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The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

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Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#51

Post by foolano »

I'm a happy user of this tablet.

I also created a [Go app](https://github.com/juruen/rmapi) to interact with the cloud API.

I mainly use the tablet as a "virtual printer". Using the app I just mentioned above, I print directly to the device from my Mac. Yeah, this just saves me a couple of clicks and one drag and drop :)

Here's a [tutorial](https://github.com/juruen/rmapi/blob/master/docs/tutorial-pr...) on how to set it up and an actual [demo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOGTYI15VxY&feature=youtu.be).

When I was studying, it was also great to use it to solve math problems on it when I was traveling without having to carry too much paper with me.

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#52

Post by jhbadger »

diggan wrote: post #37
ACS_Solver wrote: post #28

I'm a fairly early adopter of the RM, and bought it for keeping handwritten notes. I don't produce a great amount of notes as a student might, but I find that the experience of writing really helps me think. Some thoughts on the device: * The writing experience is top notch. It feels like pen and paper. I recently had the chance to try Onyx Boox Max 2 (very briefly), and it's nowhere close to the RM as far as the tac…

> * It's an open-source Linux-based device but not entirely. The actual UI application isn't open source. But as others have said here, it has pretty good hacking potential, and it's definitely more open than most commercial devices. The company's support of open-source was another reason for me to buy it. Can you tell us a bit more about this? Took a look at their website and searched around a bit, but don't find an…

An Android device would be able to use Ebookdroid, the best ebook reader (at least for pdf/djvu; its epub support is just okay) I've seen on any platform -- it just has so many features other programs are lacking -- like autocrop (gets rid of margins making the text part of book take up the full page), autosplit (automatically splits pages when people have scanned facing pages rather than each page separately), and autostraighten (when people have scanned some pages at an angle).

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#54

Post by masukomi »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #38

How close is the "e-paper" screen to real e-ink?

there are a bunch of video reviews that cover this. The consensus seemed to be "close enough" for your average person but "not even remotely" like paper for people who pay attention to different paper types, and care about the tools they use for drawing / writing and how they interact with paper.

That is to say, you'll be happy if you don't pay any attention to the paper or writing implements you use normally. If you _do_ it's nowhere close but much better than writing / drawing on glass.

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#55

Post by omaranto »

ACS_Solver wrote: post #41
diggan wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * It's an open-source Linux-based device but not entirely. The actual UI application isn't open source. But as others have said here, it has pretty good hacking potential, and it's definitely more open than most commercial devices. The company's support of open-source was another reason for me to buy it. Can you tell us a bit more about this? Took a look at their website and searched around a bit, but don't find an…

For one, unlike most Android devices, you don't have to root the RM. It comes with SSH running and you have the root password. The company's Github [1] has most of the source code, from their Linux kernel to the software update daemon. Their CTO, Martin Sandsmark, is a long-time KDE developer. Unfortunately, xochitl (the device's main UI) isn't open. It's a major miss in their open approach, and frankly I don't get w…

In case anyone is curious about the name of the main UI, "xochitl", it is a fairly common female name (for people, not UIs) in Mexico. It means flower in Náhuatl, the language of spoken by the Aztecs and still spoken by between 1 and 2 million people in Mexico. The Spanish word for flower, "Flor", is also a fairly common female name in Mexico.

The name "Xóchitl" is pronounced with the "x" sounding like "s" and the "t" silent by Spanish-speaking Mexicans. I'm pretty sure that's not how it is pronounced in Náhuatl; there I think the "x" sounds more like English's "sh", and the "t" is not silent.

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#56

Post by omaranto »

jhbadger wrote: post #52
diggan wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * It's an open-source Linux-based device but not entirely. The actual UI application isn't open source. But as others have said here, it has pretty good hacking potential, and it's definitely more open than most commercial devices. The company's support of open-source was another reason for me to buy it. Can you tell us a bit more about this? Took a look at their website and searched around a bit, but don't find an…

An Android device would be able to use Ebookdroid, the best ebook reader (at least for pdf/djvu; its epub support is just okay) I've seen on any platform -- it just has so many features other programs are lacking -- like autocrop (gets rid of margins making the text part of book take up the full page), autosplit (automatically splits pages when people have scanned facing pages rather than each page separately), and a…

If you could configure how to render PDF links (mainly so tables of contents didn't look so aggresively yellow), Ebookdroid would be perfect for reading! (I added the "for reading", because I wish you could create and edit standard PDF annotations ---I believe instead of using native PDF annotations it uses a homegrown system that stores the annotations in a separate file.)

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#57

Post by yalogin »

Theoretically it’s good but I wonder how much market there is for it at that price.

Tablets themselves are used a subset of population, compared to the phones. On top of that for people wanting to read ebooks only amazon already sells a reader for far less than this one. The iPad for example offers all these features on top of the 100s more. What is special about this and Where is the market for this?

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#58

Post by minimalist »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #4

A good alternative seems to be Onyx Boox Max2 which seems to be more open (android based and can use all the normal apps including sync etc), have similar functionality and can also work as an external hdmi screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSv0g-pYMAk

I wouldn't recommend any of the Onyx Boox products. Sure they may run android, but:

* They run an ancient version of android (Android 6 or Android 5, I don't remember)

* This ancient version of android runs a kernel that is susceptible to multiple vulnerabilities (like DirtyCOW)[0], and the developers have disabled selinux

* Kernel sources are not released, in violation of the GPL and the last time I checked, it seemed like there was evidence of ripped off applications/IP theft in bundled but hidden applications.

* The bootloader is locked

* Access to the wacom digitizer is only possible through a proprietary blob, which has to be incorporated into an application that wishes to use it. Therefore, the stylus support has a tremendous lag for any application that is not an onyx-made application.

* Handwriting recognition requires connection to their cloud services

Their forums are down right now, but people have been begging them to at least comply with the GPL and release kernel sources for years now [1,2]. The last time I checked, there were 3 separate threads about this on their front page.

It's a really tragic situation for such nice hardware. I can't think of any reasons why the company wouldn't want to open the source unless they were hiding something or were afraid of getting ripped off by other OEMs. The only thing that the onyx devices had over the ReMarkable is storage, but seeing as how the RM can be modded to accept an SD card[3] and has first-class linux support, it's the better choice IMO.

[0]: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?s=42e53ed5d56...

[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20190122063838/http://bbs.onyx-i...

[2]: http://bbs.onyx-international.com/t/install-linux-or-alterna...

[3]: http://www.davisr.me/projects/remarkable-microsd/

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#59

Post by Wowfunhappy »

masukomi wrote: post #54
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #38

How close is the "e-paper" screen to real e-ink?

there are a bunch of video reviews that cover this. The consensus seemed to be "close enough" for your average person but "not even remotely" like paper for people who pay attention to different paper types, and care about the tools they use for drawing / writing and how they interact with paper. That is to say, you'll be happy if you don't pay any attention to the paper or writing implements you use normally. If you…

I've seen a lot of reviews comparing the writing experience to paper, but I'm more interested in the reading experience, and particularly how much contrast the screen has vs an e-ink Kindle.

I've seen a few reviews actually refer to the screen as "e-ink"—but that must be a mistake, or the official website wouldn't use the more nebulous term "e-paper"... right? If it is e-ink, why is the refresh rate for drawing so good?

Re: The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review

#60

Post by jonahbenton »

I bought one from the early campaign. As a thinking/planning device I write tens to hundreds of pages per month on paper and was intrigued by the focus on the writing experience of this product. And it is a good product- between the surface, the plastic pen tips, and the device software, provides a good enough writing experience. However, I found that my recall when using the device became zero. The loss of the physical process of reviewing and paging through written pages was unexpectedly significant, and "paging" through the digital pages did not help. So it sits unused. I should sell it.
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