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

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71–80 of 530 posts

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

#71

I always think of the remarkable as a really odd device. Hardware wise, it looks great, but I seldom hear good things about the software, only that it is "improving" for years now. Also, while I think the form factor would be great for a text and graphics based computing device, they seem to invest as much energy as possible in playing down the computing angle, so that instead of having something great to do technica…

E-Mail and Python notebooks? I don't think they these are the primary use cases for a "digital paper" device.

What you consider an "overengineered piece" of paper might be intentional. Maybe you don't need paper - some people do.

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

#72
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 think A is fundamentally impossible. A backlit display is always going to look different to a reflective surface. My money's on C: a new display tech which works similarly to color E-ink, but isn't actually E-ink. Qualcomm's Mirasol technology looked amazing for this, but sadly it never made it into any mainstream products and they've basically shut it down at this point.

> I think A is fundamentally impossible. A backlit display is always going to look different to a reflective surface.

Not all LCDs are backlit. Some are purely reflective or 'transflective' (eg. the screen used on the old Gameboy.) That's not to say they look like paper now but it's not 100% impossible.

Edit: Also the screen used on the Pebble Time watches looks reasonably close to a colour print-out with the backlight off. These are a "memory LCD" made by JDI (although they were somewhat confusingly marketed as "e-paper" despite being an LCD.)

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

#73
I was one of the supporters for the first remarkable and pre-ordered with a bundle with case for $350 (I think) which seemed pretty expensive but I really wanted to support businesses developing these larger scale e-paper tablets.

The battery life was really bad in the first software versions but seems to be a lot better now.

I use it for recipes (I like to write my own version out even when working from a cookbook so that I can modify), UX sketches, and most recently I’ve joined a bookclub and has been great to highlight passages and write notes in the margin for discussion.

Overall it’s been useful, but the early bad experiences with battery life/power management really turned me away from more consistent use (after a couple meetings where it powered down and had to go back to my desk to grab a paper pad).

Would be curious to hear from anyone who got RM2 after RM1 and what their battery life difference has been!

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

#75

I always think of the remarkable as a really odd device. Hardware wise, it looks great, but I seldom hear good things about the software, only that it is "improving" for years now. Also, while I think the form factor would be great for a text and graphics based computing device, they seem to invest as much energy as possible in playing down the computing angle, so that instead of having something great to do technica…

Yeah so you want the Boox with Play Store installed. Then you have all that stuff.

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

#77
post #64

I want one but I don’t know what I’d use it for. Weird problem to have I guess.

You're not alone. I really like ePaper and I like working outside, but my handwriting is terrible and I'm faster typing anyway.

Handwriting gets better with practice. You didn’t start out typing fast either; you had to learn and practice.

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

#78
post #18
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thin (and especially light) tablets are not stupid. I have the fact that especially "pro" tablets are becoming heavier. They're not comfortable to hold. In my opinion the "perfect" tablet should not weigh more than 250-300 grams, we just don't have the tech for a flagship tablet that can weigh that much, yet.

You are right of course. I was primarily thinking of phones, where the battery life is sacrificed for half a millimeter and laptops, where ports are eliminated for a millimeter or two.

From what I've read, consumers will not admit it, but thinness is one of the biggest factors that influences their purchasing decisions

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

#80
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole purpose of E-Ink is to use "passive" displays which are more comfortable to the eye. Adding a backlight would remove that.

Most e ink doesn't use a true backlight, but an array of lights along the inside of the bezel that light up the screen reflectively. It's still very good for battery life. Both the kindle Paperwhite and the onyx tablets have this feature. Onyx even let's you tune the warmth of the light.

The Kindle Oasis also does this
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