Remarkable Tablet

sonicgal

I'm an oldie and I use notebooks for taking notes at meetings. I have a lot of meetings and I need to refer back to these notes sometimes years ahead. A few business contacts rave about the Remarkable Tablet. My trusted IT people haven't heard of it.  Anyone here able to give an opinion on whether it's worth the £500 plus cost?

Jenni_D

https://remarkable.com/ for anyone wondering what the OP's referring to  

I'd never heard of it. I guess their main differentiator (apparently) is the "paper-like" feel to the surface when writing on it, as there are other (mainstream) tablets which offer similar functionality.

GDB2222

I used to use duplicate books for taking notes at meetings - with carbon paper! I would then have a copy for the file, and I could always go back through the books if I had to. 

I guess that this is a more hi tech version. The feel and size of the tablet is very important, in my opinion, so the OP needs to try out various options to see which feels most comfortable. Can you rest your hand on the tablet whilst writing, for example?

GDB2222

I assume that this does OCR of the handwriting and it is highly accurate?

MattMattMattUK

sonicgal said:

I'm an oldie and I use notebooks for taking notes at meetings. I have a lot of meetings and I need to refer back to these notes sometimes years ahead. A few business contacts rave about the Remarkable Tablet. My trusted IT people haven't heard of it.  Anyone here able to give an opinion on whether it's worth the £500 plus cost?

I have heard of them, I have seen them used, I do not think that they are in the slightest bit worth it.

Make notes on a laptop or normal full featured tablet and they are digital to start with. Make notes on a paper pad and scan them in with a phone using OCR, if the OCR on the phone cannot handle them then neither will the OCR on the Remarkable Tablet. 

Also, to add, if you do go down the Remarkable route check that they are compatible with your employer's data protection policies, I know at least one large client who discovered that they are not, after buying a bunch of them. 

Ergates

sonicgal said:

I'm an oldie and I use notebooks for taking notes at meetings. I have a lot of meetings and I need to refer back to these notes sometimes years ahead. A few business contacts rave about the Remarkable Tablet. My trusted IT people haven't heard of it.  Anyone here able to give an opinion on whether it's worth the £500 plus cost?

On the website, it gives the price as £300 - about £410 with the special pen you need.

So it's a relatively low cost tablet with a specialised note taking software built in and a Kindle like paper-white screen.  Reviews seem to suggest it's good at what it's meant for.  Whether or not that's worth £400 to you, only you can answer.

outtatune

Onenote on any old cheap tablet will let you take notes with a stylus in pretty much exactly the same way.

sonicgal

Thanks so much to everyone for your advice.  I think you also have to buy a cover for it (folio in their words) or it's just going to be bashed about - hence the £500. 
I do have a high spec iPad but my writing is illegible on that.  I do use Onenote on it which is fine for when I'm typing but I don't like typing while I'm in a meeting. 
Good idea about try before you buy but I haven't been able to find anywhere off line to go for a look. They are doing a 100 day try and return but I'd probably miss the deadline for that. 
Hmm - still undecided. Thanks again

k_man

I suggest you ask the contacts that recommended it, what the advantage is, over just a tablet and stylus.

As they have used it, they have real world experience.
Albeit it may have been purchased on work expenses. A colleague of mine from a few years ago swore by these, so I assume there is some value.

RumRat

If you need a tough tablet have a look at the Samsung Galaxy Active Pro, it comes with the S-Pen so will be excellent for taking and keeping notes on the move.
Not cheap, but, worth considering.

Ergates

k_man said:

I suggest you ask the contacts that recommended it, what the advantage is, over just a tablet and stylus.

As they have used it, they have real world experience.
Albeit it may have been purchased on work expenses. A colleague of mine from a few years ago swore by these, so I assume there is some value.

They might also be able to let the OP try it - even a quick few minutes might help.