I'm sorry.
I did though. Books and books of notes. We'd have 'blue book' type notebooks, 200 pages...and we'd fill around 5-10 of those every year. And we did that for at least 6 years. You want to see my bump? It's gone down in recent years...but back in the day it was huge! Lol
But, you're right, shouldn't take it out on you...so, to answer your original question..
Of the two options, I'd say a portable notebook. Tablets, I find, are more for internet browsing.
And to expand on your question..
When I was in college, I was always frustrated with note taking technology, so much so that I completely disregarded it and took notes the old fashioned way. I found it was more effective. Writing has always been the primary way in which I learn. Like, I write my own condensed version of the textbook, using multiple sources.
And in my senior year, I thought about a career in computer technology concerning just this. I wanted to develop software that would completely replace the keyboard and go back to the pen and paper. Except the pen would be a wand, and the paper a tablet. I'd develop cloud based software (like Google docs) excepts you would actually write on it, instead of typing. Then, you could map your handwriting into text form, if you needed it to be official.
But, no money. And, no programming skills.