47 ms·

The reMarkable as a notebook and eBook reader

• dkobia 5y ago
  I really really wanted one of these for note taking. I settled on an iPad Pro + Apple pen + Notes App which have been remarkably (no pun intended) good. The fact that I can then consume the notes I wrote on my computer or phone and use search as well with no extra effort required has been invaluable.
  • esel2k 5y ago
    Same here, I settled for Ipad and Apple pen, also because I see no need to add another device after caring a phone, tablet and notebook. May I ask if you found a good note app? I am still looking, especially one that gives me cloud sync and distraction free reading.
• punnerud 5y ago
  Archived version from yesterday: https://web.archive.org/web/20211121224157/https://cfenollosa.com/blog/no-notebook-is-perfect-but-the-remarkable-comes-really-close.html https://web.archive.org/web/20211121224157/https://cfenollos...
• Harlan415 5y ago
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• blueteam 5y ago
  That you can’t see the price of the subscription up front is damning. I can’t stand that about enterprise software, but that being opaque in b2c pricing is unforgivable.
• martin_a 5y ago
  > They are moving towards a subscription model. This is the biggest minus point for me. I want devices that I own, that I can use like I want to. I don't want to be caught in another cloud and pay monthly for something I don't want to use. Currently I'm looking into getting a device from Onyx, because those support the Android App Stores, so I could set it up with Notion or my Nextcloud probably. Remarkable seems to have better hardware (as in screen and writing), though. edit: lots of people mentioning that you have SSH on the Remarkable. Good thing, but fiddling with shell scripts (yeah, no big deal for others, new for me) to sync with a cloud service of your choice... not sure I want that.
  • wincy 5y ago
    Well, from the review it does state that their hardware is Linux based, and you have root access. The device is not locked down in the way a Kindle is. So it sounds like you do, in fact, own this particular device when you buy it. You could write applications for syncing files to your OwnCloud instance or whatever you’d like.
  • beowulfey 5y ago
    They have USB transfer functionality now too—no need for internet connectivity.
  • akavel 5y ago
    Notably, and with a disclaimer that I myself unfortunately failed to live by ideals in this case and did buy, Onyx seem to have their own issue, which is violating GPL: https://old.reddit.com/r/Onyx_Boox/comments/p9ztru/lets_help_onyx_become_a_better_company/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Onyx_Boox/comments/p9ztru/lets_help...
    • tluyben2 5y ago
      Yeah, it is annoying that there is so little competition. I was made aware of this after being a very happy Boox (A4 size; I use it literally for everything I used paper for before when reading, writing, sketching, flow charts, mockups etc) user for 6 months. I am not going to toss it away and so far, after trying the reMarkable from a friend, I would buy the Boox again instead... ...if not this gpl issue. Edit: also, I believe one of the people in that reddit thread might have the correct answer; the eInk drivers (and probably more notably the waveform) will be proprietary and they do probably worry about losing their license if they publish anything they are not allowed to. Which would end their business immediately.
• deepstack 5y ago
  often people want more feature, thinking more is better. iPad has color it is better right? Personally I would pay more to have e-ink. Looking at it is like looking at paper! It is easier on the eyes, less drain on the battery. And most stuff software development wise, b&w is good enough.
  • maratc 5y ago
    iPad has silky smooth scrolling and instant reaction to the input (milliseconds). Once e-ink technology advances enough to allow for these, it might compete with iPad, but until then the lag is severely limiting what the device can do. Reading books (one screen refresh a minute) is fine, but not much else.
  • di4na 5y ago
    I just want to point out that there are good e-ink color display now! It is just that none of the integrators made a product/device using it yet really. There is a whole array of "notebook like" e-ink devices being created and released, but they mostly exist in, and target, the chinese and japanese market. Not the Western one. Remarkable is one of the exception and Kobo recently released one. Hopefully we will see more of it. I personally think that the reason for this lack of device targeting the Western market is that the Kindle basically flooded the board and killed most of the use case. Sadly :(
    • alwyn 5y ago
      Do you happen to have some links to Japanese/Chinese e-ink colour devices?
      • eloeffler 5y ago
        I'm not a fan of onyx devices due to many reports about questionable home-calling. However, they do have some nice devices like this color notebook with a pen and I guess that is what you were looking for: https://onyxboox.com/boox_nova3color https://onyxboox.com/boox_nova3color
      • 5y ago
• bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  I would really like a color e-ink device though - like https://www.theverge.com/21507390/pocketbook-color-review-e-ink-kaleido-e-reader https://www.theverge.com/21507390/pocketbook-color-review-e-... but bigger.
  • ijuhoor 5y ago
    I’ve got the boox note 3 color for my partner. It’s 7”, a bit small for me but it’s pretty good. She loves it but after couple of months she used only the black ’color’ and doesn’t bother to switch to other colors.
    • bryanrasmussen 5y ago
      I basically only want color for reading comics. on edit: clarified.
  • nfd 5y ago
    Color e-ink probably isn't going to be at quality-parity with e.g. LCD displays anytime especially soon. Kaleido is still really cool, especially when it's used properly, but it's probably going to be a bit too weird for something really like reMarkable for a little while yet. Sometimes there's Indiegogo hype for "ooh, a large color e-ink tablet!" and I'd encourage cautious pessimism about those listings. Might be a good idea to wait for them to ship, and to wait for some reviews.
• ijuhoor 5y ago
  I’ve been using a Sony Epaper notebook for almost 2 years now and considering buying a Boox Note 5 or Air 2 (the remarkable didn’t make my short list) They are running almost stock android and the quality seems better than remarkable. I’ve watched My Deep Guide (https://youtube.com/c/MyDeepGuide https://youtube.com/c/MyDeepGuide) where they test every single feature of all note taking devices. This article says that you have root access on the remarkable, but doing so will void the warranty.
  • oDot 5y ago
    Note that Onyx has problematic software practices: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27513521 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27513521
    • ijuhoor 5y ago
      Hum, good to know. I’ll stay on my Sony then: it syncs with my phone only. I think it was made for lawyers etc…
      • cycomanic 5y ago
        Have a look at the reinkstone, that looks quite interesting. I have a remarkable and a sony. I haven't used the sony since buying the remarkable. Despite the larger size, it is a much worse device. The writing experience really doesn't compare. An alternative if you want more functionality is to root your sony, there was some progress on hacking the sony for putting regular android packages on it. I can dig out some links if you can't find it.
        • ijuhoor 5y ago
          Yes i did root using the dpttools. I reverted as i didn’t use much the additional android apps :/
  • AlanYx 5y ago
    If you've been using a Sony DPT-RP1 or DPT-CP1, you should also consider the Fujitsu Quaderno Gen 2, which is the most prominent successor of the RP1/CP1. I strongly prefer my Quaderno to my Remarkable 2. Unfortunately My Deep Guide hasn't been able to get a review unit yet.
• frodetb 5y ago
  I was not able to use this thing comfortably. I think my handwriting style might not be optimal for it, as too small details and tight loops seemed to disappear on me. My handwriting is pretty small to begin with, and only gets tinier with subscripts and tiny details in mathematical writing. There was also a slight input delay that I found annoying. I love writing on paper, and so if the experience is significantly inferior I won't be sold. I totally disagree with the author's claim that this thing provides a superior writing experience, unless they've improved on their designs and it now actually does feel like paper. I would instead highly recommend a much cheaper, though dumber, yet far superior LCD-slate (like one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-howshow-lcd-writing-tablet.html https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-howshow-lcd-writing-t...). The writing is instant, and even the tightest loops and smallest details will show up as if on paper (though green-on-black). When I was in university, I would use this for sketches in discussions, rough calculations and drafts, and saved a ton of paper that I would otherwise just have thrown away. The fact that it wouldn't let me save stuff or share my drawings didn't bother me at all. Worst case scenario, I'd just take a picture of it.
  • k3liutZu 5y ago
    Which version did you use? I have a remarkable 2 which I use daily for 6+ months now. It does get really tiny details right. Since lines are pixelated I can see maybe up to 2px precision. You have to use a smaller "brush" for this though. I'm also not seeing any delay.
    • frodetb 5y ago
      I'm not sure what the version was, and it was probably an earlier version if there are multiple. This was around 2-3 years ago.
• kristopolous 5y ago
  It's really the "pen computing" from the early 90s in some round 2. There were some pretty amazing things that the hardware wasn't ready for the first time (I'm thinking GO corp stuff) but when I asked the guys at CES 2020 if they had ever heard of it, it was a no. (For instance, if I worked there I'd get my hands on one of Jeff Hawkins GRiDpads (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRiDPad https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRiDPad) here's a nice overview History of tech needs to be more widely studied. I think we'd get really great products if people knew their history better.
  • romeros 5y ago
    why it did not catch on then? why is round 2 successful?
    • evgen 5y ago
      In a lot of cases the hardware could just barely keep up at the top-end of the market and for devices that were in the 'affordable' zone the hardware was just not powerful enough. An Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 was a sweet device; the ultimate note taking tool that was not equalled by any tablet for more than 20 years. My handwriting style happened to work well for the Newton and as a consequence it was an amazing tool that exceeded my expectations, but I knew several people whose handwriting was not picked up well by the recognition engine and so they struggled with the device. The earlier Newtons were also underpowered and the handwriting engine was over-hyped so they failed to live up to expectations. Round 2 has much better hardware, improved connectivity and wireless tools, and a larger ecosystem they can try to fit into. I think it remains to be seen if round 2 of these notebook tools will succeed. I think that the eInk devices like the reMarkable are _not_ succeeding in the market but regular tablet devices are making progress in this area and are more likely to end up the winners in any revival of electronic notebook tools.
      • kristopolous 5y ago
        The two things are certainly a different use case and essentially every book on business ever written would dictate it'd have different devices but I don't know. Certainly taking holiday photos, trading stocks, and hailing a cab aren't the same things, but the smartphone does all those things. So yeah, Christensen, Moore, Collins, Ries and Trout say "different devices, different market" but recent lived reality says "nope, same device". So I've got no idea
• throw_ojfs82309 5y ago
  Note that the author receives $40 when you buy a reMarkable using the provided link. I've been using a reMarkable for some weeks on the job, and I'm generally satisfied. However, the reMarkable is not a proud linux computer. When changing to the subscription model, they introduced new Terms of Services. Among others, these prohibit reverse engineering the cloud API. Upon request, a customer service employee who had clearly never heard of the GPL clarified that as a customer I would certainly not be allowed to modify the operating system. Their legal team stepped in later to clarify that they accept the GPL, but still I should not dare to touch their API. reMarkable gave every customer from before the 12th of October a lifetime subscription that is not transferable, should I eventually sell the tablet. So, I paid a ton of money for a tablet that says "OCR your writing" and "Sync all your documents" on the box, but I can not sell it without losing functionality that is advertised with on the box. The pricing for the subscription is way above reasonable. As a note to the author, since you mentioned you recommended it to a psychologist: Please don't, or at least strongly suggest to keep away from connecting it to the internet. A random startup's cloud storage is not a place for sensitive medical and personal data. There is no option to sync the reMarkable with a self-operated WebDAV share or similar.
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • bennyp101 5y ago
    You can still use the sync feature without a subscription, you just can't keep old files forever in the cloud. "Without a subscription, you can still use the cloud to store and sync your notes. However, files will stop syncing to the mobile and desktop apps if they haven’t been opened in the last 50 days. They’ll still be automatically stored on your paper tablet"[1] [1] https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408249146385-No-Plan https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/44082491463...
    • throw_ojfs82309 5y ago
      On they box it says, sync ALL your work, not sync the work of the last 50 days. They did not keep this promise.
• charlieyu1 5y ago
  I always find remarkable interesting and want to try. However, it is expensive, costs about as much other tablets with full features
• treenurse 5y ago
  I'm looking forward to the https://www.pine64.org/pinenote/ https://www.pine64.org/pinenote/ .
  • ant6n 5y ago
    Hardware looks good at first sight. But a device like that depends so much on the software.
    • treenurse 5y ago
      Yeah I'm keen to see what sorts of toolkits and programs are developed. Are there toolkits/programs written by enthusiasts that could be used on Pinenote?
• gmemstr 5y ago
  It's a shame they've moved to a subscription model - I'm personally angling to get a development PineNote and invest time into developing for that. It's priced about the same as a reMarkable, but does include a stylus and case, so that's nice. My biggest want is an open device - I was originally drawn to the reMarkable _because_ it seemed quite open, but this subscription model really makes me rethink things (with what I would consider "core" functionality, e.g syncing, locked behind a paywall).
• tweakimp 5y ago
  What is wrong with using a paper notebook?
  • macrolocal 5y ago
    For math, being able to quickly erase false starts and reorganize lemmas on the fly is surprisingly useful. Compared to paper notebooks, it's easily doubled my productivity.
  • SiempreViernes 5y ago
    They run out of pages, there's no copy function, you can't cut and paste onto the same page without making the cleared space unusable for writing. On the upside, the paper notebook doesn't crash randomly when battery is low, and it can store (flat) physical objects.
  • varjag 5y ago
    Exactly. No subscription fees and OCR not working just as well. I understand that botching your perfect brainstorming doodle with permanent pen gives a certain degree of anxiety. But one can treat those as drafts; you'll use up a lot of Moleskine pages before the cost breaks even with this.
  • eatYourFood 5y ago
    No password, hard to make copies, takes up more space in my bag, can't easily move things around or rework once you've put something on the page, end up with a stack of notesbooks that need disposing of, harder to file and easily look up things from a certain date or category.
  • pjerem 5y ago
    I'm going to answer with what is cool with a Remarkable against a paper notebook when it comes to writing : you can easily erase shapes, strokes, undo, resize, copy, paste, add pages between... To me that's a lot of advantages only for the comparison of the actual "writing tools" even not taking into account the "extras". Disclaimer : I sold my remarkable because I had a tiny but noticeable "gap" between the stylus and the "ink" and I wasnt able to tolerate it. But I'm missing the edition features.
• alwyn 5y ago
  > Furthernore, the eraser size is too big. Like pen size, you can also adjust the eraser size! I'm very content with my reMarkable 1, and while I absolutely love it, I'm not sure if I would put down €480 for it (I got it from my old boss as he wasn't using it).
• dsirola 5y ago
  I have one but it's been sitting in a drawer for a long time now. I went back to iPad Pro with Apple Pen as it's much easier to navigate around and I enjoy the color screen much more. It also allows me to use Miro or similar whiteboard tool. I personally regret buying it. The lag is more noticeable on an iPad, but that doesn't bother me.
  • waiseristy 5y ago
    Same experience. Very very disappointed by the software, and now they are making it even worse by locking more and more of it behind a paywall. The device was nearly 650$ for christ sake.
• pantulis 5y ago
  The reMarkable dilemma is that they got the hardware right --modulo backlighting, but that will come--. It's the services around such a powerful device that people will find lacking. Open source enthusiasts will state that they want freedom, while people who care less about that freedom will get suspicious as to what happens if the company ceases to exist. The latter will probably consider an iPad a better value proposition, but then the reMarkable offers a less distractive environment. I find the reMarkable a truly interesting device but I feel that I do not have time to tinker with it as it currently is, so for the moment I am on an iPad (use it for sheet music and PDF annotation)
  • KennyBlanken 5y ago
    I'm not sure how the hardware can be "right" when it cannot do its most important, touted feature on-device (handwriting recognition), it is basically a one-trick pony according to Wired (who said it only does note-taking well) and almost everything about the device is outclassed by a used iPad new enough to run iOS 14 or better and which supports the Apple Pencil. For about the same $400 (the device after a year is going to cost you $400 either way; if owned for 3 years it'll have a TCO of nearly $600) you can get a used iPad Air 3 and Pencil and do everything the reMarkable can do, with your choice of screen size...a screen that is color, backlit, higher resolution, full motion. Excellent pressure and angle sensitivity from the stylus. Cellular connectivity, if you want it. Full multimedia capabilities, video conferencing/calling, web browsing, the entire suite of iOS apps. If you have a Mac, all the desktop integration features. Your choice of private or cloud based backup and sync, no device modification needed. And top-notch on-device biometric security. Oh, and an iPad can do on-device dictation and handwriting recognition/cleanup. The reMarkable cannot do on-device writing recognition - only via their cloud, which costs $8/month. And requires storing your documents with a company that is based in Hong Kong, which means "freely available to CCP intelligence services." I've used eInk readers for probably close to a decade and a half - I started with the original Sony reader - and sorry, but eInk still has significant limitations for any sort of interactivity. It's better than it was ten years ago, but I think "physical pixels being flipped end-to-end in a viscous media" has an inherent maximum refresh rate that they'll never get past and the technology will never get past static low power displays and e-reader devices. I don't even see it surviving much longer given how far OLED displays are coming; they offer all the same low-power advantages, better contrast ratios, and full color / high refresh rates. Not as good full-sunlight readability, though.
• Loic 5y ago
  If you are not sure which gadget could be the one for you, take also a look at the Supernote[0]. I have been using one (A5X) for the past month with a Lamy EMR and I really really enjoy it. It improves my note taking. I still have 7 Moleskins on my desk right now, but I haven't written in them for the past two weeks. The philosophy of the Supernote is not to replace the notebook, but more to improve it. You can create titles which automatically go to a table of content, you have tags, all packaged in a very nice hardware. The other very nice thing for me, it works totally "offline" if you want. No need to sync with a cloud or whatever. Connect it with USB to your computer, sync your folders like normal folders, done. [0]: https://supernote.com https://supernote.com
  • m01 5y ago
    Looks interesting. It also looks like they're planning on opening it up a bit, but people are still waiting for ssh access etc [1]. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Supernote/comments/nhfexf/is_root_access_possible_technical_questions/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Supernote/comments/nhfexf/is_root_a...
    • Loic 5y ago
      You do not have the same level of access as a reMarkable. This is for sure. But they are also very proactive with the end-users, listening a lot to the feedback (they have a dedicated subreddit). So you do not have an open device but a device where your needs are well cared of. I hope that in the future we will get an SDK to create App which integrate nicely into the device to extend it. As it is for me a single task device, a bit like a cordless phone or my HiFi setup, I do not need it as open as my laptop which has been running Linux for the past 20 years.
  • enduser 5y ago
    How does the latency compare to reMarkable? I noticed that Supernote is based on Android, which I would expect to have a higher level of latency.
    • Loic 5y ago
• selykg 5y ago
  Good luck ever getting a warranty or return done on these. Look around at their support. It’s awful. I had to file a dispute after they wouldn’t provide a refund for my return after nearly 30 days of non-movement of the return (their label, their shipping carrier). I would strongly caution you run away. Worst customer support I’ve ever experienced. Edit: I will never understand people that downvote a warning like this. But HN, you do you, I have karma to burn and if this warning helps one other person I’ll consider it worth it.
  • zarkov99 5y ago
    To balance your report with something positive, I also had a warranty issue, as there was a bad batch of R2's around August, and they provided me with a replacement with minimum fuss.
  • sillysaurusx 5y ago
    Can you provide more details? It's a bit unclear what happened. You bought it, asked for a return, and then what? I don't know what non-movement means.
    • selykg 5y ago
      They provided the label and picked the carrier (DHL). DHL picked the package up and promptly lost it or forgot about it or whatever happens with shipping companies that are trash. I waited about 2 weeks before I complained because COVID and all that. After 3 weeks of absolutely zero package movement (stuck in the same location) they refused to give a refund. I filed a dispute and finally got my refund after it sat around in a shipping facility for over a month. The entire time Remarkable provided incorrect and misleading instructions for my return. Often calling it a replacement. At one point their service manager actually said they were refunding me and then about 30 minutes later retracted it and said they’d only refund me when they had the return in their hands. I provided a full timeline of their horrible support to my credit company, I can dig that up if you want the full rundown on their awful handling of a simple return.
      • 5y ago
• gusgordon 5y ago
  Having used this, it's fine, but not that great compared to similar products. I understand some people do like it. That said, has anyone else noticed the quantity of reMarkable posts here (about once per quarter) with hundreds of votes that are essentially ads for the product? reMarkable clearly has a large advertising budget given the amount of ads I/others see from them on social media. Is it possible that they're purchasing HN votes?
  • ad404b8a372f2b9 5y ago
    It's possible but I doubt it. It runs linux, is an e-ink device, can be sshed into and customized heavily, and it has a large following of nerds that write custom tools and reverse engineer the software and hardware. And on top of that it's a great device out of the box. To me that makes it likely to be of great interest to the HN crowd.
  • mafro 5y ago
    You can buy those? I could use some!
• rvz 5y ago
  The reMarkable 2 comes close but is disappointedly limited and expensive for the features it provides and some of the basic features now are under a subscription, when I compared it [0] with the recently introduced PineBook. Thus, the reMarkable 2 as it stands makes it a no deal due to all of this: [1] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28190987 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28190987 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28847714 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28847714
• nottorp 5y ago
  reMarkable is dead. See all the other posts describing their new subscription model.
• methyl 5y ago
  I have the recent version but I have to say I'm not happy with it. While the writing / drawing itself is great, the responsiveness of the UI and some actions (like erasing content) makes the whole experience super frustrating for someone with ADD. It also lacks some features that would make it a worthy Kindle alternative, like structured text higlighting. You can highlight fragments using Highlighter, but it's not smart about indexing and browsing those higlights afterwards, it's just a dumb overlay over the document.
  • adreamingsoul 5y ago
    That sounds frustrating. Have you tried providing feedback to them?
• captainmuon 5y ago
  I have one, and I find the writing part nearly perfect. But there are a couple of downsides mentioned in the article that mean I barely use it: - Searching and organisation is really difficult. I wish everything would be OCRed transparently and you could instantly search for it (while keeping the original graphics) - It's unfortunate that the OCR runs on their cloud. It would be really perfect if it was a web app that you could install on your own servers, if you have hightened security requirements for example - In the UI, there is an on screen keyboard and you have to press keys. Why can't you just write in the text fields? I think most of these problems come down to the fact that the OCR is some "secret sauce" provided by a third party. I wonder if there is any viable free handwriting OCR one could use instead to build a better experience (open source, source available, or even just some research papers)?
  • wedn3sday 5y ago
    I have the same issue with the OCR. I've been using it for taking notes for my masters courses, and ironically as part of the course just finished making a machine learning model for OCR on armv7 devices that works as well if not better then the proprietary OCR service they use, and could easily run on the device without needing the network at all. My biggest issue with the rm2 is not any specific feature, but the total and complete lack of support for 3rd party software. The people behind the device make great hardware, and nice device drivers, but kind of suck at user facing software. They should stop trying to do the front end stuff, and just give us the ability to let the community do it ourselves.
    • freeqaz 5y ago
      If you made this into an open source project (even just some hacked together scripts) I would definitely take a crack at helping tweak it! Especially if you're able to do on device -- that'd be incredible. Otherwise, I'm happy to just pull out the files and do it via SSH. Seriously though, the value of some scripts that set a baseline would be enough for many people to finish the rest of the work!
  • KennyBlanken 5y ago
    Wanting your documents and writings to not be fully accessible to CCP intelligence services....is not exactly "heightened security requirements" to me. This device is basically completely un-trustable. Leaking information related to financial stuff, research, invention, product design, or legal/government work. For a publicly traded company any manner of documents / notes on a device like this could spell trouble. Plus, if they're able to identify something you don't want others to know, they have leverage on you.
• vcmiraldo 5y ago
  I bought one, then returned it. For the price they're selling it at, the following points were a deal breaker for me: 1. Custom file system: this means I can ssh into it, but I can't rsync my bibliography into it, since it won't display regular pdf files whose name is not hashed and registered in some sort of index. Moreover, the lack of a Linux client meant it was very hard to put my pdfs on it, or extract my notes from it. 2. Left hand support is ridiculous. They just flip the screen left-to-right; which means you lose the nice bevel and it becomes very uncomfortable to use in "handheld" mode. Finally, the "close" button gets placed on the top-left corner of the screen, which is the first place a left-handed writer touches. 3. The lack of some sort of backlight and slightly gray background means I can't read under suboptimal light. Sure, I get it, its e-ink; but for the price they charge, it would be a very nice-to-have feature. I ended up returning mine and went for the Samsung Galaxy Tab s7 and that thing is amazing! Plus, I get to follow through bibliography immediately without needing to go back to my computer and get another article then do the whole sync'ing dance again.
  • criddell 5y ago
    For me it's the size. I used to say that if they came out with a full page (A4 or letter) display I would buy one, but since then I've become very fond of the iPad + Pencil + iOS focus mode combination. I'm not sure the Remarkable offers much for me anymore.
  • sasvari 5y ago
    > 1. Custom file system: this means I can ssh into it, but I can't rsync my bibliography into it, since it won't display regular pdf files whose name is not hashed and registered in some sort of index. Moreover, the lack of a Linux client meant it was very hard to put my pdfs on it, or extract my notes from it. FWIW, rmfuse [0] allows you to mount the reMarkable cloud and you have easy access to sync with real filenames. [0] https://github.com/rschroll/rmfuse https://github.com/rschroll/rmfuse > RMfuse provides access to your reMarkable Cloud files in the form of a FUSE filesystem. These files are exposed either in their original format, or as PDF files that contain your annotations. This lets you manage files in the reMarkable Cloud using the same tools you use on your local system.
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• timvisee 5y ago
  What I love about these things, is that you can SSH into it. There are various mods for it. And you can run your own software on it.
• extreme_orang 5y ago
  Having tried a number of notebook type devices I'll just add that the Remarkable (v2) is excellent. It is not a computer, not an iPad, just an excellent digital notepad and eReader. Price, yeah its high but you get what you pay for and this is something I do find genuinely useful for reading and taking notes. Is it perfect? Far from it. There are lots of silly UI decisions that make no sense (e.g. limited pen size) and clunky modal menu system. So there is room for improvement. Why they don't incorporate the ddvk remarkable hacks into an update in one quick update I do not know - the ddvk hacks change the remarkable from a good device to a great one. See here: https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable-hacks https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable-hacks But otherwise, I would recommend strongly for these specific use-cases. I still have to have a laptop with me occasionally, and sometimes an iPad. But if I am reading a PDF it is always with the Remarkable. The battery life is pretty amazing, the lack of eye-strain fantastic, carrying a ton of books that I can catch up with wonderful. Digital note taking is the best in class due to the screen and pen/nib combination. (Yes lack of search and OCR is a bit annoying but I don't really use it, even on the iPad in Notability). Anyway, I wanted to offer these thoughts from someone who reads a lot on the remarkable and takes notes daily. Wish it had: More pen sizes, different highlight shades, easier syncing, iCloud support, better tools for cropping pdfs before sending them, etc. Would I buy again: Yes.
  • extreme_orang 5y ago
    ps. I also own a Boox Note Air, and the remarkable quite simply blows it away. When I bought the Boox I loved it, but after getting the Remarkable there really is no competition. I do like the Boox for its novelty value, running weird things on an e-ink display, but I don't use it for notes or reading anymore.
    • krono 5y ago
      The lack of screenlighting has long been the only thing holding me back. I so hope they're not ruining their next device with anti-customisation and aggressive subscription or partner service marketing.
      • 5y ago
• orcul 5y ago
  Meh. A (pricey) solution in search of a problem.
• etiam 5y ago
  I want a device of this type. It may be a silly reason to deduct points, but the fact that this company are name parasitizing on a real word, and especially one in widespread and important use, is already putting them behind for me. Having said that Supernote's ambitions for more ruggedness/robustness and Pinenote's openness and overall stronger specs would probably have made them higher priority anyway once I get around to ordering.
• deniscepko2 5y ago
  Seems like mostly people that are not satisfied with their remarkable are trying to do the extra features (ssh, book reading, etc.). for me i 99% use it to keep notes, sketching, read articles and its perfect. for the first time in my life i do actually read my notes
• roody15 5y ago
  Way to expensive for what it is. 600$ plus with the pen and accessories … nope
• geijoenr 5y ago
  I am a Remarkable user for almost a year and I have to say there is no way back for me. The user interface navigation is built in a way that allowed me to build a workflow around it that just works. Is an excellent device and I am super happy with it.
• vaylian 5y ago
  I wish the author wouldn't call it a "notebook", because that term already means "laptop". It should probably be called an "e-ink tablet".
• anon2020dot00 5y ago
  MyDeepGuide on YouTube has a lot of good reviews on reMarkable and other e-ink devices
• tiku 5y ago
  I have the Onyx Boox Max 3, it is great. Just a normal android device with an e-reader screen. You can install apps, listen to audio (it has a speaker). I'm wondering why there are not more like those devices..
  • Loughla 5y ago
    My complaint with the Boox series (I had one of those as well) versus the reMarkable is that writing on a boox feels like trying to write on plastic. The reMarkable has a texture that makes it more akin to writing on paper. It really does interrupt my thought process and note-taking ability.
  • anon2020dot00 5y ago
    Same, I have an Onyx Boox Note Air which is working great. I love it at night especially because I don't have to stare at a backlight and that I can read technical pdfs more comfortably. I also wondered why E-Ink devices are not more popular. I think it has the potential to rival the iPad but at the moment it is just a fraction of the tablet market. I think one reason that E-Ink is not more popular is probably because of the Price and that it is really best as a secondary device. Most people would rather purchase a primary device that can do a lot of things well rather than a secondary device that can do a few things exceptionally.
• intrasight 5y ago
  Slightly off topic, but what happened to "smart pens"? 15ish years ago,I had a pen that could draw on special paper, and do interesting things. I really thought that paradigm would have progressed by now. Sort of like the original optical mice needed a special pad but now can work on any surface. I like drawing on a paper notebook (I use one with a grid of dots). I'd be fine with all of the "intelligence" coming from my smartphone. Is there any progress/products on this paradigm?
  • spicybright 5y ago
    Or going back more, light pens on CRT monitors were neat. How did the pen work in practice for you?
    • intrasight 5y ago
      It was a gift to my daughter years ago. She enjoyed it very much.
  • azeirah 5y ago
    There are multiple things in this space. * The Lenovo writing pad device - https://www.lenovo.com/nl/nl/yoga-book/ https://www.lenovo.com/nl/nl/yoga-book/ This thing is different from all other devices on the market. You can write on the device itself, or you can put a piece of paper on top of it and write on that which will simultaneously be digital iirc. * A smart clipboard, I'm sure there are non-kickstarter variations of this out there somewhere as well https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clipboard-plus/clipboard-changing-the-way-you-work?ref=discovery&term=pen https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clipboard-plus/clipboar... * moleskine has a smart pen + smart notebook combo that syncs live with your phone https://www.moleskine.nl/moleskine-smart-writing-ellipse-set--(c)imptseta/info/ https://www.moleskine.nl/moleskine-smart-writing-ellipse-set... * Modern pen-only solutions look like this, ie the Neo smartpen m1+ https://www.neosmartpen.com/en/neosmartpen-m1plus/ https://www.neosmartpen.com/en/neosmartpen-m1plus/
    • intrasight 5y ago
      So still no smart pens that work on plain paper?
• Loughla 5y ago
  (ignoring the recent move to a subscription service) The problem is you cannot tag pages for easy/effective search. If they would add meta tags and make pages searchable by that, it would be 100% perfect.
• lordleft 5y ago
  I strongly suspect I'll want like, the 3 or 5th iteration of this device
  • ryanmarsh 5y ago
    After owning and returning v2 I agree. Version 5 at half the cost might be a compelling option.
• gnull 5y ago
  I've been quite happy with my Remarkable. The only thing that annoys me is not having buttons to turn pages. Swiping over a touchscreen is counterproductive and Remarkable sometimes fails to recognize the gesture.
• spicybright 5y ago
  It's not for everyone, but you get full root + ssh access to the device. I'm wondering if there's any good apps to fill in the gaps.
• diegocg 5y ago
  Bought one a month ago, I'm very happy with it. I wish they would include more features, but apparently they want to keep it simple.
• tristor 5y ago
  I have an rM2, and I loved it at first. But honestly, I've just gone back to carrying a notepad and a pen. One of the biggest issues I have is that for /most/ things when I want to take notes, it's because I've found myself in a spur of the moment situation and I need something that will fit in my pocket. For planned note-taking, I'd rather type than write. I write because I can fit a pen in my pocket. I guess it's somewhat of a tautology, but in the end my rM2 has sat very prettily on my desk, completely unused, for months. I don't think there's anything wrong with the device itself, I think it just didn't fit the way that I take notes. The only thing I found as an actual annoyance was that they forced you into using their cloud services which I didn't think were very good. I would have much rather had it OCR my notes into Standard Notes or figured out a way to sync. Syncing to Standard Notes never happened, so I just type long-form notes directly into Standard Notes and keep a Rite in the Rain pad in my pocket and a pen for spur of the moment stuff.
• ubermonkey 5y ago
  I've seen adds for this thing, and it reminds me of nothing so much as the old Will Ferrell skit on SNL about "virtual reality reading." I mean, why not just use paper?
• rasulkireev 5y ago
  I really wanted one ever since they announced the first model, but something has been stopping me. Now that I'm a little older and mature I realize that my instincts not to buy this thing were completely right. How can a device like this not have an ability to make annotations?... What's worse, the highlights you make on the book are not indexed. To me, it's insane. I think one can hack this together with Kobo, I believe. But should you really buy a device for $500+ to hack it together? Once this device supports proper E-Reader features, it will be a great iPad alternative, IMHO. And I'll be a big purchase candidate.
• eitland 5y ago
  I bought the first generation and returned it sometime 2.5 years ago. My takeaways: - my colleagues who loved it back then still love it and have been joined by a few more - personally I'm still happy that I returned mine and got an iPad instead although ideally I had gotten the iPad in addition instead of as a replacement. - the writing experience was fantastic! It feels like writing on paper and the results are of similar quality. When someone I know who can draw she made a beautiful drawing quickly and was impressed. - the return process (at that time) was a case study in bad ux. Not dark patterns as far as I could see (once I contacted them they were very helpful and did not try to upsell me or anything, but I actually gave up trying to register the return myself) - what turned me away in the end was that 1.) I didn't have budget for both the Remarkable and and iPad and 2.) the Remarkable was then too limited on its own (I use my iPad for notetaking, udemy, virtual meetings over Zoom and what not that I don't want to install on my work machine and probably a few more things) 3. at the time there was no Linux sync and it was bot clear for me how good ssh support was going to be (I still don't know but hear good things). 4. Locking was limited to 4 digit pin. - an unintended benefit of going for the iPad was that I realized iOS was sufficiently different from Mac that I could actually like it, so I now have a cheap iPhone as well.
• TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  > find myself needing to do the gesture up to four or five times until it works This drives me nuts.
• chobytes 5y ago
  The hardware itself is really nice but the company is awful. God help you if you need any support from them at all.
• IceDane 5y ago
  I bought a remarkable because I was thinking of buying a whiteboard. I hoped that the remarkable could be a replacement for that, but I was very wrong. On the surface, remarkable seems pretty great and even feels pretty great. But for all it could be doing, it's almost not doing anything. The note-taking and drawing tools are extremely barebones. There are no line or shape drawing tools of any kind. There's no real way of using it as an infinite canvas kind of thing, because the canvas isn't infinite, and you can't scroll like that. You have to zoom in and out or resize your drawings and move them around. The hardware is extremely hackable, which is the coolest part, but also makes it even more weird that the remarkable's software is so lackluster, because there are actually tools out there already you can use to make up for some of these. I ended up not using mine very much because it's just not a very good experience for anything past simple note-taking, and then eventually sold it and bought a whiteboard instead. No regrets.
• fortran77 5y ago
  I would love it if it seamlessly integrated with OneNote.
• Andrex 5y ago
  > The option to connect an external keyboard would be killer. Of course, the main use case is to write with a pen. However, given that this is a distraction-free device, the option to behave essentially like the screen of a typewriter would be much appreciated by writers and minimalists. I've been banging this drum for a while. Yes, please. I really enjoy my RM2 despite this, though.
• ryanmarsh 5y ago
  I bought one and returned it. It did what it said, it’s not a bad product. However after spending just shy of the cost of a new iPad I couldn’t justify not having just buying an iPad and having 100x the functionality. The remarkable also has very mediocre note management software, on the device, online, and on the desktop.
• cproctor 5y ago
  Can anyone recommend for or against buying a used reMarkable2 on ebay? I'm interested in this for daily work, happy to spend some time in SSH, and have a reasonably high risk tolerance for no-warranty. But I don't want to throw my money away.
  • janderland 5y ago
    I bought mine new. As someone who keeps there todo lists hand written, I use it every day several times a day. It’s also my e-reader for PDFs of research papers.
    • cproctor 5y ago
      Thanks! Academic here, also thinking about using this for notes and lots of reading research papers with not too much annotation.
• hardwaregeek 5y ago
  I bought a physical notebook recently and oh man it's so much better than an iPad. Especially when I'm trying to sketch out architecture or play around with ideas, a pen and paper is unbeatable. Maybe it's all the years of school making me hand write code, but I've started to like hand writing an algorithm or hand writing potential syntax for a language.
  • nicbou 5y ago
    I went the other way and I'm really happy I did. I use it for anything from thinking on paper to actual art. I'm in love with that device.
• nicbou 5y ago
  I was seriously considering one but ended up buying the latest iPad Mini. It was the right decision. It was the Moleskine replacement I was looking for. The software is simply excellent. I use Notability and Procreate. The software on the remarkable doesn't compare. There are a few features that I didn't know I needed: using a photo as a reference, using the camera to pick colors, browsing notes like they're pages in a notebook, annotating websites, sending drawings with telegram, etc. I never leave the house without my iPad. I never use it for browsing or watching videos. It doesn't show any notifications. It's strictly a notebook replacement, and It's brilliant.
• shove 5y ago
  I've had one for about a year now and co-sign the author's review. Especially the "broken" OCR that doesn't allow search. Nor is there any way to create links to hyperlink between notebooks. Doing so would be a total game-changer.
• sireat 5y ago
  I have a feeling that reMarkable hired some remarkable hardware wizards with GPL in their blood and then let some beancounters ruin the frontend. reMarkable is great looking hardware with subpar software. I should not need to SSH into a device to install Koreader to get an acceptable ereading esperience. I rarely use my reMarkable 2 much preferring an old Kobo HD for bedtime reading and the original 13 inch Sony dpt-rp1 for larger A4 texts. As the article says: "If you are familiar with dedicated ebook readers, you will miss a dictionary, bookmarks and annotations. You can highlight parts of the text, but there is no index of annotations anywhere. This makes it unsuitable for some types of editing and annotated reading." Surely those are not remarkable features to ask for?
  • turtlebits 5y ago
    All the marketing on the site is as a writing device. I could imagine that the e-reader experience would be sub-par, which is a shame. (although I have yet to sideload any ebooks onto it).
• laurex 5y ago
  My reMarkable 2 is sitting in a drawer waiting for me to get motivated to sell it. It completely lived up to all the promises, but in the end I couldn’t make the migration from a notebook, partly because I have terrible handwriting and finding things I’ve written down requires me to use the physical cues of paper to go back later. The only other knock was that I couldn’t seem to get it to import my bullet journal format in PDF in a way that made it easy to use as a daily note template.
• zaidf 5y ago
  My experience with reMarkable was extremely disappointing. If the device works for you, it’s amazing. And if it doesn’t, you’re basically out of luck. That is how I would summarize reMarkable from talking to friends and my own personal experience.
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• zarkov99 5y ago
  I have one. Paired with their more advanced stylus (with the eraser) and with the new integration with Dropbox and GDrive it replaces my paper notebooks and most of my physical books. I quite enjoy using it.
• epolanski 5y ago
  The reMarkable is one of those devices for which I consistently feel like "I'll wait for the next one". Few reasons why: - backlight - ocr - better pen and eraser In my mind I'd like to make it a "programming sketchbook", where every time I save, text get OCRd, compiled and I get some compile information out of it. Obviously I would be just sending the buffer to an external computer and get the output, or something like that. But the current reMarkable and its ecosystem made me think what I was looking for was way too experimental.
  • wcarss 5y ago
    A programming sketchbook sounds great! I imagine having e.g. GPT-3 generate syntactically-correct code out of hand-written pseudocode
  • projectileboy 5y ago
    What’s so weird is that it already has OCR, but only through a weird feature where you’re emailing someone a copy and paste, or some such. It’s like they’re sitting on the killer feature and can’t figure it out. Feels like a potentially great product in need of a great product manager.
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• ant6n 5y ago
  > Not having searchable notes was almost a deal-breaker for me, and I still have hope that this behavior will be implemented in the future as an update. The handwriting equivalent of Notepad that came with Windows Tablet edition (2002?), A software called Journal, allowed searching in handwritten notes. It worked pretty well, since searching does not require an exact OCR (it sometimes has some false positives, but it's actually better at finding then the most recent typed version of OneNote).
• nathell 5y ago
  It depends on the mindset I guess. I’ve bought myself a reMarkable 2 with the approach that „I’m just getting an expensive toy” (ie not an everyday work tool, just a nice gizmo). And it’s been great, if a bit pricey. Some things I’ve used it for, so far: - As a notebook. Nothing much to mention here. Being able to pick a page template (plain/dotted/lined/squared) is nice. - Reading PDFs. Kindle won’t quite cut it, even with k2pdfopt – the screen size makes a difference. Plus, you can annotate them! - Reading code. `npx repo-to-pdf some-repo` and then proceed as above. Great for getting oneself into a full-focus mode. - Live-sketching at conference calls. I just share the reMarkable screen to my Mac and then share the companion app’s window on Zoom. Tried it out twice during internal brown-bags, worked very nice. - As an actual toy. Getting grandma’s picture onto an e-ink screen and being able to draw a moustache lights up a big smile on my 8yo niece’s face.
• perrygeo 5y ago
  I have a reMarkable 2 and I really enjoy it. Before the weekend, I can load it up with pdfs of all the articles and books I hope to catch up on. Then I can spend all weekend reading them with natural light, marking them up, drawing notes, etc. Productivity with battery life measured in days, without any eye strain, and no internet distractions. But it's not an IPad! It's always funny to hear it compared to tablets since the main value proposition (to me) is the e-ink and the distinct lack of tablet-like features. It's a replacement for physical bound books and paper notebooks. That's it. Do your paperbacks and composition notebooks have good OCR, search indexing and a mountable file system? Nope, and neither does the remarkable :-)
• LennyHenrysNuts 5y ago
  I use a similar technology. It works by depositing pigments via capillary effect from a reservoir conveniently held in the body of the input device. The pigments remain on an indexable surface, which is collected together with many other such surfaces. Searches, if the correct keyword is known, can take a couple of seconds. The time between recharges is amazing, and to make a write requires a recharge every month or so. To actually retrieve information, it requires no charge at all! Unfortunately, once the memory is full, you need to replace the storage device at a cost of about $10. I have to do this once every three months, but you can afford several and keep them aside. It's also really easy to tell when you're approaching your memory limit. I'd say another drawback is a lack of backlight, but the ReMarkable doesn't have one either.