![\"DoogleBooks](\"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/dooglebooks.png\" "\\"DoogleBooks")
Ever since I became an instructor I\u2019ve managed to get through a lot of notebooks. Anyone who does this job will know that you have to sketch a lot of things when you\u2019re explaining stuff to pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEver since I became an instructor I\u2019ve managed to get through a lot of notebooks. Anyone who does this job will know that you have to sketch a lot of things when you\u2019re explaining stuff to pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started off buying notepads, but realised that was quite expensive \u2013 especially if you wanted the larger sizes. Then I turned to making my own, by ring-binding punched copier paper and using that. I discovered that normal two- or four-hole punching was no good, because the sheets could easily get torn with all the handling and jolting they get in the car, so I turned to spiral binding. That served me well for many years \u2013 but I was starting to feel my conscience nagging me over the amount of paper I was getting through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few years ago now, I tried using my laptop. It\u2019s a Surface Book Pro with a detachable screen so it can be used as a tablet. With a simple sketching app, it was fine \u2013 but there was still the hassle of getting it out, booting up, then detaching the screen, then reattaching it and powering down when I\u2019d finished. There\u2019s no way I wanted my Surface loose in the car while it was moving and quite frankly \u2013 in some of the places you have to cover \u2013 waving a two and a half grand laptop around is not the smartest thing you can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I had one of my thoughts. It occurred to me that there must be something<\/strong> out there that could just be used as a drawing board, but which didn\u2019t involve dirty rags covered in black marker from the dry-wipe boards some people use. That was when I came across LCD drawing pads. At the time I first tried them, they were usually 6 inch or 9 inch screens. I found a 10 inch one and it worked great. I still have it, in fact. But a couple of years ago, while still looking for something better, I came across DoogleBooks.The main attraction at the time was its size \u2013 it\u2019s a 12 inch screen, so about the size of a piece of A4 paper. It also boasted an erase function (you can erase parts of your diagram with an eraser on the stylus) and a bright screen \u2013 my original cheap import was quite faint, though still perfectly usable. It comes with a padded protective case and a separate eraser, a lanyard for the stylus, and some spare tips, and a few bits and pieces for kids rather than adults (and which I never did figure out what they were for).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is powered by \u2013 believe it or not \u2013 a standard watch battery, which lasts ages (I\u2019m still on the original after nearly two years). That\u2019s because the device is not illuminated in any way, so doesn\u2019t draw much power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You \u2018turn it on\u2019 with a very small switch on the back, though this is a \u2018lock\u2019 function rather than a power button as far as I can tell. The stylus clips neatly into the frame (come to think of it, it was because the clip on the cheap one I bought snapped which got me looking again) and has a nice long lanyard so you don\u2019t lose it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once powered\/unlocked you just write or draw whatever you want. The width of the stroke is governed by pressure and angle of the stylus nib, so you can get thin lines or thicker ones as needed. If you want to start again, you just press the button on the left in the picture above with the trash can symbol twice, and the screen is cleared. The double-press is a safety feature so you don\u2019t erase by mistake \u2013 see the next bit for why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you make a minor mistake, you can erase just part of whatever you\u2019ve drawn or written. Press the other button until the red LED comes on, then use either the small rubber eraser on the other end of the stylus, or the larger rectangular one which is supplied \u2013 just like you would with pencil on paper. Once you\u2019ve erased whatever you want, press that button again until the LED goes out and you\u2019re back in drawing mode. Due to the proximity of the buttons, you can see why complete erase needs two presses. This selective erase does work, but be aware it does leave slight smudges behind \u2013 again, like you\u2019d get with a pencil on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not<\/strong> a computer. Anything you write or draw exists only on the screen for as long as it\u2019s there. You cannot transfer it to a computer, since it is not a digital image \u2013 it is exactly the same as a pen or pencil drawing. If you write \u2018CAT\u2019, that\u2019s just some shapes and lines \u2013 the tablet doesn\u2019t know what you\u2019ve written. If you erase something by mistake, it\u2019s gone forever \u2013 there\u2019s no undo feature. If you want to save anything, you can take a picture \u2013 pupils often take a shot of things I draw so they can look at them later, just like they used to when I drew on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The device I used previously had a much fainter screen, and this meant that on evening lessons it could be difficult to see what you\u2019d drawn. As I explained earlier, there are no backlights on these things, and they are literally the same as pen and paper \u2013 you can\u2019t see drawings made using those in the dark, either. However, DoogleBooks has a much brighter screen contrast and you can see your drawings clearly with the interior light on. The photo above was taken at dusk with no lighting, and that\u2019s the contrast you get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s been one of the best things I\u2019ve bought in a long while. I actually have a spare in reserve, which came about because the original Amazon order never arrived, and the owner of the British company which sells them sent out a replacement. Several weeks later, the other one arrived \u2013 God knows where it had been \u2013 and when I offered to return it the owner said to keep it as a gesture of goodwill!<\/p>\n\n\n\n They now do several different models, mainly aimed at kids, with different screen colours. And whereas the only frame colour available when I bought mine was cyan (which is actually my least favourite colour in the whole world), they now do them in a range of colours. Just be careful to choose the \u2018\u2019partial erasure\u2019 one unless you want to save a couple of quid and lose a bit of functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s infinitely better than using a dry wipe board. There\u2019s no mess, and it is ready to use the instant you take it out of its case. Unlike dry wipe systems, when you erase, you erase \u2013 no ink getting stuck in scratches, which always happens with dry wipe markers. And the stylus lasts oodles longer than a marker pen. And there\u2019s no thick pads of drawings to dispose of when you\u2019ve filled up a notepad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n