One of the best things about a tablet PC is how easy it is to take quick notes with it. There are a lot of free note-taking programs out there, such as EverNote, the student-oriented GoBinder, and even Windows Journal. But only the $99 Microsoft Office OneNote lets you record and attach audio and video to your handwritten notes. This feature is especially worthwhile if you spend a lot of time in meetings or lectures. To record audio in Microsoft OneNote, select View > Toolbars, then "Audio and video recording. Click the microphone icon, and the program will insert a line of text into your OneNote document indicating the time and date the audio recording started.

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Increase your microphone sensitivity
The default factory setting on your tablet's microphone sensitivity is likely very low, which will give your recordings tinny, hollow sound. OneNote can adjust the sensitivity of your tablet's microphones so that you catch every word. Click Tools > Options, then select Audio And Video to adjust recording settings. In the Codec drop-down menu, select "Windows Media Audio 9 Voice"; the "Windows Media Audio 9.1 Professional" option is overkill, unless you have a professional-grade external microphone. For Format, choose the maximum value possible; the resulting audio files will be five times larger than the lowest setting, but the audio will be light-years clearer.


Once you've adjusted the settings, test the heck out of the system before you have a make-or-break recording session. You'll want to be able to pay full attention to the meeting or the speaker, not fiddle with software.

Record phone conversations
First things first: in most states, if you want to record a phone conversation, you have to tell all parties that they are being recorded. That's the law. Provided all the participants agree, you can use one of these three devices to capture audio from a conference call using Microsoft OneNote:

• If you have a standard house line, use a recorder control.
• If you have a cordless or wireless phone with a headphone jack, use a wireless phone recording control.
• If you have a standard PBX multiline phone, you'll need to patch into the cord that runs from the phone's base to the handset, so use a mini recorder controller.
  
  

Sync video to your handwritten notes
At conference sessions or training meetings, you can hook up a video camera to your tablet and synchronize the video proceedings to your handwritten notes. The procedure is nearly the same as audio recording; just select the Record Video option on the audio and video recording toolbar.