
ReMarkable 2.0 – A digital notebook that feels like paper - punnerud
https://remarkable.com/#What_Is_New
======
jbeard4
I have been very happy with my ReMarkable 1, and have ordered the ReMarkable
2.0.

Hacker News might be interested in the active development community around the
device: [https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-
reMarkable](https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable)

The device is open. It's just an embedded linux device. You can ssh into it,
and run arbitrary code. The SDK is based on Qt. You can also connect a
keyboard to it over a USB-on-the-go port.

I have been imagining porting a lightweight Qt-based virtual terminal to the
device and using it as an e-ink unix terminal. Alas, I have not yet had the
cycles to complete this project.

~~~
krick
It's funny how your comment immediately makes me want to buy it, because the
description on the site with all these silly photos and such for some reason
got me thinking like "looks kinda nice, but since it's _obviously_ something
very Apple-like, it will be as restrictive as it gets, I won't be able to use
it without some obligatory shitty web-account and I probably even won't be
able to read *.cbz comics on it, so... nah, no way I'm paying €400 for it, and
it's not really worth to spend more time looking into it".

Now I'm not sure what effect this site has on the average customer, and if
making it more selling for me would make it less selling for them, but they
actually lost me, and after reading your comment I'm seriously likely to pre-
order. And it's not about your positive evaluation, of course. So I've got a
feeling all these marketing people do advertising wrong somehow.

~~~
capableweb
Same here last time ReMarkable came up. Saw the marketing page and really
liked the hardware and expected it to be locked down, so moved on to reading
the comments. Bunch of comments describing how it's open, runs linux and you
can basically just ssh into it and run stuff. Made a pre-order right there and
then and now waiting for it.

I think we're simply such a small user-base that they don't think to include
it on their landing pages. Most people probably don't care. But since we're on
HN, we most likely care to some degree.

~~~
amirhirsch
Same boat lol. Saw the open-source comments and decided to buy one so I could
make a sheet-music reader that changes pages automatically using facial cues
from an ESP32-CAM

~~~
semi-extrinsic
I'm slightly astonished (have been for a while) at the fact that no-one (as
far as I know) have developed a Guitar Hero style e-ink sheet-music reader.
Imagine how much easier you'd make life for kids learning how to play music!
Software and hardware wise, it's got to be well within the realm of
feasibility.

~~~
scoopdewoop
You should check out Rocksmith. Its guitar hero with real guitar, pretty cool
stuff. I don't see how a scrolling format like guitar hero would fit the slow
refresh rate of an e-ink display, but perhaps you imagine something different.

~~~
yayr
Absolutely love that toy, unfortunately they stopped producing DLCs for it
some time ago to do something else... I wonder what that is.

~~~
Zero_Negative
They are working on RockSmith 2, you don't know this from me.

~~~
codeofficer
I remember a couple years ago getting Rocksmith for my ps4 and absolutely
loving it. The controller mappings were a little unnatural in places but I did
reasonably well with reading their notation/tab. Fast forward to when I tried
to pick it up again a few weeks ago ... I can't read their notation/tab for
the life of me. It's so confusing. Need to rewire my brain somehow.

------
jron
I almost impulse per-ordered the RM2 when I first read about the SD card mod
here on HN. I decided to wait after hearing about the limitations as a reader
and the slow software development. If you're considering the RM2 for anything
other than a sketch/note pad, I highly encourage you to watch this fantastic
review from My Deep Guide:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iIAYMsugzM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iIAYMsugzM)

Full review:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsSI9-gaSSmiXwb7Vjk5V...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsSI9-gaSSmiXwb7Vjk5Vb-
nB41UTnrXd)

I ultimately passed on the device for a few reasons:

1\. The RM1 and 2 both don't allow file transfers as a mass storage device. If
you want local, non cloud based transfer, you need to use a flaky local web UI
that hasn't been improved in years

2\. The internal storage still hasn't been updated from 8 (6 usable) GB. This
is an obvious attempt to sell cloud storage in the future

3\. While the hardware is amazing the software moves at a snail's pace. This
is either management holding development back by trying to simplify the device
out of existence or the team simply lacks the resources or ability to improve
it

4\. There has been almost no attempt to improve reader functionality in years.
Things as simple as font resizing are 30x slower than on a Kindle

5\. It seems obvious to me that management doesn't understand the target
audience for the device

~~~
shados
> It seems obvious to me that management doesn't understand the target
> audience for the device

> If you're considering the RM2 for anything other than a sketch/note pad

It is marketed as a sketch/note pad and that's about it. The e-reader feature
is like the youtube functionality on a Switch. It's there because "lolwhynot"
and little more.

I have one and I really love mine. But all I wanted was a digital notebook. If
I wanted more than that I would have gotten a Surface tablet or an Ipad Pro.
It's definitely expensive for what it is, but it's not really marketed as a
mass market device either.

~~~
KallDrexx
> It is marketed as a sketch/note pad and that's about it. The e-reader
> feature is like the youtube functionality on a Switch. It's there because
> "lolwhynot" and little more.

I personally disagree with this. I almost bought one because I wanted a good
notebook and a lot of notes I write these days is specifically related to
ebooks and pdf documentation that I work against. I almost ordered one after
seeing this post.

However, from the review it appears like this will be impossible to annotate
documents with. I want to be able to highlight text on an epub (like I can on
my kindle) and write notes to reference later about that section. I want to
draw some diagrams as I'm reading the book to make sure I'm understanding
code/workflows properly, etc...

I'm not sure why that's so out of the realm for a notebook style device.

~~~
akavel
Take a look at Onyx Boox gen. "2" devices, Nova 2 and esp. Max 2, may be
interesting to you. (Not affiliated.)

~~~
KallDrexx
I had never heard of this brand before, interesting. The Note 2 looks almost
exactly like what I want.

------
paultopia
I recently bought the ReMarkable 1 (wasn't willing to wait for preorder on the
2, and the differences don't look that significant). I kinda love it: I'm a
professor, and 99% of my use is in reading article PDFs---it's a vastly better
experience than reading on an eyestrain-inducing glossy screens or printing
off.

One major annoyance, though, is that it's clunky to switch between documents
---I like to take notes in a separate document from the articles (mainly so I
don't have to deal with the hassle of trying to export marked-up PDFs, which
is a very suboptimal experience---the ios/mac apps are, uh, not good.).
There's a pretty big lag there.

But the reading experience qua reading is so much nicer that I keep it anyway.

~~~
pottertheotter
I've always partially wanted something like this, but can't get away from
paper. I recently completed a PhD and tried an iPad and my computer, but ended
up always printing off articles. It's annoying having a lot of physical paper
around, but I'm constantly flipping back and forth in papers and it's so
inconvenient to do that digitally. I also find it's so much easier for me to
recall information based on where it was, and I completely lose that in a
digital device.

Curious if those have been issues for you or not. I wonder if it's just how my
mind works, or if I'm not "doing it right"?

~~~
tuvistavie
I'm in the middle of my PhD and switched from printing papers to reading them
on my iPad roughly two years ago.

There are some things I miss from paper but overall I found the pros to
overweight the cons.

I haven't found that flipping back and forth on iPad is that horrible, to be
honest.

Not sure how helpful this will be but I'll share what I've been doing for now.
I use the following apps:

* Mendeley (to organize papers)

* PDF Expert (to annotate PDFs)

* GoodNotes (mostly when working out the maths)

My usual workflow is:

* Read through the paper

* Annotate in the paper using Apple pencil as I read through

* Figure out the maths on the iPad when needed

* When I get back to a computer, upload the annotated file to Mendeley and type summary notes in Mendeley

A few things that I like/dislike about iPad when compared to paper.

\+ Search for information on the web while reading paper more easily

\+ Check notes/annotations quickly from my computer

\+ Share notes easily

\+ Search notes easily

\+ Clean desk =D

\- More context switching needed when I need to scramble something

\- Mendeley misses some basic features on iOS (e.g. attach PDF to existing
paper) so need to context switch with computer at some point after reading the
paper

I would say that for 90% of the papers I go through, where I don't dive that
deep in the paper, the experience is just as good on iPad. For the 10% of the
papers I read where I go in-depth, redo proofs, etc, it's a little more
tedious. While it's for sure not perfect, given the above pros, I can live
with the cons.

~~~
getpolarized
Let me know what you think about Polar:

[https://getpolarized.io/](https://getpolarized.io/)

We launched about a year ago and are REALLY close to a 2.0 release.

~~~
maxioatic
I'm a huge Polar fan! I'm considering buying an iPad just for using Polar, but
I was wondering about the ReMarkable as well, since I like e-ink better for
reading.

Do you have any recommendations for a tablet to use with Polar?

~~~
occamschainsaw
What app do you use for Polar? I used Polar for a bit on my Mac but gave up
because I do most of my reading on an iPad. Would give it another shot if I
could get Polar running on iPad.

~~~
maxioatic
I just use it on my laptop and desktop (Mac/Linux). I think I'd prefer to use
a tablet though as I'm not a huge fan of reading on computers. Currently
looking around and I've seen your sentiment about Polar and iPads before.
Hopefully better support is coming in the 2.0 release though.

------
lwansbrough
Well I just got absolutely pipelined by this website. Went from never hearing
about it "hmm, what's this link on the top of HN?" to spending $700 on it in
about 3 minutes. Good product, great marketing, excellent website, I guess.

------
daguar
I love my reMarkable — got the 1.0 once the price dropped due to 2.0.

e-Ink is a blessing after so much time on screens, and the rudiments make it
quite hackable. So I get a device that pretty much CAN'T try to grab my
attention, a calm device, and I can modify it to do more if I want.

(For example, since it can OCR and send notes, I've prototyped a little
"message queue" on the other end to receive my notes, parse them ["TEXT Jake
this is a text"], and do actions.)

I've even produced some custom e-ink maps which look great for no-phone
navigation. (Feel free to let me know if that's interesting to you, happy to
share an example and how.)

------
ShakataGaNai
I've been interested in eink displays and eink readers for a long time. Kindle
owner since version 1. But...

Is the ReMarkable really worth $500 ($400 + the $100 pencil which seems like a
requirement)? For that amount you're getting a low end iPad which has greatly
wider use cases. I understand that for the "paper on pencil" feel an iPad is
no where near... but then again you can also just write using real paper and
pencil.

Clearly I'm not the target demo, so what are the real target markets?

~~~
polemic
I co-work with an architect who _loves_ his ReMarkable 1. He'll do initial
sketches on it, keep meeting notes, read contract docs etc on it, and so on.

It's an ideal "work support" device for what he does, vs an iPad which can do
everything _if_ you find a good app, but still won't do those things as well,
and is full of distractions like notifications and other anti-productivity
cruft.

~~~
ShakataGaNai
That makes sense. I supposed professions with lots of contracts or similar
documents could benefit from "reading and note taking like paper" experience.

To be fair, the iPad is only as anti-productive as you want to make it. The
default is distracting, but those notifications can easily be turned off or
not installed.

------
TheRealPomax
But no mention and video evidence of the pen input lag and precision, which is
what's supposed to set this apart from other eink display solutions. The 1 has
some lag, just enough to still be a nuisance: did the 2 fix that?

~~~
devindotcom
I have the 2 right here and it's better than the first. There's still a
perceptible lag (that is, it isn't imperceptible) but it's better than
anything else out there including other eink devices (I also have a Boox here
that I compared it to, and the Sony DPT before it).

~~~
braythwayt
Just to confirm, when you say, "better than anything else out there," that
includes the latest generation of iPad Pro with Apple Pencil 2, correct?

~~~
eddiecalzone
Of course not. That wouldn't be an apple-to-apple comparison.

~~~
ghshephard
In what way? I find the lag on the iPad to be annoying enough that I've never
bothered with it. I've never found any of the E-Ink devices to come close
enough to paper to make me consider giving up paper notebooks - Though it's
been about 3 years since I last checked them out.

~~~
braythwayt
Have you tried the current generation of iPad Pro? They claim a 9ms lag, and
coupled with their technology for up-rezzing refresh rate and touch
sensitivity when using the Pencil, it's quite a substantial improvement in
experience.

That being said, the iPad Pro is clearly a high-end general-purpose device,
with a price to match. The device that fits our pocketbook is always superior
to the device that is amazing, but remains in a box in the manufacturer's shop
because we can't justify the price.

------
viraj_shah
Is anyone else excited purely on the basis that this isn't a hardware product
from Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon or some other large company?

I know little about it, but it looks great too.

~~~
bsimpson
Scares me too - wouldn't wanna drop hundreds of dollars on a thing with
limited functionality (esp I/O) that might go out of business.

~~~
floatboth
You have root on it, you can always customize it (even fully replacing the OS)
instead of using the vendor software.

But limited functionality is kinda the whole point. No distractions and all
that.

------
bgorman
Would anyone here be interested in a eink phone running something like WebOS
optimized for eink displays? I really feel WebOS was too early and PWAs make
the barrier to entry much lower for a WebOS-like device.

~~~
fancy_pantser
There have been many attempts to find the right phone interface for eink
displays. So far, I like the Light Phone 2 the best; it runs a version of
Android that's totally stripped down to have a streamlined set of features
that work well on eink.

[https://www.thelightphone.com/](https://www.thelightphone.com/)

~~~
eugeniub
To me the main benefit of an e-Ink display is the ability to read it for hours
without eye strain. Judging by the size of the Light Phone's screen, it seems
that the only benefit there is battery life.

------
jborichevskiy
I have the current version, and between my Kindle and iPad Pro and spending 10
hours per day in front of my laptop I don't use it as much.

However, there is no better device on this planet for reading long-form PDF
documents, research papers, or scans of textbooks. It wins. I wish the
annotations were more useful (they're sort of kept a separate layer) but the
reading experience is great.

Andy Matuschak has some good notes on the current version here too:

[https://notes.andymatuschak.org/reMarkable](https://notes.andymatuschak.org/reMarkable)

~~~
ipsum2
What features does the Kindle have that make you use it more than the
ReMarkable?

~~~
jborichevskiy
For ebooks specifically (not PDFs) I find the Kindle is lighter and has a
number of nice features like the built-in dictionary and Amazon's X-ray view
making it much more comfortable.

------
roel_v
How good is a ReMarkable as an ebook reader? I don't care that much about the
writing, but having a large size ebook reader that can display A4 pdfs in
acceptable quality would be a game changer for me...

~~~
cordite
Not sure about normal ebooks, but it's been a fantastic tool for getting
through IETF RFCs.

No distractions, easy on the eyes. Would be nice if the contrast were even
better for low light environments. Maybe this 2.0 would do it.

I seem to have lost my pen though, so I'm not sure what I'll do for any
annotation now.

~~~
minxomat
I second RFC, I've implemented plenty of them while scribbling over them on
the RM1. Also great to quickly show a colleague something on a page.

But, the eBook (as in published books) experience is pretty bad compared to
basically anything. What even the RM2 does is just load the epub/pdf into the
editing buffer and other than somewhat faster navigation and a hidden menu,
it's not good at all for consumption.

~~~
Zenbit_UX
That's disappointing, I'd love it to be a great e-book reader, I want to love
it...

If they could just side load the Kindle or kobo app I'd buy it in a second.
For now, I'll keep reading ebooks on my phone.

------
refresher
Regarding the claim that it feels more like paper than the first version, the
Engadget reviewer felt otherwise:

>The company says it used a new textured resin layer on top of the glass to
make writing on the reMarkable 2 feel more like writing on paper, which I
don't buy. If anything, the original reMarkable's screen had a more
pronounced, paper-like grittiness that doesn't come through here. That's
hardly a dealbreaker, though, because writing on the r2 still feels absolutely
fantastic, I think this one strikes a better balance of tactility and flow.
[0]

[0] [https://www.engadget.com/remarkable-2-tablet-e-ink-hands-
on-...](https://www.engadget.com/remarkable-2-tablet-e-ink-hands-on-review-
marker-writing-note-taking-130044070.html)

------
nathcd
This looks so nice, and I've been desperate for years for a great, fast-
refreshing e-ink device and/or monitor, but the closed ecosystem is so
disappointing. Their 'avoid distractions' marketing is fine and good, but
locking down the device makes it a non-starter for me. At the very least I'd
need a feed reader I can use (without some workaround where I send stuff
through the "remarkable cloud").

Am I reading things correctly that the only external interface to the device
is through their cloud tool?

~~~
justincormack
Yes you can log in and run code. There is a proprietary driver for the fast
screen refresh but everything else is open.

~~~
amelius
But is it open by design, or by coincidence?

~~~
yuchi
Absolutely by design. The founder is a prominent Linux community member.

------
sickcodebruh
I showed this to my friends at work and one of them replied that she used a
Rocketbook throughout grad school, suggested I check that out as a way of
upgrading my note taking. Their products look very different from this but
they’re also a fraction of the price with similar value proposition where
basic note-taking is concerned. Anyone have any experience with them? This is
a field I know nothing about.

[https://getrocketbook.com/products/rocketbook-
core?variant=3...](https://getrocketbook.com/products/rocketbook-
core?variant=31416131534)

Regarding the reMarkable, I’d probably be open to it if reviews indicated it
was a premium eReader in addition to everything else.

------
plafl
I'm glad is in the front page. I own the first version and I'm quite happy and
use it massively. I use it to read and annotate papers and technical books.
This is for me what keeps it from perfection:

\- Bigger screen would be great for my use case

\- Software. As have been said repeatedly here the tablet is open. This is
true in the sense that in order to comply with the GPL3 it's very easy to SSH
to the tablet which runs Linux. This is awesome. However I think a little more
support to developers would be great in the form of documentation instead of
reverse engineering. Lot's of people think of ways of improving the software
and this would make it much easier and better for end users (for example
better file transfer, more file formats... in a reliable way)

Edit: formatting

------
dcchambers
I like my ReMarkable 1. I _want to_ love it...but I'm not quite there yet. The
company keeps focusing on improving the note-taking and drawing aspect of the
device (which __is awesome now! __) but they haven 't improved the reading
experience to nearly the same degree. Reading eBooks, PDFs, etc is an
acceptable experience, but there are many UX improvements they could make.

That said, they have been releasing updates for years and improving the
experience. The writing experience is by far the best of any tablet I've ever
personally used. It does feel like writing on paper. The 2.0 looks really
slick.

Finally, the hackability of the device is awesome. You can SSH to it without
having to enable any special settings, and start messing around with stuff
right away.

------
_ph_
Beyond the obvious differences to a tablet like the iPad, an interesting fact
about the reMarkable is, that you can just ssh into the device to do your data
exchange. Syncing documents should be as easy as writing some scripts on your
PC. Which should appeal especially to Linux users.

------
haddr
Remarkable haven't yet delivered the 2.0 device. Let's first see when it
appears on the market. I has been delayed twice so far. So far it's in "pre-
order" mode.

~~~
AshamedCaptain
They have had two delays so far, and both of them were announced literally
days before the "expected" shipping deadline. They are checking many
checkboxes on my "likely vaporware" checklist.

The only thing they have in their favor is that they shipped v1 succesfully.

~~~
eugeniub
I'd say review units having been sent out is another positive.

------
efitz
I love my remarkable 1 but don’t use it very much because I don’t want to be
tethered to yet another company’s cloud, and I want document syncing not to
require another app or website. I won’t buy a R2 until they add support for
one of the big cloud storage providers like Dropbox or OneDrive or gDrive or
something.

The device itself is great; the OS is a little slow and takes a little getting
used to navigate; recent updates made it better. The tactile feel is great.

~~~
webkike
As the top comment mentions the remarkable runs embedded Linux, it would be
pretty simple to make your own syncing software and there’s likely alternative
open source programs already made to do exactly what you want

~~~
Polylactic_acid
Most people don't want to have to ssh in and hack some solution together that
probably doesn't work well or would take a load of your time. They just want a
setting screen with a list of cloud services so they can log in to the one
they want.

------
bla3
Note that they're a bit behind on order processing due to covid-19. I bought
one a few months ago and it's scheduled to be delivered in October. If you buy
one today, it's scheduled for November delivery.

------
ankit70
It happens every single time. I like a product and want to order and it
doesn't get shipped to India. Frustrating!

~~~
crystaln
Use a freight forwarder?

~~~
vorpalhex
A lot of companies won't ship to known freight forwarders because it triggers
fraud measures (because freight forwarders are often used for cc fraud
schemes).

------
Jedd
For owners of this (or v1) who are also using a GNU/Linux as their primary
desktop - how's the workflow?

I note that you can sync _files_ easily enough -- but I'm curious on what the
interop experience is like for people that don't use Microsoft Windows or
Apple OSX. Syncing, updating, making notes & squiggles changes off-device and
sending it back, etc.

------
PatrolX
Here you go, save yourself $590

[https://www.amazon.com/Cimetech-Electronic-Scribble-
Erasable...](https://www.amazon.com/Cimetech-Electronic-Scribble-Erasable-
Magnetic/dp/B07VP9H3ND)

You're welcome.

~~~
shard
If only you can download the image, it would be perfect for my use. Does
anyone have a suggestion for such a device? All I want is an inexpensive
device that can digitize what I write to replace my pile of notebooks. Doesn't
need to erase, or display PDFs, or browse the web, or perform OCR.

~~~
dharma1
you could just take a photo with your phone?

there are some smart pens that do what you're asking for -
[https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-smart-
pens/](https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-smart-pens/)

------
amacbride
I have the first version, and I really like it. The experience of writing on a
textured e-Ink display is completely different than trying to do the same
thing on smooth glass. (iPad Pro/Apple Pencil)

~~~
mmmateo
How does it compare to writing on paper?

~~~
amacbride
It’s not quite as good, but for me it falls into the “good enough/pretty good”
category. I write quickly so for me latency is very important; the latency on
version one is pretty good, and so if they’ve improved that on version two,
even better.

~~~
ksd482
What about pressure on the pen while writing as compared to regular styluses
with small tips?

~~~
amacbride
My best comparison would be to a fine-tipped rollerball pen (like the Pilot
Precise), on rough paper.

I don’t tend to press down very hard, but I don’t really think about it as I’m
writing.

------
kevin_thibedeau
It's a shame it is biased toward right handed users. And no, flipping it over
leaves you with a narrow bezel on the bottom. Will not buy.

~~~
edaemon
I'm not sure how useful it is, but they do have a left-handed mode:
[https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-
us/articles/36000687545...](https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-
us/articles/360006875458-How-does-left-handed-mode-work-on-reMarkable-2-)

------
1_player
Just finished watching a review:

\- no USB disk mode to download your notes

\- 8 GB storage (of which about 6 are available)

\- any Linux support seems to be nebulous/unofficial, especially because of
point 1

\- no search feature

\- no backlight

\- no landscape mode

Personally I've cancelled my pre-order, not worth the 450 GBP in my opinion.

~~~
formerly_proven
> \- no USB disk mode to download your notes

The website is very unclear about the I/O options of the device, which I don't
get at all, that's clearly one of the most important things about it; I'm not
writing stuff down for the bin after all.

How do I get stuff off it? Is OCR done on the device? What formats does it
support? etc. etc.

It says it has USB-C "for file transfers", but then also "Sync notes and
documents via Wi-Fi only", wayyyy down below it says "PDF and ePUB", but
obviously when I'm taking notes I'm not generally interested in a PDF, because
that works with _zero_ of my workflows.

Their opener is strong; it's an obviously interesting product. Yet everything
else is unspecific fluff that wastes my time and only irks me by being vague
or silent about core functional aspects of the product.

~~~
nebopolis
The original RM (and all signs point towards the RM2 being the same) had
direct root ssh access via a virtual network device on the USB port. This
could be used to SCP backup the notebooks, add custom executables, etc. I
understand why they don't list it in their marketing materials - it isn't
intended as a polished experience and is more of a "hacker" option. The CTO of
Remarkable is a KDE dev though, so there are a lot of subtle niceties you
wouldn't expect like a full toolchain and bootloader available on their
github.

------
mindfulhack
Why do I have tears in my eyes because of a technology ad? I have not felt
this emotional about a technology product since Steve Jobs. I think even more.
That was an amazing ad (video on their home page).

I have loved and used paper and pen as a primary tool for thinking since I was
young. However, typing is much faster, and now that is my tool - the keyboard.
Still, this clearly has its place.

My main interest now is whether it can be 'rooted' and a native Linux OS used
on it, and/or whether it can be used with end-to-end encryption compatible
self-cloud services like Nextcloud.

To me, open hardware and software is a necessary way forward for humanity.

Edit: I see it's very hackable indeed, from comments above, e.g.:
[http://www.davisr.me/projects/parabola-
rm/](http://www.davisr.me/projects/parabola-rm/)

------
chx
I am deeply disappointed in the general progress in this field. I had the
CrossPad so long ago, you see. What the CrossPad could do was drawing on a
piece of paper (any paper, this was not one of this magical dot things) and
transfer the strokes in a vector format to the computer. What the ReMarkable
can do is the ... same except the paper step is skipped and now you draw on a
screen. But you still can't do anything remarkable ;) on the device with your
strokes. It's clear from [https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-
us/articles/36000266143...](https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-
us/articles/360002661437-Convert-handwritten-notes-into-text) OCR is not on
device because you need to be on wifi and logged in. Hurrah for twenty plus
years of progress...?

------
no_wizard
Anyone know whats the story on a color e-ink version of something like this?

That would be really compelling to me. Especially if you can get the latency
down into the 10 ms range.

~~~
jmwilson
What are your expectations and applications for color in an e-ink writable
tablet? The best available color e-ink displays support a spot color palette
of 3-7 colors. They're nowhere near being able to show a full-color image. If
you want something for illustration, a Cintiq is the best option and you get
to use software (like Illustrator) that's up to the task. Even the Cintiq Pro
displays are only able to hit about 15 ms response time.

~~~
no_wizard
I'm hoping for a world where e-ink gets iPad levels of repsonsiveness,
honestly. I like the displays alot, they render text beautifully at a high DPI
(at least ones i've seen).

Its just that they don't have the best response time. Thats really my limiting
factor.

I don't expect them to replace the iPad, for instance, but for using as a true
digital notebook and book reader (magazines too, if the color e-inks get
better) they look and feel ideal for this, except for the lag time in
responsiveness, that's the part that kills it for me every time I investigate
it.

------
salimmadjd
I love hand writing and note taking and been eyeing ReMarkable for a while.
However, each time I think about buying it, I have a hard time justifying it
over an iPad Pro with a pencil. It feels like an iPad will give me more bang
for a buck though with heftier weight.

~~~
birdyrooster
And with this protector you can get the same feel as paper
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QMV54LY](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QMV54LY)

~~~
Infinitesimus
Have you tried this one for a while? Reviews suggest it's very harsh on the
pencil tip.

~~~
birdyrooster
It definitely is abrasive, but the tips are replaceable and cheap enough. You
used to get a free replacement tip with the first generation pencil, but now
they cost like $19 for four.

------
sergioisidoro
I'll have to echo what has been said. ReMarkable is the best e-ink tablet
hardware I've laid my hands on, but I ended up returning it because of how
hard it was to push and manage content in the device.

I now have a Onyx Boox Note that has inferior hardware. But at least I can use
Google Drive and easily export documents.

I'm happy they have made a Chrome plugin because when I got my device, before
returning it, I had a go at making exactly that: A Firefox extension that
renders a simplified version and pushes it to ReMarkable as PDF
[https://github.com/sergioisidoro/push-to-
remarkable](https://github.com/sergioisidoro/push-to-remarkable)

------
birdyrooster
I highly suggest this Paperfeel screen protector for iPad Pro
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QMV54LY](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QMV54LY)

~~~
andrewnc
I've heard these damage the pencil, is that not the case?

~~~
Karunamon
Some of the reviews call that out, eg: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-
reviews/RRKL2ML06BX89?ASI...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-
reviews/RRKL2ML06BX89?ASIN=B07QMV54LY)

------
shock
I've been holding off on buying it until handwritten text recognition works on
device without sending the data to the cloud. I had hoped it would have
happened by now, but it looks I'm gonna have to wait a while longer.

~~~
_ph_
If I didn't misunderstand the keyknote, iPadOS 14 supposedly does handwriting
recognition on the device.

------
gtsteve
I was interested in buying one of these but was concerned as it didn't have
disk encryption. Once again I can't find any info about that so I assume this
still hasn't been added?

------
azinman2
I want to like products like this but I ultimately question the improvement
versus actual pen and paper. I have a great notebook that I love, I found a
pen that I love, and neither require power, take up much room, and have the
best tactile experience possible. I can always use a computer whenever I need
to get a lot of “digital” work done. Maybe I’m just not the target? But I do
take a lot of notes frequently, just not annotations of PDFs.

------
steve_adams_86
I was really excited about this until reading about the limitations and
performance. Can’t tell if I have unreasonable expectations from a device like
this or it’s unnecessarily limited due to limited development resources. In
any case, it’s an exciting prospect. Wonderful design, too. I’d love to try
one out at least, get a sense of what it’s actually like to use it. Some
reviews are pretty terrible for R1, though.

------
maxioatic
I've been considering this but I'm not sure if it fits my use case.

My main thing would be reading pdf's - specifically with Polar
([https://getpolarized.io/](https://getpolarized.io/) ). I use it for keeping
track of notes/annotations and syncing across devices. Does anyone know if it
would work with ReMarkable?

(Or does anyone have a Polar alternative?)

------
8fingerlouie
Looks like a nice device, but my main issue with it is the price. The regular
price is €556, and i can get a regular laptop for that. Even at the discounted
price of €399 i can get an iPad or Surface Go, all devices that has much more
generalized use.

I have no doubt it's a quality product, and i guess i just don't value my
handwritten notes highly enough to warrant one :)

------
tomerbd
I have the Onyx boox 3 with 13.3" screen, so I can read conveniently
programming and math books and paper (wanted the big screen especially for
papers). Pen works perfect for scratching, selecting and taking notes, it's
perfection I can also split the screen on the left side exercises on the right
side a blank page I solve the exercise.

~~~
beezle
I looked at those but the price (859) and being tied to Android were no goes.
Perhaps in time the price of the screen will come down so as to get the device
cost to a more acceptable 400 ish.

------
apricot
Could I connect this thing to my computer and use it as a whiteboard in a Zoom
meeting, or something like that?

~~~
avel
[https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/g0y2j2/ov...](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/g0y2j2/overboardch_on_rmcodex/)

Check [https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-
reMarkable](https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable) for more open
source projects.

~~~
apricot
Thank you! So in a nutshell, it's doable through VNC (among other solutions),
but there's noticeable lag.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkSVVwZO9o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkSVVwZO9o)
has a demo.

------
Wowfunhappy
I was close to buying this—the price is right, at least with the preorder
discount in place; I think $400 is the upper limit—but it's missing a web
browser! I need a good web browser, not this read-later stuff.

I want to be able to load up the homepage of TheVerge.com and browse as I
would on any other device, except with text that's as easy to read as if it
were on paper. I'd have to use paged scrolling, and images would be black-and-
white, but that would be okay—they'd be crisp and clear.

This tablet is close to what I want, but it doesn't look like the software is
there. (Or maybe it's hardware too—is one gigabyte of ram enough for a web
browser these days if you don't use multiple tabs?)

------
monkeydust
Been seeing a lot of FB adverts on RM 2.0 did a second take when I saw it at
the top of HN! Feels like and advert but its not I guess yet the product is
not live so a lot of speculation on how good or not it might be. Just strange
to see this on top of HN.

~~~
iotku
The review embargo just lifted so there's some extra interest currently.

That said it was announced months ago, so the seeing it on HN the first
thought on my mind was PR campaign.

To a certain extent that is the point of sites like HN, but there's always the
implication that it's just something someone stumbled upon rather than an
"advertisment". (I figure more often than not OP is a stakeholder of some sort
whenever it involves a product for sale)

Not accusing anyone of anything, but it took a surprising amount of scrolling
to have someone actually mention the deficiencies such as the reading
functionality being subpar.

------
kozmonaut
We have a review of it on our website + unboxing and videos.

[https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/remarkable-2-hands-
on-r...](https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/remarkable-2-hands-on-review)

------
mellosouls
I have the Kindle DX, the original(ish) large eReader and it's slow enough to
be pretty useless at reading tech docs - which is why I bought it. I'd love to
be able to walk into a shop and try the Remarkable or similar out.

I couldn't give a stuff about writing (though it's a nice secondary feature) -
I do however want to be able to throw a tech manual at my e-Reader (say, an
O'Reilly programming manual) and be able to flip through it back and forth
_easily_ like you can on a tablet.

The Remarkable looks beautiful in the link, but gives absolutely no indication
as to whether that long-standing core flaw in e-readers has been solved here,
which is very, very unreassuring.

~~~
eddiecalzone
I use 'briss' to trim PDF margins from a laptop, then send to a Kobo Forma
(8-inch 4x3 screen) and read using the open source 'koreader', which also
works with Remarkable. I was reading on an iPad mini before (same exact screen
size), but that's collecting dust now. I expect with the Remarkable's
10.3-inch display you wouldn't even need to trim margins.

~~~
mellosouls
Yes - but my interest is in the UX responsiveness, the whole point of the
bigger screen size is to fit them on without stuff like Briss (which I've used
before); the issue is not screen fit, but performance when browsing back and
forth - tech manuals are not linear reads like novels, for which kindles etc
are ideal.

------
thelazydogsback
Anybody know how to do MS OneNote integration? I have many years' worth of
content there and use on multiple OS's, so I'd rather stay there than use
their internal note-taking app, or at least be able to do import/export.

~~~
nudpiedo
They offer a companion app for mobile and desktop so you might want to move
your reMarkable contents to OneNote when you are done editing. The device is
also hacker friendly so you could probably just plug some APIs to export to
OneNote automatically

~~~
thelazydogsback
Doesn't look like the desktop app has any OneNote import/export functionality,
so yeah looks like DIY project.

------
madhadron
I've been looking at this or an ipad to use as a notepad and a reader for
technical books. But then I take a deep breath and compare the price to the
price of buying used books and keep going along with physical objects.

~~~
jeffbee
You can buy half a million sheets of paper for this price.

------
NightMKoder
I'm curious if there are other folks like me here - I have a peculiar hate of
touch-screen pens/pencils. They're too thick at the tip.

When I write on (real) paper, I try to use the thinnest pen that I can still
grip. I think I hold the pen at an odd enough angle that if the pen is fat
enough before tapering, it starts covering the point where the tip touches the
paper. Once that happens, I feel like I'm writing while holding one end of a
yardstick. The alternative is to start angling the pen so I can still see the
tip, but that makes writing awkward - I rather just type at that point.

~~~
jonahbenton
Yeah, I like very thin tip stylus (physical or digital). reM v1 stylus with
new nib is like a fine point, which is ok. Could try shaving a nib and getting
to extra fine. Once nib is in use it becomes medium point fairly quickly- tho
the width of the _line_ it produces on the screen is determined by software,
not the actual nib size.

------
hamiltont
Still waiting on my pre-order. Absolutely love e-ink and it was incredibly sad
to me when Google effectively killed Android e-ink by forcing OEMs to have a
non-eink screen if they wanted to be a certified Android device with access to
Google apps.

I understand Google's business position, but it was a shame to let an entire
market segment die overnight.

Sadly my Re2 preorder has been delayed so long I went ahead and ordered an
iPad so I could get down to work. iPad, and especially the apple pencil, has
been incredibly useful and I'm looking forward to a head-to-head comparison.
No longer sure I'll be keeping my re2

------
funkaster
I purchased the original one during the crowdfunding campaing, and paid a
really low price (iirc less than $300). It’s a great device, I used it for a
few years. Pen latency was really good, paper feeling is true, battery was
awesome. The handwriting->text conversion was poor, but my handwriting is
horrible. I changed to an iPad Pro 6 months ago and have not looked back, but
mostly because I went back to orgmode as my main note taking and using a
keyboard is much easier.

Having said that, I’m actually considering getting this upgrade just to focus
on taking notes and brainstorming.

------
crvdgc
Sony DPT-RP1 user here. It's a similar large screen e-ink reader with writing
support. It's of great help to me for PDF reading and taking notes. My opinion
on reMarkable 2 (from the page):

Disadvantages: \- can only transfer with WiFi \- not A4 sized (I find this
important for most of books and papers)

Advantages: \+ epub support (DPT only works with PDF) \+ customization (DPT
software is completely uncustomizable, but good enough for most daily use,
e.g. the screen can be synced to the computer screen for remote meetings) \+
OCR \+ cheaper (the A4 version of DPT is $600)

------
Kevin_S
I recently decided to purchase either this or an ipad, and ended up going with
the ipad.

My primary use is reading academic articles, and I use Endnote to organize my
pdfs and citations. I ended up going with the ipad because it has an endnote
app and automatically syncs with my desktop, so I just always have all of my
papers handy. If I had to manually sync papers to the remarkable it would be
very annoying.

So I ended up going with the ipad despite wanting the experience of the
remarkable. Though the ipad was cheaper and has other uses (entertainment).

------
abinaya_rl
I got the reMarkable as a tool to make my writing process more natural, and
less cumbersome. I have been editing a novel, which means carrying around a
stack of 250 pages so I can add notes in the margins before I get back to the
computer to write the next revision. It’s heavy, and I’m tired of printing the
full book so that I can have that tactile experience of writing on the page.
The reMarkable tablet gives me a way to continue my writing processes without
paper. Going to try this new version!

------
gravypod
I'm hoping to wait for reviews for this. I've been watching this for months.
While waiting I've been thinking about how I'm going to use a combination of
RSS reads, web archiving tools, pandoc, and some custom daemons on the device
to setup syncing of hackernews + articals + news sites to the device to read
during my commute (assuming we still have commutes in 4 months from now).

Very excited to see a polished device that is linux based that isn't hostile
to developers trying to do cool stuff.

~~~
tomchuk
Looks like the embargo just lifted today. reMarkable just sent out an email
with links to reviews:

[https://mailchi.mp/remarkable.com/first-
remarkable-2-reviews...](https://mailchi.mp/remarkable.com/first-
remarkable-2-reviews-634674)

~~~
gravypod
I'm more interested in reviews from other HN users and programmers and the
volume of activity in the awesome-reMarkable lists.

I have no desire for any of the built in cloud features or even doing much
writing through the tablet. I however have many use cases for the hacking and
modding abilities of the software that can run on this device.

I'm pretty sure major news outlets won't be sshing into the device and
installing custom daemon services and measuring the impact they have on
battery life.

------
etaioinshrdlu
I can't help but feel like e-ink may eventually be replaced by something
similar to this
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_micromirror_device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_micromirror_device)

The advantage would be immensely faster switching speed.

Imagine one side of the mirror being totally reflective and the other side
totally black. If you can turn the mirror far enough, you could replicate to
some degree, what e-ink is doing.

------
tito
Texture matters. I bought this screen cover for my iPad for the explicit use
of adding texture since 99% of my iPad usage is with Apple Pencil. I had read
it has a paper texture unlike other slick covers:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00G4SA1FG/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_i...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00G4SA1FG/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Curious what others have tried!

~~~
eugeniub
I have the XIRON Paperfeel. Sketchy name, totally worth it.

------
deniscepko2
Wondering if anyone is using it for Music Sheet? Im tempted to buy it just
wondering if its any good for this use case since this is what im using my
current tablet for.

------
harrylepotter
I've got mine on pre-order, scheduled for delivery in October. One of the
things i'm most looking forward to experimenting with is reStream -
[https://github.com/rien/reStream](https://github.com/rien/reStream) . It'd be
amazing to be on meetings and be able to share diagrams and drawings in real-
time! Certainly better than the webcam i've got pointing down at my desk at
the moment!

------
voltagex_
$900AUD (with the upgraded marker and folio). I love the idea and that it
seems to be fairly open, but ouch. It'll be even more expensive after the pre-
order.

------
huevosabio
For someone with the current ReMarkable or with the 2.0, is it possible to use
it as a drawing pad for remote meetings?

I pre-ordered mine, but I want to know if this is even feasible.

~~~
marksc
Yes
[https://github.com/evidlo/remarkable_mouse](https://github.com/evidlo/remarkable_mouse)

See also [https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-
reMarkable](https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable)

------
caligarn
Does remarkable2 have Bluetooth though, that's really what I am looking for. I
want to be able to pair this with a keyboard and stop staring at my laptop.

------
gorgoiler
What an utterly stunning bit of marketing. Some true talent in site building,
set dressing, photography, and copy. Sheer quality. I’m heartened by it.

------
livq
Does anyone remember NoteSlate from like 2011? I came across it right before
going off to college, and I was so ready for a writable e-ink tablet.

It ended up being a scam/vaporware so I was stuck taking notes on paper, but
I'm glad things like this are becoming somewhat more common.

(I think they may have come out with some actual hardware like 5 years later,
but from what I remember it was too little too late)

------
the_arun
1\. $399 is kinda expensive. They should get it down to < $200 to be
friendlier with younger generation.

2\. Offer a place for getting books as well - or partner with Amazon for books
- if not there, this may be coming I guess. Then people don't need Kindle.

3\. They do not talk about security in their demo video. Don't know how they
save what I write. Encryption / password / backup etc.,

------
giorgioz
I ordered a ReMarkable 2.0 on 7th of May 2020 and they emailed me: "reMarkable
2 orders will be processed in batches. Your order is in batch 5, which is set
to ship in Early September. You can follow the status of your batch at
remarkable.com/delivery."

I opened the link again today (28th of August) and saw batch 5 is now
postponed of 2 months to Early November :(

------
lukeplato
It would be great if there were a regular pen/pencil that had the ability to
capture a copy of notes to a digital medium in real-time while also operating
like a normal pen/pencil. From what i can tell, capturing the orientation and
positioning doesn't seem feasible yet and using image capture doesn't seem
great either because of privacy and cost.

------
m0zg
Honest question: who works like that? Handwriting is slower than typing.
Handwriting OCR is unreliable as well. I don't find myself doing a ton of
diagrams either, and if I did need that, the e-ink lag would make me hate this
device. The only real advantage I see is browsing internet would be
uncomfortable on it, which aids productivity in those who are addicted.

------
xyst
Is the market for “paper like substitutes” this large? What’s wrong with a
multi-use tablet (iPad or otherwise) and silencing your notifications for X
amount of hours?

I personally hate writing on paper and trying to decipher barely legible
handwriting. Seems like this product is just trying to appease the people who
refuse to adapt to change.

------
eitland
I ordered the ReMarkable last year. It was truly awesome and paper-like to
write on but I ended up sending it back for a refund because I needed a more
computing like device.

The device is fantastic, I love the idea and the company but the refund
process (unless they have fixed it) is truly awful so expect to use a couple
of days on it if you want to get your money back.

------
iicc
Bullshit EULA.

[https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-
us/articles/36000028275...](https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-
us/articles/360000282757-reMarkable-End-User-License-Agreement)

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

~~~
lstamour
I don't think it's that bad. It's not entirely open source, no, it's
proprietary software on top of open source. The same is true of Android phones
running Google Services. I'll note the EULA for the hardware doesn't seem to
indicate you can't run other operating systems on it, but I am not a lawyer so
YMMV. They've separated the EULAs for the hardware sales from the EULA for the
software you can download. Makes sense to me, and is actually more liberal and
easier to read than other EULA's I've read. Could it be more open? Of course,
especially to allow the use of the product brand name with other third-party
software, to open the device up more, and support more open uses. To me the
real question will be if business and enterprise customers end up demanding
code signing restrictions to the point where it becomes a cloud-managed device
with a closed boot loader, like Chromebooks or iOS. Hopefully like
Chromebooks, or Android, they'll still preserve a mode where you can turn off
those features if you want to run third-party software and have the authority
to do so. But they're not a charity, it's not completely open hardware,
they're trying to build a business, at scale, and openness is one of their
strategies, just not their only one.

------
vvladymyrov
I ordered ReMarkable 2.0, returned 13" Sony DPT. Then I got tired of waiting
for ReMarkable 2 and got iPad Prod 13" with discount and ipad is enough for a
little of technical reading (plus course videos and it is nice to have extra
13" display with mac os sidecar feature). So I'm going to cancel my batch 2
order...

------
strooper
This is a remarkable device. The configuration looks good as well. It reminds
me of the primary concept of Microsoft Courier.

While going through pros and cons for considering a buy, I found no email
client, messenger or a browser. For the targeted audience, at that price
point, and with that hardware config, those features are unavoidable.

~~~
enneff
The absence of those features is a feature to me. I want a digital notebook
not another damn computer.

------
bitdizzy
I have the Remarkable 1. It's the kind of jank hardware whose flaws you come
to find endearing because the device as a whole is so good to you. I
immediately ordered a Remarkable 2 when I caught wind of it. I'm going to give
my Remarkable 1 to a friend or relative and hope it brings them as much joy as
it did me.

------
inamberclad
Does anyone have one of these in their hands yet? I'd love to see a good video
on it before pulling the trigger.

------
the-mitr
My concern has been that there is no support for micro sd card and local
storage is just 8GB which is quite small.

------
jp0d
Let me start by saying that my comment might be downvoted. However, I'm just
wondering if the device justifies the price tag. For a little more I could get
an iPad Air, which can do a lot more. Granted the battery needs to be charged
everyday but it's probably not a deal breaker for many.

------
l8again
I currently use iPad and I am considering reMarkable. One of the main things I
do with iPad is share screen on meetings. Is the share screen option available
and what about meeting platforms such as zoom, bluejeans, google? Are their
compatible apps for all of the major online meeting platforms?

~~~
jonahbenton
No, none of that. A similar device called Papyr seems to support shared
whiteboarding features, but sharing and meetings are not what reM does. Just
for writing, secondary use for reading.

------
notthemessiah
PDFs can get massive when they're from scans. An e-Ink device should support
better formats such as DJVU.

~~~
marksc
KOReader[1] runs on ReMarkable and supports DJVU and other formats.

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

------
no_wizard
Is the hand writing correction any good? I really have to rely on this myself.
My handwriting is very poor.

------
truth_seeker
Any reason why should i buy it instead of iPad Pro 2020 or recently announced
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 plus ?

~~~
jmull
Well, it’s $399, which is very different price point than an iPad Pro with
Apple pencil.

They detail some other advantages, like the texture of the surface, though we
can’t evaluate that without getting one in hand.

It’s a much more focused device, which is a pro and a con.

Personally, I’ll stick with my iPad Pro, but I hope this is actually good and
successful.

~~~
JKCalhoun
I put a textured surface on my iPad Pro to great effect. It's one of those
stick-on "screen protector" affairs. I find it much nicer if you predominantly
use the Apple pencil (Procreate, etc.). I haven't yet tried it with the new
handwriting recognition in iOS.

~~~
_blop
I frequently hear that screen protectors which mimic paper surface lead to a
much faster abrasion of the tip of the Apple pencil. Is this the same in your
case?

~~~
tito
I also added a screen cover to my iPad to get texture with Pencil.

I haven't seen fast abrasion with this cover. Pencil tips seem to last a
really long time.

[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00G4SA1FG/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_i...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00G4SA1FG/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

------
V-2
How well does text conversion work for joined handwriting? All the examples
I've seen appear to use carefully segmented handwriting, which is a bit of a
red flag to me.

Bonus points if someone could answer this for languages other than English
(I'm thinking of diacritics)...

------
kushan2020
I have been using apple most of my life. I considered waiting for iPad this
year, but apple decided to reuse am2 year old processor, so I back in the
market to experiment. I am hoping this will deliver what it promises.

------
zaidf
I ordered Remarkable 1.0 six months ago, used it for a few days before
deciding to return it. I submitted a request to return and was supposed to get
DHL to pick it up but it never happened. I was left feeling they really don't
want you to return.

~~~
Falling3
Where did it let you down that made you want to return it?

------
kissgyorgy
Here is a review: [https://www.engadget.com/remarkable-2-tablet-e-ink-hands-
on-...](https://www.engadget.com/remarkable-2-tablet-e-ink-hands-on-review-
marker-writing-note-taking-130044070.html)

~~~
1f60c
[https://archive.vn/V68bK](https://archive.vn/V68bK)

------
exabrial
I ordered mine back in feb, just got an email yesterday how it's delayed yet
again :(

------
fudged71
I’m glad to see [developer] excitement around this device, and look forward to
ReMarkable 3 when all this new feedback is implemented into a new product.

Seriously, genuinely excited to use something like this as a consumer once the
kinks have been sorted

------
hinkley
In a similar vein, I was really hoping that Ambient Devices would escape their
niche market and we'd have a wide range of devices that looked analog but are
actually digital.

They were just way, way too early (and on the wrong side of a recession).

------
pachico
Unfortunately I had to buy an iPad (first apple product I buy ever) for my
girlfriend since she needs an app (for work, she's a teacher) that only runs
in iOS. I say unfortunately because I would have bought a ReMarkable instead
:(

~~~
criddell
Aside from the form factor, they are very different devices.

One isn't really a substitute for the other unless all you do is write notes
and read.

------
futureproofd
Some features of reading my books on an android tablet are the ability to
lookup words with the dictionary service, and to sync all of my notes
automatically to google drive.

Does anyone know how the reading features of the R2 stack up in this regard?

------
ryndbfsrw
I didn't know about this before I bought an iPad. I recently added a paper-
textured screen protector (similar to Paperlike) and now I can't stop using
it. I really recommend it for those who have an Apple Pencil - its great

~~~
gamekathu
Which screen protector do you recommend? Also, does using such paper-textured
protector decrease the life of Apple pencil?

~~~
ryndbfsrw
The best one I've tried is the Nilkin brand. As to the Apple pencil, I'm on ~9
months of use and the nib feels the same as the spare that came in the box
when I got the pencil so I don't have reason to believe its damaging it

------
lordgrenville
Interested in ordering this, but my country isn't on their very limited list
(basically EU + Five Eyes). A bit frustrating, it's not like I live in Yemen
or Easter Island. Why not ship to anywhere with DHL?

------
ahnick
Is the desktop app available on Linux or does the Windows version work under
Wine?

------
eutropia
Being dropped to the #What_Is_New section is confusing, because I was
expecting a landing page with a hero image, and instead had context-less
comparison numbers. Maybe update the url to not include the section?

------
iask
Do they have a live draw feature? In recently purchased the Bamboo Slate. The
live write is really handy when trying to express something on a Teams/Zoom
meeting. I just share my screen and start drawing.

------
VonBlue
Does this integrate with something like OneNote? Because this would still be
only half my notes. If I can keep my hand-written ones and the ones I type
when I work, for example, NOW we’re talking.

------
sersi
The one thing I wish the Remarkable 2.0 had is a backlight similar to the one
from the kobo, it really makes it much more convenient in planes, train or
anywhere where there's not enough light...

------
ibobev
I'm wandering whether the device is suitable for geometry style drawings? Just
the type from the high school. Lines, circles and so on. Does someone has such
an experience with this device?

------
jmspring
I gave in and ordered one. Thought I had previously, but no email to be found.
The hackability is a useful feature. And it'll be interesting to compare it
with an iPad Pro for notes/etc.

------
ActsJuvenile
I am surprised there is no discussion of alternative readers like Onyx Boox,
which allow infinite customization through Android OS. Remarkable is a closed
ecosystem with no third party apps.

------
jmpeax
Looking for a great e-paper device, but the marketing of the video where
deficiencies (no notifications etc) are treated as features sounds like
bullshit spin and its really off-putting.

------
sireat
I vaguely remember pre-ordering RM2 in the spring and being given a June
delivery date.

Who has received the earlier batches?

PS. I just checked and I did pay for RM2 in March.. Let's hope their support
responds.

------
chheplo
I ordered in March and the shipping schedule keep getting delayed. I hope it
doesn't turn out to be a typical Kickstarter or Indigogo hardware project,
that never ships.

~~~
ganlub
have you heard of COVID-19?

------
j45
The first version of this tablet had a slight lag between pencil and writing.
I wonder if that's gone and ended up going with an Apple tablet for the time
being.

------
29athrowaway
The product looks great, but, how does it work in terms of privacy? Is your
stuff uploaded to the "cloud" automatically? Can you opt-out from that?

------
oblio
I wonder how far off we are from eink with something like 16 bit color and a
refresh rate of something like 20hz. A decade away? Or is it impossible?

------
abinaya_rl
I'm wondering if there is an application that can be installed on a Kindle to
provide a similar interface, it will be a game changer. Any thoughts?

------
tanzbaer
Has anyone had an experience with this? It looks pretty cool, although I'm
probably never going to use it since I write mostly with my keyboard.

------
knolax
I was looking into buying a ReMarkable 1.0 last year until I saw that it
didn't have an SD card slot, so I couldn't fit my library in it.

------
franciscop
Can you touch/tap the screen with your finger to go to the next page of an
ebook? Or do you need to use the pencil for "next page"?

------
avmich
Where can I find more details about hardware implementation? The website
doesn't seem too helping for that. What are batteries, for example?

------
ismail
Anyone have a remarkable 2, and have they been delivered? If unhappy can buy
it from you.

I recall they said it would be shipping in August?

My slot says delivery in November.

------
l8again
Another question - is there anyway to take these notes and integrate with
Evernote? Or has anyone tried a creative solution for this?

------
clankyclanker
Does it support two-page display? Given how you can take notes, I’d love to be
able to read on one side and take notes on the other.

------
xtiansimon
I own the Sony DPT-RP1 and I love it because it’s 13” (US letter size paper is
13.5”).

The R2 is 10.3”. Do peeps think smaller is better?

~~~
akg_67
I am looking to buy Sony DPT-RP1 or very similar Fujitsu product. A quick
review from actual user may be helpful in making decision. What do you not
like about this Sony product?

------
tiku
Just bought a boox note 10 inch , same screen but android 9. Very nice device.
You can even watch video on it with some ghosting.

------
hattori31
The handwriting to text seems cool but these things never work for anything
else than English.

------
mrfusion
I think it would be cool to do 3d design in a format like this, openscad,
fusion360 etc. the pencil feels like a natural fit.

------
Pet_Ant
Anyone have a lighting solution for the remarkable? I read mostly in bed and
that's kind of a deal breaker.

------
dvcrn
Damn this looks nice! How is the pen latency?

Sadly they don’t ship to Japan so getting my hands on one is gonna be hard :(

------
ashleysmithgpu
$399 when I set my country to US, £399 when set to the UK? That's not how
currency works :/

------
suyash
Interesting feature set but I don't see much value getting it if you already
have iPad with Apple Pencil. There are several apps including Apple Notes that
convert handwritten text to digital text. Also it doesn't replace a Tablet so
will be another gadget taking space. I would rather wait for iPad or another
full fledged Tablet to get some of these features.

~~~
crystaln
Battery life and look-feel of paper. I love my kindle for reading because it
doesn’t do anything else. Mostly I agree with you.

If combined with kindle I would definitely want one.

------
colordrops
Why has this been pinned to the top all day? Is ReMarkable associated with
YCombinator somehow?

------
fluffy87
Which formats are notes exported to? Can they be exported to markdown + latex
+ images?

------
solinent
To me this is a bit absurd--if we're trying to replicate paper, maybe using a
tree would be best? You can put the ink in the pen.

I guess the advantage is you can save many documents--but this is actually a
disadvantage to me as I like having a physical copy I can splay out on my
desk. Or even an entire wall covered with my designs.

------
walkingolof
A honest question, who really need this ? A pen and a notebook is a couple of
euros ..

------
olah_1
Do you still have to replace the pencil tips often and are they still
expensive?

~~~
bronson
This image from the order page implies 'yes':
[https://cdn.sanity.io/images/0e4kwcjv/production/6b0df7dbf80...](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/0e4kwcjv/production/6b0df7dbf80cb99a7e810ce02d80a980f3ac6049-2832x2002.jpg)

Although $12 ($17 inc shipping to US) for 8 tips doesn't seem too expensive to
me.

------
jordache
that sound from the stylus tip - I'm assuming the tip will wear down very
quickly?

How intuitive is the wireless content transfer on the 1st gen model? At lot
times on my iPad, I'm sourcing notes from web content.

------
WalterBright
I wonder how well it would do as a replacement for the abandoned Kindle DX?

------
brightball
Am I reading this right? It’s a Linux OS but it doesn’t work with Linux?

------
jamborta
Priced at 399 in USD, EUR and GBP. As usual, most expensive in the UK.

~~~
tandr
and 599 CAD, which is like 14% markup comparing USD price to CAD

------
dominotw
i use ipad pro with some sort of 'paperlike' screen protector. Feels like
writing on paper to me.

So other than supposedly reducing eyestrain( is this a proven claim?). What is
the benefit?

------
udev
How is the latency when "turning" pages or taking notes?

------
IMAYousaf
Does anyone have any opinions on this vs. the Sony Digital Paper?

~~~
cilea
I have the 13.3 inch Digital Paper but not the ReMarkable. The A4 size is
great for reading Magazines and Journals. The writing experience is good but
the stylus does not support pressure sensitivity. One feature that stands out:
split screen, i.e. one side as a reader and the other side for taking note. By
the way, the stylus supports erasing and highlighting. I wish it supports EPUB
(PDF-only reader). Was interested in getting a ReMarkable, but the A4 size won
me over.

~~~
IMAYousaf
Thank you. Appreciate it.

------
BooneJS
They announced a 2nd delay a few days ago. Hoping it’s the last.

------
mraza007
I just ordered mine Remarkable 1 since there was a delay in 2

------
ilyas121
How does this compare to something like a kindle for reading?

~~~
kraig
I looked into this when I first heard about the ReMarkable 2.0, general
consensus was usable but not as good. Some work is required to convert books
to be used on the device and make fonts look OK. I also remember something
about the built in reader not being as well designed.

------
mufufu
Can’t click on the pre-order link on mobile Safari (iOS 13.6.1), no bueno.
Trying hold the button down gives me the text options pop up (instead of the
link preview) which makes me think there’s an element over it

------
Aldo_MX
I would had bought it, but no shipping to my country ️

------
andi999
I just want the software. (And use it on my two in one)

------
DennisP
If I plugged a keyboard into the USB-C, would it work?

------
sharpercoder
A display with >10ms response times for writing does not cut it for me. I love
the product, but this is something I can't compromise on. I really hope this
problem on e-ink screens gets solved!

------
tanilama
Does this have any advantage against Boox Note 10.1?

------
Evidlo
remarkable is nice, but it definitely needs someone to replace the main
proprietary note taking application with an open source equivalent.

------
schattschneider
Man that's a really beautiful website

------
Koshkin
Now I have to carry three devices around...

~~~
outworlder
Just pretend you are carrying Star Trek tablets :)

------
adhoc32
Too bad it has only 8GB and no SD card.

~~~
tastyfreeze
8GB for text formats is quite a lot. The primary reason Kindle e-readers have
larger storage is to support Audible.

------
o23ijoi2j
In United States it costs 399$ or 337 Euro, but if I buy it in Germany, then
it will cost 399 Euro - 20% more expensive...

In United States you make so much more money as a software developer comparing
to Europe and then you pay much less than in Europe for all electronic
devices. This is probably because Europe decided to go the communism way,
charging everyone with INSANELY HUGE TAXES. Europe will soon become the next
Africa with that kind of mindset.

------
Solstinox
I think I'll spend that money on fancy notebooks and fountain pens/nice
pencils. 0 latency, smell really good too.

------
fcatus
how is this different than any other tablet? just because the edges look like
a notebook?

------
sscotth
Holding out for a larger version

------
izaak
These will not ship to my country. Can anyone recommend a good eink note-
taking alternative?

------
spsneo
Not shipped in India :-(

------
eyeball
I’ll just put a matte / paper feel screen protector on my iPad and use
GoodNotes.

------
jordache
the marketing video intrigued me.. then I found real world reviews.. It's
gonna be a nope for me.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJF_HmMsGRE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJF_HmMsGRE)

~~~
matsemann
Everyone I know that has it uses it for note taking, pdf reading and drawing
simple diagrams. Unless you're buying it do draw art I wouldn't buy it based
on it's merit of drawing art.

~~~
jordache
the thing doesn't even support Adobe DRM Epub... what a waste of opportunity!

~~~
_heimdall
To be fair DRM is a waste of opportunity. If I buy a book, movie, or album I
want to use it however I choose as long as it doesn't breach copyright laws.

I've been burned too many times by DRM'd content that stops working after a
service/app update, is useless when the company goes out of business, or when
it works on one of my devices but not another.

~~~
jordache
Libraries all use Adobe DRM. Kindle doesn't support it, so it's not in
consideration for me.

I don't want to buy ebooks.. I want to check it out via my local library

------
nikolay
Nice, but so expensive!

------
cheezburgerman
Will it run doom?

------
desmap
Does it run vim?

------
DrJaws
boox max 3 or note 2, are way better than what remarkable can offer

------
htor
oh my god HN is like reading ads. what shite front page news....

------
mgn01
The availability of this e-reader is frustrating, I want it so bad but have to
wait two months.

------
marvindanig
> …on an eyestrain-inducing glossy screens.

Are you sure about that? [1]

[1] [https://bubblin.io/blog/daylight-energy-
fatigue](https://bubblin.io/blog/daylight-energy-fatigue)

~~~
crystaln
Is this written by a lobbyist?

Blue light causes cataracts if nothing else. It also affects sleep cycles
which can cause fatigue and all sorts of strain on the eye and body.

But “ Does this blue-light pose any hazard to our eyes?

Nope, not to my knowledge”

Animations are not perfectly smooth causing strain on scrolling (I can see the
unevenness even on my 11 pro with every scroll). Colors are constructed - ever
look at a phone on acid? This also can cause subconscious strain.

The article also fails to recognize that most eink displayed are in fact
illuminated.

The bottom line is reading on eink is relaxing in ways a tablet is not.

~~~
cargoshipit
Cool story bro

------
techsin101
I can buy 399 notebooks for 399

------
codesternews
Buy the Pen and Paper.

Nothing can feel like Pen and Paper without Pen and Paper. I stopped all this
and bought $2 5 subject notebook and it relieved my anxiety and give me outlet
to express.

Just buy Pen and Paper and stopped looking nostaliga and looking things in
other things.

~~~
aeturnum
I kick started the first Remarkable and found it indispensable for grad
school. It's just not practical to carry around a printout of every paper
you've ever read for any of your classes, but a nice eink tablet meant I could
read without eye strain and have older sources if I needed them.

I agree it's a poor replacement for writing notes on paper and I paired it
with traditional notebooks for notes in class.

~~~
codesternews
I tried some of solutions. But I could not replace. My needs are less. I use
for journaling and some study.

I like the feel of paper and pen and I just think it can't be replaced.

------
pat2man
This seems like a perfect device for the single use of note taking. But
something like [https://www.boox.com](https://www.boox.com) would probably
make more sense for a lot of people since it can run other Android note taking
and e-reader apps.

~~~
minimalist
I have a Boox Note and its has tragically lousy software. Its stuck on Android
Lollipop with an ancient, vulnerable kernel, SELinux disabled by the
manufacturer and the device phones home to Chinese servers for just about
everything. Handwriting recognition doesnt work without phoning home. Ony,x
does not respect the GPL, the bootloader is locked on their devices, and the
firmware is obfuscated.

I explain it all in this comment:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21041543](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21041543)

This received some attention in the re--it community last month--the company
still does not care [0]. I preordered a remarkable 2. As said by other people:
after being abused by all of these conpanies who intentionally lock down the
devices that /we purchase/ from them, spying on us and making the devices
intentionallu obselescent, remarkable, purism, pine64 have infinite goodwill
from me for making devices that you have actual control over.

[0]: [https://reddit.com/comments/hl09g7](https://reddit.com/comments/hl09g7)

------
throwawaysea
For me a big problem is that a lot of the things I want to save, mark up, and
revisit (archive or search or share) are articles from webpages or PDFs -
neither of which this eInk display is practical for.

~~~
jonahbenton
PDFs work fine. I converted many Kindle books to PDF and sent them to the
remarkable via their cloud API. I don't do it much but writing notes on PDF
pages works fine.

~~~
meigetsu
How do you convert kindle books into PDFs?

~~~
jonahbenton
Wiring together the work done in the Calibre project.

[http://www.geoffstratton.com/remove-drm-amazon-kindle-
books](http://www.geoffstratton.com/remove-drm-amazon-kindle-books)

Start by downloading the owned book from Amazon, targeting one of the
compatible devices. I have a bunch of old kindles still registered under my
account that I use for this, for which I have the serial #. Then just follow
instructions.

All the steps described as using the UI can be done with some digging from the
command line.

Shipping a PDF up to the remarkable cloud also takes little digging and
wiring, but it works totally reliably.

------
marvindanig
I'm happy with my iPad. I can read books, watch videos or take notes all in
one, plus I get to surf the open web on a super fast browser on top hardware
that doesn't try to mimic the dead-tree. Not sure what the use-case for a
sluggish 'paper-like' interface would ever be?

I know some folks will jump to suggest less eyestrain but neither paper books
nor e-ink help with that. Since eyestrain stems from overworked eyes and a
tired brain [1], it doesn't help to claim that the nature of surface revealing
the text has anything to do with it.

[1] [https://bubblin.io/blog/daylight-energy-
fatigue](https://bubblin.io/blog/daylight-energy-fatigue)

~~~
criddell
The Remarkable does one thing and tries to do that one thing well. For a lot
of people, not having Hacker News a swipe away is a feature. Having a much,
much longer battery life is also nice.

Have you ever compared the screen of an iPad and Kindle outside? The Kindle is
far easier to read in bright light. Even inside I prefer an eink screen
because it isn't flashing 60 or 120 times per second.

------
rvz
When this device has an e-ink colour display then I would purchase it.

Until then: No Thanks and No deal.

EDIT: Not only that, Remarkable 2.0 and 1.0 are not even 64 bit and still use
32 bit processors in 2020. Completely pointless to use beyond 2038.

Like I said, wait for e-ink colour and 64 bit or don't bother.

~~~
marvindanig
I agree with you. Don't understand why people are downvoting your observation
though.

~~~
s800
Because the required hardware technology does not exist.

~~~
rvz
> does not exist.

Oh really? Lets have a look at the market shall we?

What is this then? [0]

Or this? [1]

Maybe this? [2]

Finally, an actual colour e-ink e-reader product. [3]

64 Bit e-reader bonus review: [4]

I have high hopes for reMarkable to do better than what is on the market right
now which is why I would rather wait for a color e-ink version with a 64 bit
CPU, which the technologies DO exist today. But unfortunately, what they are
offering for a competitive e-reader tablet tells me that they are not even
trying, even when they are selling a product with outdated technology. That
isn't really a good deal is it?

[0] [https://www.eink.com/color-technology.html](https://www.eink.com/color-
technology.html)

[1] [https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/07/this-could-finally-be-
the-...](https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/07/this-could-finally-be-the-year-of-
e-ink-seriously/)

[2] [https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2019/12/18/e-ink-
releasing...](https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2019/12/18/e-ink-releasing-
new-color-screens-print-color-e-ink/)

[3] [https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/pocketbook-color-e-
read...](https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/pocketbook-color-e-reader-hands-
on-review)

[4] [https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/remarkable-1-vs-
fujitsu...](https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/remarkable-1-vs-fujitsu-
quaderno-a5)

