Yes, that's really the name - Remarkable. Remarkable makes a tablet to replace pen and paper. The Remarkable is not a tablet like Android or iPad. It is truly a replacement for pen and paper.
My Opinion
I love my Remarkable. I live with notepad and pen. Taking notes helps me process information and learn new things. The act of summarizing forces me to understand what I'm hearing. In school, I used outlines. Now I use a bullets, indenting related sub-points. Same structure, less thinking. And off topic. Pen and paper work well for me.
The Remarkable is unobtrusive. It has a thin profile, like an actual notepad. No computer screen interfering with my view of the other person. The Remarkable lies flat, like a notepad.
The pen flows easily over the writing surface. It really feels like writing on paper. The screen is not glossy, like a glass screen. That also means it doesn't wash out in sunlight.
The Technology
The Remarkable uses e-ink, similar to Amazon's Kindle. E-ink consumes a lot less power, giving the tablet really great battery life. And e-ink makes the tablet easy to read in bright lighting conditions (like sunlight). On the other hand, it is harder to read in the dark, just like normal pen and paper.
The Remarkable has one button - power. The button brings the tablet in and out of sleep mode. The rest of the controls are on screen. A simple dial toggles the sidebar. I alternate between leaving the sidebar open and hiding it. Depends on the notebook. Sometimes I want the extra space. Others, I like the convenience. Either way, switching between them is simple, intuitive.
Negatives
You swipe left or right to turn pages. I have trouble. It's as if the Remarkable doesn't register my swipe. Eventually it will, if I just keep trying. But the delay is annoying when it doesn't work the first time.
Also, I highly recommend purchasing the pen with the eraser. You can still erase with the cheaper pen. It takes more click. The eraser on the back is absolutely perfect for quick corrections or changes. I find tapping works better than rubbing.
Positives
The Remarkable is thin like a real notepad. It comes with templates to simulate lined paper, graph paper, planners, and others.
The Remarkable supports layers. I can expand the built in templates using layers. When you're in a layer, you can't erase the text in another layer. I can draw over their built-in template, then add a new layer for text that's going to change. You can edit other layers, so it's not permanent. But it helps protect me from myself. My eye hand coordination isn't the best.
How I use it
The Remarkable has completely replaced paper notepads for me. It's also replaced my electronic journals.
I always kept two journals - a bullet journal and morning pages. The Remarkable helps me keep my bullet journal more concise. I tend to write, as you may have noticed. I kept meeting notes in the journal. Ordered tasks in the order I thought I should do them. And used it as a place to keep notes.
Because the Remarkable works like pen and paper, I find myself not controlling the journal as much. I don't worry about order, for example. I simply review my tasks after each one. Less stress. And because the items may be out of order, I find myself keeping fewer useless notes. The Remarkable works against my impulse to structure things - in a good way. I go over board on structure. The tablet makes those bad habits more expensive, less palatable.
I've written about morning pages before. And I had been typing them for years. I could type sitting comfortably. And frankly, I hate writing by hand. The Remarkable hasn't really changed that. It has made writing by hand a little cooler. Never underestimate the allure of a new toy. So I find myself writing morning pages by hand. I have to say, it doesn't really make a difference to me.
The Remarkable is easier to write on than paper notepads. I can sit outside, or on the couch. Notepads bend too easily. I always needed something rigid underneath. The tablet provides a naturally smooth, hard surface for writing. Convenient.
Conclusion
A Remarkable tablet is expensive. If the price ever approaches $200 total, I think they could really start replacing paper notepads on a large scale. And I'm very glad that I bought mine.
The Remarkable does one thing, and does it well - replace paper and pen. If that appeals to you, then I highly recommend you look at the Remarkable 2.
