Does anyone use an e-ink notebook? I have been tempted for so long but the price just puts me off. I heard David tried the ReMarkable and sent it back. Now ReMarkable have brought out a ridiculous subscription too.
I like the look of the Boox ones but they do not have the generous return policy of the ReMarkable.
As I’m back to bullet journaling it just kind of makes me want to try it.
Is anyone happy with theirs?!
Yes, I’ve tried using my iPad Pro as something similar but it’s the distraction free, paperlike and lightness that makes me think one of these notebooks will scratch the itch… an expensive itch as that.
I have a reMarkable 2, which I purchased two years ago. I was going to return it soon after it arrived, but thought I would grow to like it.
I should have returned it. In two years, I’ve probably used it a dozen times.
Yes, it feels like writing on paper. But, the best distraction-free “writing on paper” experience is … writing on paper. You can buy a lot of notebooks, pencils and pens for the price of a reMarkable.
The reMarkable is not backlit, which means it is a horrible experience in anything other than bright sunlight – it’s like trying to write on dark gray paper with a dark gray pencil while sitting in a dark room.
This is the first mention I’ve seen of reMarkable Connect – the company has never marketed the service to us reMarkable owners, and the service seems rather pointless.
I use a Remarkable 2, and I am lucky to have all the features without a subscription (as I bought it before they introduced it). I use it every day, for every meeting I attend, and when I need to brainstorm. I like using it and have had no problems.
For me, the main selling point is the lack of distractions like email and the Internet; it is great to focus on what I’m writing. In addition, the transcription service is excellent, at least with my handwriting. The send-to-email feature means I have all my notes to import into Obsidian each day. This is the main advantage over paper as I’ve not got to scan and OCR and then import. I press send to email, and it’s done.
I don’t have issues with light; it looks acceptable to me. I work in an office in a glass skyscraper, not at home, so I am constantly surrounded by sunlight in the day or lights in the evening, and I have zero issues.
The two-week battery and writing experience make it worth it for me. I could not go back to writing on an iPad. While the software on iOS is good, I hated the experience of writing on glass. I tried PaperLike, and it is not remotely a substitute and I get horrible wrist strain if I write a long time. With the Remarkable, I can write all day and get no issues.
I even find the whiteboard feature works brilliantly, and use it in every class I give. It’s a lot down to preference, I guess, but I do not miss the days of bringing pads and pens with me, this is a great evolution of the writing pad.
It also lets me have a minimalist desk setup while at work, with no stationary or clutter:
Just a question, is there a way to use the new focus modes to get the same distraction free system you desire with an iPad? I use goodNotes and can easily convert my handwriting to markdowna nd automatically send it to Obsidian and I like not having more than one tablet I work on. It’s bad enough I have 2-3 Android tablets for the various LambTracker and AnimalTrakker development and production systems.
Thanks, I’ve always handwritten rather than typing and enjoy making it look nice. It helps me remember the information as I can picture the notes I took.
After a quick Google search (letting Google autocomplete “remarkable vs”, you know) it seems the RM2 has some competition: the Supernote and the Onyx Boox Note Air. Guess the Remarkable has discovered a niche market and the battle is warming up.
I don’t know a thing about Remarkable and the competition, but whenever one of these has backlighting I will be playing the game.
I use a mix of iPad (Notability) and paper for handwritten note taking. The glass surface is a modest drawback. It’s a bit slower to write neatly on an iPad. I do like being able to write and highlight in various colors.
I have a Note Air and love it, but you need to be clear on what it does and what it can’t. The software is a mess. It’s poorly documented. You can watch “My Deep Guide” on YouTube to see what the limits and abilities are.
I like to do handwritten notes and dump these PDFs into Obsidian (the PDF syncs to Mac and I do it there, although technically one can run obsidian on the Boox)
I like to read PDFs with the Boox native software. Works great for highlighting and there are some modest side by side features.
I like to read Kindle books and highlight. Works great for this. Same with Instapaper. I have a cheap little Bluetooth ring that is technically a music remote but can be used to turn pages in any app I have used in Boox.
Technically, one should be able to use this more like a tablet and do much more but other activities are hit or miss. For the tasks above, the device is great for my purposes.
I love the look of the Note Air 2 and all I want to do is as per Rob above. Use it as a notebook. A notebook to bullet journal during the day and then meeting notes and the like that I can then send to my Mac to file in the clients file.
My iPad will always be my tablet. That’s another reason I want it separate from the iPad but it’s an expensive gamble to make…
My reason for moving away from iPad wasn’t speed of writing; it’s that my wrist starts to ache a lot if I write for any amount of time on the iPad. The Apple Pencil requires much more pressure on the screen to write, and the RM 2 is like using a real pencil as you barely need to push. I’m often writing for long periods, which wasn’t possible on an iPad as after an hour or so my wrist would hurt too much to continue writing.
The RM2 also supports colors, although they only appear when transferred to a color screen.
I should have made a video about the Remarkable before sending it back. There is plenty to like about it:
Writing experience\
Long battery life
Incredibly thin and light
What turned me off was the software and the slow processor. Also, I just didn’t care for the output. Too pixelated for my taste. I’ve heard form folks that LOVE theirs. I think that is particularly true if you are looking to replace paper. It really isn’t an iPad replacement IMO.
Haven’t tested it yet, but will soon as this would actually make it a more useful device for me, especially for my own notes.
My work setup is unfortunately quite restricted and Office365 centric, but Remarkable have now integrated Microsoft OneDrive as well in the latest software release, which allows me to get work notes done on the device, without having to email them.
I have the Remarkable 2 and like the build quality. Agree on the slow processor, but it has become more and more useful to me with the Dropbox and OneDrive integrations. Also good for reading ebooks outside, where an iPad is too glossy.
Definitely works better for me to focus and take notes in meetings, where the iPad would give all kinds of distractions and notifications (which I know you can switch off, but you rarely do).
Just a quick updated… I went ahead and ordered the Boox Note Air 2…
I… love it!!!
It’s an expensive notebook but makes me happy every time I look at it and use it.
For anyone considering a purchase my one point would be remember it’s not a tablet. It will not replace an iPad. It will however replace a notebook and pen and could also replace your e-reader.
