My NaNoWriMo present to myself this year was a new tablet! Thanks to a Kindle-scarfing puppy, I had the opportunity to get a new e-reader. I was all set on a brand new Kindle, but my friend and JoD4HAP co-editor Alex mentioned that he had recently picked up the reMarkable 2 tablet as an aid for grading papers for his college lit courses, and that he highly recommended it as a tablet and e-reader. After doing some research, I decided that I could afford something nice, and I deserved to treat myself after such a long period of paying off all my debt and getting my finances in order.
So I took the plunge! And… It’s amazing.
The Pros
- Writing things longhand (in fact, the first draft of this post was written on it). The tablet will transcribe your written words into text, making that first pass at typing your drafts a breeze.
- e-reader! I can write in my books!
- Lightweight and long-running battery. It just feels good in my hands.
- Fun and useful pen tool that makes me feel very fancy. (It also magnetizes to the side of the tablet! No losing your hardware!)
- e-Ink technology which means the screen isn’t backlit and it’s easy to read for hours.
- Fun layering tools that allow you to make notes in your books on separate readthroughs. I used this technique when using the tablet as a guide for a crochet project I was working on. I crossed off each step as I crocheted it, just to keep my place — and then, when I was done, I deleted that layer so that I could do it all over again.
The Cons
- Kindle eBooks aren’t immediately compatible due to digital rights management (DRM). I will let you do your own research on that. It took some work and massaging to get my Kindle books onto the device.
- The price (more about that below).
The price
I won’t lie — it was pretty expensive. There is also an $8/mo fee (optional) so you can connect Google Drive and Dropbox, along with being able to drag and drop stuff on the desktop app to show up on the device. I was canceling a subscription anyway, so I deemed it a doable expense.
I’ve been using this device nearly every day for a month now, and I can unequivocally say that it was the best technological investment I’ve made in quite some time. It’s like having a new computer… or a shiny new notebook that has a blank page for every shiny new idea you have.
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I’m deeply glad that I got it, and I’m looking forward to using it for more focused reading and writing activities!
Liz Makes Stuff 