ipad stylus

I've been playing around on the ipad and using it more and more as a drawing platform.  With plans to have my students do the same in the coming months I've been trying out a variety of styluses.  There is a huge amount of choices in the world of touch screen styluses.  Amazon makes their own version and any office supply store has a host of options.

I was curious about the differences between the types of styluses, and did a couple writing and drawing samples with the Targus, Jot Classic, and the Nomad Brush to see the differences.  (I knew that the Nomad Brush was not going to be the tool for handwriting, for obvious reasons.) Below are examples of using the styluses in the app, Bamboo Paper.  My handwriting on paper is in the middle and the image on the left show the same notes with the Targus stylus and the image on the right was made with the Jot Classic.

The Jot Classis was easier to decipher and truer to my handwriting.  The Targus's rubber tip felt better to jump back and forth between apps and tools within apps.  If you're looking for precision in a signature or a true depiction of your handwriting style the Jot Classic does a better job than the Targus and any other bounce tip stylus, in my opinion.

Using layers in the SketchbookX app I again used the Jot Classic and Targus styluses - this time to trace over a photo.  You can see the results below.

Again, the Jot Classic was better for tracing the details of the photo, it was easier to determine the connection between image and pen.  That being said, I liked the feel of the Targus for doing loose work and filling in large areas.  Even better that the Targus is the Nomad Brush.  I'm a painter and nothing feels better than a brush to lay down large areas of color.  The Nomad Brush just feels good and I especially like to use it in my favorite basic drawing app, Sketches. 

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Here is the finished image from below with large areas of color laid in on a separate layer in SketchbookX with the Nomad brush. 

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To sum it up - 

• The Targus is a best everyday stylus - many purposes and does average in writing and drawing.  
• The Jot Classic is best for fine detail and might be a worthwhile investment for precision work.
• The Nomad brush is a fun toy, it feels good to use and gives you a closer connection to your image, especially when laying down large areas of color.

What stylus do you use?  Do you use them in a classroom setting or do you just stick to fingertips?  Do you think any of these would be a worthwhile investment?  I'm curious what others do !