IMHO the best thing about the ReMarkable is that it's an "open" device rather than a locked-down uber proprietary system like Kindle. They give you the root password to the device and you can use or write third-party tools if you don't want to pay for their cloud subscription. They have a browser extension that makes it super easy to send articles/web pages to the Remarkable for later reading, and it has built-in integration with Google Drive (which doesn't require the subscription!) so it's pretty easy to get content off and on to the device. I also use rcu[1].
I love using my Remarkable as an e-reader. I've never been one to "write in the margins" because I like to keep my books clean, but this has been a surprising great feature of the Remarkable to me. I can write all over the PDF or epub and it saves as a copy (instead of overwriting the original).
If you're only going to read on it, and only white and black text, I'd recommend a Remarkable 2 instead as it's much cheaper.
An important caveat: I refuse to buy DRMed media, so all my e-books work on any device. They are almost entirely epubs or PDFs. If you buy stuff from the Kindle store then you won't be able to read them on the ReMarkable unless you strip the DRM.
For what it's worth, Kobo is similarly open with tons of hacks and add-ons for their devices. They do have a store but you can just not use it and even sync books from your own server running Calibre-Web if you want.
I love using my Remarkable as an e-reader. I've never been one to "write in the margins" because I like to keep my books clean, but this has been a surprising great feature of the Remarkable to me. I can write all over the PDF or epub and it saves as a copy (instead of overwriting the original).
If you're only going to read on it, and only white and black text, I'd recommend a Remarkable 2 instead as it's much cheaper.
An important caveat: I refuse to buy DRMed media, so all my e-books work on any device. They are almost entirely epubs or PDFs. If you buy stuff from the Kindle store then you won't be able to read them on the ReMarkable unless you strip the DRM.
[1]: https://www.davisr.me/projects/rcu/