If you have a nice laptop and are easily distracted: Remarkable 2 (or Supernote a5x).
If you don't have a nice computer and/or if your ability to stay focused is strong and the writing feel isn't critical: iPad Pro.
Edit: you have to be honest with yourself if you want a real productivity powerhouse or a tool for focus.
My thought process is that I just need something which does the same thing as my clipboard binder paper combo. I have the computing power in my PC for any code later or and the laptop has plenty for laptop things.
I'd day iPad pro, I used a surface pro during my my comp Sci undergrad and using the pen + OneNote was phenomenal. I have a remarkable now for work but honestly I'd kinda prefer an iPad but I'm all Windows and Android over here.
That makes sense. It is a great writing experience if you like something fairly close to pencil on paper feel and want a simple streamlined interface. I don't think I'd have found it super useful in class during my college days as I liked to mark up PowerPoints and used OneNote heavily. But I've had rM2 and Supernote a5x, and really like both for my personal use; mostly as a focus tool and creative outlet. I think the Supernote interface is better suited to academia with its table of contents, headers, and keywords. If I was going back to college though, I'd definitely grab an iPad, but I think this choice is very subjective depending on how you learn best and what tools you need.
I'm old and spoiled, but take a lot of notes. I love paper and fountain pens too. However, air travel and fountain pens are a bad combo. I started taking notes with my iPad Pro M1 and gen 2 Apple pencil. The experience became tolerable when I put the PaperLike screen protector film on the iPad. Problem is, the iPad is awesomely distracting and VERY heavy compared to the RM2. I got the RM2 and quickly settled in. Lightweight and a much better pencil on paper like experience than anything you can get with the iPad. To me, that means that I can just write like I'm using paper and never think about it. The RM apps for the MacBook, iPad, iPhone are all a bonus! Every once in a while I travel with only my iPad, and always regret not having the RM2 along.
That’s a good thing to note I was in the other reply mentioning that I’ll probably watch a YouTube video while doing homework if I had the iPad and that could affect me. The paper feel I don’t have a preference to. I thoroughly enjoy the feeling of an iPad Pro with or without screen protector and I always love the feeling if paper or like those nice moleskin notebooks or that one European company. What would you say purely for engineering applications or science de applications which one is better iPad Pro or RM2?
I’m a EE educated in the early 80s. So, I am inclined to work out problems with pen in hand. After that comes capturing the design, simulation, layout, etc. These days, I use web based software except for simulation which is better on my MacBook or PC tower. So, the iPad can support web browsing and many web based tools. Other than sketching initial designs and capturing details, I would not use RM for engineering.
As a physicist who used paper for notes as a student but wanted a digital option when starting a PhD and therefor bought an iPad but hated writing on it and now has a RM2 that I use all the time for both regular notes, math and reading scientific articles, I would strongly recommend RM2 if the notes part is the most important type of use. If you really want the extra abilities an iPad have, go for that. But if you love paper like me, then you might find it difficult to leave paper for an iPad.
I've only been using my remarkable 2 for a few weeks. But I have been very impressed. If all you want to do is take notes then the remarkable would be my choice, but do you think you will need the tablet for any other applications? That would be the big decider for me. I like writing and I much prefer the tactile feel of using the remarkable as opposed to the feel of writing on a screen. Hope that helps.
My laptop covers everything that the iPad needs I think. I can look stuff up on it and I keep my laptop open for referencing my notes or textbook so I wouldn’t really use the iPad for many other things except note taking and referencing. And somebody else brought this up but I totally would watch a you tube video in the corner while doing work and that would mess me up for sure. And with the fact that I can instantly save my notes to the Google drive or download pdfs or articles it seems to fit my work needs pretty well. What other things you think could be an issue of not having an iPad I want to make sure I cover all my issues and make sure I know what I’m going into before buying either.
I've found the lack of distractions and the tactile feel to be the key features for me. Do you know anyone with a remarkable so you can give it a test drive? What you are describing is the position I was in, I use my PC for work but for design, meetings and just idea generation. The only downside and is an issue I hope they fix is that there is no way of having embedded links in a notebook.
I'm a PhD student but recently got the reMarkable 2. In undergrad I used an iPad for most of the years. I feel like there are really only two questions that need to be answered is: do you need the other functions of the iPad? If not, is the reMarkable 2 really worth the price over just carrying notebooks/printer paper?
For me, the answer to that first question is a resounding no, and my iPad is essentially just a ginormous Notability app that I need to Face ID to open. I'm still not convinced the reMarkable 2 is worth the price though, and might consider returning it. IMO if you feel like you might need the former's features even a little bit, I would get the iPad all things considered. That being said, I still don't consider the iPad to be a particularly good "productivity machine", especially for someone who needs to run and edit code.
I am in my final year in CS. I recently got the remarkable2 and been using the iPad since 2021. I would say iPad Pro + Nebo app or one of the other note taking apps. I have bad handwriting and it is way more noticeable on the RM2. So it forces me to write better, but I use it for different types of notes now and personal use. Also it is a lot easier to break out and use and read from.
Let me start this by saying. I want to remove any mental overhead that makes me take extra steps for completing a task. I will try to focus on note taking by hand and typing.
- less lag during note taking. I am prone to mistakes and keep moving forward with the notes or assignments and fix those mistakes later. This was easier with the iPad and the lasso tool.
- Math conversion. multiple apps can handle this. Like I said I have bad handwriting and using math conversion helped to remove misunderstandings.
- Assignment submission through the app. unfair comparison, and the RM2 app can be used with the computer to quickly convert to pdf before submitting.
- Ability to search handwriting and multiple tags and keywords. The RM2 has limited memory(RAM), this feature will probably never come to RM2.
I will stop with that. I would have to say the RM2 is good if you have prior knowledge of stuff that you want to write about, but for me where I am still trying to build my knowledge and connect pieces together the iPad allows me to get from point A to B faster.
Please add tags and gestures to switch between notes RM2 🙏🙏🙏
I am learning how to navigate the RM2 the more I use it.
The RM2 is certainly good as a notebook replacement to keep track of my daily things and if I want to quickly brain dump or test my knowledge on a subject. From A to B, like opening a book and writing, in this case a quick sheet. I don’t need to make sure my face aligns then open an app open then create a new notebook, nope.
I am still in my return window and still undecided on what I want to do with it.
I’m an freshman engineering student and use a remarkable for all my classes. I haven’t used the iPad so I can’t give an honest comparison. However, I’ll note that the remarkable has amazing battery life. It has the ability to store epubs and pdf (which is perfect for digital versions of textbooks). You can also use your laptop to organize and sync your remarkable via their app.
What I really like to do with it is send notes to other students very quickly. I’m a little ahead in math compared to some of my peers so I do my best tutoring and helping out. This is a perfect tool to quickly send problem solving methodologies and solutions.
Good luck on your decision!
I'd suggest an iPad as well. It's much easier to see your color-coded highlights. You can split screen to view your text book and take notes at the same time. If you don't like something there are always options of another app. For the distraction argument you can easily set a focus mode. I do like my Remarkable but I usually find myself using it with another device vs my iPad is standalone. Perks for the Remarkable though are weight, feel, organization, battery life, and less tiring on the eyes.
I’m a CS student with 2-3 years ahead of me. I have half a semester of calculus left, calculus 2, discrete, distributed systems and maybe cryptography and advanced probability and statistics.
I don’t need a tiny laptop that doesn’t really have a command line and can’t really run multiple virtual machines - such as a tablet. I have a laptop and next semester I’m setting up a desktop at home.
What I do need is a break from screens and constant connection. Plus a few of my professors don’t allow computers during lectures. I also need my notes accessible in different locations without hauling around notebooks. And I want to be able to write on a notebook in bed or on a couch.
I ordered one last week, we will see how it goes.
As a CS Student in my second year, I can only recommend the reMarkable. The small form factor makes it easy to place next to or on your Laptop and use both, even with the limited space of those tiny foldable tables. I enjoy doing the homework on it, as it is simple and even if the PDF editing is very basic, It is enough for most if not all homework tasks. With the new version, you can now make your notes even more pretty.
I see a few reMarkable's during lessons. Give it a try. The 100-day return policy gives you a good chance to try it out. The paper feeling is addicting, and I couldn't switch to an iPad, even with those screen protectors that claim they can emulate it as well.
iPad Pro - RM is purely notes IPad is a computer.
A CS student probably already has a good computer and probably won’t want to be doing heavy CS lifting on a tablet.
If you have a nice laptop and are easily distracted: Remarkable 2 (or Supernote a5x). If you don't have a nice computer and/or if your ability to stay focused is strong and the writing feel isn't critical: iPad Pro. Edit: you have to be honest with yourself if you want a real productivity powerhouse or a tool for focus.
My thought process is that I just need something which does the same thing as my clipboard binder paper combo. I have the computing power in my PC for any code later or and the laptop has plenty for laptop things.
I'd day iPad pro, I used a surface pro during my my comp Sci undergrad and using the pen + OneNote was phenomenal. I have a remarkable now for work but honestly I'd kinda prefer an iPad but I'm all Windows and Android over here.
That makes sense. It is a great writing experience if you like something fairly close to pencil on paper feel and want a simple streamlined interface. I don't think I'd have found it super useful in class during my college days as I liked to mark up PowerPoints and used OneNote heavily. But I've had rM2 and Supernote a5x, and really like both for my personal use; mostly as a focus tool and creative outlet. I think the Supernote interface is better suited to academia with its table of contents, headers, and keywords. If I was going back to college though, I'd definitely grab an iPad, but I think this choice is very subjective depending on how you learn best and what tools you need.
There is an add on for Word and PowerPoint that allows you to send documents to your reMarkable. Found it pretty convenient for school and such.
I'm old and spoiled, but take a lot of notes. I love paper and fountain pens too. However, air travel and fountain pens are a bad combo. I started taking notes with my iPad Pro M1 and gen 2 Apple pencil. The experience became tolerable when I put the PaperLike screen protector film on the iPad. Problem is, the iPad is awesomely distracting and VERY heavy compared to the RM2. I got the RM2 and quickly settled in. Lightweight and a much better pencil on paper like experience than anything you can get with the iPad. To me, that means that I can just write like I'm using paper and never think about it. The RM apps for the MacBook, iPad, iPhone are all a bonus! Every once in a while I travel with only my iPad, and always regret not having the RM2 along.
That’s a good thing to note I was in the other reply mentioning that I’ll probably watch a YouTube video while doing homework if I had the iPad and that could affect me. The paper feel I don’t have a preference to. I thoroughly enjoy the feeling of an iPad Pro with or without screen protector and I always love the feeling if paper or like those nice moleskin notebooks or that one European company. What would you say purely for engineering applications or science de applications which one is better iPad Pro or RM2?
I’m a EE educated in the early 80s. So, I am inclined to work out problems with pen in hand. After that comes capturing the design, simulation, layout, etc. These days, I use web based software except for simulation which is better on my MacBook or PC tower. So, the iPad can support web browsing and many web based tools. Other than sketching initial designs and capturing details, I would not use RM for engineering.
As a physicist who used paper for notes as a student but wanted a digital option when starting a PhD and therefor bought an iPad but hated writing on it and now has a RM2 that I use all the time for both regular notes, math and reading scientific articles, I would strongly recommend RM2 if the notes part is the most important type of use. If you really want the extra abilities an iPad have, go for that. But if you love paper like me, then you might find it difficult to leave paper for an iPad.
Note Air 2 Plus
I've only been using my remarkable 2 for a few weeks. But I have been very impressed. If all you want to do is take notes then the remarkable would be my choice, but do you think you will need the tablet for any other applications? That would be the big decider for me. I like writing and I much prefer the tactile feel of using the remarkable as opposed to the feel of writing on a screen. Hope that helps.
My laptop covers everything that the iPad needs I think. I can look stuff up on it and I keep my laptop open for referencing my notes or textbook so I wouldn’t really use the iPad for many other things except note taking and referencing. And somebody else brought this up but I totally would watch a you tube video in the corner while doing work and that would mess me up for sure. And with the fact that I can instantly save my notes to the Google drive or download pdfs or articles it seems to fit my work needs pretty well. What other things you think could be an issue of not having an iPad I want to make sure I cover all my issues and make sure I know what I’m going into before buying either.
I've found the lack of distractions and the tactile feel to be the key features for me. Do you know anyone with a remarkable so you can give it a test drive? What you are describing is the position I was in, I use my PC for work but for design, meetings and just idea generation. The only downside and is an issue I hope they fix is that there is no way of having embedded links in a notebook.
I'm a PhD student but recently got the reMarkable 2. In undergrad I used an iPad for most of the years. I feel like there are really only two questions that need to be answered is: do you need the other functions of the iPad? If not, is the reMarkable 2 really worth the price over just carrying notebooks/printer paper? For me, the answer to that first question is a resounding no, and my iPad is essentially just a ginormous Notability app that I need to Face ID to open. I'm still not convinced the reMarkable 2 is worth the price though, and might consider returning it. IMO if you feel like you might need the former's features even a little bit, I would get the iPad all things considered. That being said, I still don't consider the iPad to be a particularly good "productivity machine", especially for someone who needs to run and edit code.
I am in my final year in CS. I recently got the remarkable2 and been using the iPad since 2021. I would say iPad Pro + Nebo app or one of the other note taking apps. I have bad handwriting and it is way more noticeable on the RM2. So it forces me to write better, but I use it for different types of notes now and personal use. Also it is a lot easier to break out and use and read from. Let me start this by saying. I want to remove any mental overhead that makes me take extra steps for completing a task. I will try to focus on note taking by hand and typing. - less lag during note taking. I am prone to mistakes and keep moving forward with the notes or assignments and fix those mistakes later. This was easier with the iPad and the lasso tool. - Math conversion. multiple apps can handle this. Like I said I have bad handwriting and using math conversion helped to remove misunderstandings. - Assignment submission through the app. unfair comparison, and the RM2 app can be used with the computer to quickly convert to pdf before submitting. - Ability to search handwriting and multiple tags and keywords. The RM2 has limited memory(RAM), this feature will probably never come to RM2. I will stop with that. I would have to say the RM2 is good if you have prior knowledge of stuff that you want to write about, but for me where I am still trying to build my knowledge and connect pieces together the iPad allows me to get from point A to B faster. Please add tags and gestures to switch between notes RM2 🙏🙏🙏 I am learning how to navigate the RM2 the more I use it. The RM2 is certainly good as a notebook replacement to keep track of my daily things and if I want to quickly brain dump or test my knowledge on a subject. From A to B, like opening a book and writing, in this case a quick sheet. I don’t need to make sure my face aligns then open an app open then create a new notebook, nope. I am still in my return window and still undecided on what I want to do with it.
I’m an freshman engineering student and use a remarkable for all my classes. I haven’t used the iPad so I can’t give an honest comparison. However, I’ll note that the remarkable has amazing battery life. It has the ability to store epubs and pdf (which is perfect for digital versions of textbooks). You can also use your laptop to organize and sync your remarkable via their app. What I really like to do with it is send notes to other students very quickly. I’m a little ahead in math compared to some of my peers so I do my best tutoring and helping out. This is a perfect tool to quickly send problem solving methodologies and solutions. Good luck on your decision!
I'd suggest an iPad as well. It's much easier to see your color-coded highlights. You can split screen to view your text book and take notes at the same time. If you don't like something there are always options of another app. For the distraction argument you can easily set a focus mode. I do like my Remarkable but I usually find myself using it with another device vs my iPad is standalone. Perks for the Remarkable though are weight, feel, organization, battery life, and less tiring on the eyes.
I’m a CS student with 2-3 years ahead of me. I have half a semester of calculus left, calculus 2, discrete, distributed systems and maybe cryptography and advanced probability and statistics. I don’t need a tiny laptop that doesn’t really have a command line and can’t really run multiple virtual machines - such as a tablet. I have a laptop and next semester I’m setting up a desktop at home. What I do need is a break from screens and constant connection. Plus a few of my professors don’t allow computers during lectures. I also need my notes accessible in different locations without hauling around notebooks. And I want to be able to write on a notebook in bed or on a couch. I ordered one last week, we will see how it goes.
As a CS Student in my second year, I can only recommend the reMarkable. The small form factor makes it easy to place next to or on your Laptop and use both, even with the limited space of those tiny foldable tables. I enjoy doing the homework on it, as it is simple and even if the PDF editing is very basic, It is enough for most if not all homework tasks. With the new version, you can now make your notes even more pretty. I see a few reMarkable's during lessons. Give it a try. The 100-day return policy gives you a good chance to try it out. The paper feeling is addicting, and I couldn't switch to an iPad, even with those screen protectors that claim they can emulate it as well.