Handwriting with a stylus pen on a touch screen for remote collaboration

Question

I would like to buy the minimal hardware which would make me able to use collaborative whiteboard software, in order to handwrite formulas or draft some schemes with my colleagues remotely, as if we are writing on the same whiteboard (or the same piece of paper).

I think that to achieve thiis, I shoud buy one of the following types of hardware:

1. the cheapest possible tablet which has a stylus pen support (an android one would be preferrable);
2. the cheapest possible drawing tablet (I don't need any advanced drawing feature, as I would use it just for simple handwriting);
3. an external USB touch screen for my laptop, still with stylus pen support;
4. a USB ovelay touch screen kit for my laptop screen, with stylus pen support.

If there are hardware solutions which are not part of the above list, they are appreciated as well.

I have a budget of around 260 £ (GBP, British bounds), which I cannot exceed unfortunately. What would you suggest?

It would be super if the solution is even within 180-190 £, since it would be nice to use the rest of the budget to buy a printer.

Answer 1

I have Wacom Intuos CTL-4100 tablet. I am using this with Xournal++ software (on ubuntu), works pretty well. It has pressure sensitivity.

The main downside in my opinion is that as it is not touchscreen but essentially a trackpad, you have to watch your screen, not your hand while writing, and handwriting is a bit worse than on paper. But good enough for text/equations/adding comments to slides.

It is cheap, and you can choose for a variety of larger and smaller models.

Answer 2

Option 2 would be my choice - a drawing / graphics tablet something like this. This would provide a more natural drawing experience as it is a matt surface. It is also considerably cheaper than the other options due to the fact it does not display an image, (or allows an image to pass through in the case of the touch screen overlay) leaving plenty of leftover budget for a printer.

Options 1, 2 and 4 would all provide a similar writing experience as you would be writing on a glossy glass surface which would provide a less natural writing experience. I have written on a tablet before and the experience is very unnatural.

Another option would be to buy a pen that transmits writing to your laptop or a 'smart pen' such as this. I do not have any experience using these and the reviews seem mixed but good overall. This would give a the most natural writing experience, albeit at a higher cost.