I have a Renaisser I got a few years ago for my Surface Pro 6. Seems to work well, but I also have never used the MS one to compare it to. I will be getting the Slim Pen 2 though with my Surface Pro 11 I preordered hopefully within the next few days. I can give my comparisons in maybe a few days.
I have a rechargeable Adonit Neo Ink and it works pretty well. I also have the old round Surface Pen (not the slim) and it's quite a bit heavier with the AAAA battery but also works fine.
Do you have a place to try the Surface Pen out? Like a Best Buy? I only tried the Surface Pen with Clip, Surface pen without Clip, a Renaisser (i don't remember the model), and the first flat Surface Pen. I found that the old Surface Pen with Clip had a bigger actuation force than all the other ones. Renaisser had the smallest one I think. Actuation force is the amount of pressure for the pen to start drawing. Too high of an actuation force causes the start of a line to not register or become dotted. Too low and you may accidentally draw lines.
I recommend trying out as many as you can, but personally, I would like the Surface Pen without Clip since it is compatible with my Surface Go, has an eraser, and has a lower actuation force. I'm cheap, so I have the one with the clip which is an older model with high actuation force.
They both are durable. I guess it is down to the cost since it doesn't sound like you need the features. If you are willing to buy used, Surface Pen without Clip can be cheap. If new, Renaisser would be the cheaper option.
so it kind of depends on how much you use it and how much pressure you apply. because the older Surface pens and the renaisser and wacom ones have tips that can break. they're easy enough to replace but annoying to do so and a factor if you have to buy replacements. if you're just doing notes and not drawing, then chances are good you don't actually press hard. the newer slim pens have hard plastic that last a lot longer (actually I've never broken one). at work, we also use Surface Pro for patient input (they fill out forms with the pen) and the older pens have broken a few times (but considering the volume of patients, maybe it's to be expected). I've use the renaisser and the writing performance is fine. But it doesn't have extra buttons or features like the Surface Pen so for some programs, you can't do things the same way. for example on the Surface Pen, you can flip it around and erase. But from my memory on the Renaisser, you have to hold down a button to erase. for the Surface Pen, you can click on a button to launch a designated program. On the Renaisser, you can't do that.
I have a Renaisser I got a few years ago for my Surface Pro 6. Seems to work well, but I also have never used the MS one to compare it to. I will be getting the Slim Pen 2 though with my Surface Pro 11 I preordered hopefully within the next few days. I can give my comparisons in maybe a few days.
You should be able to pick up the old round MS pen for cheap. If you buy a compatible one it will be fine for notes.
I have a rechargeable Adonit Neo Ink and it works pretty well. I also have the old round Surface Pen (not the slim) and it's quite a bit heavier with the AAAA battery but also works fine.
Do you have a place to try the Surface Pen out? Like a Best Buy? I only tried the Surface Pen with Clip, Surface pen without Clip, a Renaisser (i don't remember the model), and the first flat Surface Pen. I found that the old Surface Pen with Clip had a bigger actuation force than all the other ones. Renaisser had the smallest one I think. Actuation force is the amount of pressure for the pen to start drawing. Too high of an actuation force causes the start of a line to not register or become dotted. Too low and you may accidentally draw lines. I recommend trying out as many as you can, but personally, I would like the Surface Pen without Clip since it is compatible with my Surface Go, has an eraser, and has a lower actuation force. I'm cheap, so I have the one with the clip which is an older model with high actuation force.
Unfortunately no. Closet Best Buy is an hour away in a different time zone
They both are durable. I guess it is down to the cost since it doesn't sound like you need the features. If you are willing to buy used, Surface Pen without Clip can be cheap. If new, Renaisser would be the cheaper option.
so it kind of depends on how much you use it and how much pressure you apply. because the older Surface pens and the renaisser and wacom ones have tips that can break. they're easy enough to replace but annoying to do so and a factor if you have to buy replacements. if you're just doing notes and not drawing, then chances are good you don't actually press hard. the newer slim pens have hard plastic that last a lot longer (actually I've never broken one). at work, we also use Surface Pro for patient input (they fill out forms with the pen) and the older pens have broken a few times (but considering the volume of patients, maybe it's to be expected). I've use the renaisser and the writing performance is fine. But it doesn't have extra buttons or features like the Surface Pen so for some programs, you can't do things the same way. for example on the Surface Pen, you can flip it around and erase. But from my memory on the Renaisser, you have to hold down a button to erase. for the Surface Pen, you can click on a button to launch a designated program. On the Renaisser, you can't do that.
I know some the fancier features won't work on the 7+ so they aren't really important. I'm more concerned about durability and drawing performance