Yeah, I’m more used to the Amazon tablets as far as pricing is concerned. I bought one for my wife a couple of years ago, and a kid’s tablet from Amazon two years ago as well. Both in the $100-$200 range, with no ads.
But I guess the Pixel tablet comes with a dock and speakers on the dock which give it extra functionality as a kind of home media device I guess.
The speakers don’t sound great.
As for the smart home device thing, I guess that depends how much you value that. I have two nest hubs and like them a lot, but I exclusively use them for voice control and digital clocks. They’re also great digital picture frames if you’re into that. I wouldn’t miss or replace them if they broke.
To me, it’s just an elegantly designed dock. Which is nice enough I suppose, but I can’t imagine buying the pixel tablet over the cheap iPad at 2/3 the price.
Or if I was more price sensitive, that Amazon tablet.
No Audio jack, and no Youtube app.
The 9th ed iPad still head a headphone jack.
10th got rid of it.
You can pretty easily install the google play store and all google apps on fire tablets.
I was referring to the 9th gen base iPad at $329. They charge a bunch more for the new base iPad.
I know this is the tablet thread, but being interested in the science I dug around a bit in the original paper. I was hoping to understand the mechanism(s) that writing engaged that typing did not to show this improvement [1]. Instead what I found was that the p-values for most of their tests were marginal, and they ran a lot of tests without correcting for multiple hypothesis. Turns out, their results didn’t replicate:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797620965541?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.2
In this direct replication of Mueller and Oppenheimer’s (2014) Study 1, participants watched a lecture while taking notes with a laptop (n = 74) or longhand (n = 68). After a brief distraction and without the opportunity to study, they took a quiz. As in the original study, laptop participants took notes containing more words spoken verbatim by the lecturer and more words overall than did longhand participants. However, laptop participants did not perform better than longhand participants on the quiz. Exploratory meta-analyses of eight similar studies echoed this pattern. In addition, in both the original study and our replication, higher word count was associated with better quiz performance, and higher verbatim overlap was associated with worse quiz performance, but the latter finding was not robust in our replication. Overall, results do not support the idea that longhand note taking improves immediate learning via better encoding of information.
(It is kinda annoying that all of these articles are pay walled.)
[1] The key concept is that taking notes by hand is slower than typing, which forces the note-taker to engage with the material more and summarize ideas instead of verbatim copying them.
As a tutor in humanities & writing coach, I’d say that’s true SOMETIMES. But what works in the real world is more complicated than “just do this not that,” because different students do learn more easily via some methodologies than others.
This study seems to give students 48 hours after taking notes to take a quiz and found differences:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0098628320979895?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.3
I’m also not certain what a “mini-meta analysis” is, but there appear to be different results when you give folks time to study (as you would in real life situations). To be honest, I am not sure why somebody hasn’t completed a more robust series of studies about this, but still a lot of questions.
I decided to move my daily list-making to the Kindle Scribe yesterday. Made my list and got started on the day, but every time I looked over to see where I was in the list or what was next, the screen was off.
I remember that shortcoming from when it was brand new but I had expected them to fix it by now. I did some searching, and there is still no way to disable or even change (!!) the auto-lock timer. Turns out there used to be a hidden menu for it, but they removed even that via patch. That is an incredibly user-hostile move. High friction usage models are garbage, and I’m done with it. I sent them feedback, turned it off, and it won’t be used again.
I ordered a Remarkable 2 (Best Buy same day delivery) – and so far I am impressed. Wonderful pen & paper feel. It’s terrific for writing. Lists, journaling, tons of templates – it’s a much more mature solution for this.
Yup. This is a clear case where software trounces hardware. Pick up these and thank me later:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BF9WJ8VX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Be amazed at how easy it is to transfer a pdf from your desktop or laptop, mark it up, and print (with the markups) from your computer!
This weeks’ VergeCast is savage in its commentary on the state of the iPad. Some exageration for effect and comedy, but the lineup is a mess and pretty much none of them make much sense. $300 keyboards and three Apple Pencil models add to the goofiness.
They closed it by wonding if Apple will clean house on the product line or make it even more confusing with another release.
I totally agree. Five iPad models, three pencils of varying features, plethora of keyboards, mixture of lightning/USB-C. The iPad situation is so confusing right now. Worse, four of the five models start at just 64GB storage, which in 2023 just seems wrong.
Makes me wonder if iPad sales have stalled and Apple has warehouses full of 'em.
I continue to tilt at windmills, but I think I’ve found the perfect e-ink tablet. Since Remarkable doesn’t seem to believe in updating its ancient and slow hardware in favor of squeezing us on the software side (through a subscription), I noticed that Onyx had a new 10.3 inch Go that is receiving pretty good reviews. Now, my experience with other Boox products hasn’t been very good so I was doubtful, but Amazon has a great return policy, so why not take a look?
It’s a keeper so far. It’s like Boox said, well if Remarkable isn’t going to upgrade its hardware, Amazon just keeps lowering the Scribe price with no meaningful UI or storage fixes, and Supernote is having all sorts of production issues, we can make a good copy in Samsung Watch Ultra fashion.
The tablet is light as a feather and is thin the way Jony Ive likes them. Boox made the back a soft material that (in my opinion) adds tactile goodness to the writing and reading experience. I’m really debating if I need a cover and can just slide it in a folio. The only app I’ve added is the Kindle Book app and it works great. It’s a better reading experience than the Scribe (300 dpi nice looking Onyx Go screen).
The only drawback (for some) will be no backlight, especially when reading. I’m not too worried about that since I have a Paperwhite if this becomes an issue, but the screen size on the Go makes reading a pleasure. The Go screen is like Remarkable’s and has the rough texture that makes writing with the included pen very nice.
Unlike the Scribe, you can actually annotate pdfs and export those pdfs with annotations all over the place. I haven’t checked recently, but I believe that is still an issue with the Scribe. There’s a Boox app if you choose to use their cloud system. It’s a Chinese company but with US servers and the hardware is so good that I’m going to roll the dice here about the phoning home stuff.
Some reviewers discussed the refresh pen latency as slow, but seems fine to me in their Notes app. It runs some version of Android so I guess you can technically download all sorts of stuff from the PlayStore, but I’m not going to watch YouTube Videos on this thing. Also - since it is a modified Android OS - there are a lot of settings that I haven’t even begun to drill down into yet. But out of the box it can do the two things I need and it does both well.
If you order from Boox you get a cover and maybe some replacement tips for free, but do that at your own risk because they do not take returns.
I’ll also add that the Notes app doesn’t seem to have any way to create a folder that includes notepads and pdfs (bad, Remarkable 2 does this). Good news is that it runs Microsoft OneNote pretty nicely with the added bonus of close to real-time sync between me writing on the Go and it appearing on my OneNote Mac.
And I can upload pdfs all-day on my MBP’s OneNote. In general, the Boox software for Notes is behind everyone in terms of multiple file type integration, but is saved by third-party apps. I won’t even go into syncing with MacOS because that still hasn’t worked for me (between Go Notes and my MBP).
And just like that, Remarkable says I’ll see your Onyx Go 10.3 and raise you a Remarkable Paper Pro!
A couple of observations about the Paper Pro (yes I purchased one):
(1) If it was able to use the Kindle app, would probably be the perfect solution for me, but I doubt the Kindle app will work.
(2) Not certain yet if Remarkable OS now allows cross note searches in the Paper Pro. Probably one of the biggest problems with RM2 and a key advantage of Onyx and Supernote. I did see something about searches, but not certain if that is still just in the notebook.
(3) Still 100 day trial period.
(4) Very expensive if you purchase the folio and the upgraded pencil (also - can’t use your old RM2 expensive pen). Roughly $880 w tax with those options (also need a new folio, RM2 doesn’t work with it).
(5) BUT, if the hardware works as advertised plus universal search, it is a much better ecosystem than the Onyx Go 10.3, where the hardware is great but software is not so great (and battery life is way behind my RM2). I can also insert pdfs into notebooks in Remarkable and I cannot do that with Onyx Go.
(6) The Paper Pro will be thicker than the RM2. Some videos described it as new iPad thick and that will be a disappointment, but one I will get over.
My RM Paper Pro will arrive in a couple of days, but I am already worried about:
(1) No way to read Kindle books. I expected this, but with the Onyx Go 10.3, I can definitely use the device to read books, take notes, and mark up pdfs - the e-ink trifecta.
(2) Still no universal search across notes. I don’t have it with the RM2, but I have enough notes now that it would be nice to have this option.
(3) No 300 dpi. The 300 dpi Onyx Go 10.3 has the best non-front light screen I’ve ever seen. The white is a bright white and the black is a dark black, so the screen is beautiful to write and read on. The flip side of this is that everything on the RM PP is at like 229 dpi, including color, so that trumps many other color tablet offerings.
(4) Based on reddit posts, the blacks are dark blue, and the whites are grey, unless you turn up the front light. Not sure how I feel about this yet.
The Onyx Go 10.3 eliminates the need for a Kindle device in the way that the Scribe attempts to get rid of a note taking device but fair miserably there. It is large and (more importantly) light as a feather so very easy to read with. The Scribe is not iPad Pro uncomfortable as far as weight goes, but is close.
The RM PP improves the RM2 experience in theory, but does not add missing features that Boox and Supernote have in their Android-based devices. And using the RM PP means that my Kindle Paperwhite is still in rotation. However, the RM PP is larger than the Go and that will come in handy with pdfs. Plus, marking up pdfs in color on the RM PP means that is one less function for my iPad.
Why not just use an iPad? Writing without a paper-like screen protector is loud and a poor experience. But even with the paper-like screen protector, it’s loud, but then it makes using the other iPad functions less attractive (reading, watching videos, etc.). Also battery-life is an issue with an iPad compared to these e-ink tablets.
Seems I may still be tilting at windmills after next week. Sigh.
Thanks for the posts. I like the idea as a pleasurable device to use, but I have tablets that are more general purpose. What is your ideal day to day use of the device in terms of time spent and would you own a tablet too?
I use the RM2 every day to take notes during meetings, do first drafts of ideas, write up planning ideas, make lists, etc. I use Things 3 to organize my ToDos based off of these notes in many cases. I do most of my non-pdf reading on a Kindle Paperwhite. I tried with the Scribe, but it is a heavy device and awkward to hold for long periods (thus my attraction to the Go 10.3). I’d prefer a larger screen, but the Paperwhite is easy to read with.
I tried to use the iPad Pro for all of the above but I much prefer reading on an e-ink device (or actual paper). The writing experience on the e-ink tablets (RM2, Go, Supernote, and Scribe) is MUCH better than the iPad. They are also non-intrusive in meetings in ways that an iPad Pro with that long white pencil are.
I currently use the iPad Pro as an internet browsing, reply to texts, respond to email, watch YouTube, etc. device on the couch. I also mark up pdfs on my iPad because I like to do that in color, but for some pdfs I use the RM2. In these areas e-ink devices (color or not) can’t really compete and I would never purchase an e-ink device for entertainment consumption.
So the RM2 and the iPad I use daily quite a lot. The Kindle I use in the evenings or while on vacation to read non-work related stuff. The RM2 hardware is just slow and that is why some of the new offerings are attractive.
Interesting! Are you using work profiles on these devices? I assume you are a employee shlub like me; what do you do for file management? As an engineer I often review, markup and sign PDFs but haven’t broken away from my company laptop yet. I also use OneNote, any thoughts on either integration or switching platforms.
That is one of the problems with using these devices at work. None (that I know of) offer the security protection that many company’s IT folks want. Boox and Supernote use old versions of Android with uncertain security patching plans/promises. RM is now offering some sort of encryption with the PP offerring, but not certain if it will meet most organizations requirements. I know it does not meet government organization security requirements. I’m actually in academia, so I have some freedom here (just not when I work with certain types of companies).
I also use OneNote, but its note taking software lacks many functions that the other note taking software have. The Go is the first tablet I’ve used where OneNote actually loaded and could be used (other e-ink tables it can be loaded but becomes a slide show). However, it is the even less feature rich android version. Notes taken on an e-ink tablet and marked up pdfs can be exported as pdfs that can then be added to OneNote (I do this for the courses I teach). So I use OneNote to aggregate various notes, pdfs, websites, class notes, etc. from a variety of sources, including the RM2 and the iPad Pro.