My journey to creating a digital document system that works for me. (Part 3)

In today’s article I will be discussing the Pros and Cons of these two devices, the Remarkable II and the Boox Note Air 2 Plus.

The base technology (E-Ink)

• Even though the technology is basically black-and-white, with some shades of gray thrown in, there are certain times when you miss having the addition of color as part of the display. For most of the things that I do though, I don’t have a problem with this feature.
• Refresh rate-while this is not a problem in most cases with the use model that this device was created for, any type of rapid motion does not work on this device. You are not going to use it to watch a video stream of any type, it just doesn’t work. Knowing that limitation upfront, you will not be disappointed.
• Reflectivity of the screen-this is one of the biggest benefits that I game with this type of device because of my use of them outdoors is imperative. During the spring, summer and fall months I spend a lot of time outside and I do use this device there quite often. Because both these devices lend themselves to reading documents and books you will want to do that everywhere that you can for convenience.
• Backlight-The Remarkable II does not have it. The Boox Note Air 2 Plus does. Why is this important? I also like to read in bed or in a dark room and without a light on the screen the Remarkable II cannot be read.

The Base Applications and File Management

• File Management-one of the things I liked about the Remarkable II was the ability for me to be able to put both documents and notes into the same folder. The benefit of this is having the information all in one location no matter the format of that data. You don’t have that with the Boox product.
• Note Taking-The Remarkable II is really focused on managing your handwriting as handwriting more so than allowing you to convert your handwriting, later, to text. While it does have those capabilities if you purchase the Connect subscription it is not billed in nor is it as useful as these functions are on the Boox.
• Book Reading-The Remarkable II supports ePub and PDF only. Because of the ability for the Boox product to have add-on applications it opens the capabilities of not only being able to do what the Remarkable II can do but also provide me with native Kindle and Audible book formats as well. The Boox has built in microphone and speakers, so I have the ability to dictate text for note taking as well as listen to Audio feeds from my Audible account and other sources.
• Bluetooth, Microphone Speaker-these three things at quite a few new features to this device because of the ability for it to interface with other applications and physically with input and output for more variety of functions.
• External File Management-what I mean by this is how easy it is for me to get information onto the device for my computer or other sources. They both come with applications that allow you to move your files onto the device in place and in file directories of your choosing. Because of the limitations of being able to place the notebooks and other documents into the same file folder on the Boox device I’ve had to make extensive use of cloud-based services and applications to me these types of capabilities on the Boox device. I am using OneDrive and SharePoint for my file storage which gives me unlimited storage capabilities, but I am using OneNote as my notetaking application rather than the note program that is built into the Boox unit. This turned out to work quite well because I am able to access the same note files on my computer, phone or any other device that is Android or iOS capable.

The big differentiator- Android Applications

So, what makes the Boox device so much more useful for me? The answer is the ability for me to add the android applications that complete the business use of this device for myself. What if I found useful?

• OneNote-I have talked about this application many times over the years and its usefulness is still as real today as it was before. A free format document system for note taking that is extremely compatible with handwriting as well as text entry and can be used in many platforms and shared easily between people. What else could you want?
• Adobe Acrobat-having the actual application from Adobe makes using PDFs even more functional on this device.
• Chrome-you do not have the ability to access the Internet with an Internet browser on the Remarkable II device. You can on the Boox.
• Connectwise-this is our application for accessing our client management system in our office. Because I have the chrome application this will give me access to Connectwise in a web browser environment.
• Edge-just another browser I can use to access the Internet.
• Feedly-this is an application that gives me access to RSS feeds. It allows me to be more up to date on new information being provided around the web.
• Gmail-direct access to my Gmail account.
• GetPocket-this is a product of used for years that strips out ads and makes not only web browser data more readable but also helps me to capture information from Feedly to make it also more readable.
• Microsoft 365 Admin-another application that gives me more capabilities to help manage our clients and their O365 accounts.
• OneDrive-direct access to my cloud-based storage which includes both our company SharePoint sites as well as my personal OneDrive storage.
• Excel-I can access and manipulate Excel workbooks which of course gives me more capabilities on the Boox device.
• PowerPoint-Great for doing a quick presentation to get some ideas across. Remember when creating the presentation that it will be in B/W.
• SharePoint-Connection back into our SharePoint sites
• Teams-This device only has a microphone and speaker, no camera, so I can still use it for general messaging and calls but I don’t have Video call capability. I have my phone that can do that if I need to have that capability on the road. Otherwise, you have the full capabilities of the application.
• Word-I have access to Word documents that I have stored online and can also use it for document creation as well.

As you can see, I have greatly expanded from a single function device to one that provides quite a few capabilities. I have lost the single focus workflow, which is what the Remarkable II provides, to a more flexible workflow that creates a better experience for me. I have found that I can leave my computer at my desk more often than before because the Note Air 2 Plus has given me access to the information that I need quite adequately. With the backlit screen and ability to provide a good viewing experience in direct sunlight I have increased the usability of the device in more situations. I think I’m there!