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Comment by noobly | Hacker News Reader

I only began to love my RM2 when I stopped trying to use it as a PDF reader and writer and instead only a scratch paper replacement. But it’s not as economical if limited to this.

I do wish they’d improve the PDF usability or embrace open sourcing the UI. There’s a lot of features that should be easy to implement, like split screen or floating sticky notes, but they seem almost wholly focused on the hardware. I thought it’d be the ultimate tool for studying math and saving money on books, thus paying for itself, but it’s just not there yet and I’m not sure they plan to get it there.

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Is there an alternative to Remarkable that offers good drawing/writing, but at a lower price? That's the only thing I'd want. I have stacks of dot-rule notebooks full of various notes and sketches. It'd be nice to have a replacement for all that.

Ratta's Supernote is an option. The second hand market isn't as good, though, for buyers.

+1 I own two Supernote (Nomad and Manta) and I can only recommend them.

+2 to supernotes ratta. Amazing product, amazing company

Love my supernote as well

Same, the writing experience on the supernote is extremely good (most reviewers say it’s the best because it mimics writing on a stack of paper) and the parts are supposedly replaceable

reMarkable (1) user here since 2019, what does the software stack look like for the Supernote? The A6 looks interesting as a form factor for someone like me that uses it solely for note taking (all I want is a "non-linear notebook") rather than annotation and reading (I use a printer and scanner for annotation/feedback and an "ancient", never-online Kindle for reading books). reMarkable has always been open-ish rather than properly open, so I would hope for Supernote to be more open to the idea of users having access to code and control over their devices (even if I never connect my reMarkable to the network).

The software support is decent. Currently it's running an old version of Android that allows you to side load apps. They are supposedly working on moving the OS over to a custom Linux build, but we haven't really seen anything with that. They do release updates fairly frequently and they have a publicly viewable Trello software development board so you can see the status of features they are working on.

Interestingly, https://supernote.com/pages/supernote-nomad says

> Customize Your System

> A Linux-based system will be open in the future for community modifications and customizations.

> *Not built-in with the device

Anyone have details? Internet says it's a very custom Android. https://www.ereaders.org/supernote-manta-versatile-durable-e...

Supernote hasn't posted anything about the potential future Linux system. I'm personally not expecting this to actually come around.

The standard OS is derived from Android, but has no Google Play services and only supports side loading (which works well via ADB; I've not tried other app stores like FDroid). It doesn't have a lot of standard Android things like a home screen/launcher, no notifications, and no UI for switching between apps other than using the sidebar to bring up the application list and going back that way. There are no speed modes for adjusting refresh rates.

IMO, it's a great eink notepad & sketch book, and makes a good ereader with something like koreader, but it's not good as an Android tablet.

Honestly I found the base iPad excellent for this. The writing experience isn't a lot like paper, but is still quite good. You can get a little closer by applying a matte screen guard.

I heard these destroy the Pencil tips and are pretty loud. Is that true?

The Boox is a little cheaper, I have one. It's mostly just an Eink Android tablet. I absolutely love it.

It will run most Android apps (modulo Eink screen support). The built-in note taking app is terrific.

I considered all the options back in 2021 and went with the iPad Mini.

My reasons: much better software for sketching, not bound to a single ereader app, multiple ways to send stuff around, perfect size.

Many years later, I would still choose the same. I use it to annotate webpages, sketch, read books and read queued articles in instapaper. It's distraction-free but still connected. I can Airdrop drawings or load my handwritten notes on the Macbook app. Tap to define is so good I've absent-mindedly tried it on a paper book.

The LED screen is great for some things and bad for others. You have to turn it on and unlock it. You can't SSH into it or sync your drawings as simple files. Otherwise, it's really good.

I like using my iPad better than my RM2 for similar reasons (I have both, but really only use the iPad anymore). The pickup is much better on the iPad, in my opinion.

However, one thing that I think makes the biggest difference is adding a screen protector. I particularly like the ones from https://paperlike.com/. It adds a layer that makes it less like writing on glass and more like writing on paper. For me, this was the biggest increase in usability for taking notes.

Paper?

They specifically said they want to replace their paper usage.

The PineNote is only slightly cheaper, I suspect that Remarkable isn't making a lot of profit on their product.

The Boox Go 10 is ~$400 and has a note-taking app built in. While it runs Android, the note taking experience is poor with apps other than the built-in one.

> only a scratch paper replacement. But it’s not as economical if limited to this.

That's exactly the use case though. It's a replacement for pen and paper, and the lack of functionality is seen as a feature.

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