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Comment by Teknoman117 | Hacker News Reader

I don't know if the author would equate them, but I carry an eInk tablet (the reMarkable) with me most of the time. I write on it (in it?) every day for the most part. Best thing is, if I need to share something, a few simple clicks and the document is turned into text via OCR and everything else is a figure. Send it as a PDF.

At least for me, I've always found that doodling out problems helps me think through them a lot easier.

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First time I've heard of these and I love the idea but goddamn they're expensive! Do you feel like it was worth the cost for your use case?

I've had my Remarkable2 for about 40 days, and use it everyday. I use it for all my meeting notes, use it for planning, sketching out ideas, marking up PDFs. Add about 4 pages per day.

I love it. My favorite tool for thought I've added to the toolbelt in a long time (well, the M1's are also amazing). It's like magic. I can draw a diagram like I do on paper, but now drag select and then duplicate and quickly have thousands of glyphs. Very fun to think through ideas. My iPad Pro/Pencil is mostly for FaceTime now and the occasional marking up of a screen grab. Before this I would fill up about 4-6 paper graphing paper notebooks a year.

It was definitely expensive, but given how much it is improving my work, well worth it.

The subreddit has been very helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/

You mention moving from an iPad to remarkable. I have an iPad with a pencil right now and I feel pretty satisfied with it, but I’m curious about the remarkable. What do you think is better about the remarkable?

The iPad feels like writing on a whiteboard: fine, but not ideal. Writing on the reMarkable is significantly closer to paper, less distracting, and it feels easier on my wrists since I can rely a bit on the friction of the screen.

I definitely wouldn't buy it unless you have to write a lot (I'm a student, so this is the case with me), but I definitely enjoy it.

I don't have a reMarkable, but I use a Fujitsu Quaderno A4. For me, it's the eink screen that's made all the difference. Less eye strain, and a better writing feel. It's also helped keep me focused since the Quaderno, at least, has nothing else but pdfs and note-taking.

The feel is much better. More friction, feels like paper. I prefer eInk to a bright screen. No popups or distractions (same as if I was using pen and paper). It’s noticeably lighter. Simple software that does everything I need well. No need to fuss with apps.

I am interested in ReMarkable. This recent reddit post, is it your experience? What is happening with this lag?

https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/nemvjy/my...

I do notice some lag but not until I have over 10,000 or 100,000 glyphs when I'm prototyping data visualization ideas. Honestly it scales better than I was expecting, so my guess is they've optimized their loops and I'm pushing the hardware to the limit around that OOM, and that a Remarkable3 will fix it with faster hardware.

I bought one and returned it. I made the mistake of adopting loose-leaf paper several months before buying it. I assumed it would be a minor cost in the writing/reading experience for a major benefit in not having folders all over the place anymore; but (a) the w/r cost was way higher than I thought it would be, (b) I realized the folders weren’t that big a deal if you, you know, but them in a box or cabinet, and (c) it was just too expensive for that c/b spread.

Not OP but I used a remarkable a few times at my old job and it was slick, but I'm not sure I would really say I recommend it more than my trusty notebook and pen. The digitization was decent, though, and i'm sure it's only gotten better. I honestly think it's the type of thing you'd have to test out to know.

When you say the digitization is good, do you mean the OCR? Because I have always been ok with emailing a picture in an email and adding some keywords to the email to find it later. I am not saying that's is all anyone would ever need but I've been doing it forever and like the fact that it works with any writing surface (napkin, wet sand, etc). My handwriting seems to defeat even the best OCR so I've kind of given up on that route.

Yeah, it has a button you can hit in the UI that reads your handwriting and turns it into text. It’s pretty good, but my handwriting isn’t bad either.

For what it’s worth, I use my email and Bear notes the same way with my pen and paper. I don’t ever feel like I miss the remarkable.

I bought the Quaderno A4 for the bigger screen, and it is really nice how much it has changed things for me. I've started using it as an e-reader as well, and it's so versatile and great. Easy to share via wifi, bluetooth or nfc too

Both look very cool, but I could use one with a good camera to take pics and annotate or include in the note-taking, and that doesn't seem to be in either spec sheet.

Does anyone have any experience with one with a built-in camera or easy transfer between an Android device and the notebook? Thx!

Maybe look into Onyx Boox? They're another brand that actually runs like a full tablet so I'd assume they'd have a camera, though I'm not sure.

I've personally been avoiding the Onyx Boox due to their flagrant violation of the GPL.

Every time someone asks for the source code to the open components, they claim people only ask because of Anti-China sentiment, and therefore won't honor the request.

Makes me wonder if they're hiding something in there.

Absolutely. That's why I went with the Quaderno over it, even if I had to import it from Japan.

The BOOX generally does not include a camera. (I'm inclined to say "never".) It does have an onboard microphone, however.

(author) - Yep, I have a few friends with remarkable tablets and generally adore eInk and could totally see them being a worthy alternative to field notes. Planning on getting one sometime, maybe when they come out with a v3 whenever that is.

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