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The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

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Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#331

Post by noobly »

maxrev17 wrote: post #321
noobly wrote: post #320

Opportunities to ask about these devices don't come up very often, so please help me decide what I want here: I want something that allows me to do math problems while laying down horizontally, mostly before bed. With a book and paper, it's a mess trying to do this, and I require e-ink. So I need good support for reading PDFs _and_ writing on screen, which is a niche apparently. I need split screen functionality or s…

I love my rm2 as a mental scratchpad, list maker, PDF reader, ebook reader etc. Etc. I have a trick, I bought the Lamy pen compatible with the rm2, and pushed the rm2 pen nib up it, makes for an awesome writing experience!!!!

I am reading the rm2 doesn't reflow pdfs? Has this been a problem for you?

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#332

Post by fouric »

Arainach wrote: post #298
fouric wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"so little effort into software"? Quite the opposite, it seems like they've put a lot of effort into the software. Everything "just works" and is polished , unlike almost every other piece of software I've ever used. Don't mistake a lack of advanced features for a lack of software effort. reMarkable is making an intentional trade-off - more feature quality, less feature quantity. See also https://news.ycombinator.com…

I'm all for fewer polished features - but we don't get any of those. Prior to the latest updates I actively regretted my reMarkable 2 purchase. Now it's back to "a decent device that I would never recommend anyone pay full price for" Let's start with eReading: Hyperlinks in ePub and PDF didn't work. As such, your table of contents and index are worthless, you don't have quick access to footnotes, and so on. They only…

> I'm all for fewer polished features - but we don't get any of those.

I don't think that the rest of your comment substantiates this. You don't have any arguments that the core functionality is lacking in some way - everything you say seems to be about non-core things.

> Hyperlinks in ePub and PDF didn't work.

Note the "didn't", and also PDF hyperlinks is not an "essential" feature for the purpose of the rm2, which is writing and annotating.

> If links don't work they must have some way to jump between pages easily, right?

Not core to writing and annotating. You're looking for a document-navigation system, which the rm2 is not.

> Search is very slow.

See previous comment about the rm2 not meant to be a document-navigation system.

> eBooks are slow to load, and changing text size requires you to wait while the entire book is rerendered (losing your notes in the process since they're image-based rather than proper annotations)

This might be the only valid complaint here, although it's still a non-essential feature. An essential feature is the ability to take notes, which you can.

> This is primarily a drawing/creation device.

That's literally how it's marketed - "Writing, reading, and visualizing only".

> A basic tool that would help here is stroke-based erasing. They have stroke knowledge since Undo supports that, but the eraser is a clumsy mess that reminds me of the worst cheap elementary school supplies.

The eraser tool is perfectly functional. I use it continually with no problems. Could it be better? Yes, like almost every piece of software ever written. Is it "a clumsy mess"? Not even close.

> While we're on basic UX, why is the entire device in "light mode" except for the settings app which is inverted into dark mode with no way to change it to a normal UX?

That's a single UX issue, among many things that they got right, that has little impact on the usability of the device.

You neglected to mention how the drawing, cut/copy/paste, convert-to-text, eraser, templates, and almost every other feature "just work". You do get all of those "polished features" - your stretch goals are not core functionality.

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#333

Post by gnicholas »

robinsoh wrote: post #47
oblio wrote: post #6

I wonder which will happen faster: A) classic displays (LCD/OLED/Mini-LED/Micro-LEDs) reaching a point where the quality and power consumption are so low as to be indistinguishable from paper B) Color e-ink displays get good enough for interactive use, movie watching, etc. Maybe someone who's an expert in display tech can chime in? My money's on A) since so much is invested in it.

I work in the display industry. My take is neither will happen. Lets start with B. > B) Color e-ink displays get good enough for interactive use, movie watching, etc. There is no commercially sold genuine color e-ink today. Kaleido is a grayscale e-ink with a color filter laminated on top. Kaleido Plus is just the same with a light guide. E Ink did show off a genuine color display back in 2018 called Advanced Color a…

What do you think of ACEP v2?

https://goodereader.com/blog/e-paper/e-ink-has-developed-ace...

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#334

Post by noobly »

dzogchen wrote: post #325
noobly wrote: post #320

Opportunities to ask about these devices don't come up very often, so please help me decide what I want here: I want something that allows me to do math problems while laying down horizontally, mostly before bed. With a book and paper, it's a mess trying to do this, and I require e-ink. So I need good support for reading PDFs _and_ writing on screen, which is a niche apparently. I need split screen functionality or s…

Can recommend a Onyx Boox Max Lumi. It has a 13 inch screen and good split screen notes functionality. https://imgur.com/a/2CPy5O9

That looks great, 13 inch screen ensures no reflow issues too. Are you able to flip through the pages with minimal issues while in split screen mode, or do you have to manually resize the page each time? Also, it looks like you have this in 'landscape' mode - is that correct? Awesome feature if so. Too bad these are still so niche and therefore pricey, $800 is a painful price point for such a device imo.

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#335

Post by Normal_gaussian »

georgeecollins wrote: post #319
NikolaNovak wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed that early on; 15 years ago, I was keeping notes on a "feature phone with sliding keyboard". I was pulled by my manager for being disrespectful after the meeting; I showed him the notes and demonstrated that I was by far the most attention / had the best retention / was most involved in the meeting, but still... the message was - it looks unprofessional, stop it. Thing is: * My handwriting sucks (I liter…

That's so funny- that makes me think: 2007 (or so) a manager asked me not to use a Windows Pen Tablet in a meeting because it wasn't respectful. 2011 Every senior manager brings an iPad to meetings and seem to get distracted. 2015 (Tech co) Everybody brings an MacBook Air or a MacBook pro to every meeting 2018 (Entertainment Co) Any electronic device is considered disrespectful in a meeting, especially phones.

and this is why I love remote work in a tight team. Cameras are really only on for standups / outside of team meetings / coffee breaks. Instead we do whatever we think is appropriate during meetings.

I normally make notes on paper and use the computer to fact check myself and the conversation (where it matters). It makes everything waay faster.

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#336

Post by h3ctic »

noobly wrote: post #320

Opportunities to ask about these devices don't come up very often, so please help me decide what I want here: I want something that allows me to do math problems while laying down horizontally, mostly before bed. With a book and paper, it's a mess trying to do this, and I require e-ink. So I need good support for reading PDFs _and_ writing on screen, which is a niche apparently. I need split screen functionality or s…

The remarkable is not able to do split screen (for now). Instead, you can install the [ddvk hacks](https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable-hacks) for fast switching between recent documents and a swipe to the previous document.

I'd recommend the remarkable2 as the hacker friendliness makes quite a difference

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#337

Post by asoneth »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #303
nemosaltat wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in the Navy I carried a little memoranda pad in my left breast pocket. I’d take notes each day, at the beginning of each new day, I’d carry any necessary information from the previous day to the next page and then fold the previous page along the diagonal, alternating the folds right and left each day. The effects of pulling out a notepad and jotting notes are markedly different than pulling out a phone or…

I've noticed that early on; 15 years ago, I was keeping notes on a "feature phone with sliding keyboard". I was pulled by my manager for being disrespectful after the meeting; I showed him the notes and demonstrated that I was by far the most attention / had the best retention / was most involved in the meeting, but still... the message was - it looks unprofessional, stop it. Thing is: * My handwriting sucks (I liter…

I've noticed that as well -- no matter how engaged someone is, if there is a screen that they can see but others can't then it is an information imbalance that is disruptive to the normal flow of conversation. It's like hearing half a phone conversation -- your brain works overtime trying to reconstruct the part it can't see. And it makes some sense; when I am talking to a person and they keep glancing at their laptop, phone, or watch it's exceedingly off-putting and they seem disengaged even in cases when other evidence indicates they are paying attention.

I've similarly noticed that interacting with someone wearing a bluetooth headset or smart glasses is off-putting no matter how much they indicate they are paying attention and not watching or listening to something I can't see.

Like you, I prefer to type my notes. I've found that angling the screen down so that I can't see it either and then maintaining normal eye contact with everyone makes the problem mostly go away. Possibly because I'm not constantly breaking eye contact to furtively glance at a glowing screen that they can't see. Or possibly because I wasn't paying as much attention as I felt like I was -- there is some research that indicates that people who can see a screen or TV while they are accomplishing a task often significantly underestimate how much time they spent looking at it and how much it negatively impacted their task performance.

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#338

Post by MivLives »

jagger27 wrote: post #308
NikolaNovak wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed that early on; 15 years ago, I was keeping notes on a "feature phone with sliding keyboard". I was pulled by my manager for being disrespectful after the meeting; I showed him the notes and demonstrated that I was by far the most attention / had the best retention / was most involved in the meeting, but still... the message was - it looks unprofessional, stop it. Thing is: * My handwriting sucks (I liter…

I wonder if something like old school Graffiti (from Palm OS) would work for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti_(Palm_OS)

Does anything modern support this? Does the remarkable? Because this would be killer for me. I have terrible hand writing and being able to type without hauling out a keyboard would be great for notes.

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#339

Post by Loughla »

pomatic wrote: post #316

I have an RM1 and it's pretty good, it's a one trick pony and does that trick (paper notebook replacement) well. The only issue I have is discovery/searching of old notes. If ReMarkable would add wiki or roam style linking, it could readily become a second brain. I really think they are missing a trick there...

Honestly, if they would just allow any sort of tagging of pages and selection by tag, this thing would completely change my life. We get so many lawsuits and foia requests that being able to quickly find notes related to "person a" or "activity a" is vital.

If the current RM2 had tagging, and an 8.5"x11" functional screen, I would be obscenely content with the product. It might be the perfect daily driver tool for my job at that point.

Re: The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air

#340

Post by sireat »

I have RM2 and use it less than I would like to.

RM2 is fine as a note taking device but is suboptimal for reading.

As many other have said the Remarkable 2 hardware is impressive but the default software is weak for basic reading tasks.

With Koreader RM2 is quite decent.

Latest RM2 update seems to have bricked Koreader though so I will have to reinstall it.

Still, I prefer the original Sony DSP-1 13inch e-reader or even Kobo 6.8 inch e-reader for long reading sessions.

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