Utility Board by Baronfig - Review

Baronfig has recently released its own version of the cocoon Grid-it style of tech gear organizer.  They have taken a good idea and made it in their own style, but I think they still have some refinements that I hope to address so they can make version 2.0 better!

The case starts off with a really good build quality and design elements like the wide elastic bands with the rubber grips added.  This allows for large items like an Apple Magic Mouse to be added.  Everything is held very securely and I tried lots of variations of putting things into it. 

If you are like me and need to keep all your tablet accessories together, this case holds everything nicely. 

The Details:

• 8.75” x 11.75”

• 12oz

• $29.00

• Heavy-duty elastic straps

• Rubberized grips for secure placement

• Padded microfiber tablet sleeve

• 20+ versatile layouts

However,

The iPad and the fold-over magnetic case don’t fit inside!  I keep my cover on my iPad constantly due to the fold-over stand and this Utility Board is so tight holding the iPad that there isn’t a millimeter of room to accommodate the extra width. This is also the case if you have a keyboard case!

The tablet pocket doesn’t have a closure mechanism so it uses the tight space to hold the iPad securely.  Now, this is okay if you don’t have the extra case cover, but there is also an issue of padding.  The interior of the pocket is padded to protect the screen but the back is left unpadded and can be an issue when dropped.

I generally don’t pick on Baronfig’s line-up of great products, but the use cases of this Utility Board is so small that I find it impractical for my iPad.  I believe it does a great job with the organizer so I hope that they will design this a little better going forward.

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I also wouldn’t be so hard on it, but I found a similar case by Cocoon called the 11” Accessory Organizer with Tablet Pocket.  This has a padded back pocket with a Velcro fold over closure with a 0.5in wide pocket and goes for $32.99.

Cocoon Case

11’ Tablet Case and Organizer

Shown here is the Grey Medium sized Grid-it board compared to the Black Baronfig Utility Board. They are similar in size and the pattern of the grid is very comparable.

So, the Baronfig Utility Board is very handy, however, it isn’t perfect and I hold Baronfig to a very high standard. I may be acting unfairly, but, I don’t think I am wrong in asking them to fix this. Let me know if you agree or believe I am wrong!

Thanks for visiting!

Mike

As always, I purchased this case and did not receive anything in return for this review. My thoughts are my own.

An Honest and Unpaid Remarkable 2 Tablet Review

We have all seen the Remarkable tablet ads and the reviews about how well they work, right? After seeing all of this, I want to write a clear and honest review of this $300 tablet that is not tied to referral codes or ads.

In short, this tablet is like a bridge between analog and digital tools. It isn’t the same as paper, and it isn’t nearly as useful as a regular tablet.

It sits right between the two options and is not as good as either one. For its cost, I have to say, this is not worth the money.

That’s the main idea I wanted to share after working with this tablet for 4 weeks.

I admit that I was very skeptical going into this review but was surprised by several things once I got used to what it had to offer. The templates, and quiet analog feeling of the tablet offers can be useful for some.

With that, here are the details and some of the positive features this tablet offers.

Remarkable 2 Details

• 0.19in (4.7mm) - This is roughly the same width as a pad of paper.

• 7 3/8in x 9 5/8in x 3/16in (188mm x 246mm x 4.7 mm)

• 0.89 lb (403.5 g)

• Wi-Fi connected

• 8 GB internal storage

• Up to two weeks of battery

• Automatically synced to your phone and computer with the reMarkable cloud service
  (Read only access to files that are synced)

  • Connected service is $2.99

• Cost: $299 new, $79 marker, or $129 for marker plus which comes with an eraser

• The tablet comes with 47 built-in page layouts.

The Templates

Sunlight

The e-ink tablets have always done well in direct sunlight for reading and writing, and this one also is pretty good, and was the only way to brighten the screen when I was using it.

Lag Time

There is a slight lag with the pen and I took some slow motion video to try and capture this, but the lag doesn’t bother me as much as when I first started. 

The Cost

The real issue with this tablet is the cost. It is exactly the same as a 9th gen Apple iPad and pencil.

If you build out the Remarkable 2 which is $299 new and include the marker with an eraser of $129 it totals $428…

Apple iPad, 64GB, Wifi, and Apple Pencil as of Nov 2022

E-Books

While the tablet does offer the ability to read EPUB books like those from Project Gutenburg, it does not allow for Kindle books which are protected with the DRM designation. I really wish they had access to the Kindle books as these are the only ones I typically use.

Handwriting to text

The handwriting-to-text feature is decent but still does not pick up all my writing perfectly. With the use of speech-to-text being so good, it’s hard to see why anyone would need to use handwriting to text.

Connect Service

The Remarkable Tablet comes with an online service called Connect. This is a cloud-based service that allows for backups and also to access files on multiple devices. This is all read-only however and I wanted to edit the files while I was out.

The service is free for a year and then $2.99 each month after that.

Here is an exported page from the tablet:

One very positive thing I will say about this tablet is the return process.  They offer 100 days to check it out and the return process is easy and clear on their website.  I have already returned my tablet and appreciate the ability to do it online without having to jump through hoops.

For those that do use the Remarkable 2 tablet and really do enjoy it, I would love to hear from you about how well you like it!