note taking eink reader allowing to plug an external monitor

[getabook]

Hi,

I am looking for a device that allows me to:
1. read and annotate documents (mostly pdf);
2. take handwritten notes (as if on paper) and export them to files that I can read on my computer;
3. connect to an external monitor (projector) for presentations - I would project and write on pdfs.

I am thinking of getting an onyx boox (probably Max 3). Would that device be suitable? Are there better suited devices for that purpose?

Thank you,

[Quoth]

A laptop or tablet with wacom tablet screen. The Lenovo X201 was excellent, ancient history now.

You need 10" and probably 13" screen for PDF + annotations. Only Tablets/laptops can drive projectors sensibly. You can get HDMI to VGA converters for older projectors.

Make sure it's not Apple (overpriced) and if uses Windows, it's x86-64 CPU and can later run Linux. Avoid MS Surface.

The eink is GREAT for reading, rubbish for this kind of thing. If you want to read PDF on eink, a 10" eInk can be x2 cost of a suitable laptop* and 13" approx x4 price of a suitable laptop. A decent Tablet/Laptop convertible costs about x2 a laptop.

(* I'd use a separate USB Wacom tablet to annotate with writing, or the laptop with built in wacom is x3 price. There are also Wacom HDMI monitors that use a stylus that will work on a cheap laptop.)

[ChrisHistorian76]

There's only one e-ink device that might meet your needs, the Lenovo Yoga Book C930 dual screen laptop.

The Yoga Book C930 is a 10" laptop with one LCD screen and one e-ink screen. It's relatively expensive though and only has a couple of USB ports.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops.../p/ZZIWZWBYB1J

You can read PDFs and take notes using the Onyx Boox devices and the Boyue devices like the Boyue Likebook, but as far as I know you can't connect them to other devices like a projector. I've tried both companies and wasn't satisfied. The problem IMO isn't the devices themselves, it's that most of the well known notetaking apps (OneNote, Evernote, etc) weren't designed for e-ink devices. The native notetaking apps on the devices work much better but they're niche apps designed for the e-ink device and don't have the features of well known apps like OneNote, Evernote and others.

The ReMarkable device I don't think can be connected to an external device at all and while I've read that the software is getting better it's still a "walled garden" so I'm not sure how easily notes can be exported except to the ReMarkable app.

Sadly, other than the Yoga Book C930 I don't think we'll ever see a device that does everything you'd like. The Microsoft Courier concept device might have been it, but they didn't release it back when everybody went nuts over the concept video and now the marketplace has moved on to LCD devices. IMO Microsoft (and Amazon, which allegedly developed a prototype Kindle Scribe device) really blew it when they didn't release those devices several years ago.

[Quoth]

The Yoga Book C930 is interesting, but the 10" screens are too small for general use on Windows. It might not run Linux and Windows 10 is pretty horrible in comparison now.
It's also very expensive. You'd get good 15" laptop from Lenovo at 2/3rds of that price.
Also a pain to use with real keyboard, you'd not want to type much on the eink panel.

I struggle to see the C930 being supported very long, too specialist and for who? I have 10" win10 HD convertible tablet/laptop and it's useless for anything except quick PDF viewing, it's too small for many. Certainly screen is too small for normal Windows applications.