7 Weeks with reMarkable 2
How I use it and my impressions.
This article is the English version; if you are interested in the Italian version, you can find it here: 7 Settimane con reMarkable 2.
This article is not a review but simply how I use it (and my impressions) after 7 weeks of use.
I ordered it just before Christmas, and it arrived at the beginning of the year, taking about two weeks (I was in batch 13); now I think there are no more batches as the delivery is in 4–7 working days.
The manufacturer, reMarkable, is present also here on Medium.
WHAT IS REMARKABLE 2
The reMarkable 2 is an e-ink tablet to write on with its specific pen (I use their Marker Plus, which unlike the normal one, also allows you to delete using the back, which is convenient as an alternative to using the relative menu items, I have not tried with other pens).
It was not born to do everything and more (like ordinary tablets) but to do a few specific things well, shortly, mainly reading and writing.
The company’s goal, as clearly seen on their homepage is to replace notebooks and paper documents:
reMarkable 2
The next-generation paper tablet
Replace your notebooks and printed documents with the only tablet that feels like paper.
The first reMarkable was launched with crowdfunding in 2016, while reMarkable 2 (the one I am currently using) was announced in March 2020 and began distribution around September 2020.
HOW I AM USING IT
I am using it for:
1) Collect ideas
Every day for 15 minutes I “disconnect” from smartphone and PC and try to collect thoughts, only me and the reMarkable 2, in this way I can concentrate only on what I’m doing and I don’t get lost in a thousand distractions, 15 minutes are not many, but I need to build a practical habit.
2) Quick Notes
Based on what I am doing, it may be useful to save notes, just as if I were using a paper pad.
As an advantage over the paper, there is the possibility to move the text easily.
There is also a feature for converting into text what is written manually but which I am not using, and this is because I am used to writing in capital letters for speed/practicality, but strangely the conversion, in this case, does not work very well; instead, I tried to write in italics and works much better in my case.
Writing is very similar to paper, there is a slight delay, but it does not spoil the writing experience.
3) Tracking habits
Initially, I wrote directly on the reMarkable 2 a list of habits that I wanted to achieve every day, I integrated it with columns with the days, and I used it for very basic tracking of habits. Later I thought about expanding it so that it was more comfortable with the passage of time, I created some drafts directly on the reMarkable. Currently, I have made a version no longer freehand, but on a computer spreadsheet that I transform into PDF and load on the device, in this way, I track the days in which I can follow my habits, and gradually I evolve my template to be more useful (both in the habits list and in the structure). Once I have consolidated this template, I will want to transform it into an actual reMarkable template (there are several) and not into a simple editable PDF as it currently is.
4) Read PDF
I use the device to upload (through the appropriate PC program synchronized with the proprietary cloud) various PDFs to read it later.
Reading it in some cases, I noticed some delay in updating the page change, so I change it more sometimes believing I had not given the command correctly, usually for specific PDFs and not for all (maybe the specific PDF was particularly complex causing the slight delay).
You can make annotations on these PDFs.
5) Read ebooks
I also have a Kindle Paperwhite with which I feel good, but I also use reMarkable to read ebooks. The larger screen makes it more practical than the Kindle, the disadvantage is a greater weight and the lack of backlighting.
In this case, however, you must be careful that the ebooks you want to read do not have DRM and are in ePub format or possibly in PDF format; it does not support ebooks purchased on Amazon.
In my case, I took advantage of some promotions at the beginning of the year to buy several ebooks from a publishing house that, in addition to Amazon, also sold them from its site (I first checked that they were DRM-free).
6) Comic reader
I had purchased some comic book collections through the Humble Bundle website, I tried to read them from the computer but it was uncomfortable for me and I had abandoned them, with the arrival of the reMarkable 2 I took advantage and loaded them on it paying attention to:
- Do not run out of space on the device (8 GB) (initially I had problems in this regard, mostly because I had not noticed that there was also a bin that I have not emptied by carrying to the saturation of the device that was not clear to me and too strange behavior, solved the situation by contacting the support who promptly helped me).
- Upload PDFs (Humble Bundle provides both PDFs and CBZs, unfortunately reMarkable does not natively support CBZs, so you need to upload PDFs).
In this way, I was able to read them easily, and I will keep in mind the next comic releases on Humble Bundle (in addition to comics on Humble Bundle, there are often also ebooks that can also be read practically on reMarkable 2 in PDF or ePub format).
7) Read articles saved from computer
I save some articles that seem particularly interesting (and long) from the computer and send them directly to reMarkable through Chrome’s relative extension, minimal but effective.
WHAT I WANT TO BE IMPROVED
- Supported formats — Natively supports few formats; a greater number of supported formats would be more practical.
- Multitasking — It is inconvenient to switch from one document to another in a short time, for example, if you are working on multiple documents, a shortcut for a quick notepad is possible, but it is not enough, or you can set the documents as favorites, in this case, they will also be displayed in the related special folder.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
This is how I am currently using reMarkable 2, I don’t think I have yet learned how to use it to the best of its possibility, and the problems encountered are mainly software, so with future updates, they may also be fixed (as well as new features being introduced).
Thanks for reading; if you liked it (or even if you didn’t like it) or if you have any considerations about it, let me know in the comments.
