Not me zooming in to read The Whispering Night... 😆
I don't worry TOO much about paper, because at least it's renewable and recyclable, but the idea that it could read my handwriting and make it into text is amazing! I got a Rocketbook because you can take pictures of the pages, it uses Frixion pens which I already loved, and it automatically sorts pages on its app by which symbol you cross out on the page. But mostly because it was supposed to transcribe my handwriting... which didn't work AT ALL. SO. Does the reMarkable read cursive?? Can it be trained to?
I used to love my rocketbook, but I also never got the handwriting feature to work. And I wasn’t good about staying organized with all the files and folders—or even remembering to photograph the pages. 🥴
I don’t know about cursive since I write in a mix of the two, but maybe try googling??
"The ReMarkable 2 supports and recognises 33 languages, and can not only identify block letters, but cursive input too. ...It’s not perfect, and the clearer your handwriting and grammatical marks the better, but I was surprised at just how well it managed to translate my notoriously spidery scrawl." https://www.techradar.com/reviews/remarkable-2-tablet
So maybe?? But my handwriting is curly, rather than spidery, so we'd have to see. Does it page like a notebook or do you "scroll" or swipe up to write more?
Oh, and to elaborate, I do both. I tend to keep one long page dedicated to a single day of brainstorming and notes. Then I will start a new page the next morning.
I have another friend who LOVES this device and it sounds so tempting... But I don't think I like handwriting the same way you do. I just want the fun toy.
But I like this review. It's good to have multiple Trusted Friends who think the reMarkable is all that and more.
This is so cool! I actually love that it is just masterful at the one thing it sets out to do, I feel like I could use more things that aren’t trying to be my everything. I am wondering about the cloud subscription long term—does it synch physically if you want?
Before I had the subscription, as long as I was connected to Wi-Fi I could switch handwriting to text. My workaround was emailing myself the document. So you can definitely email things to yourself without the connect cloud subscription, it's just a little bit more annoying. While I am finishing working on this draft, I'll plan to keep my subscription, but once I'm done with the draft, I'm going to cancel said cloud subscription for a little less convenience.
Just a note for anyone who has adhd and lives in the UK - I had an access to work assessment through DWP and they recommended the remarkable, so it was purchased for me as part of my support package. It’s been so incredibly helpful
I've been eying this device for some time now, but the cost is, as you said, ugh <G>. But, that hasn't stopped me from making a note in my calendar to see what Black Friday deals might crop up for this device in 2024. This past November, they had some discounting on the bundle, so...I'll hold off for now and hope that there is a similar deal in 2024. Thanks for all the posts and content - always informative and interesting!
Asimov omg Susan 😭 truly, can you catch a break wow I hope he gets better and that 2024 chills out for you!!
I’ve been looking at this since you mentioned it last time and 🌚 it’s so tempting. I also am a paper-drafter and editor and even though I love my iPad and its 173637374 note-taking apps, nothing quite has compared to the feeling of plotting in the margins during Chemistry lecture while absolutely not listening to anything the professor says. Also, truly, I’m just a stationary hoarder, but I wonder if this would help keeping everything with me at all times, instead of being limited by how many notebooks in a bag my shoulder can handle when I want to write outside.
I recently got the freewrite and WOW the BENEFIT of that limited functionality is truly a game changer. I knew but didn’t *know* how wired my brain was into so much distraction, and I feel like this hits some of those points too.
I know, Adriana. I had a good cry after the diagnosis. But on the "bright" side, he's so old...there's not a lot to be done except let it be. Which is a relief because my empathy well is SO drained. I don't think I can handle the necessary appointments and medications and constant treatments Leia needed in the year up to her death.
For poor Asimov, we'll just let it be until it's too much for his old system. 😞
Anyway, I clearly love the reMarkable and having everything in one place is awesome. I can also use my phone to work on things if--like yesterday when I was at the vet for two hours--I didn't think to bring the device!
I do my first drafts completely by hand (I KNOW!) and it would save me so much time if it could convert my handwriting to text. Is it powerful enough for a full first draft? Scene by scene would be great!
Yeah, I don’t see why it couldn’t do a full draft. It converts by page. So in the above example, it’s one page of my brainstorming notes. I hit “convert to text” and it creates a new page with all the text. Does that make sense?
Thank you!! Ive been holding off bc of the price I wanted to be sure before I bought. This was exactly the review I was looking for. From another writer!
Of interest to folks on a tight budget, I acquired an AlphaSmart 3000 this summer for about $30 on Ebay. School districts bought them by the pallet 10 years ago for keyboard training, but they don't have the network connectivity needed for remote learning, so they are liquidating them now. Fortunately, the damn things are nearly indestructible. I've found it useful for leaning back in a recliner and emptying my head to a keyboard. I figured out a few tricks for using it and ramble on about it here: https://vinemaple.net/studio/alphasmart/
Yes! I’ve been using the AlphaSmart Neo2 for over a decade now, and I frequently recommend them for people who can’t afford a Freewrite! The 3000 version is new to me, so I’ll look it up! Thanks!
Thank you for this review. I have been debating for a long time if I should get one of these because I notice I am way more focused when I write by hand. If I have ideas late at night or early in the morning I want to be able to write them down, but the thought of typing all that into a computer seemed like a waste of time...to the point that I wouldn't write it down. Sooz, I think you've sold me.
I found the marker that Remarkable comes with too thick. I now use a Staedtler (spelling?) pen which also works and is significantly cheaper than the Remarkable marker, but it isn't magnetic. I didn't get the keyboard with it, but I did get a different Remarkable 2 case on Amazon that has a pocket for the pen. I am using it to mark up my third draft, and it is so easy to take it on the train while commuting to do my revisions! Highly recommend it to anyone who likes handwriting and is thinking of a tablet for revisions and is trying to stop using so much paper.
I also got the Staedtler one. But found it too thin for my liking. It is pleasantly lighter, and the hexagonal profile makes it both instantly recognizable (both feel and looks) as well as giving slightly better grip when compared to the original pen or the Marker with a clip. I seem to prefer the slight thicker profile. A matter of personal taste I guess.
Also by the way, without the cloud subscription, you can still email yourself the documents. It is just a little bit more annoying then just having it sync. I really love that I can use a Google Chrome extension to send a web page straight to my remarkable (e.g. to read an article or essay that I want to keep), and print send to remarkable any PDFs or anything I can print, like research articles! I also really appreciate the Microsoft Word extension that directly connects a Word document I'm working on and sends it to the remarkable. Finally, I haven't messed with the Google Drive integrations yet, but I'm wondering if you're editing a document with your pen in real time, if it automatically syncs to that Google drive?
Thanks for the tip on the Word extension. Just installed it. Works great on first try.
Regarding Google Drive: you copy (import) a file to your tablet (or cloud really). You edit it locally. As far as I'm aware, it doesn't sync automatically. Subsequently you can export your file to Google Drive.
It's like xeroxing something from the library and returning your altered copy.
I bought a ReMarkable tablet just to try it out, thinking I would probably return it, and I loved it so much I kept it. Have you tried changing the pen color to red? That might stand out enough that you don't need the green highlighter.
Not me zooming in to read The Whispering Night... 😆
I don't worry TOO much about paper, because at least it's renewable and recyclable, but the idea that it could read my handwriting and make it into text is amazing! I got a Rocketbook because you can take pictures of the pages, it uses Frixion pens which I already loved, and it automatically sorts pages on its app by which symbol you cross out on the page. But mostly because it was supposed to transcribe my handwriting... which didn't work AT ALL. SO. Does the reMarkable read cursive?? Can it be trained to?
I used to love my rocketbook, but I also never got the handwriting feature to work. And I wasn’t good about staying organized with all the files and folders—or even remembering to photograph the pages. 🥴
I don’t know about cursive since I write in a mix of the two, but maybe try googling??
"The ReMarkable 2 supports and recognises 33 languages, and can not only identify block letters, but cursive input too. ...It’s not perfect, and the clearer your handwriting and grammatical marks the better, but I was surprised at just how well it managed to translate my notoriously spidery scrawl." https://www.techradar.com/reviews/remarkable-2-tablet
So maybe?? But my handwriting is curly, rather than spidery, so we'd have to see. Does it page like a notebook or do you "scroll" or swipe up to write more?
Both! You can have one looooong page you scroll down, or you can add pages and swipe sideways.
Oh, and to elaborate, I do both. I tend to keep one long page dedicated to a single day of brainstorming and notes. Then I will start a new page the next morning.
I have another friend who LOVES this device and it sounds so tempting... But I don't think I like handwriting the same way you do. I just want the fun toy.
But I like this review. It's good to have multiple Trusted Friends who think the reMarkable is all that and more.
Yeah, per our convo yesterday about the Freewrite devices, it’s cool if it works for you…but just money spent if that’s not your brain’s approach.
This is so cool! I actually love that it is just masterful at the one thing it sets out to do, I feel like I could use more things that aren’t trying to be my everything. I am wondering about the cloud subscription long term—does it synch physically if you want?
Yes! It does sync physically! I have yet to actually do so, but it’s definitely possible. 😊
https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Convert-handwritten-notes-into-text says you need to have the cloud subscription to convert handwriting though :-(
Ah yes. That makes sense since it requires syncing to the cloud to access the technology. Sigh!
Assuming that the tech to read handwriting continues to improve, that could make the subscription more worthwhile though
Before I had the subscription, as long as I was connected to Wi-Fi I could switch handwriting to text. My workaround was emailing myself the document. So you can definitely email things to yourself without the connect cloud subscription, it's just a little bit more annoying. While I am finishing working on this draft, I'll plan to keep my subscription, but once I'm done with the draft, I'm going to cancel said cloud subscription for a little less convenience.
Just a note for anyone who has adhd and lives in the UK - I had an access to work assessment through DWP and they recommended the remarkable, so it was purchased for me as part of my support package. It’s been so incredibly helpful
I love that! And it makes so much sense to me given how limited the functionality is. There’s nothing to distract you!
Exactly - and I am TERRIBLE at remembering writing up notes, so the convert to text function has been a godsend
I've been eying this device for some time now, but the cost is, as you said, ugh <G>. But, that hasn't stopped me from making a note in my calendar to see what Black Friday deals might crop up for this device in 2024. This past November, they had some discounting on the bundle, so...I'll hold off for now and hope that there is a similar deal in 2024. Thanks for all the posts and content - always informative and interesting!
I know, the PRICE!! But I will say, it has been absolutely worth it. So I hope you can get a good deal, and maybe sooner than Black Friday!
Asimov omg Susan 😭 truly, can you catch a break wow I hope he gets better and that 2024 chills out for you!!
I’ve been looking at this since you mentioned it last time and 🌚 it’s so tempting. I also am a paper-drafter and editor and even though I love my iPad and its 173637374 note-taking apps, nothing quite has compared to the feeling of plotting in the margins during Chemistry lecture while absolutely not listening to anything the professor says. Also, truly, I’m just a stationary hoarder, but I wonder if this would help keeping everything with me at all times, instead of being limited by how many notebooks in a bag my shoulder can handle when I want to write outside.
I recently got the freewrite and WOW the BENEFIT of that limited functionality is truly a game changer. I knew but didn’t *know* how wired my brain was into so much distraction, and I feel like this hits some of those points too.
I know, Adriana. I had a good cry after the diagnosis. But on the "bright" side, he's so old...there's not a lot to be done except let it be. Which is a relief because my empathy well is SO drained. I don't think I can handle the necessary appointments and medications and constant treatments Leia needed in the year up to her death.
For poor Asimov, we'll just let it be until it's too much for his old system. 😞
Anyway, I clearly love the reMarkable and having everything in one place is awesome. I can also use my phone to work on things if--like yesterday when I was at the vet for two hours--I didn't think to bring the device!
What a cool device! It was also very interesting to see how you use it with your writing process. Thanks for sharing! lol, my Precious! 😊
I do my first drafts completely by hand (I KNOW!) and it would save me so much time if it could convert my handwriting to text. Is it powerful enough for a full first draft? Scene by scene would be great!
Yeah, I don’t see why it couldn’t do a full draft. It converts by page. So in the above example, it’s one page of my brainstorming notes. I hit “convert to text” and it creates a new page with all the text. Does that make sense?
I think it would work SO well for you!!
Thank you!! Ive been holding off bc of the price I wanted to be sure before I bought. This was exactly the review I was looking for. From another writer!
I’m so sorry to hear about Asimov. Sending as much love and comfort your way as I can 🫶
Thanks. It’s been…a year. 😞
Oh my gosh I love the Remarkable 2 so much! I use it for drafting and it is GLORIOUS.
I cannot express how much I truly love it 😂 I also love having ALL MY PROJECTS right there, since I jump around so often from idea to idea.
Yes! It is so satisfying!
Of interest to folks on a tight budget, I acquired an AlphaSmart 3000 this summer for about $30 on Ebay. School districts bought them by the pallet 10 years ago for keyboard training, but they don't have the network connectivity needed for remote learning, so they are liquidating them now. Fortunately, the damn things are nearly indestructible. I've found it useful for leaning back in a recliner and emptying my head to a keyboard. I figured out a few tricks for using it and ramble on about it here: https://vinemaple.net/studio/alphasmart/
Yes! I’ve been using the AlphaSmart Neo2 for over a decade now, and I frequently recommend them for people who can’t afford a Freewrite! The 3000 version is new to me, so I’ll look it up! Thanks!
Thank you for this review. I have been debating for a long time if I should get one of these because I notice I am way more focused when I write by hand. If I have ideas late at night or early in the morning I want to be able to write them down, but the thought of typing all that into a computer seemed like a waste of time...to the point that I wouldn't write it down. Sooz, I think you've sold me.
Ah, i Hope you like it and I don’t steer you wrong!! 😅
Nah, I don't think so. I still need to save up for it. I have time to decide if it's the right fit, and after your review it's seeming very likely!!
This is awesome! A lot of indies don't use DRM (me included) so if you wanna try to read an epub try an indie book!
I found the marker that Remarkable comes with too thick. I now use a Staedtler (spelling?) pen which also works and is significantly cheaper than the Remarkable marker, but it isn't magnetic. I didn't get the keyboard with it, but I did get a different Remarkable 2 case on Amazon that has a pocket for the pen. I am using it to mark up my third draft, and it is so easy to take it on the train while commuting to do my revisions! Highly recommend it to anyone who likes handwriting and is thinking of a tablet for revisions and is trying to stop using so much paper.
I also got the Staedtler one. But found it too thin for my liking. It is pleasantly lighter, and the hexagonal profile makes it both instantly recognizable (both feel and looks) as well as giving slightly better grip when compared to the original pen or the Marker with a clip. I seem to prefer the slight thicker profile. A matter of personal taste I guess.
Also by the way, without the cloud subscription, you can still email yourself the documents. It is just a little bit more annoying then just having it sync. I really love that I can use a Google Chrome extension to send a web page straight to my remarkable (e.g. to read an article or essay that I want to keep), and print send to remarkable any PDFs or anything I can print, like research articles! I also really appreciate the Microsoft Word extension that directly connects a Word document I'm working on and sends it to the remarkable. Finally, I haven't messed with the Google Drive integrations yet, but I'm wondering if you're editing a document with your pen in real time, if it automatically syncs to that Google drive?
Thanks for the tip on the Word extension. Just installed it. Works great on first try.
Regarding Google Drive: you copy (import) a file to your tablet (or cloud really). You edit it locally. As far as I'm aware, it doesn't sync automatically. Subsequently you can export your file to Google Drive.
It's like xeroxing something from the library and returning your altered copy.
I bought a ReMarkable tablet just to try it out, thinking I would probably return it, and I loved it so much I kept it. Have you tried changing the pen color to red? That might stand out enough that you don't need the green highlighter.
Came here to suggest this!