Ratta SuperNote Nomad: For Those Who Write

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I've been waiting just about a month to write this post. Actually a little over a month now that I think about it. I remember quite some time ago I had a consultant in my facility and he was taking notes for a relatively large project bid we were working on. I notice that he was taking notes on a reMarkable tablet.

I thought it looked interesting at the time, but the $449 price tag kind of threw me off and I just sort of forgot about it. Fast forward to just about a month ago and I was sitting looking at my desk lamenting how messy it was. Even though I am a tech guy, for some reason, I prefer to take notes with a pen and paper. There is something visceral about putting implement to paper that makes me feel better.

I can't say why, and I can't say what it is about writing something out by hand that satisfies me, it just is.

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My mind drifted back to that consultant and I started to think that getting something like a digital tablet for writing might not be a bad idea. I started doing some research and eventually I landed on the SuperNote line of devices by a company called RATTA.

Their flagship device is the A5X, but I noticed they are currently in the process of updating that model to a newer version. Which really only left the Supernote Nomad as my option. Given the fact that I usually fold pieces of paper in half to only write on half of them at a time, the smaller size of the Nomad didn't really bug me too much.

Plus, at only $299 (plus a bit of an education discount), the price point was more attractive than the reMarkable tablet.

There's a couple reasons why I settled on the Supernote device. First was the price point, the lower price fit into my budget better. I didn't want to go spending a ton of money on this thing and then have it not fulfill my expectations.

Second, I really liked what I read about their writing surface. Sure, I could have gotten an iPad and one of those fancy pens and made that work, but I like the idea that the Nomad writing surface isn't smooth. It's textured and has a bit of "grit" to it like an actual piece of paper.

As I said, there is something visceral about writing and the feel of the Nomad pen on the display absolutely satisfies that need.

Finally, I also like the fact that RATTA seems to have put a lot of thought into their pens. There are three or four different ones you can choose from even though the software really handles how they act. It's more about the look of the pen and how it feels in your hand. Which is kind of cool.

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So I placed my order on March 22 for my Supernote Nomad and I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited to hear if it had been shipped. I found a couple of online groups dedicated to users of the Supernote on Reddit and Facebook only to discover that RATTA was having some quality control issues with the manufacturing company in China.

They could have went ahead and sent the devices out, but according to them they didn't meet their high quality standards, so they were starting over again from scratch. This mainly impacted the "crystal" finish devices. Since I selected mine in "white", I should have still been on schedule.

I kind of resigned myself to the fact that it was possibly going to be months before it showed up, when suddenly about four weeks later I finally got an email saying it had been shipped from Shanghai, China.

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After passing through the airport in Detroit, MI, and another day on a truck, it was finally on my desk!

I have to admit, I'm a little less than impressed with their packaging. It simply came the photo you see above in one of those soft plastic DHL envelopes. No extra padding or support in the package at all.

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You might notice the seal is clearing broken in the previous photo and the cardboard holder is clearly bent and damaged in this photo.

Thankfully though, the plastic wrap around the Nomad and pen were securely intact, so I didn't want to panic yet.

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I decided to open the pen first, so I slid it out the side of the cardboard and set the box down so I could get the plastic wrap off of it. I didn't get the most expensive pen RATTA offers, but I did get a little bit nicer one. You could actually pick this model in a couple different colors, but I ultimately just selected the "black".

As you can see in the bottom photo, it has a ceramic tip that is what you use to interact with the tablet. They warn that the tip is very sharp, but I rubbed my hand on it and didn't get cut, so I think it is more of a "cover your butt" sort of warning.

The pen itself feels nice in your hand, but you really need to place the cap on the back of it when you are using it. I've used it both ways and it just feels more balanced when you place the cap on the back. When you simply use it with the cap off, it feels a bit light and awkward.

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Along with the Supernote Nomad, they also included this canvas bag. I'm not really sure what I will ever use it for, but I guess it was a nice thought that they threw this in. It was packaged quite nicely and at first I wasn't really sure what it was.

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I still haven't figured out why they shipped it with a screwdriver. The included manual is pretty sparse and I haven't dug into the online one yet. My only guess is that eventually you might need to replace the battery and they include the screwdriver to make it easier for you.

If that is the case, that would imply the battery is meant to be replaceable and that is kind of cool because you don't see that so much anymore with most consumer electronics.

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The device itself is relatively thin coming in at less than a half centimeter if I had to guess. Looking back now, I kind of wish I had gotten some sort of case for it. You can see it has spots at the top and bottom for it to attach to the cases they sell.

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Oh yeah, I forgot to show you the outside of the box. There you go. Kind of cool. I am guessing something like the drawing above could be recreated on the nomad assuming you have the artistic skill to accomplish it. I do not.

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Setup was fairly easy and before I knew it, I was working on my first note.

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As you can see from the photo above, there are a number of pen options you can apply to the static pen. With adjustments in style and size, you can pretty much do anything you would be able to do with a pen or pencil and paper. It's hard to see the texture on the display, but if you have ever used a Kindle Paperwhite device, it is kind of like that.

I had started out by writing some notes for a post that I put together last Friday.

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I then played around a bit more until I found a pen style that I preferred. I soon learned that you don't have to press as hard as you think you do for it to work properly. @dbooster and I have talked about this in the past with his fountain pens. If you are using it correctly, it is actually a lot less stress and fatigue on your hand because you aren't really pressing you are more like gliding across the page.

The fact that I can add multiple pages to this one generic document means that I should no longer have piles and piles of notes spread across my desk.

The device does have a wireless connection and can connect to your favorite cloud storage or note taking software, but I haven't played around with that too much yet.

There is also a robust template gallery that has different things like calendars, schedulers, task lists and things like that if you are taking more focused notes.

I'm really impressed with the Supernote Nomad so far. Unfortunately, I haven't really had any meetings or notes to take to really put it through the paces. I've seen a lot of people say that once theirs arrived it fit seamlessly into their workflow and had already improved their productivity.

For me, the jury is still out, but I am liking what I am seeing. Battery life seems to be pretty decent so far and it definitely gives me that "feel" which I was looking for. I'm looking forward to utilizing this more as the need arises. One thing I can say... My desk is definitely a bit cleaner now!

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Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports

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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced