Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I managed to place an order on Christmas day and received the Boogie Board Sync (BBS) yesterday; so far, I am rather pleased with the device. My specific use case is taking notes at school, and thanks to the Evernote integration, having those notes available on all of my other devices. After a day of testing, here's my take: HARDWARE (FOUR STARS): The device is super-light and very thin; in fact, it's so light and thin, I worry about accidentally breaking it if I look at it the wrong way. That's not a knock on the device though, it's actually a plus. As others have mentioned, the contrast compared to other Boogie Boards is really low, so it can be a little difficult to read. I'm not sure if this is a defect or if it is inherent to the technology required to capture and save what you're written. Not a deal breaker, but if Improv wants to send me a replacement, I'll take it. I would love to keep this on my fridge as a whiteboard when not in use; however, there are no magnets in the device. Was it an oversight or did the magnets interfere with the devices ability to capture the input? You'll have to ask Improv Electronics. And speaking of input, you can use most anything to write on the device, but only information written/drawn with the stylus is saved. USE (FIVE STARS): After trying my hand at taking notes on a standard tablet with what amounts to a pencil eraser (iPad/Nexus/etc.), or taking notes on my Venue 8 Pro with its proprietary stylus, taking notes on the BBS is a dream. There are no delays in capturing what you're writing/drawing. And a huge plus is that you can actually set your hand on the device while writing/drawing; no errant lines or smudges. Basically, you can use the device like a pad of paper - how refreshing. It's true, you can't undo mistakes or go back to previous pages on the device, but if Improv/Kent included that technology on the BBS, the cost would not be $99. CONNECTIVITY (FIVE STARS): At this point, I've found no reason to physically connect the device to anything via USB; all testing has been done via Bluetooth on a Moto X and a Dell Venue 8 Pro. The device is easy to connect via Bluetooth, just make sure you read the instructions as it's not overly apparent how to do so. Transfers to both my phone and PC were fast and painless. I quickly tried out the real-time whiteboard functionality. It works, but as it's not something I intend to use, I didn't really put it through its paces. SOFTWARE (THREE STARS): The images/PDFs come out looking great - no complaints there - but the SYNC app (Android) could use some work. 1. The app crashes when trying to upload notes to Evernote. I'm sure it will be fixed, but for now, it's an issue (at least on my Moto X). 2. Uploading to Evernote via the Android app means syncing each note individually; there is no batch action here. 3. The device does not know which way is up, so unless you're using it in portrait orientation with the stylus holder on the right, all of your images/PDFs will be rotated/upside down. Granted, you can change the orientation once transferred to a PC/Evernote, but it would be nice to adjust via the app BEFORE transferring to your PC/Evernote. 4. Right now, each page is a separate "note" that needs to be merged in Evernote after syncing. 5. No ability to choose a notebook to save to in Evernote. As far as I can tell, you have to manage this after the fact. As with my other "complaints," none of these are deal breakers, but it would be nice to see Improv leverage the power of your phone to do some of the formatting that the BBS can't handle on-board. Easily fixed, I'm sure. CONCLUSION: I would love to give the device five stars, but I have to take the software into account, and since the apps are not at a five star level yet, I'm giving the BBS a four star rating. The apps do the job of getting your info off the device and uploaded to Evernote, but it's clunky and missing some helpful features. Granted, the Android app is only version 0.1.0 at this point, so I'm hoping Improv/Kent intend to do much more with the apps. In the end, the Boogie Board Sync is not a tablet or eReader, so if that's what you want, look elsewhere. The Boogie Board Sync is what it is and that's all that it is - a cheap method for digitizing your notes/doodles - and if that's what you need, I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this device. UPDATE (long overdue): I sold this off quite some time ago due to the lackluster software and moving away from Evernote. I see that since selling off the BBS, the software has been updated many times and is now at 1.0.1/1.0.3 depending on your platform. I'm happy to see Dropbox integration, but disappointed that Evernote seems to be your only choice for online note services. I'd love to see OneNote integration, but that could easily be Microsoft's issue, not Boogie Board's (Kent's). Thing is, now that I'm in grad school, I'd love to have something like this again -- and that is why I came back to this review/product. I've used Windows 10 tablets running OneNote with active Wacom stylus support -- and they work really well -- but I take issue with palm-rejection not working half the time. I found myself spending way too much time hitting the undo button because palm-rejection decided to stop working and a line would randomly shoot across the page. I switched back to paper and pen, which works EVERY time, but I miss having my notes in a digital form, accessible from all of my devices instantly. I also hated the reams of paper to flip through when it came time to study (I'm looking at you Calc II). Should I choose to pull the trigger on purchasing a new BBS, I will gladly update this review/rating. I do think it says a lot about the product though that I would sell it, and almost three years later, want to purchase it again.