Ratta Supernote vs. Remarkable 2
tl;dr Tried the Remarkable, then the Supernote. Personally preferred the Supernote due to better pen accuracy and overall built-in tools. Remarkable is nice because it's built on Linux and more customizable.
Recently, I've been trying to decide the best e-ink tablet for daily use (I'm currently a student so I take a lot of notes), and I initially chose the Remarkable 2 tablet, partly due to the good reviews and their generous 100-day "risk-free trial." I've used it for about 60 days, and mostly had a positive experience, but with one big caveat; the pen accuracy. Occasionally (as much as once a day), the tip of the pen and where the lines appear on the tablet would become out of sync. After doing some research online, it seems this is not an uncommon issue (see, for example, here), and people have been able to somewhat remedy this situation by taking a weak magnet (such as the one built into the remarkable pen) and passing it over the screen which seems to "reset" the magnetic field the tablet uses to detect the pen. It was a passable solution, but it became pretty frustrating to do repeatedly, and sometimes it would just move the zone of inaccuracy instead of entirely resolving it.
So, I considered other options. The current tablet I'm trying out is the Ratta Supernote. Their return policy on the new tablets isn't quite as good (it's 30 days and isn't described as a "trial"), but occasionally they have open-box units that come with a 45-day trial and are cheaper than the new ones.
Processing + shipping took a while (~2 weeks) but I've been using it for about a week and so far I've liked it significantly more than the Remarkable 2. Some points are,
- Much more accurate writing. I think this is partly due to the fact that the pen point is much smaller, making it easier to be precise. Plus the Supernote has a software calibration tool, which Remarkable lacks.
- A case and pen is included in the base price, and the pen itself uses a ceramic nib that doesn't need to be replaced.
- Other really useful writing features, like placing links in documents, adding notes in PDF documents, handwriting smoothing, built-in support for the Lamy pen (and eraser button).
- Built in support for the Kindle app (and in general epub files load much quicker on the Supernote).
- And a lot more.
I will say, there are some things I've liked more about the Remarkable.
- A big one is that it's built on Linux so you're able to ssh directly into the tablet and more-or-less customize everything about it.
- Screen and the OS in general seem to be much more responsive on the Remarkable; sometimes touches with a finger don't properly register on the Supernote. This is remedied by just using the pen to touch UI elements, which is perfectly responsive.
I'm happy to answer any questions people have, and I'd love to hear people's thoughts on their preferred e-ink tablet!
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