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Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

variousbits.net

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Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#11

Post by gcr »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #5

the main downside of the Remarkable 2 for me is I need to use my glasses to read on it. Resizing PDFS etc. always end up being too large and not fit in screen, the screen is too dark to give sufficient contrast. This was not a problem for my Kobo, Kindle or Pocketbook readers. I got it really for reading and thought it was a nice size for what I wanted, but amazingly enough the bigger Remarkable is worse for reading…

Wait, reading PDFs on a Kindle is better than reading them on a remarkable??

Does Kindle have some fancy PDF reflow stuff going on?

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#12

Post by srvmshr »

I deliberated for a long time to choose between Remarkable 2 and the conventional iPad - and in the end just stuck to the iPad (after trying a borrowed Re-2 for a few days)

* The reading quality & feel to the hands is far superior in Remarkable 2 and it looks much more affordable to entry level iPad, but at the end of the day it is constrained to be just a reading/annotating device.

* For people like me who prefer Android as day to day driver, but occasionally require use of FaceTime or iMessage to connect with others (friends abroad or in group), iPad is very convenient.

* Apple Pencil objectively feels more polished and versatile as a stylus for variety of tasks - note taking, sketching, minor photo touch-up, evaluating paper & reviews etc. The nibs are replaceable as well.

* The software ecosystem around Remarkable 2 still has enough rough edges. It is not that smooth to sync, transfer or update the device. iCloud+GoodNotes integration wins by large margin.

* iPad (and the Pro more so) has a camera which comes handy at scanning and annotating documents quickly (loaded directly to Goodnotes) versus going through scanning and transferring that to Remarkable 2

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#13

Post by gcr »

paulcole wrote: post #9
fristys wrote: post #3

Despite all the negative fuss about it - I love the Kindle Scribe. It feels and sounds like paper and works great for work note taking and journaling. Oh, and I can read books on it too.

I’ve got both the Scribe and the Remarkable 2. The Scribe is the best ebook reader I’ve ever owned. Battery life is incredible. Great screen. Easy access to Amazon Kindle store (duh). It’s (at best) blah and frustrating for handwritten notes. The Remarkable 2 is amazing at handwritten notes and an atrocious ebook reader. To be fair it is advertised as a digital notebook and I find most people who hate it are like, “I…

Would putting koreader on the remarkable 2 resolve most of your concerns?

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#14

Post by jebarker »

I bought and returned a Remarkable 2. I primarily wanted it for note taking but I found it actually felt worse to write on than the iPad with Apple Pencil and a matte screen protector. The iPad is also much more responsive and versatile when taking notes, e.g. better shape recognition, pressure sensitivity and palm rejection. As others have mentioned the Remarkable software is very limiting too in terms of reading, annotating and sharing documents.

EDIT: one more complaint - the remarkable pencil nibs wear away very fast. They give you spares but they didn't last long.

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#15

Post by fristys »

paulcole wrote: post #9
fristys wrote: post #3

Despite all the negative fuss about it - I love the Kindle Scribe. It feels and sounds like paper and works great for work note taking and journaling. Oh, and I can read books on it too.

I’ve got both the Scribe and the Remarkable 2. The Scribe is the best ebook reader I’ve ever owned. Battery life is incredible. Great screen. Easy access to Amazon Kindle store (duh). It’s (at best) blah and frustrating for handwritten notes. The Remarkable 2 is amazing at handwritten notes and an atrocious ebook reader. To be fair it is advertised as a digital notebook and I find most people who hate it are like, “I…

That's great and all, but with the latest firmware the notetaking experience is great on the Scribe, and, at least in Europe, it's a fraction of the price of the Remarkable. And I don't have to pay a subscription

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#16

Post by paulcole »

gcr wrote: post #13
paulcole wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve got both the Scribe and the Remarkable 2. The Scribe is the best ebook reader I’ve ever owned. Battery life is incredible. Great screen. Easy access to Amazon Kindle store (duh). It’s (at best) blah and frustrating for handwritten notes. The Remarkable 2 is amazing at handwritten notes and an atrocious ebook reader. To be fair it is advertised as a digital notebook and I find most people who hate it are like, “I…

Would putting koreader on the remarkable 2 resolve most of your concerns?

They’re not concerns lol. I have a shitload of Amazon ebooks and I have a Scribe. I don’t want to futz with trying to force ebooks onto the Remarkable 2.

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#17

Post by paulcole »

fristys wrote: post #15
paulcole wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve got both the Scribe and the Remarkable 2. The Scribe is the best ebook reader I’ve ever owned. Battery life is incredible. Great screen. Easy access to Amazon Kindle store (duh). It’s (at best) blah and frustrating for handwritten notes. The Remarkable 2 is amazing at handwritten notes and an atrocious ebook reader. To be fair it is advertised as a digital notebook and I find most people who hate it are like, “I…

That's great and all, but with the latest firmware the notetaking experience is great on the Scribe, and, at least in Europe, it's a fraction of the price of the Remarkable. And I don't have to pay a subscription

I mean I’ve got both and have used both. I know which one has a great notetaking experience for me and which is at best mediocre.

Also, I got grandfathered in to the Connect subscription but I think it’s mostly pointless for my use case.

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#18

Post by boesboes »

liendolucas wrote: post #10
DonsDiscountGas wrote: post #6

I've had a remarkable 2 for awhile, and it works great for what it was designed to be (writing). I would really love to be able to read on it as well, that experience has not been great. So maybe I'll check out the Boox.

I took for granted that such expensive device would render at least epubs and PDFs flawlessly.

Yeah, that part feels reallly lazy. They wouldn't even have to build something better, there is open source ereader software already that is 100x better.

Remarkable screams designed by marketing to me tbh. Features exists to sell, existing customers can suck it.

I really want to like the RM, but it just misses the mark on software quality and performance. UI is clunky and latency _just_ high enough to be anoying to me. I'll probably pre-order the RM3 if that ever comes though :)

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#19

Post by penneallagricia »

liendolucas wrote: post #10
DonsDiscountGas wrote: post #6

I've had a remarkable 2 for awhile, and it works great for what it was designed to be (writing). I would really love to be able to read on it as well, that experience has not been great. So maybe I'll check out the Boox.

I took for granted that such expensive device would render at least epubs and PDFs flawlessly.

It does render epubs and PDFs flawlessly indeed and the reading experience is great. I don't know what OP is talking about.

Bonus: reading black and white comics on a remarkable feels even better than on paper.

Re: Thoughts on the Remarkable 2

#20

Post by dexterlagan »

desert_rue wrote: post #4

I have Supernote. It has some pretty nifty organization features that the Remarkable doesn’t have- you can create a table of contents as well as tag and star pages. It makes it easier to find the notes you need.

Second the Supernote. After having looked at the Scribe and Remarkable 2, I went with it. Actually feels like a proper notepad, the pens look and feel like expensive fountain pens and the whole experience is uncluttered and clean. The A6X is small enough to fit in any of my bags, and in a jacket pocket, which isn't something you can say about all the other 10 inches devices. It never leaves me.
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