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Blackboard Boogie Board: a bit of a REVIEW...

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questccg
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Joined: 04/16/2011

Okay for those who have not followed @larienna's posts, we were talking about how to TRACK data points when playing various games and I mentioned that the ReMarkable v2.0 was available for sale for a whooping $499 USD + Shipping.

@larienna pointed out that there are OTHER devices (namely the Boogie Boards) that are much less expensive. And so I followed the Link/URL provided by @Eric and eventually found out that everything including shipping and applicable taxes, the price was $70 CAD (in the end). My purchase was the most ADVANCED eNotebook which was the "Blackboard" by Boogie Boards (or Kent Displays LLC. in the USA).

If you had been reading in the threads, I said I gave the device a 3 out of 5 (3 / 5) due to the fact that the lighting in my apartment makes it that overhead lights shine into whatever picture I take of the device for SCANNING the NOTES into the App.

Well it turns out I found a WAY (or more a SPOT and direction) to take the pictures without having any (or almost) GLARE from the overhead lights. This allows me to use the Boogie Board much more effective and my current rating is a 4 out 5 (4 / 5).

The reality is that the device is pretty decent to WRITE ON... It does feel like a NOTEBOOK and the stylus glides on the surface with PURPOSE. It does NOT feel "cheap" or too slippery ... There actually is a TACTILE sensation when using the Blackboard. And so I really enjoy the FEEL of the device. The App as it is currently is AWESOME. You can tweak pictures with the brightnes and contrast, you can edit your notes (with highlighter or eraser), you can MERGE notes from various sources and the files are all around 20 kBytes per SCAN. So not 3 MB pictures... The scans are MUCH smaller. That too is very impressive.

Why I don't give the device a 5 out of 5 (5 / 5) is due to the fact that you have no way to RELOAD a page and so you have to create a REVISION page and clearly state that the NEW page replaces some of the thoughts for an OLDER page...

OVERALL it's a reasonable device and since it is not an Electronic device you don't have to worry about CHARGING of the likes. It uses a Watch Battery with a shelf life of 10 Years (as per Energizer batteries co.)

I am pleased that I found a way to SCAN notes ... Otherwise without the App the device is trivial and would be useless for note-taking (because you could NOT save your work or notes anywhere).

IN THE END I give the Blackboard Boogie Board (and App) a solid 4 out 5 (4 / 5) and I really like the nice SIZE of the Note-sized version with the Stylus and Folio to keep the board safe from damaging the surface of the device. The folio was extra even if I did buy a BUNDLE (Device + Style and Folio). It clearly helps make the device feel more solid and acts like your typical CASE for the Blackboard device...

If you are looking for an alternative to the ReMarkable v2.0 which is very high priced, the Blackboard Boogie Board by Kent Displays is a GREAT alternative at a fraction of the price. Is it PERFECT? No. But for the money it is a good way to take and save notes.

Cheers to Kent Displays for make such a NEAT devices and kudos to @larienna for pointing out the device at https://www.myboogieboard.com/

Sincerely.

questccg
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Joined: 04/16/2011
More about this neat Device

This is the NOTE Version of the ("Professional") "Blackboard" Boogie Board... It's 6" x 9" and the writing area is 9.1" (diagonally). I put the PEN (Stylus) and Quarter just so you can get an idea about the SIZE of this version...

Cheers!

Note #1: I know I HAD written that the SCANs were like 20K and I wanted to re-confirm. And this is NOT the case. Each IMAGE is 3 to 6MB and then there are inverted images (B&W) which are 1 to 2MB each. I still need to figure out a way to EXPORT the images... It seems like Google Mail or G-Drive are the ONLY alternative ATM... TBD.

Note #2: Images that I sent via GMail to my Hotmail Account are about 200k in size (not too bad). I still have to experiment more with the device as there are some tweaks that I am working on to see if the device can be "improved" upon and this has go to do with the scanning and resulting files.

Note #3: I have been working to improve the overall quality of the device (by adjusting settings and working on making aids for the device) and so far the results have been positive but somewhat SURPRISING! I'll explain a bit later when I get more confirmed results that I can SHARE with all of you...

questccg
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Joined: 04/16/2011
So I've tried to SYNC to G-Drive but...

It doesn't allow me to choose a FOLDER... It just dumps the files to the HOME folder of my G-Drive. Not great TBH. I could MOVE the files ... But at this point I'd rather email them to myself and store them locally on my PC.

Also there is a BUG with multiple Notes from different DAYS. It only seems to SHARE the five (5) documents from the 24 February 2024 and "forgets" the one (1) document on 25 February 2024... BUG for certain...

Same goes with SHARING... It only shared DAY #1 and not DAY #2 (as per my naming of my files...)

But the SHARED files are pretty DECENT: 200k about... Which is pretty reasonable, I was hoping that files ON the Smartphone would be smaller ... Because this could allow me to NOT have to rely on my PC... Which is the whole idea of having a FOLDER "full of notes" I can REVIEW and READ... And then use the Boogie Board when I am ready to pen down my thoughts about different facets of the game.

It's still very much a WIP... Getting some kind of ROUTINE would be better. I may use the G-Drive again ... And "manually" move the files to the proper folder... Will try this AGAIN!

Note #1: Okay some details about G-Drive:

#1> You must configure the App to CONNECT via G-Drive and SELECT the correct Account.

#2> You must manually SHARE each file you want to TRANSFER to G-Drive and THERE you will be prompted to which FOLDER you want to send the files to.

The bad part about this... Is if you don't do #1, your files get lost (while being sent by your SmartPhone). They just don't get to the location UNTIL you do #1 and then the files resume their UPLOAD to the CLOUD.

Is this GOOD or BAD???

IDK TBH. As long as my Notes get SHARED, it's not a problem and KNOWING that you NEED BOTH of these steps is IMPORTANT!!! Otherwise without #1 ... The Notes never get transferred ... They are in some sort of QUEUE... But will WAIT until VALID credentials are provided to the correct G-Mail Account.

I knew it would be not as simple as INSTALL G-Drive and that's it... You need to configure the App to know what account and then you need to MANUALLY SHARE the Notes to the cloud.

Like I said, they're about 200k each. Pretty DECENT!

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