This was my primary use case for this and I love it - I need to be taking notes in the margins for me to stay engaged with the material. My rare pain points have been:
* sometimes the resolution is not enough and if you really want to zoom into a figure, the UX to do that is a little clunky
* colors can be critical for some figures and the papers/books don't take care to pick colors that are easily distinguishable in greyscale.
I place a lot of value on paperfeel for writing though (I tried writing on pdfs with an ipad and...ugh). I've also really come to appreciate the distraction-free setting (I thought I could just be disciplined and not need a device specifically for this - I was wrong). I also use it for note taking in meetings where I want to be present and pay attention the whole time - game changer there as well.
> I place a lot of value on paperfeel for writing though (I tried writing on pdfs with an ipad and...ugh)
I use a product called “paperlike” for my iPad and it has amazing paperfeel. I can write and it feels like I’m writing on a paper notebook. Okay, a very hard, flat, glass-backed notebook, but the pencil moving over the surface is great.
For me, the downside is that I’m writing on a mini computer that can do anything. So, it’s easy to get distracted from the primary job of taking notes.
I purchased the remarkable 1 where there was nothing else that had the same latency for pens/styluses. The apple stylus is down to 9ms now, which is way faster than even the remarkable 2 (and that is amazing). I would be annoyed with a paperlike protector on an ipad, if I were trying to use it as an ipad, but for use solely as a notetaking device, it might be great.
The Paperlike screen protector isn't terrible for the iPad screen quality. It mutes the detail slightly, but it isn't very noticeable. I think it turns the screen from a glossy surface to a more matte surface, if that helps to describe the effect.
I keep my Paperlike cover on all the time and it doesn't really bother me when watching videos/movies on my iPad at all.
On the note of paper feel, you might consider trying a fountain pen and smooth coated paper. The ink forms a liquid bearing and causes the nib to glide over the page, and there can be almost no friction - by comparison, the reMarkable feels extremely rough, like using a hard pencil on toothy sketchbook paper. It's not unpleasant, but an iPad would actually be a lot more like using a medium nib on a sheet from Clairefontaine or Tomoe River.
(While we're making this sort of comparison, it's also interesting to note that, as with a graphite or Apple pencil, the reMarkable stylus tip is a wearing item, while fountain pen nibs are not.)
iPad feels too slippery to me as is. I get one of those screen protectors that give a paper-like feel to make it more like what I am used to from Remarkable.
Higher friction at the interface between tool and surface makes for easier control at the cost of requiring more force to produce a given result. That's why your hand and wrist get sore so quickly.
With a fountain pen or (presumably) an iPad with no screen protector, you have no choice but to learn to control the tool without that excess force - force which will eventually destroy a pen nib, and in both cases will ruin your lines because there's no friction to damp it. Learning not to overcontrol does take a little while, but pays off both in work that's neater and more skillful, and in being able to work much longer before aches force a pause.
(With the reMarkable, too, there's a benefit in that your stylus tips will last longer, and you'll get more nuance out of the pressure sensitivity with tools that make use of it.)
For reading books, I'd rather go for an Android based device that features a more potent reader app that allows you to set bookmarks and to more easily jump around in big books. It works very well for reading papers and well structured books that don't ask you to look back x pages all the time.
I agree. I’m waiting on a Boox Lumi at the moment. I read PDFs on my reMarkable primarily because other formats, specifically e-pub, aren’t that great on it. As strictly a PDF reader the reMarkable is good (albeit overpriced for just reading PDFs.)
The nice thing about android is that you can also get a kindle app. I know the parent is looking specifically for PDF support, but it’s nice to have solid kindle, PDF, and e-pub support on a single device.
Fair enough - the page change UX is a little clunky (and anything requiring changing screens many times on e-ink will be clunky). I read papers a lot more than I do textbooks. For fiction, the successive page turns are fine.
It's OK. You can use a highlighter and scribble on the margins. Taking notes on a separate notebook is a little awkward because you have to switch back and forth.
My biggest annoyance is that the reader did not give margin on the left side where the writing menu appears. The writing menu has to be collapsed and then made for writing. Other annoyances like links don't work. And color does not appear Either.
I place a lot of value on paperfeel for writing though (I tried writing on pdfs with an ipad and...ugh). I've also really come to appreciate the distraction-free setting (I thought I could just be disciplined and not need a device specifically for this - I was wrong). I also use it for note taking in meetings where I want to be present and pay attention the whole time - game changer there as well.