought it. It really improves my typing errors and keeps my screen mostly spotless.

canadawest99 13 months ago

Good suggestion. Now that ipad 2 is out, I will have to get one.

Pcunix 13 months ago

I lost mine (the stylus, not the iPad) a few weeks ago. I have to get a new one..

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