
The ReMarkable Tablet: A Review - edward
https://blog.liw.fi/posts/2019/09/22/the_remarkable_tablet_a_review/
======
ACS_Solver
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 tactile feeling goes. This is the main selling point of the RM, and it's very good.

* 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.

* The on-tablet software started out really bad but has improved. The first version had a bug that dramatically reduced battery life. It took a few more updates to get essential features like inserting a blank page in the middle of a notebook.

* The off-tablet software is bad. There's a file manager webapp with remarkably poor UX, the cloud sync API isn't particularly convenient for automation, and so on.

* As a reader, it's mediocre at best. PDFs formatted for large screens look good, but rendering is slow, navigation is poor, etc. I would absolutely not replace my Kindle with the RM.

To summarize, I think the RM is a very good device if you treat it as a
digital paper replacement. That's what it is for me, and I'm happy. But if you
want a good e-book reader, or any advanced software at all, this isn't the
right device.

~~~
diggan
> * 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 anything about it. What makes ReMarkable
more open than most other commercial devices? Seems any device running Android
and alike would be more open to hacking.

Also can't find anything about the company's support of open source.

~~~
ACS_Solver
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 why they would keep it closed -
the RM's competitive advantage is in the hardware design, the xochitl software
is merely okay and could only benefit from user patches.

[1] [https://github.com/reMarkable](https://github.com/reMarkable)

~~~
m463
Can you use the device locally (no cloud or "activation" or account, etc)

~~~
ACS_Solver
You can - if you don't do the cloud setup, the RM won't try to sync anything.
Then your file management options are the device's built-in software (which is
viable prototype quality, not shipping quality) or some custom scripting.
Given that this is HN, you're probably better off writing some small scripts
to manage the device via SSH or curl.

------
Tharkun
I've stopped using mine. It's gathering dust in a corner somewhere. The
hardware is pretty decent, and the writing experience is good. The software,
on the other hand, is not good. There have been a couple of updates since I
bought it, but they've been few and far between. Everything about it is
mediocre. The file manager, meh. The note taking app, meh. The sync, meh.
Getting stuff on it automatically is all but impossible. And I haven't been
able to read some DRM books on it.

It's too expensive to use as just a notepad, but it's not good enough to use
for anything else.

Additionally: the writing experience on the ipad pro is at least as good, and
with just a bit less lag.

~~~
windexh8er
I had the same experience, unfortunately - although I recognized early and
returned it a few weeks after getting it. At the time the software was bad
across the board: on device and off. But the clincher for me was the price of
the device was as much as you'd spend on an iPad and it had no backlight. I'd
go back to considering ReMarkable on next generation if they've learned from
gen 1. My use case was 50% book reading and 50% note/idea pad. I didn't feel
it excelled at either of those. And while I don't enjoy reading on a tablet
the writing experience on the iPad with a tactile screen cover is actually
very good. I realize many would disagree there and I'd agree with that without
the screen cover. I hope ReMarkable keeps going though. In the end it seems
like they've left the platform open enough compared to the locked down
ecosystems. I refuse to buy any Amazon branded eReader because of how limited
in use they are without the Bezos ecosystem.

~~~
away_throw
To each their own, I've found with my ereader that backlight (or are they
frontlights?) are pointless. During the day, I always use no backlight and I
find it easier on the eyes just to turn a lamp on at night.

~~~
cerberusss
Turning on a lamp at night is great when your SO goes to bed later, or doesn't
mind light when going to sleep.

------
rvdca
I am actually wondering to see I buy one. Here is some links that I find
interesting to consider before buying (some of those do answer some previous
comments) :

* Here is a [previous occurrence on HN]([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16321531](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16321531)).

* Here is a ["curated list of (code) projects related to the reMarkable tablet"]([https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable](https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable)).

* Here is a [framework]([https://github.com/canselcik/libremarkable](https://github.com/canselcik/libremarkable)) for "developing applications with native refresh support for Remarkable Tablet " (with a growing Rust APi if you fancy that).

Some notes :

* As you will see by exploring some the links, the tablet is Linux-based so it is definitely possible to piggy-back on some API (see [https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable#apis](https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable#apis) for examples)

* A bunch of alternative synchronization tools have already been implemented (see [https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable#cloud-tools](https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable#cloud-tools))

* The company seems really attached to software updates to improve the device (see [https://blog.remarkable.com/](https://blog.remarkable.com/)).

* From all above, I think that the device _could_ reach a critical mass of adoption and blossom in uses and third-party development but only if enough people engage with the device. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

~~~
lima
There's a pretty active developer community!

Main community resources are on Reddit and Discord:

\-
[https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet)

\- [https://discord.gg/n89uDN](https://discord.gg/n89uDN)

You can use the tablet without the proprietary cloud platform by using the
built-in web interface to transfer data.

~~~
ericlewis
I perused these before and didn’t feel like they are much for developer
resources.. do you have some favorite posts to link to as opposed to the sub
reddit entirely? (Which seems to consist of people wondering which update they
got)

------
foolano
I'm a happy user of this tablet.

I also created a [Go
app]([https://github.com/juruen/rmapi](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...](https://github.com/juruen/rmapi/blob/master/docs/tutorial-print-
macosx.md)) on how to set it up and an actual
[demo]([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOGTYI15VxY&feature=youtu.be](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.

~~~
m-p-3
I hope the idea of a virtual printer catches on for these type of devices. It
would make the switch to a paperless environment in the corporate world so
simple.

~~~
pintxo
OneNote uses the virtual printer on Windows. It is actually really helpful.

------
tapia
I was thinking about buying it, because the stylus seemed to be much better
than the one from the Sony DPT-RP1. However, I decided to buy the DPT-RP1
mainly for its size (13" is just perfect to read papers and taking notes!).

The writing experience of the DPT-RP1 is not great, but I have been using it
for almost a year now and would never go back. The amount of paper that I have
laying around at work now is minimal. I have created a virtual printer to just
sent whatever file I am reading to the DPT-RP1.

Although there is no official support for Linux there is a very good python
API developed by some guy, which works perfectly. Color e-ink would be nice to
have for the next version, but I'm ok if only the stylus gets an upgrade.

~~~
xvilka
Problem with Sony for that amount of cash is the lack of ePub support. This is
why I bought iReader Smart. The biggest nuisance with iReader is the Chinese
only interface.

~~~
naraic0o
i hadn't heard of this one before. do you have a link with more info? where
did you purchase from?

~~~
xvilka
See these:

[0]
[https://item.m.jd.com/product/100000118023.html](https://item.m.jd.com/product/100000118023.html)

[1] [https://www.ifanr.com/1096368](https://www.ifanr.com/1096368)

------
Jhsto
I bought the tablet for two reasons:

\- I write research papers. I suffer from writer's block when using a computer
for a prolonged period of time. I thought that writing by hand would be
different enough so that when I get a block on the computer, I could write by
hand. This was true. And with the OCR engine built-in, I can easily convert my
notes to a format ready to be pasted to Overleaf.

\- SVG support lets me draw illustrations for my academic papers. This turned
out not to work as well as I imagined, but still good enough to get the point
across and recreate the SVGs by hand on a separate software.

I still read books on a Kindle, and I still read papers on the computer. This
has more to do with how much easier it is to take and export notes on the
devices.

The reMarkable is expensive, but if your job is writing or illustrating, I
think it makes sense to invest in your capability to do it more.

------
j-pb
I agree with the assessment that opening up the remarkable software stack
would be a huge selling point.

I bought one for my girlfriend and she's super happy with it, but having a
mosh console on there would allow her to ditch her macbook.

Being able to code on it would also cause me to get one and ditch my iPad Pro.

~~~
sandsmark
> [...] but having a mosh console on there would allow here to ditch her
> macbook. [..] Being able to code on it would also cause me to get one and
> ditch my iPad Pro.

Not officially supported or endorsed in any way, shape or form, and I don't
even know if it even still builds, but I did a quick proof of concept porting
fingerterm;
[https://iskrembilen.com/fingerterm+vim.jpg](https://iskrembilen.com/fingerterm+vim.jpg)

[https://github.com/reMarkable/fingerterm](https://github.com/reMarkable/fingerterm)

I don't think it's very usable in practice, though, but it was cool for about
five minutes to muck about in a terminal emulator on an e ink display.

~~~
codetrotter
I didn’t realize it until visiting your HN profile but I see you are one of
the people behind reMarkable!

And you guys are based in Norway too!

A few questions if you don’t mind.

How many people are in your company?

What are the current and future plans of the company in terms of product? Keep
improving the software for the current hardware? Make new models with
different hardware?

Where in Norway are you located?

Are you looking to increase the number of people working in your company?
Planning to hire more software developers?

And in terms of the open source parts of it, I don’t have this product, nor
have I really heard about it before, so I haven’t had a chance to try it but,
is everything that the community would need available in order to create a
fully open source alternative “firmware” (or really, a “distro” might be a
better name for it since it’s running a Linux kernel and all) that can run on
your hardware?

~~~
sandsmark
We generally have a policy of not communicating externally by default (way too
many startups have failed because of loose lips and over-promising), but I'll
answer with what's already known publicly. :-)

> How many people are in your company?

Around 70¹.

> Where in Norway are you located?

Oslo¹ (or you can search for reMarkable on google maps).

> Are you looking to increase the number of people working in your company?
> Planning to hire more software developers?

Yes, yes and yes. :-)

[https://remarkable.com/careers](https://remarkable.com/careers)

> [...] is everything that the community would need available in order to
> create a fully open source alternative “firmware” (or really, a “distro”
> might be a better name for it since it’s running a Linux kernel and all)
> that can run on your hardware?

It's just a completely standard Linux system, and as required we publish the
source code for u-boot and Linux and whatnot, so yes.

I originally wanted to just run plain Debian on it (or ALARM), but it was
easier to just start with a minimal system and put on as little as possible,
especially when you're a single person trying to keep track of everything.

Now we've expanded the team a bit, and ideally we could upstream at least the
kernel patches so we don't have to forward-port everything ourselves, but it's
not a high priority unfortunately.

And we're still a relatively small team, it's a bit hard to find a lot of good
kernel developers who want to switch jobs in Norway.

¹:
[https://www.dn.no/teknologi/teknologi/nettbrett/remarkable/r...](https://www.dn.no/teknologi/teknologi/nettbrett/remarkable/remarkable-
har-solgt-norske-nettbrett-for-400-millioner-kroner/2-1-562312)

~~~
314
Have you considered hiring remotely? (I read your recruitment pages and while
it does not say that you don’t explicitly your hiring process looks as if you
are recruiting only for on-site positions).

------
19f191ty
I've been using reMarkable for more than a year now. It's a very mediocre
product with major software problems, BUT, I still will not trade mine with
anyone for one simple reason: it allows me to disconnect and think. iPad,
surface are all better in terms of features, but I get easily distracted. When
I have to write something I am having real difficulty with, reMarkable works
much better. Can't precisely explain why, but my guess is that it allows me to
focus more deeply, like a blackboard or notebook.

~~~
criddell
Does it do a good job of recognizing your handwriting?

------
Erlich_Bachman
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSv0g-pYMAk)

~~~
minimalist
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...](https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?s=42e53ed5d56f02832e3d471f6144513c&p=3788060&postcount=40)

[1]:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20190122063838/http://bbs.onyx-i...](https://web.archive.org/web/20190122063838/http://bbs.onyx-
international.com/t/please-provide-source-code-for-kernel-and-bootloader/237)

[2]: [http://bbs.onyx-international.com/t/install-linux-or-
alterna...](http://bbs.onyx-international.com/t/install-linux-or-alternate-os-
and-gpl2-kernel-source/698)

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

~~~
rjzzleep
All of what you say is true, but I'd still recommend the devices. The nova pro
has been the best ereader device I've had. The software has gotten quite good
as well. They said they will release android 9 for other devices than the Max3
but I believe it when I see it.

I know that they actually submitted requests to incorporate changes into third
party apps like evernote to support better rendering for their devices, which
was denied. I think this is a limitation of android which they work around
with their "SDK", but I could be wrong.

The GPL thing, judging from the forum discussion to me seems like whoever is
responding is a middle man. And the Leadership quite literally doesn't
understand it. IP theft doesn't really matter for China in the way it does for
the US anyway. And it doesn't really matter for the kernel anyway. Actually it
doesn't matter in most places unless you're big enough to have big license
issues and even then even when strings match historically it was hard to make
a case in court. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think they're hiding
it because of IP theft but rather because they don't understand the GPL or the
value of open source. The flip side is that you can easily root the device
because of the exploits.

I've used the Max 2 both with termux and vim to ssh outdoor and as a monitor
for a one mix 2s laptop I had at the time. 2GB Ram(the original max 2) wasn't
really enough for my emacs setup so it would crash emacs when I was using org
mode. I think the Max 3 is probably nice, but at the same time it's not really
that big an upgrade that I would pay for it.

------
cassowary37
Here's my use case: as a scientist, I'm often in the position of needing to
review multiple 20+ page grants or manuscripts, resulting in hundreds of pages
at a time. I find it far easier to read closely and retain info when I can
write directly on the documents, then circle back to collect my comments, vs
typing directly. At a certain point, looking at reams of paper coming out of
the printer made me feel slightly sick to my stomach. Plus, I appreciate that
I'm not left with those stacks of paper sitting on my desk.

(Before someone does the inevitable HN calculation about why the materials
used to make the Remarkable are far worse for the planet than all the trees
killed to print grants - yes, you're probably right. YMMV.)

I had tried the various ipad and equivalents, and the RM's big advantage is
that it feels like reading/writing on paper, mostly - something about the
matte screen and stylus, though the stylus is sort of craptastic.

As others note, the software is clunky with annotations moving around on the
page, and there's a bit of lag. But, I have yet to find anything better. I do
wish there were an easy way to collect all the annotations in one place, but
my handwriting as an MD is appallingly bad so that may be an impossible task.

~~~
sdrothrock
> I had tried the various ipad and equivalents, and the RM's big advantage is
> that it feels like reading/writing on paper, mostly - something about the
> matte screen and stylus, though the stylus is sort of craptastic.

I have a few artist friends who said the same thing about the iPad and Apple
Pencil, but then they started buying paper-like non-glossy protective sheets
and said it improved the experience immeasurably. I don't know how appropriate
that would be for you, but they're apparently relatively cheap, so maybe you
could give that a shot if you still have an iPad sitting around?

------
ThePadawan
I bought and returned one a year ago.

I found that the two use cases I wanted most...:

* quick note taking

* syncing and reading long books

didn't work out that well.

As the author says, APIs for syncing are no fun. I also found that the tablet
didn't keep up with my writing quickly enough at all.

It also didn't really allow for "let me just jot this down and then check it
out later on my PC". Like, all I wanted was a "notes-<timestamp>.png"
automatically in a folder on my PC to look at later, and that seemed
completely impossible.

~~~
savolai
The writing experience improved a lot with an update this autumn. Doesn't seem
slow at all for me, makes me wonder if you had a flawed or early version.

[https://blog.remarkable.com/software-update-1-8-improved-
bru...](https://blog.remarkable.com/software-update-1-8-improved-brushes-
better-syncing-and-a-smoother-reading-experience-ef0cc581a77a)

~~~
ThePadawan
I bought mine in May, so that sounds like I just missed it.

Bummer!

Unfortunately, retailers in Switzerland don't stock it, otherwise I would like
to check out the improvements to confirm that my experience was just blemished
by being an early adopter.

~~~
savolai
Mine is a couple of years old. It was a software update.

------
knolax
As someone who use pens with 0.38mm tips, most touch screens and graphics
tablets I've come across simply don't have enough resolution to write
comfortably. Reading this review made me go down a rabbit hole of various
E-Ink tablets but it's becoming increasingly frustrating to find that
literally none of them list the LPI of the touch screen. I can't even find any
measurements on how big the nibs on the styluses are. Can anyone else who uses
fine-tipped pens comment on the writing experience for this tablet?

------
eyeball
I put a paper feel screen protector on an iPad Pro. Using GoodNotes feels just
like writing on paper with a pen now.

------
kendallpark
> While the tablet keeps up with writing just fine, it's a little slow when
> jumping around a long document.

I haven't found a good tablet analog for a sense of "place" within a document
and fast indexing. With a book, I can flip through the pages by bending the
pages and sliding my thumb over the edges (like a deck of cards). On a laptop,
ctrl+F is approximately the same speed as thumbing through physical pages
(sometimes better, sometimes worse, depending on how unique the search term
is). My iPad is intentionally set up for handwriting, [1] but I still find
searching through documents on a tablet pretty tedious.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20271316](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20271316)

------
mindB
Does anyone have a way of setting up the ReMarkable to run Emacs with an
external keyboard? If so, the device might be able to satisfy 2 disparate
needs in my life for a more portable and readable outdoors coding environment
as well as for note-taking as a paper replacement.

------
fatso784
Bought mine a year ago, and love it. It’s fundamentally changed how I read and
write —no more papers, easy to get PDFs and textbooks onto it through my Mac
or phone. If you’re an academic and read a lot, it’s an invaluable way to do
your eyes a favor and also eliminate distractions. Had an Ipad and disliked
the backlight. Also, not sure what people are saying on here, but the writing
fidelity is some of the best I’ve ever seen (used to work in pen-based
interfaces). It’s not a glossy screen like ipad, it’s matte, there’s friction.
The size of it too makes it perfect for reading academic PDFs and textbooks
galore. Yes it can be slow, but I’m not on it to play games or whatever. I’m
on it to read.

~~~
amelius
> Yes it can be slow, but I’m not on it to play games or whatever. I’m on it
> to read.

Ok, but what about zooming and panning, or flipping pages?

------
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.

------
eximius
Bought one, returned it within their 30 day window.

It wrote well, but the software supporting it is terrible. The only way to get
your scribbles off the thing is by having it do some attempt at OCR and then
it EMAILS you the text.

------
green7ea
I have a reMarkable and I'm really happy with it. I can't recommend it for
everyone yet but if you like to tinker it's really really nice.

I wrote a small script that downloads the articles from news websites and puts
them on the device using 'wkhtmltopdf -a5' and it has become my morning
newspaper.

The software isn't perfect but it works well enough (and getting better all
the time) and the fact that you can write your own makes it perfect for me.

~~~
dredmorbius
Does the script run on the the device or externally?

Is there shell access on the device? If so, what packages / distribution does
it run / use?

~~~
green7ea
For now the script runs on a computer and transmits the files to the device
using wifi or a cable but there isn't really a reason why it can't run on the
device. I do plan on making something like that work on the device eventually.

I'm pretty sure it's a Yocto based Linux image based on the toolchain they
distribute.

~~~
dredmorbius
Thanks.

What's the WiFi transfer mechanism? Push or pull?

~~~
green7ea
For now the computer pushes to the tablet but it would be simple to write a
program to pull.

------
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?

~~~
sitkack
Science, engineering, medicine. There are tens of millions of folks who would
use this over an iPad.

~~~
joegahona
Is willingness to pay part of the definition of a "market"? (Honest question;
I didn't go to business school.) I don't doubt there are "tens of millions of
folks who would use this over an iPad" if it were free -- I'm one of those
people -- but to buy this in addition to, or instead of, an iPad? No way.

------
jayaram
did anyone ever try the sony's digital paper ? It is super pricey but I am yet
to find someone reliable to get an honest opinion of the device

link - [https://www.sony.com/electronics/digital-paper-
notepads/dpt-...](https://www.sony.com/electronics/digital-paper-notepads/dpt-
series)

~~~
jesuslop
I have one (DPT-S1) for years after a kindle DX screen felt too small, and
still use it for reading technical papers and books. Papers are a pleasure to
read. The weight is light-feather. The price was extravaganza-level but
haven't repented, I love this gadget. It synchronizes via web-dav with (for
me) a box.com account, perhaps slowly. Is a superb reading device, battery
lasts more than a week. Is not a tablet, web browising is enough for landing
in a specific blog post or wikipedia article, but anything cpu consuming will
be slow. After the years the stylus cilindrical holder came apart. The writing
experience is functional, but lags to a point compared with pen and pencil
(but is workable). Mine has SD-card with 32 gigs. Page flip on scanned books
makes you wait. The software is minimalist but not buggy. No sound.

------
itronitron
I've had one of these since 12/18 and like it quite a bit. I use it as a
sketchbook and to take notes. When I first got it the stylus felt a bit too
slippery however after some use it feels more like a normal writing
instrument. My only suggestion is that they should sort templates so that
recently used ones appear first.

------
zachruss92
I bought one for myself for Christmas a few years ago. I disliked it so much I
ended up returning it. My use case was to use it for notes (bullet journal)
and as an eReader. It was ok for taking notes, but for the money it needed to
be amazing. I personally wouldn't recommend it. Also their customer support
was terrible.

------
Waterluvian
What I need in my work life is an e ink tablet and the software to draw
diagrams.

I have terrible legibility. Using mouse based draw apps feel so tedious for
rough iterative sketches that it's hard to ever justify.

The app would ideally be like the Newton in the way it autocompletes the
shapes. The tablet would likely be something like this one.

------
hsivonen
I wish someone did a light A4-sized eInk device with these software features:

* PDF reader

* epub reader

* well-maintained paged-media mode Web browser (well-maintained meaning timely security patches for the browser and the base system)

* no app, just standard MTP over USB and whatever the Bluetooth file transfer protocol is called

* reasonable privacy stance (not collecting what documents are read)

When looking for the above, which doesn't exist, I settled on Sony Digital
Paper (DPT-RP1) instead of ReMarkable. (My recollection is that the Sony
device had a larger display and didn't assume a cloud component, which could
shut down.)

Sony has the hardware side solved albeit in U.S. Letter size instead of A4.
However, of the other points, it only does PDF.

Sadly, despite being based on Android 5, which meant they could have gotten
the standard file transfers for free, Sony disabled that stuff and forces the
use of their Windows and Mac app to load the PDFs onto the device. At least
back when I bought the device (which was before the GDPR came into effect),
the terms of service for the app were unreasonable: The terms claimed the
content of the PC running the app as fair game for telemetry. Nope, nope. I've
never connected the device to the network and I run the app in a manner that
blocks it from accessing the network. One shouldn't have to take steps like
this. The app and the terms for the app make even less sense considering that
the marketing target of the device is doctors and lawyers, who even in the
U.S. have specific document confidentiality obligations.

Sadly, I have no idea what kind of business model would enable a well-
maintained paged-media mode Web browser. Taking an existing Web engine and
making its print-oriented paged-media capabilities work well in the
interactive case would be a major project in itself. And top of that, actually
keeping up with security patches would be hard work. (I have used a
continuous-media Web browser on eInk, and it's not a good experience.)

Anyway, I wouldn't go back to not having a Digital Paper device, but I feel
dirty about Sony having gotten my money despite me having to deal with their
PC-side app and its terms.

~~~
dredmorbius
My wishlist is comparable, though I'd also very much like to see document
management tools scalable to 1,000s to 10,000s of items (yes, really, and yes,
I've well over 5,000 docs on my current tablet, and no, I can't organise them
anywhere near as I'd like).

The Web browser is a danger (distraction) but also useful utility.

Someone's web clippings / bookmarks / downloads manager (Pinboard, Pocket,
etc.) or equivalent or export manager would be another hugely useful addition.

The option to source content from third-party sites, including Gutenberg,
Wikisource, Sci-Hub, and LibGen.

Adding email and messaging is another distraction risk, but with appropriate
disturbance controls, possibly within spec.

And, because I find shells hugely useful, some sort of extensive Linux shell
(like Termux for Android, or better). A minority want, but a powerful one.

------
DeepYogurt
I also have one of these and price aside it's amazing. It's not android which
I think is a positive as it aids the "get out of my way and let me read/write"
ethos. It's expensive and it has had some really basic bugs, but if they make
a version 2 I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

------
ngcc_hk
The hard work of syncing kill me.

I have to switch from these kind of paper device as it is hard to manage info
across them. Pad like devices are paper to me and kindle. It is more like in
Star Trek you see captain use a few pad devices as if there were separate
books/doc. It would be better if the two New iPad Air can manage the files in
their app. As it can’t, I bought new old stock of macbook 12”. It is all
portable and all work together.

as background I own kindle, boss the pad size and the huge one (max 2). Once
the ipad has the paper like screen protector i did the switch. The newly
bought 15” i9! Is not portable. Hence the macbook 12

------
lottin
Like the review says this device is most useful for reading PDFs. Tablets
aren't an option because 1) too heavy and 2) not enough battery life, whereas
most e-book readers do a poor job displaying PDFs because they're too small.
There's only a handful of large screen e-ink devices and this tablet is one of
them.

------
avani
It is a perfect device for those of us who spend a lot of our days reading and
annotating scientific papers. The refresh rate on the screen is not relevant
at (at least my) paper reading speed, and I can email marked up documents to
collaborators and students.

------
just_testing
How does this compare to a kobo libra? I have one Kobo Libra, use it for PDFs,
as the screen has enough DPI and is big enough, but it's not the best
experience.

Absolutely love the Pocket integration and KOReader, though. Also, the lights.

------
shaded-enmity
I'm still waiting for the ability to quickly share my drawings/writings with
others over the internet. Really wanted to use it in architecture/design
meetings instead of wonky jamboard.

~~~
dredmorbius
ReMarkable does allow emailing content. That's not directly Webable, but you
might set up something to collect/publish, if you wanted.

------
tzury
IMHO, $500 is a stiff price for such device.

[https://remarkable.com/store/reMarkable-and-
marker](https://remarkable.com/store/reMarkable-and-marker)

~~~
jimmydddd
Agreed. As I scrolled through the Web page, I was thinking to myself that it
looks cool and that I'd buy it on a whim if it came in around $200. But when I
saw the about $500 price point, I was more like, hmmm, let me read the HN
comments. The comments look to be fair but meh. So, it gets put on the someday
wishlist.

------
gregjotau
I have bought both the Remarkable and all the Onyx Boox Max devices.

I ended up selling the Remarkable since I stopped using it after University.

For most textbooks a 13 inch e-reader is _much_ better.

------
Kevin_S
Do any of these tablets sync with Endnote? I am an academic and organize
research using Endnote, and I would need the tablet to pull and sync with my
endnote.

------
mintyc
Any support for Microsoft office apps (even if via third party)? docx, pptx
and xlsx?

------
exabrial
As a musician I am really interested in this to stop wasting paper on lead
sheets.

------
canadev
After reading this article I was all set to look into the ReMarkable as a big
e-reader. Then I read this thread and I'm glad that I don't!

I have no use for writing in a tablet. Can anyone recommend a big e-reader
suitable for textbooks? I'd like a 13" Kindle or something...

~~~
dredmorbius
One of the larger iPads might work for you.

I've been using a 9" Android tablet, which has a pretty good form factor, but
is abysmal in virtually all other regards. Extensive notes:

[https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/lqgtwy_rhsfbdh5cdxb1rq](https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/lqgtwy_rhsfbdh5cdxb1rq)

Having an integrable folio-style keyboard is a hard requirement, and Apple
seem to be filling this niche, though their manufacturer (Logitech) is the
same company I've had an horrible experience with myself.

at 9", _almost_ all PDF-format texts are readable, though _good bookreading
software_ is hard to come by. I've mostly settled on PocketBook, which is
reasonably inobtrusive for reading, but which makes large-scale document
management (10k+ items) impossible. The metadata fields, as an example, lack
an author field, and updating content metadata is cumbersome to the point of
being all but impossible.

I've been hunting for alternatives, but to date, no joy. Apple's devices look
superior based on hardware, though I have concerns for the actual usage
experience.

[https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/lqgtwy_rhsfbdh5cdxb1rq](https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/lqgtwy_rhsfbdh5cdxb1rq)

------
reustle
I can't wait until I can browse the web on a device like this

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

~~~
masukomi
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.

~~~
Wowfunhappy
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?

~~~
johnday
It is e-ink.

The refresh rate is good because they have come up with a clever method of
only refreshing regions of the screen at once. Eg if you draw a line, it will
only refresh the axis-aligned rectangle enclosing that line.

------
boltzmannbrain
OP and ReMarkable users, what ebook stores do you use?

------
rasengan0
I signed up to ReMarkable during the beta/pilot announcement having gone
through decades of testing Palms, iPads, eReaders, pen scanners in search for
that analog experience.

I didn't pull the trigger after the early adopter review having seen so many
of these devices rushed to market with half-baked file i/o or UI issues with
crippled hardware/software slowing that "pen/pencil and paper" experience
down. This marketing desire generation is usually coupled with amazing
incredible first impression reviews
[https://youtu.be/RGsWLeHZT8Y](https://youtu.be/RGsWLeHZT8Y) that only
scratches the surface of total ownership experience.

So far the iPad with Pencil has come closest but who wants to lug that heavy
thing around?! From my experience, customers really have to buy the
company/platform not the device in hopes that they have staying power.
Remember Livescribe?
[https://www.youtube.com/user/nevermissaword/featured](https://www.youtube.com/user/nevermissaword/featured)
Well they're baaack ... again.

I can only hope the best for ReMarkable and that they sustain the ecosystem to
continue on with "your" notes. +1 for the open source we direly need it and
that may be enough to support them and buy their 3rd gen model.

Currently I'm really enjoying analog fountain pens and paper, although more
expensive! (14K nibs with custom grinds) they're pros on interface pleasure,
offset power consumption, privacy and well ingrained UI. Search is waay slower
but it helps brain power.

My later tech bet is on paper journal digitalization like Google Books with
data capsules:
[https://wiki.htrc.illinois.edu/display/COM/HTRC+Data+Capsule](https://wiki.htrc.illinois.edu/display/COM/HTRC+Data+Capsule)
and doesn't everyone use MyScript API for handrec anyways?
[https://developer.myscript.com/](https://developer.myscript.com/) or more
openly I'm hoping on improvements to the tessaract pipeline:
[https://github.com/tesseract-
ocr/tesseract/wiki/ImproveQuali...](https://github.com/tesseract-
ocr/tesseract/wiki/ImproveQuality)

As for current digital solutions, sadly it's going to the big gorillas via
market share like MS with Onenote, or Google with chromebook tablet
[https://chromeunboxed.com/chrome-os-78-tablet-mode-ui-
overvi...](https://chromeunboxed.com/chrome-os-78-tablet-mode-ui-overview-
google/) (termux Evil Org-mode with your fav Android pdf reader for papers!?)
and Apple iPad pencil. Does it have to be this way? It would be ReMarkable if
they can pull this off!

------
moonbug
these devices are just lovely for weiting and sketching.

------
balaksakrionon
does this device have nextcloud integration?

------
alexandernst
For the price it has, you could as well buy an iPad Pro, which will do
literally anything the ReMarkable will do, but better.

~~~
nieve
Except display text on an e-ink reflective screen. They're fundamentally
different for most people.

