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Thomas Frank Study Tips, World's Smartest Notebook? My Review of the Rocketbook Everlast

World's Smartest Notebook? My Review of the Rocketbook Everlast

- This is the notebook that I carry with me

every single day in my backpack.

And in this video, we are going to answer the question,

"Is this the best notebook in the world,

or is it something that's just kind of, a gimmick?"

And I guess to answer that question,

we first have to ask and answer a preliminary question,

which is, "What exactly is this?"

Well, this is called the Rocketbook Everlast,

and ever since I kind of previewed it back in my

"iPad Pro versus Notebook Paper" video,

I've been getting a lot of questions about it.

And, as you can see from the many, many scuffs

on the cover, I have had this thing for a while

and I've been able to put it through its paces.

So what I want to do today is go over the features

of this notebook, kind of give you the specs,

and also tell you why I think it's really cool.

And we're gonna end the video with my verdict

on whether or not it's something that you

should maybe try out in your own workflow.

And to start things off, we've gotta talk about

what is probably the main feature of this notebook,

which is the fact that you can erase it.

There are only 32 pages in the notebook,

which means it doesn't take up a whole lot of space

in your bag, or add a whole lot of weight to it,

but you an very easily erase the pages

that you write on with pen by using a damp cloth

and just wiping it away; it's really, really easy.

Now, I do want to note that this is not a feature

that is unique to this one notebook,

and the way that they achieve it is by

requiring you to use a specific type of pen

called a Frixion pen, or a "friction" pen,

not exactly sure how to pronounce that brand name.

But essentially, these are pens that allow you

to erase their ink, even on normal paper.

I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that

later in the video, but first let's talk

a little bit about the specs of the Rocketbook,

starting with the fact that there are three sizes:

there's the executive size, there's the mini size

which actually flips upwards, instead of

to the side, and then there's the letter size,

which is what I have; It's your standard 8x11 notebook.

And I think that it's the one that's gonna work

best for students, or people that need a lot

of writing area when they're taking notes,

or drawing out diagrams, or doing

whatever you do with a notebook.

Now, there is one other Rocketbook

that you can get your hands on,

which is called The Wave, and it's different

from all the other models because instead

of wiping away the pages with a damp cloth,

you actually put the entire notebook

in a microwave, and that erases the entire notebook

all at once, but I wasn't super interested

in getting that notebook, because you can

only do that about five times before it

no longer will fully erase the pages,

where as the Everlast should, theoretically,

last you as long as you want it to last.

In any case, one of my favorite features

of all the Rocketbook models is the way they've laid out

their paper, because it's grid paper.

But instead of being a grid of lines,

it's a grid of really subtle, faint dots,

so they don't really get in your way.

And because it's grid paper, it makes it

really good for writing, but also

for sketching and drawing out things,

like UI elements, or website elements.

In fact, when I was doing the initial designs

for our latest version of College Info Geek,

I used that paper to sketch things out, before then

diving into Figma and getting into the details.

However, the coolest feature of the Rocketbook,

and by far the biggest reason that I wanted to get it,

far beyond the ability to erase the pages,

is the system they've set up for letting you

digitize your notes, because they have a system

of letting you do it a lot faster

than you can with normal notebook paper,

and that's what I was really excited about.

So, at the bottom of every single page

in your Rocketbook, you're gonna see two things,

first you're gonna see a QR code, and then

you're gonna see a row of seven different icons.

And when you download their companion app

to your iPhone, your Android, you can actually

set up different destinations for each one of those icons,

be it box, be it Dropbox, Google drive, Evernote,

or tons of different other options.

And for each destination serviced,

you can also pick where exactly

you want it to go within that service.

So, for example, with Evernote,

you can choose which notebook you want

your scans to go to, based on the icon you choose.

Now, here is the cool part,

after you've finished writing a page of notes,

you can mark off one of the icons

at the bottom of the page, then, using their app,

you can scan that page, and depending

on which icon you marked, it will automatically

send your scan to the destination

that you've set up in advance.

And, as you might imagine, this massively

cuts down on both the friction, and the time

that it takes to digitize your notes.

If you're taking your notes on regular paper,

and you want to digitize them with an app

like Evernote, then you have to open the app,

you have to first select the notebook

that you want the scan to go into,

you have to hit the add button,

and then you have to take your scan.

But with the Rocketbook system,

this entire process is automated.

And there are some other cool features, as well.

You can choose whether you want to do

a PDF or JPEG, and if you have multiple scans,

say you're sitting in class and you've taken

multiple pages of notes, you can actually bundle all

of the scans for each page into a combined PDF.

And this can be really useful if you want

to make sure all the pages from one note-taking session

go into one single document in Evernote

or your note-taking system of choice.

So, overall, the digitization features this notebook offers,

combined with the ability to erase pages

may justify the kind of hefty price tag,

and let's talk about price now,

because, unless you're getting the mini,

which is usually around 15 or 16 dollars,

the Rocketbook, both the executive

and the letter versions, are right around

30 to 34 dollars depending on where you get them,

and that's pretty steep for a notebook.

It might not be a huge step up

if you're used to high-quality notebooks

like Moleskin, but if you're like me,

and you're coming from like two dollar Walmart notebooks,

the sticker shock can be kind of extreme.

And especially with a price tag like that,

we do have to be pretty discerning

when it comes to the writing experience,

since writing is where you're gonna be spending

most of your time doing with this notebook.

So, what's it like?

Well, in my experience, to put things

in a nutshell, it's pretty good.

It's much, much better than writing

on the iPad screen with my Apple Pencil,

which I'm not a big fan of doing,

but it's not quite as good as writing

on normal notebook paper.

I would say it's about 90% as good.

There are three main nitpicks that kinda drag

the writing experience down for me.

Again, not a ton, just a little bit.

It's not quite as good as normal paper.

First and foremost, when you're writing

with these Frixion pens, or "friction" pens,

I don't know how to pronounce it,

you don't always get this perfect, black streak

of ink that you're gonna get with a normal,

high-quality pen, though I did find

that after I spent a little time practicing

getting used to using it, you kinda realize

that there is a specific amount of pressure

you have to use, and once you get used to it,

that happens far less often.

Secondly, there is the texture of the paper,

which is a double-edged sword.

It's glossy, so it makes it a lot easier to erase

with a damp cloth, and this is important

because when writing on normal paper

with a Frixion pen, you have to use this little

eraser nub on the end, and it's kind of

a laborious process to erase your paper,

and honestly, it isn't worth it,

so that glossy paper does have a big benefit,

because you can erase paper very, very quickly,

but again, it's a double-edged sword,

because since it's so glossy, your pen

doesn't really have the same amount of grip

and it just doesn't feel quite as precise.

I find it harder to write really neatly

or really legibly than I do with normal paper.

Finally, the ink does take about ten seconds

to dry, and I think this is again,

due to the glossy nature of the pages.

And this isn't a huge problem, but if you do

write something down, and then you move

your hand up quickly to make an annotation

or draw an arrow or something,

you can smudge your writing, and it won't

make it illegible, 'cause there will be

kinda like a ghost of it there,

but it will make your page look messy,

and personally, I don't like that.

All that being said, these are still minor nitpicks

and they haven't stopped me from using

the notebook on a daily basis.

I just love that ability to scan things

so quickly and so automatically.

Now, the only other concern that I have

about the Rocketbook, and something that

you should probably keep in mind

is I'm not sure how long the pens last.

Again, you have to use Frixion pens

with this book, and through some Googling,

I found that they probably won't last

as long as a normal pen, but at least

in my case, mine has not run out yet,

and once it does, a 3-pack of these pens

is about 5 or 6 bucks at Target,

so it's not too big of a deal, at least for me.

So, if you want my verdict on the Rocketbook Everlast,

I really like this notebook.

It is my daily driver, though I do have to admit

that it costs quite a bit more

than most other notebooks out there.

So it's really up to you whether

those digitization features and the erasability

of the pages makes up for that big gap in price.

Now, regardless of whether or not you choose

to go with the Rocketbook Everlast, or even

if you decide to hand-write your notes at all,

you should make sure that you are using

a well-organized, well-thought-out

note-taking system as we go into the year.

And honestly, I would extend that

to your entire productivity system in general.

Make sure you are using a good task manager,

make sure your file organization system makes sense.

And if you are in the mood to scrutinize these things,

well you are in luck, because I have just released

my very first online course, which is all about

how to build a productivity system,

and if you want to take it,

it is on Skillshare, and it is live today.

Over the course of the class' ten different videos,

you're gonna learn how to set up

your task management system, how to manage your calendar,

how to set up and organize your folders and files,

how to process your email more effectively,

and, in general, create a productivity system

that ensures that you're always

on top of everything you have to do in your life.

And of course, because my course is on Skillshare,

the membership that gets you access to it

also gets you access to over 25,000 other courses

in business and web development, graphic design

and video editing, and a ton of different

topic areas that can boost your skills

and your career prospects, as well.

So, if you want to start the year out right,

if you want to make sure you're pushing yourself

and building new skills every single day,

and make sure you're staying organized

over the long run, then sign up for Skillshare

using the link in the description down below.

Their premium membership is really affordable,

costing just about as much as a Netflix subscription,

and what's best, if you're one of the first

500 people to click that link and sign up below,

you're gonna get a two month free trial

with unlimited learning on the platform,

which means that, yes, you can essentially

go and take my course for free, which I highly recommend

that you do, so, click that link,

sign up, and start learning today.

A huge thanks goes out to Skillshare

for sponsoring this video and being a big supporter

of my channel in general, and as always guys,

thank you so much for watching.

If you like this video, definitely give it a like

to support my channel, and if you want

to get notifications of new videos

when they come out, get subscribed right there.

You can also click right there to get a free copy

of my book on how to earn better grades

in school, click right over here

to watch one more video on this channel,

or go and follow me on Instagram, @tomfrankly.

Thanks again for watching,

and I will see you in the next one.

World's Smartest Notebook? My Review of the Rocketbook Everlast Das intelligenteste Notebook der Welt? Mein Testbericht über das Rocketbook Everlast ¿El portátil más inteligente del mundo? Mi análisis del Rocketbook Everlast L'ordinateur portable le plus intelligent du monde ? Mon avis sur le Rocketbook Everlast 世界で最もスマートなノートブック?ロケットブック「エバーラスト」レビュー O portátil mais inteligente do mundo? A minha análise do Rocketbook Everlast Världens smartaste bärbara dator? Min recension av Rocketbook Everlast 世界上最智能的笔记本电脑?我对 Rocketbook Everlast 的评论 世界上最智能的筆記本電腦?我對 Rocketbook Everlast 的評論

- This is the notebook that I carry with me

every single day in my backpack.

And in this video, we are going to answer the question,

"Is this the best notebook in the world,

or is it something that's just kind of, a gimmick?"

And I guess to answer that question, E eu acho que para responder a essa pergunta,

we first have to ask and answer a preliminary question,

which is, "What exactly is this?"

Well, this is called the Rocketbook Everlast,

and ever since I kind of previewed it back in my

"iPad Pro versus Notebook Paper" video,

I've been getting a lot of questions about it.

And, as you can see from the many, many scuffs

on the cover, I have had this thing for a while

and I've been able to put it through its paces.

So what I want to do today is go over the features

of this notebook, kind of give you the specs,

and also tell you why I think it's really cool.

And we're gonna end the video with my verdict

on whether or not it's something that you

should maybe try out in your own workflow.

And to start things off, we've gotta talk about

what is probably the main feature of this notebook,

which is the fact that you can erase it.

There are only 32 pages in the notebook,

which means it doesn't take up a whole lot of space

in your bag, or add a whole lot of weight to it,

but you an very easily erase the pages

that you write on with pen by using a damp cloth

and just wiping it away; it's really, really easy.

Now, I do want to note that this is not a feature

that is unique to this one notebook,

and the way that they achieve it is by

requiring you to use a specific type of pen

called a Frixion pen, or a "friction" pen,

not exactly sure how to pronounce that brand name.

But essentially, these are pens that allow you

to erase their ink, even on normal paper.

I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that

later in the video, but first let's talk

a little bit about the specs of the Rocketbook,

starting with the fact that there are three sizes:

there's the executive size, there's the mini size

which actually flips upwards, instead of

to the side, and then there's the letter size,

which is what I have; It's your standard 8x11 notebook.

And I think that it's the one that's gonna work

best for students, or people that need a lot

of writing area when they're taking notes,

or drawing out diagrams, or doing

whatever you do with a notebook.

Now, there is one other Rocketbook

that you can get your hands on,

which is called The Wave, and it's different

from all the other models because instead

of wiping away the pages with a damp cloth,

you actually put the entire notebook

in a microwave, and that erases the entire notebook

all at once, but I wasn't super interested

in getting that notebook, because you can

only do that about five times before it

no longer will fully erase the pages,

where as the Everlast should, theoretically,

last you as long as you want it to last.

In any case, one of my favorite features

of all the Rocketbook models is the way they've laid out

their paper, because it's grid paper.

But instead of being a grid of lines,

it's a grid of really subtle, faint dots,

so they don't really get in your way.

And because it's grid paper, it makes it

really good for writing, but also

for sketching and drawing out things,

like UI elements, or website elements.

In fact, when I was doing the initial designs

for our latest version of College Info Geek,

I used that paper to sketch things out, before then

diving into Figma and getting into the details.

However, the coolest feature of the Rocketbook,

and by far the biggest reason that I wanted to get it,

far beyond the ability to erase the pages,

is the system they've set up for letting you

digitize your notes, because they have a system

of letting you do it a lot faster

than you can with normal notebook paper,

and that's what I was really excited about.

So, at the bottom of every single page

in your Rocketbook, you're gonna see two things,

first you're gonna see a QR code, and then

you're gonna see a row of seven different icons.

And when you download their companion app

to your iPhone, your Android, you can actually

set up different destinations for each one of those icons,

be it box, be it Dropbox, Google drive, Evernote,

or tons of different other options.

And for each destination serviced,

you can also pick where exactly

you want it to go within that service.

So, for example, with Evernote,

you can choose which notebook you want

your scans to go to, based on the icon you choose.

Now, here is the cool part,

after you've finished writing a page of notes,

you can mark off one of the icons

at the bottom of the page, then, using their app,

you can scan that page, and depending

on which icon you marked, it will automatically

send your scan to the destination

that you've set up in advance.

And, as you might imagine, this massively

cuts down on both the friction, and the time

that it takes to digitize your notes.

If you're taking your notes on regular paper,

and you want to digitize them with an app

like Evernote, then you have to open the app,

you have to first select the notebook

that you want the scan to go into,

you have to hit the add button,

and then you have to take your scan.

But with the Rocketbook system,

this entire process is automated.

And there are some other cool features, as well.

You can choose whether you want to do

a PDF or JPEG, and if you have multiple scans,

say you're sitting in class and you've taken

multiple pages of notes, you can actually bundle all

of the scans for each page into a combined PDF.

And this can be really useful if you want

to make sure all the pages from one note-taking session

go into one single document in Evernote

or your note-taking system of choice.

So, overall, the digitization features this notebook offers,

combined with the ability to erase pages

may justify the kind of hefty price tag,

and let's talk about price now,

because, unless you're getting the mini,

which is usually around 15 or 16 dollars,

the Rocketbook, both the executive

and the letter versions, are right around

30 to 34 dollars depending on where you get them,

and that's pretty steep for a notebook.

It might not be a huge step up

if you're used to high-quality notebooks

like Moleskin, but if you're like me,

and you're coming from like two dollar Walmart notebooks,

the sticker shock can be kind of extreme.

And especially with a price tag like that,

we do have to be pretty discerning

when it comes to the writing experience,

since writing is where you're gonna be spending

most of your time doing with this notebook.

So, what's it like?

Well, in my experience, to put things

in a nutshell, it's pretty good.

It's much, much better than writing

on the iPad screen with my Apple Pencil,

which I'm not a big fan of doing,

but it's not quite as good as writing

on normal notebook paper.

I would say it's about 90% as good.

There are three main nitpicks that kinda drag

the writing experience down for me.

Again, not a ton, just a little bit.

It's not quite as good as normal paper.

First and foremost, when you're writing

with these Frixion pens, or "friction" pens,

I don't know how to pronounce it,

you don't always get this perfect, black streak

of ink that you're gonna get with a normal,

high-quality pen, though I did find

that after I spent a little time practicing

getting used to using it, you kinda realize

that there is a specific amount of pressure

you have to use, and once you get used to it,

that happens far less often.

Secondly, there is the texture of the paper,

which is a double-edged sword.

It's glossy, so it makes it a lot easier to erase

with a damp cloth, and this is important

because when writing on normal paper

with a Frixion pen, you have to use this little

eraser nub on the end, and it's kind of

a laborious process to erase your paper,

and honestly, it isn't worth it,

so that glossy paper does have a big benefit,

because you can erase paper very, very quickly,

but again, it's a double-edged sword,

because since it's so glossy, your pen

doesn't really have the same amount of grip

and it just doesn't feel quite as precise.

I find it harder to write really neatly

or really legibly than I do with normal paper.

Finally, the ink does take about ten seconds

to dry, and I think this is again,

due to the glossy nature of the pages.

And this isn't a huge problem, but if you do

write something down, and then you move

your hand up quickly to make an annotation

or draw an arrow or something,

you can smudge your writing, and it won't

make it illegible, 'cause there will be

kinda like a ghost of it there,

but it will make your page look messy,

and personally, I don't like that.

All that being said, these are still minor nitpicks

and they haven't stopped me from using

the notebook on a daily basis.

I just love that ability to scan things

so quickly and so automatically.

Now, the only other concern that I have

about the Rocketbook, and something that

you should probably keep in mind

is I'm not sure how long the pens last.

Again, you have to use Frixion pens

with this book, and through some Googling,

I found that they probably won't last

as long as a normal pen, but at least

in my case, mine has not run out yet,

and once it does, a 3-pack of these pens

is about 5 or 6 bucks at Target,

so it's not too big of a deal, at least for me.

So, if you want my verdict on the Rocketbook Everlast,

I really like this notebook.

It is my daily driver, though I do have to admit

that it costs quite a bit more

than most other notebooks out there.

So it's really up to you whether

those digitization features and the erasability

of the pages makes up for that big gap in price.

Now, regardless of whether or not you choose

to go with the Rocketbook Everlast, or even

if you decide to hand-write your notes at all,

you should make sure that you are using

a well-organized, well-thought-out

note-taking system as we go into the year.

And honestly, I would extend that

to your entire productivity system in general.

Make sure you are using a good task manager,

make sure your file organization system makes sense.

And if you are in the mood to scrutinize these things,

well you are in luck, because I have just released

my very first online course, which is all about

how to build a productivity system,

and if you want to take it,

it is on Skillshare, and it is live today.

Over the course of the class' ten different videos,

you're gonna learn how to set up

your task management system, how to manage your calendar,

how to set up and organize your folders and files,

how to process your email more effectively,

and, in general, create a productivity system

that ensures that you're always

on top of everything you have to do in your life.

And of course, because my course is on Skillshare,

the membership that gets you access to it

also gets you access to over 25,000 other courses

in business and web development, graphic design

and video editing, and a ton of different

topic areas that can boost your skills

and your career prospects, as well.

So, if you want to start the year out right,

if you want to make sure you're pushing yourself

and building new skills every single day,

and make sure you're staying organized

over the long run, then sign up for Skillshare

using the link in the description down below.

Their premium membership is really affordable,

costing just about as much as a Netflix subscription,

and what's best, if you're one of the first

500 people to click that link and sign up below,

you're gonna get a two month free trial

with unlimited learning on the platform,

which means that, yes, you can essentially

go and take my course for free, which I highly recommend

that you do, so, click that link,

sign up, and start learning today.

A huge thanks goes out to Skillshare

for sponsoring this video and being a big supporter

of my channel in general, and as always guys,

thank you so much for watching.

If you like this video, definitely give it a like

to support my channel, and if you want

to get notifications of new videos

when they come out, get subscribed right there.

You can also click right there to get a free copy

of my book on how to earn better grades

in school, click right over here

to watch one more video on this channel,

or go and follow me on Instagram, @tomfrankly.

Thanks again for watching,

and I will see you in the next one.