We live in a digital age and our homes and pockets are just packed with digital technology. We also live in a greener world, a world where more and more of us are trying our best to recycle and reuse things. We can use and recycle lots of things (although depending on your local council you might not be able to recycle as much as you would want).
Why am I talking about tech and recycling? I use lots of pen and paper as I like to write things down and do find it quicker and easier to use than having to switch on a device and type things in (plus I don’t have to worry about a flat battery and I can always find a pen somewhere), but that creates paper waste. I do always put the used paper always into our green recycling bin, so hopefully it does get recycled and put back into use somehow. But I do also keep notes and calendar on my phone – but what if there was a way to combine the two and be able to write notes down in a pad with a pen whilst having the same notes on my phone, all without a piece of paper in sight? Well, there is with the Rocketbook Core Notebook!
The Rocketbook Core Note provides a classic pen and paper experience, built for the digital age and tech lovers. The Rocketbook looks like a classic notebook, and you write on it with a pen, but it is not made of paper, it is reusable over and over again, has no battery and doesn’t require charging. You even have the added bonus of that whatever you write in it can be scanned into the accompanying app on your phone and saved in PDF format to your favourite cloud service so that you also have a digital copy. It is a 32 or 36 page notebook, depending on if you choose the A4 or A5 size, and comes supplied with a Pilot FriXion pen and 1 microfiber towel. It is available in two different sizes, Letter A4 and Executive A5, in a variety of colour options and has the option of dotted or lined pages.
But does is actually work and is it any good? The answer to both questions is YES! And I do actually use it. As I always have a pen and notebook handy, the Rocketbook is a very good alternative to all that wasted paper. The pages of the Rocketbook are smooth and have a synthetic feel to them that makes them feel quite slippy, but when written on with the supplied pen and given a few seconds to dry the pages are very easy to write on and smudge free. The supplied Pilot FriXion pen is comfortable to hold and glides across the pages smoothly.
Whilst the Rocketbook is excellent, there are some points to note. You can’t keep the Rocketbook as a permanent record as it is recommended that you clean the pages at least once a month as ink left on a page for longer than this could leave a residue and make it look grubby. But that’s what the app is for, scan the pages and you have a permanent digital copy. It also really does not like excess heat (direct sunlight or placing next to a radiator that is in use for example) as it can cause the ink to fade or disappear, leaving you with a blank page. Although if you are unfortunate enough for this to happen there is a magical cure – you can recover your notes by putting the Rocketbook in a freezer for 20 minutes and the ink will magically reappear.
Cleaning anything that you have written on the pages is very simple, you just add a drop of water to a cloth and wipe the pages clean and then wipe over with the supplied microfibre cloth. This removes all traces of any ink. The pen itself also has an eraser on it for erasing simple mistakes whilst you are writing before they dry on the page.
The Rocketbook app is very simple to use. Once installed on your phone, any pages that you want to keep digital copies of you just scan then within the app and the app will quickly scan them and send to your email or cloud storage with ease in PDF format. You can even scan pages into bundles. This ensures that any notes that you do need to keep a record of are stored digitally, which then frees up the page(s) in the notebook to be reused.
Overall, the Rocketbook Core is an excellent notebook that helps to reduce paper waste. It is so easy to use and has the advantages of handwritten notes with the durability and longevity of digital storage. I was using the Executive A5 size with 36 pages and dotted pages and found it so easy to use with plenty of space to add diary entries, notes, drawings etc. It is a good size to keep in my backpack and pages don’t get scrunched up, folded or damaged such as what sometimes happens with my paper notepad. Plus, I have the added bonus of once I have scanned the page I have access to notes from all my devices.
My phone is capable of letting me write notes, but I do prefer having pen and paper (maybe it is an age thing) and I do like tech, so having something that is combing both gives me the best of both worlds. The Rocketbook is also giving me a larger writing area than my phone screen can. The Rocketbook is like have a dry erase board in your bag, and it is just as simple to use.
If you love technology and gadgets and want to reduce wastage, the Rocketbook is excellent. As the pages are erasable and with the data stored digitally it should give years of use if looked after properly (pages cleaned regularly). Having the information recorded in the Rocketbook stored digitally should mean that you never lose your important notes (well, as long as you remember to scan and save them with the app of course).
The Rocketbook Core is not as good as writing with a proper pen and paper, but it is a very close second.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £32.99 (Executive) / £34.99 (Letter)
For more information or to buy, visit getrocketbook.co.uk.
