> Does a universal pen even exist or do I have to buy a specific brand for my specific device? Honestly, its kinda disappointing but the whole universal thing is a bit of a letdown in my experience. I really wanted a pen that just worked with everything too, but unfortunately most universal ones dont have palm rejection. That means if your hand touches the screen while youre writing, it makes a huge mess of your notes... definitely not ideal for fast-paced nursing classes. I had some issues with the super cheap ones skipping lines, which was so frustrating. If you really cant find the brand of your tablet, you might want to look at something like the Adonit Dash 4 Dual Universal Stylus. It works on basically any touchscreen. It is usually a little over your 40 dollar budget though, maybe closer to 50. It feels like a real pen and the battery is decent enough for a few lectures, but the writing experience isnt as smooth as I expected. If you really need to stay under 40 bucks, there is the Digiroot Universal Stylus 2-in-1 Precision Disc. It is way cheaper, like 15 dollars, and doesnt even need a battery which is cool. But that little plastic disc on the tip feels kinda weird at first and I was always worried it would scratch my screen. Just a heads up, without a specific tablet brand, you wont get that perfect feel. It is kinda a bummer but you might need to buy a cheap drawing glove so your palm doesnt mess up your handwriting. Good luck with school tho, nursing is tough!

To add to the point above: unfortunately, the whole universal pen situation is way more complicated and disappointing than it looks on the box. I tried to go the cheap route when I started my classes and honestly, it was kind of a disaster. I bought a MEKO Active Stylus 1.5mm Fine Point thinking it would be just like a real pen, but I had so many issues with it skipping lines and being inconsistent. The technical side is what gets you. Most generic tablets use capacitive screens, so a universal pen is basically just a powered-up fake finger. Because there is no palm rejection, the tablet gets confused if your hand touches the screen while you write. I spent an entire anatomy lecture trying to get a Zagg Pro Stylus with Dual Tip to work, but it kept making random marks everywhere because my wrist bumped the glass. It was super frustrating and made me look like I didnt know what I was doing. If you can find the model name in the settings menu, check if it supports USI. If it does, something like the Lenovo USI Pen for Chrome and Android might actually work reliably. But if its just a basic tablet, you might be stuck with those laggy active pens. I really wanted them to work for my notes but they just werent reliable enough for fast writing. Its a bit of a letdown when you just want something that works... but that has been my experience so far.

Wait really?? Thats actually super helpful. I always thought it was the other way around.