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The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

gizmodo.com

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Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#191

Post by sangnoir »

blub wrote: post #178
ReverseCold wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My enthusiasm for this device instantly evaporated when I found out about the mandatory cloud integration. From GP: "So if you don't like their cloud offering, you can turn of wifi and be sure your data is local"

The GP and lima have both claimed that one can transfer files without the cloud, but this is not mentioned in their FAQ ( https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us ). This is a direct quote: "Use the reMarkable desktop app or the reMarkable mobile app to transfer documents and ebooks onto your device. Once imported, your files will be synced across your connected devices. reMarkable works best with our custom built app…

> Maybe this is a great device which allows open access, but it's very difficult to figure this out from their website.

Isn't that par for the course for esoteric information only useful to highly advanced users in the consumer electronics[1] space? I'm yet to see an Android device that touts unlockable bootloaders on their websites.

1. Being "open" isn't the ReMarkable's tablet schtick/selling point. It's a consumer product that happens to be open. The minority users who want to take advantage of that know where to look/can find that out on HN.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#192

Post by hardlianotion »

I have one of these. The writing surface is much better than I expected. The battery life is surprisingly poor though - not as good as an iPad, say. The interface has a few rough edges - you are limited to the size the pages presented to you and cannot scroll down for more real estate.

On balance, I would say that I am broadly content with the device - I use it to replace the write-once notes, noodles and workings-out that I used to slay forests for. I did get it for the Kickstarter price, however. I would not pay a near iPad price for it.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#193

Post by tschwimmer »

ggg9990 wrote: post #48
igorkraw wrote: post #30

I have this device, and for hackers, this review misses some stuff: * the company behind it is based in norway, so you can be pretty sure the techies got treated well * they abide by the GPL very well * by connecting via USB and flicking a switch in the options menu, you get SSH access, as well as a REST endpoint where you can upload your files via curl. So if you don't like their cloud offering, you can turn of wifi…

What is the relevance of the “techies got treated well”?

I interpreted it as equivalent to “Fair Trade” or “Free Range” labels you sometimes see on groceries.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#194

Post by asciimo »

I was considering this but opted for a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. The stylus is nice, and you can take quick notes directly on the lock screen. I'm writing this post with it and it's much nicer than a virtual keyboard.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#195

Post by funkaster »

I also own this (I got it in the second batch). So far I really like it. I use it to take notes in every meeting, I'm rsync-ing the device with my computer to keep backups.

For me it solved the big problem of: quickly take notes and be able to access them later. I used to keep random pieces of paper here and there and notebooks that I just kept loosing.

Using the laptop is a no-no for me in meetings (we're trying a no-devices in meetings) and this is basically just a notebook.

For taking dev notes, I keep using orgmode. But for meetings and day-to-day notes, the remarkable is by far my favorite gadget. I would only change a few minor glitches with the UI, but so far I'm pleased with it.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#196

Post by ChuckMcM »

Back when the first Kindle came out I felt like this would be the future. I bought an iRex Illiad 2[1], it had really everything you wanted, open source, wacom stylus, and reasonable PPI (180). But it was expensive and it couldn't compete without decent software and its screen was pretty delicate (a lot of busted ones out there). I had hoped that the folks at Plastic Logic would fix that with their QUE Reader[2]but sadly it failed to materialize.

Today I find the drawing experience on the Surface Pro 4 to be the best I've been able to find, rather than make the glass the answer they made the tip the answer (for writing/drawing feel). I rank the iPad Pro (current edition) second, and I'm not sure if I'm able to get past the frustration of the great platform/no software hump that I had on the Illiad to try the reMarkable tablet. About once every 3 months I look at it :-).

What all of this has done for me is give me a tremendous amount of respect for the problem of simulating drawing. Even with a special ASIC in the SP4 it's not quite lag free.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILiad

[2] http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/plastic-logic.html

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#197

Post by thaumaturgy »

wvenable wrote: post #188
thaumaturgy wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No . I own one. I've had mine since last November. I love it. I love it in large part because when I'm working on it, I -can't- read email, browse HN, read blogs, check on a server. The only thing I can do is put thoughts to words and diagrams. What you want is a tablet, maybe something from Amazon. The ReMarkable is intended for a different audience, people who remember what it's like to be undistracted and want tha…

For $600 it better do more than that. If I wanted something to write on that does nothing else I'd just use a pad of actual paper. And that's the real competition for a device like this -- paper. I think it would need to come down in price significantly for it to be just what you want it to be.

I have put a few hundred pages of notes through this thing since I've had it. That's a lot of paper I don't really want to carry around. I have old notebooks, binders, loose-leaf collections of everything from letters to myriad projects to random musings.

My notes on this are organized into folders. When I'm at a SAR meeting, I tap "SAR", and there's everything from the last meeting and training notes and anything else I might want to reference.

When I'm at work, I tap "[Job]", and there's the graphs, notes, and complex as hell SQL and database layouts and everything else I've been working on lately.

I don't have to scribble out sentences from pen and paper, instead I can neatly erase them from the screen and rewrite them. It has become my tool of choice for first draft, second draft, third draft, and final draft writing to people I care to write to.

When I'm working out a flow chart or application logic or something else that I'm struggling to get my head around and ordinarily would run to paper for, I use this instead, because when I need to reorganize different bits I can just draw a circle around them and drag them elsewhere on the screen.

And, after doing all of this, I can back all of that up to my laptop.

Go ahead and do that with your pad of actual paper, I'll wait while you find a scanner and fight to get the stupid paper feeder to work.

If the thought of being unplugged and focused on a single thing doesn't exhilarate you, if it terrifies you, that's fine, this isn't the device to you. I'm not going to cheer it on to those folks; frankly, at this point, I hope ReMarkable is able to avoid that audience, because they're going to ask for all the wrong things.

But I don't spend a lot of money and when I first saw this thing I immediately wanted it because it's exactly what I've been wishing for, for a long time now. Ever since the Newton, at least. It's valuable at that price to me and to a lot of other people.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#198

Post by tjoff »

That some people prefer an iPad to eink for reading absolutely blows my mind. I'm still annoyed that the iPad killed practically killed the eink market, such waste.

If this thing is half as good as I hope it is I'm going to buy it, despite the quite hefty price. I still can't come up with a use-case for a tablet but this I'd use constantly.

Re: The ReMarkable E Ink Tablet

#199

Post by tjoff »

cptskippy wrote: post #146
userbinator wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

by connecting via USB and flicking a switch in the options menu, you get SSH access, as well as a REST endpoint where you can upload your files via curl. So if you don't like their cloud offering, you can turn of wifi and be sure your data is local Maybe it's just me, but why do the defaults for devices like this seem to now always require either a special app or reach out into the Internet? Whatever happened to simp…

> Whatever happened to simple USB mass storage where you can just plug it in and copy files back and forth? I agree that it should definitely be an option because there are plenty of situations when using this device where you might not even have connectivity. > the default behaviour of requiring one to send files from a computer out far away to some server on the Internet, and then back to the tablet sitting only a…

rsync is much easier than creating an account and gives me more control.

It was one of the first things I thought of, "I hope I can run rsync on this thing to sync notes".

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