May 23, 2023 FOGA

My Perfect Notebook- A Supernote Review

Lifestyle

There is a running joke that people who like to write or draw are always looking for a notebook. The hope is that one day you’ll find the perfect notebook that motivates you to keep writing/drawing has the best quality paper, and is a joy to write on. I have so many notebooks at this point. I love writing in them. The issue that I run into is where all my thoughts are across about ten notebooks. Then it was a pain to figure out what was in each one or I never bothered to look at them once I ran out of pages.

About five months ago, I finally found the perfect notebook. Turns out to be an e-notebook called a Supernote. The Supernote is an e-ink tablet that replaces all my paper notebooks with an electronic one. It has been awesome. Being able to write something, move it around, make it bigger/smaller, undo it, and redo it has been mind-blowing. It’s super cool and I am still very excited about it despite having it for six months already.

E- ink tablets are still niche devices and are therefore expensive. My Supernote ran me $468. That was the device (the A6X version), the folio, and the pen. That’s a fairly standard price across the devices that are available as of the time of my writing this. A fair chunk of money, but I am pretty happy with the results. I use it almost every day and has been fantastic. It is geared towards writers (its tagline is “For those who write”) and it shows this in its features.

What I love about the Supernote comes down to these 11 points: (Side Note: I do find it a bit hilarious that I started that like this was gonna be short and sweet and then ended up with 11 total points. 😂)

1. No Backlit Screen
   • I didn’t want to be looking at yet another lit screen. That’s part of why I liked writing in notebooks in the first place. No more eyestrain.
2. Writing Feel
   • Writing on this screen is a delight. It feels like writing with a pen on the first page of a new notebook. Their pen also has a ceramic tip that never needs to be replaced. And that is their standard pen. Their upgraded pen-The Heart of Metal 2- is even better. It is awesome.
3. Handwriting Recognition Via Word
   • This is an amazing feature and this has been how I have been writing my blog posts since I got it. Just makes it so easy when you don’t write out a post and then copy that to the computer. Eliminated a whole step for me.
4. The Titles Feature
   • This is one of the biggest things for me. You are able to organize your notes via a table of contents like chapters in a book. So when I open a notebook, I can navigate via which title I want to reference/write in us having multiple notebooks to navigate between in the device.
   • This has been a huge game changer for me, specifically with my Dungeons and Dragons notes. I am the dungeon/game master of a game now. Yay! Of course, I went the hard route and opted to create my own world (homebrew) which is a long process that leads to a LOT of notes just everywhere. It has made my life so much easier.
     • Mr. FOGA actually wants one now for the same reason. They are coming out with an A4-sized one either late this year or early next year so he wait on that one since it would be the biggest one available for this Supernote.
5. The Keywords Feature
   • This is another way to search through your notes by making keywords.
   • For example: One of my D&D character’s name is Klark so I make his name as a keyword in my session re-caps whenever he shows up. Basically like putting a sticky note on a page. You can also search for keywords throughout the whole Supernote device which is great. It’s a feature that I have been using more and more as time goes on.
6. The Stars Feature
   • With this feature, you draw a star which then makes that page show up in the star menu (similar to the title menu), but you can also search the whole device for star marks. So far, I have been using it as a “need to do this” flag and that has been working well for me.
7. The Linking Feature
   • This is another one that makes being a game/dungeon master SOOOOOOOOO much easier. You can create links in your notebooks to other pages in the same notebook, other notebooks, or PDFs on your Supernote.
   • For instance: My players defeated some bad guys and in a VERY rare instance opted to let two of them go- one with w very clear warning on what he should be doing. Now, were these two supposed to be anything more than one-note villains? Nope. Did I think make a separate notebook giving them a full name and backstory in case they ever run into them again? Of course, I did (Keep this to yourself Mr. FOGA! 😜). Then I went back to the re-cap where the nameless acolyte” was and made a link to their actual backstory. So, when I have to re-read my own notes, I just click the link and get sent to the backstory so I know what’s going on.
   • Also great for when I am playing and I am trying to remember what my spells do. I make link pages to either a PDF or a website where the description is and I am able to quickly go back and forth. It is super convenient and easily one of my top three favorite features about this device. Yet number seven in this review…Oh well. 🤷🏾‍♀️
8. Sturdiness
   • The Supernote is mostly plastic and that is awesome for me. I have dropped it on a concrete floor (clearly by accident) and it’s perfectly fine. This is the durability I need because I am clumsy as fuck.
9. Auto Sleep/Wake
   • This is a quirky one, but I love that when I open the cover, it turns on automatically to the last thing I was working on. When you close the cover, it goes to sleep. It’s just a neat touch.
10. Access to the Kindle App
    • Since the Supernote is android based, it has the Kindle app on it. This completely negates my need for a Kindle or reading Kindle books on my phone. I didn’t think this would be something I use a lot, but it has been a nice touch.
11. Ratta– The Company Makes Supernote
    • The company that makes this device is just great. They are against planned obsolescence and care more about their existing customers than potential customers. They are very active in their Reddit community in addressing any customer issues and they take their customer’s suggestions and opinions into consideration.
    • They provide software updates to their devices that are 100% free. They even publish all the information on what updates they are working on in their roadmap for complete transparency. Since I have owned this device there have been two software updates that have been game-changing (linking was one of them). I didn’t even know they were working on them at the time.
    • Hell, they are working on an updated system (A5X2 & A6X2) and have said that unless you are wanting a Linux OS-based device there’s no point in buying the new one or waiting on the new one to come out to buy one. How many companies in this day and change tell you not “to “upgrade” to the next device? Honestly.

I am loving my Supernote in case you couldn’t tell. 😂 l am so very happy that I took the plunge and bought it. If you were ever considering getting one, I cannot recommend it enough. If you never even heard of it and are now intrigued by it, I cannot recommend it enough. Easily one of the best purchases I have ever made.

PS- I love how the longest post I have written in some time is just me geeking out about how awesome this thing is. 🤣 #noregrets

Feature Photo by Me this time! I actually wrote that on my Supernote. Please enjoy my crappy handwriting. 😆

PSS- I sell a variation of that digital template in the feature photo in my Etsy shop in case you like it.