I’ve been considering purchasing a ReMarkable device primarily for note taking. Has anyone tried both the Kindle Scribe and ReMarkable devices? It’s difficult for me to determine which one to go with and they’re quite expensive.
I used to be a huge fan of these guys, going as far as buying their extremely expensive $800 device as gifts for a few friends, but now I advise anybody and everybody against ever giving them money
Two separate reasons.
One: they design hardware very poorly, and when advised and shown, do not fix it. I am convinced this is on purpose, and this saddens me. I can share my email exchange where i advised them on this. Did not go anywhere. This has been the cause of a lot of broken USB C ports on remarkable2. I have documented this extensively with photos on multiple devices. No sane person places a USB-C port that will interact with the a real user in the real world, handling insertion/removal forces on the very very edge (less than 1mm from edge) of a very very thin (0.4m thick IIRC) PCB, without affixing it to something else as well -- to take the load. They did. Predictably, it breaks.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eu4P8fnaNtV9vhMo7 . The video in there, via microscope, you can see how the contacts peeled off. Larger photos show the PCB and how the connector is "affixed". Final photo is after it was fixed, but before the epoxy was added by me
Two: they took features that were part of the original very expensive product, bought under the understanding that "I pay you much $$, you do not nickel and dime me ever again", and locked them behind paywalls of monthly service years after original purchase. They did sort-of grandfather-in all existing users, but not if you reset the device or gift/transfer it. Devaluing/crippling products post facto is something that should never be rewarded. Companies that do that should fail.
Please help reMerkable fail for the above anti-user behaviour. They deserve it.
I’m not sold on e-ink devices being a creation device. The refresh rate is too slow and the resolution is too low.
I realized there was already a device that was perfect for note taking on an infinite canvas.
I use an iPad and Apple Pencil (bought refurb on backmarket.com) with paper like surface [1] I install nothing in it except Apple Freeform. (No distractions)
High refresh rate, Retina display, excellent pen pressure, and fast chip. Cheaper than RM2 if bought refurb.
I work in more applied fields. When I’m doing a long derivation, I draw figures and arrows and my notes spill over from my current view into a larger view.
I find the page concept limiting (for me). I scrawl something but I need an infinite canvas to relate multiple ideas (my mind doesn’t work so linearly). That’s when refresh rate matters a lot.
Also matters when skimming. Eink displays are not conducive to skimming over many pages. That problem is solved on LED displays and paper, but not epaper.
Its unfortunate that the supply chain for eink/epaper displays all seem to be centering on typical mobile device aspect ratios (like 16:9 for this device) particularly because remarkables are marketed as productivity oriented replacements for notebooks.
I would much rather have a A6 or A5 sized display or any other standard size for paper notebooks.
I was deeply enthusiastic about epaper devices for awhile and I tried all kinds of things. Eventually, I decided paper is better. I used to like the idea of my notes being capture automatically but you can just take pictures of them if you use a notebook.
I am happy to be proven wrong but I’m shocked they believe there is a market for this size at all, let alone at $450! The sample text on the stock images looks useless.
I wanted to love my RM2 so much. The write path is great. Writing notes on it during a meeting is a genuinely good experience. The read path: not so much. EInk UXs are so clunky especially when you’re used to how fluid phones are. Forget scrolling through your notes - It’s maddening.
Nearly the same price as a new iPad mini (costs $50 less). Maybe it takes notes better (though I took notes with my mini just fine), but struggling to see the value at this price point.
These things not being android based is always a deal breaker for me because I have so many sources of DRMed audiobooks or ebooks that would just be a hassle on a lot of these e-ink devices, which is something I really want out of these note tablets.
I got a boox air note 4c with the original intention of using it for comic books with some basic coloring, but have found it significantly more useful for notetaking over anything else. UX is still abysmal in some ways that make starting notes a chore, but it's increased my note taking and journaling significantly.
Unfortunately, that picture doesn't update automatically, so if you add things to that page, you have to retake the picture. Worse, if you don't take a picture of a page, there's no digital copy of it! If you've left your paper notebook at a different location, you can't take pictures of it unless you go to where it physically is! Inconceivable, I know, but it turns out there are benefits to a digital notepad. If you're too poor/cheap to spend money on high quality tools, that's your problem, but no, your paper notebook doesn't let you draw a lasso around a section of the page, copy and paste it onto a new page, and then resize it.
I understand that they deliberately make focused devices with no desire to have a million distracting features. That’s nice. I appreciate it.
But for the life of me, this thing screams to have a calendar app. My life involves plenty of meetings now. If I could take this to one meeting and look at it to see what my next meeting will be, I think I’d never want anything else.
Not anything fancy. Not even a way to add or edit appointments. Just show me a list of where I’m supposed to to be today.
(And to anyone who’s about to point out that I could lot that info down at my desk before I get up to walk to the meeting room, lemme stop you right there. That’s not happening.)
I'm considering a new reMarkable, but the lack of an official sdk for the cloud API is a major concern.
The community has built amazing tools for remarkable device, but their work is constantly being broken by software updates. This isn't a sustainable situation. For a company that charges for a cloud service, providing a stable, official API should be a priority. It would not only support the community's innovation but also provide a reliable foundation that developers and users can trust for the long term.
As long as a stable, official API isn't provided, I won't be buying a new device from them.
Cool but wish it was either a phone case (draw in e-ink on back of phone) or had good sync to my macbook (my letter paper size remarkable table is absolute garbage at sync - very painful process). This isn't convenient enough to warrant existing imo.
these clowns continue to produce fantastic technology that cant be properly managed in the enterprise space.
We have C levels's clambering for these things but we cant secure them and manage them. FIX IT! we'll buy them and use them but you guys need to grow up and mature your product first!
For those on the market for something the size of a standard sheet of paper whats recommended? Side loading PDFs and the size I mentioned are the main requirements. I'd prefer not to jail-brake but I have and I can.
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[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 53.5 ms ] threadI got a PineNote and it had a $100 import duty
This device for me is odd/too small it's like you'd have 2 phones. Though I've seen those e-ink phones.
The writing feel is great on the RM2 and the battery life wow. Charge it once a month deal.
Two separate reasons.
One: they design hardware very poorly, and when advised and shown, do not fix it. I am convinced this is on purpose, and this saddens me. I can share my email exchange where i advised them on this. Did not go anywhere. This has been the cause of a lot of broken USB C ports on remarkable2. I have documented this extensively with photos on multiple devices. No sane person places a USB-C port that will interact with the a real user in the real world, handling insertion/removal forces on the very very edge (less than 1mm from edge) of a very very thin (0.4m thick IIRC) PCB, without affixing it to something else as well -- to take the load. They did. Predictably, it breaks.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eu4P8fnaNtV9vhMo7 . The video in there, via microscope, you can see how the contacts peeled off. Larger photos show the PCB and how the connector is "affixed". Final photo is after it was fixed, but before the epoxy was added by me
Two: they took features that were part of the original very expensive product, bought under the understanding that "I pay you much $$, you do not nickel and dime me ever again", and locked them behind paywalls of monthly service years after original purchase. They did sort-of grandfather-in all existing users, but not if you reset the device or gift/transfer it. Devaluing/crippling products post facto is something that should never be rewarded. Companies that do that should fail.
Please help reMerkable fail for the above anti-user behaviour. They deserve it.
I realized there was already a device that was perfect for note taking on an infinite canvas.
I use an iPad and Apple Pencil (bought refurb on backmarket.com) with paper like surface [1] I install nothing in it except Apple Freeform. (No distractions)
High refresh rate, Retina display, excellent pen pressure, and fast chip. Cheaper than RM2 if bought refurb.
[1] https://a.co/d/dHLwPp1
I'm a mathematician and my "creations" are small notes, comments, and very simple figures.
I've never (besides flipping pages) experienced any noticable lag or delay.
I find the page concept limiting (for me). I scrawl something but I need an infinite canvas to relate multiple ideas (my mind doesn’t work so linearly). That’s when refresh rate matters a lot.
Also matters when skimming. Eink displays are not conducive to skimming over many pages. That problem is solved on LED displays and paper, but not epaper.
I would much rather have a A6 or A5 sized display or any other standard size for paper notebooks.
I wanted to love my RM2 so much. The write path is great. Writing notes on it during a meeting is a genuinely good experience. The read path: not so much. EInk UXs are so clunky especially when you’re used to how fluid phones are. Forget scrolling through your notes - It’s maddening.
Pretty good ereader though.
I got a boox air note 4c with the original intention of using it for comic books with some basic coloring, but have found it significantly more useful for notetaking over anything else. UX is still abysmal in some ways that make starting notes a chore, but it's increased my note taking and journaling significantly.
If you want a really nice A5 notebook it can run you an entire twenty five bucks. https://www.dickblick.com/products/leuchtturm1917-sketchbook... Wanna share what's on it? Your phone has a camera, right?
But for the life of me, this thing screams to have a calendar app. My life involves plenty of meetings now. If I could take this to one meeting and look at it to see what my next meeting will be, I think I’d never want anything else.
Not anything fancy. Not even a way to add or edit appointments. Just show me a list of where I’m supposed to to be today.
(And to anyone who’s about to point out that I could lot that info down at my desk before I get up to walk to the meeting room, lemme stop you right there. That’s not happening.)
The community has built amazing tools for remarkable device, but their work is constantly being broken by software updates. This isn't a sustainable situation. For a company that charges for a cloud service, providing a stable, official API should be a priority. It would not only support the community's innovation but also provide a reliable foundation that developers and users can trust for the long term.
As long as a stable, official API isn't provided, I won't be buying a new device from them.
Ironically the $2 aliexpress lcd pad I bought gets more use than my remarkable these days (same as https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBPV4491 )
Inexplicable price point
We have C levels's clambering for these things but we cant secure them and manage them. FIX IT! we'll buy them and use them but you guys need to grow up and mature your product first!