Um … if you’re gonna scan it to your phone then why not get an app for your phone & skip the writing / erasing part?? An Etch-A-Sketch would be more useful than this!
/image Etch-A-Sketch
@IndifferentDude Presumably because for some people, the act of writing it (or the time taken to “slow down” and do it) is important? Which makes more sense for, like, class notes or the self-reflection bits or something. Maybe not for day planning? And a lot of journalers like the act of defining the structure for themselves, so wouldn’t want to just grab some pre-made one.
I dunno. For $15 could be worth experimenting with it to find out whether you’re the type to want to start paper journaling…or something?
@hchavers@heartny Not only that but you can put recipe in there to make one so you have it with you at all times… oh wait…there is google on your phone for that…
I have a journal app that syncs across all devices, so I don’t need this, but my mother writes everything down, so this could work, but the whole, teaching her how to use this. That sounds daunting.
When I started working remote, I lost my shredder to dispose of my work notes I went all in with Rocketbook because I can just wipe my notes right off the page instead of shredding.
This is actually pretty slick in that when you scan you can have the notes automatically go to a certain destination or email recipient. Imma big fan
Apparently, the ink used in the FriXion pens ‘erases’ via the heat generated by rubbing the eraser on the page (hence, ‘friction’). However, chilling/freezing a document will bring back everything that was ‘erased’, so keep that in mind for privacy reasons!
@PooltoyWolf while you can use the rubber eraser on regular paper, for Rocketbook paper you use water and the included microfiber cloth to erase the ink.
I bought one of these for my wife a couple years ago for work and she honestly still goes on about how useful she finds it. She’s big on writing stuff down, especially to-do lists.
I have an older version of this that I used religiously at my last job. I even had multicolored pens to go with it. I didn’t use the app very often because I really just needed a notebook to take quick meeting or phone notes. I had previously filled entire notebooks with nonsense and it seemed like such a waste. This was so much more convenient.
The only issue I had was that occasionally the ink would stain the pages, especially if you left it on a long time. There were many, many hacks to resolve this back then and I assume it has only improved since I last bought these around 2018. Either way, this is an awesome thing to have if you’re fond of writing notes or need to jot things down quickly and want to avoid 80 post-its all over your desk.
I love my rocketbooks. I use them mostly for therapy right now. Just write down all my thoughts, scan it, wipe the page, start again.
My brain prefers writing things down instead of typing. And this way I’m not wasting a ton of paper. Even if I don’t make much use of my scanned pages, it has still been very handy.
Just wish their planners covered more months. I’d definitely buy a 12 month planner from them.
I have been a Rocketbook use for the last 5 years (starting with a knockoff product). After looking at all of the notebooks I had as my desk that I used to take notes on, that I never opened, this is what I now use instead. Scanning to my email, means nothing is taking up space. I would never buy a planner, as I use my work and personal calendar to keep track of Appointments, but for notes and to do lists, Rocketbook is perfect.
How bout just a pdf of the pages. Because you know, tablets exist.
Admittedly this is much cheaper but also much more complicated. And I’m having a genuine hard time finding a good just-like-paper organizer layout as a writeonable pdf.
As a stationery fanatic who loves fountain pens vintage and modern, this is interesting. It’s also funny that people think it’s secure, cuz you can throw something written with one of these admittedly awesome pens in the freezer and it’ll come back not as secure or whatever as you think. Especially this product paired with some chinesium app.
@bass1193 This one uses polymer pages and water-soluble ink, so you wipe the ink off the page. They used to sell one that you “erased” by microwaving it, which did have that flaw.
I’ve been using a normal lined Rocketbook for about 2 months now and I’ve been quite happy with it! I write things down to cement them in my brain then almost never look at the notes again, so it suits me very well to be able to wipe it clean. I’m not a planner person but my wife is, so we might be adding one of these planners named after an evolutionary dead end to our collection.
If you would like to try out other Rocketbook products, a bit cheaper, have a look at the Amazon Warehouse. They have a lot of different sizes, styles and even knockoffs. No Pandas that I see. FWIW I purchased a starter set from Walmart closeouts for $7.99 a few months ago. I gave the system a try and it just wasn’t for me. YMMV
Anyone else try to buy it and just not have anything happen? The screen moves slightly and it just sits there mocking you. At first it made me want to buy it more. But after trying in two different browsers I think I no longer want it. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m fickle.
@actionjacksn04 If you’re a member, which I think you are, you can do the slash buy thing, but I’m not sure if will work with something that has options like this.
@Fuzzalini I am, and actually had those exact thoughts. I guessed it would just assign me a random one.
In the end I changed from Apple Pay to a different mode of payment and the problem resolved. So I guess it was an Apple Pay problem more than a Meh problem.
Well, the irony of this is that if I had the wherewithal to sustain use of the organizational templates in this, I wouldn’t need it to be effective. But hey, I love cool notebooks, so I’ll try it.
This would be great… if I was 19 again. Then I could upload all those OCD planner entries via the pay phone in the dorm hallway. (If Donny would just end that 3-hour phone smooch with his girlfriend at State…)
Typical erasable pens cost about $2~4 a piece. They’re gel pens so they work like pencils (so in extreme cold). But not in heat (as mentioned, the ink will disappear like lemon juice ink).
I used my rocket books extensively prior to retirement. Even had their orange white board triangles that student could scan with the phone and send board notes to their files…loved it, a graduating senior physics student took them when I retired, she had another physics professor agree to use them at university. The books have improved so much from the first we erased in the microwave with a cup of water on the book. That was a great inquiry demo…new technology got them thinking…how the hell she do that, until they figured it out I just said magic
@user58269786 They recommend wiping if you don’t plan to use it for a long time, so maybe indefinitely as long as it stays out of a hot car/other +60C places?
Received mine. Quality stuff and I like the packaging, which was minimal so it got shoved in my mailbox instead of left on the patio.
The frixion pen erases really cleanly on the rocketbook paper, though the writing experiences leaves something to be desired (as expected, given the slick ‘wipey’ quality of it). For some reason, the frixion pens have the eraser at the end of the pen… but not also on the other side of the cap… so you have to take the cap off its storage on the end of the pen to erase.
Book itself is nice quality, in the size I like. Page prints are high contrast and well-organized. I wish there were a couple more plain dot grid/lined sheets, but since you can scan and upload, I guess that doesn’t really matter.
The big bummer is I’d ordered two different colors (red for me, teal for spouse), and I received two teal.
I’m starting to think this is a big fat scam! I ordered this 10 days ago and it still “in processing “. My expected delivery is today or tomorrow. Unless they process it today and hand-deliver it by pony express tomorrow then I just don’t see it happening. Thinking I’ve been lied to…
I wish I paid more attention to the whole ‘Panda Planner’ thing as opposed to this just being a ‘Rocketbook’ notebook.
Out of 36 pages, only five are blank/intended for note taking. Two of which are grid, two lined, one blank.
Credit for the six monthly calendar pages but two pages = one month.
As for the rest: The covers are ok. Nothing to (or could) write home about. Saw some nicer stuff at Walgreens for $8. Blank paper included.
The PandaRocket covers are cut same size as the pages which has some pros & cons.
The giant plastic spiral is both giant and plastic. Can confirm enough room for more blank pages.
Writing experience is just what people say. The dry-time/smearing is more annoying than the skipping/too smooth surface. Was pleased to see replacement pens & refills aren’t too expensive, and function decently on their own (thanks, Pilot). They do have some ugly tribal-tattoo-like design on them though. And classic case of choose to loose your cap or choose to loose your eraser.
Also wishing I went with two of the same size instead of one of each. Combining the few blank pages & calendars, plus rearranging the layout would have made this less Meh.
@lrpete but seriously, I believe you had a choice of two sizes… or you could’ve ordered two of each or one of each. What you should’ve received depends on what you paid.
Specs
Product: Rocketbook Smart Reusable Panda Planners
Model: BK-PAN-E-K-A, BK-PAN-E-K-CCE, BK-PAN-E-K-CDF, BK-PAN-E-K-CME, BK-PAN-L-K-A, BK-PAN-L-K-CCE, BK-PAN-L-K-CME
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$30.90-$37 at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Wednesday, May 29 - Friday, May 31
Um … if you’re gonna scan it to your phone then why not get an app for your phone & skip the writing / erasing part??
An Etch-A-Sketch would be more useful than this! 
/image Etch-A-Sketch
@IndifferentDude Presumably because for some people, the act of writing it (or the time taken to “slow down” and do it) is important? Which makes more sense for, like, class notes or the self-reflection bits or something. Maybe not for day planning? And a lot of journalers like the act of defining the structure for themselves, so wouldn’t want to just grab some pre-made one.
I dunno. For $15 could be worth experimenting with it to find out whether you’re the type to want to start paper journaling…or something?
Remember, you reboot the tablet by turning it upside down and shaking it.
@blaineg That used to work for my kid, also. (Wonder why he never comes by to visit me in my old age …)
Seems like a complicated failure to solve a problem that does exist… I’m out.
But can it make a margarita?
@heartny No, but it can help you plan to make one.
@hchavers @heartny Not only that but you can put recipe in there to make one so you have it with you at all times… oh wait…there is google on your phone for that…
I have a journal app that syncs across all devices, so I don’t need this, but my mother writes everything down, so this could work, but the whole, teaching her how to use this. That sounds daunting.
@AaronLeeJohnson Care to share the name of that app with the rest of the class?
@AaronLeeJohnson @finalremix maybe Apple’s Journal app?
@finalremix Oh sure! It’s called Standard Notes.
When I started working remote, I lost my shredder to dispose of my work notes I went all in with Rocketbook because I can just wipe my notes right off the page instead of shredding.
This is actually pretty slick in that when you scan you can have the notes automatically go to a certain destination or email recipient. Imma big fan
@karlajoy See my below comment about ‘erasing’.
@PooltoyWolf see my comment about your comment
@karlajoy Mine was directed at those who may choose to use the pen on other types of paper, sorry for confusion.
Apparently, the ink used in the FriXion pens ‘erases’ via the heat generated by rubbing the eraser on the page (hence, ‘friction’). However, chilling/freezing a document will bring back everything that was ‘erased’, so keep that in mind for privacy reasons!
@PooltoyWolf while you can use the rubber eraser on regular paper, for Rocketbook paper you use water and the included microfiber cloth to erase the ink.
@PooltoyWolf so the actual use of FriXion pens is to give this to someone you want to spy on. Right?
I bought one of these for my wife a couple years ago for work and she honestly still goes on about how useful she finds it. She’s big on writing stuff down, especially to-do lists.
@emaw_az I’m not too bad at making to-do lists. It’s the finding someone to do the things on my list that is a bit of a challenge….
I have an older version of this that I used religiously at my last job. I even had multicolored pens to go with it. I didn’t use the app very often because I really just needed a notebook to take quick meeting or phone notes. I had previously filled entire notebooks with nonsense and it seemed like such a waste. This was so much more convenient.
The only issue I had was that occasionally the ink would stain the pages, especially if you left it on a long time. There were many, many hacks to resolve this back then and I assume it has only improved since I last bought these around 2018. Either way, this is an awesome thing to have if you’re fond of writing notes or need to jot things down quickly and want to avoid 80 post-its all over your desk.
In for three!
POPSOCKETS! SPROCKETS! DAVY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
Their product video almost comes off as an SNL sketch.
@Kerig3 When I want to Draft My Happiness, I just go to my kegerator.
Don’t be that Panda without a Plan(ner)!
/showme A panda with a planner
When I talk about how Meh is late to the market, the product sells out.
Yep, today’s technology, especially phone apps, as made yesterday’s high tech note pads obsolete. Meh is definitely behind the curve again.
Let’s see how fast these sell out now.
This seems like a worse Wipebook, but with planner pages.
I love my rocketbooks. I use them mostly for therapy right now. Just write down all my thoughts, scan it, wipe the page, start again.
My brain prefers writing things down instead of typing. And this way I’m not wasting a ton of paper. Even if I don’t make much use of my scanned pages, it has still been very handy.
Just wish their planners covered more months. I’d definitely buy a 12 month planner from them.
I have been a Rocketbook use for the last 5 years (starting with a knockoff product). After looking at all of the notebooks I had as my desk that I used to take notes on, that I never opened, this is what I now use instead. Scanning to my email, means nothing is taking up space. I would never buy a planner, as I use my work and personal calendar to keep track of Appointments, but for notes and to do lists, Rocketbook is perfect.
/showme Pandas in a situation room planning total world conquest and the subjugation of humanity.
@mediocrebot What adorable conquerors.
How bout just a pdf of the pages. Because you know, tablets exist.
Admittedly this is much cheaper but also much more complicated. And I’m having a genuine hard time finding a good just-like-paper organizer layout as a writeonable pdf.
@smelltastic I know where you can get some to scan, for fifteen bucks.
As a stationery fanatic who loves fountain pens vintage and modern, this is interesting. It’s also funny that people think it’s secure, cuz you can throw something written with one of these admittedly awesome pens in the freezer and it’ll come back
not as secure or whatever as you think. Especially this product paired with some chinesium app.
MEALS! DEALS! EELS! AWESOME!
@bass1193 This one uses polymer pages and water-soluble ink, so you wipe the ink off the page. They used to sell one that you “erased” by microwaving it, which did have that flaw.
@bass1193 @drkashik I believe the FriXion pen ink can still be made visible again on regular paper by chilling it, but not in a Rocketbook.
I’m not organized enough to use an organizer.
@IAMIS I feel this in my soul. I grabbed one for my teenager.
/giphy respectful-dubious-mailbox
I’ve been using a normal lined Rocketbook for about 2 months now and I’ve been quite happy with it! I write things down to cement them in my brain then almost never look at the notes again, so it suits me very well to be able to wipe it clean. I’m not a planner person but my wife is, so we might be adding one of these planners named after an evolutionary dead end to our collection.
If you would like to try out other Rocketbook products, a bit cheaper, have a look at the Amazon Warehouse. They have a lot of different sizes, styles and even knockoffs. No Pandas that I see. FWIW I purchased a starter set from Walmart closeouts for $7.99 a few months ago. I gave the system a try and it just wasn’t for me. YMMV
Anyone else try to buy it and just not have anything happen? The screen moves slightly and it just sits there mocking you. At first it made me want to buy it more. But after trying in two different browsers I think I no longer want it. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m fickle.
@actionjacksn04 If you’re a member, which I think you are, you can do the slash buy thing, but I’m not sure if will work with something that has options like this.
@Fuzzalini I am, and actually had those exact thoughts. I guessed it would just assign me a random one.
In the end I changed from Apple Pay to a different mode of payment and the problem resolved. So I guess it was an Apple Pay problem more than a Meh problem.
Well, the irony of this is that if I had the wherewithal to sustain use of the organizational templates in this, I wouldn’t need it to be effective. But hey, I love cool notebooks, so I’ll try it.
This would be great… if I was 19 again. Then I could upload all those OCD planner entries via the pay phone in the dorm hallway. (If Donny would just end that 3-hour phone smooch with his girlfriend at State…)
I would have bought one many many years ago… but now I’m trying to do the less amount of work possible.
A good name for my organizing style: Pandemonium
@rockblossom if you use it in a hurry: Panda Express
Typical erasable pens cost about $2~4 a piece. They’re gel pens so they work like pencils (so in extreme cold). But not in heat (as mentioned, the ink will disappear like lemon juice ink).
If I have to write it down to remember to do something, it’s not something worth remembering to do.
@brennyn You must still be pretty young.
I’ve always wanted to try a Rocketbook but didn’t want to spend the money just to have it not work for me. $15 is worth it to try.
Did everyone forget the Time-Tested and Proven FAILPROOF way to remember things??
@IndifferentDude …cutting off Mr. Bimble’s air supply?
/showme a panda made out of notebooks
@mediocrebot Not sure why it threw red, blue, and green in there, but otherwise that is surprisingly good. Much better than I expected.
I got some Rocketbooks a while back, and haven’t really used them. So the only rational thing to do is buy some of these, right? Right?
/giphy provocative-spooky-sandwich
@blaineg Spoken like a true Meh customer
/showme provocative-spooky-sandwich
/giphy wiry-rugged-downtown
I love my Rocketbook notebooks. I even use the Rocket Beacon products as well. The phone app is great.
I have introduced some of my workmates to all this by sharing the downloadable pdfs
@DigitalJakeT55 @smelltastic would like a word
I used my rocket books extensively prior to retirement. Even had their orange white board triangles that student could scan with the phone and send board notes to their files…loved it, a graduating senior physics student took them when I retired, she had another physics professor agree to use them at university. The books have improved so much from the first we erased in the microwave with a cup of water on the book. That was a great inquiry demo…new technology got them thinking…how the hell she do that, until they figured it out I just said magic
Pandemonium (when I discover its hiding place & see what I forgot to do two days ago).
/showme responsible-grisly-muffin
@mediocrebot looks like it could snap away half the universe at any moment
/showme ethereal-outrageous-zinc
/giphy vital-titled-pipe
/image vital-titled-pipe
/giphy reliable-momentous-machine
How long does the writing last for on the pages?
@user58269786 They recommend wiping if you don’t plan to use it for a long time, so maybe indefinitely as long as it stays out of a hot car/other +60C places?
I’m looking forward to getting mine. It was delayed in shipping and will/should arrive 10 days later than expected. I’m disappointed at the moment!
Received mine. Quality stuff and I like the packaging, which was minimal so it got shoved in my mailbox instead of left on the patio.
The frixion pen erases really cleanly on the rocketbook paper, though the writing experiences leaves something to be desired (as expected, given the slick ‘wipey’ quality of it). For some reason, the frixion pens have the eraser at the end of the pen… but not also on the other side of the cap… so you have to take the cap off its storage on the end of the pen to erase.
Book itself is nice quality, in the size I like. Page prints are high contrast and well-organized. I wish there were a couple more plain dot grid/lined sheets, but since you can scan and upload, I guess that doesn’t really matter.
The big bummer is I’d ordered two different colors (red for me, teal for spouse), and I received two teal.
I’m starting to think this is a big fat scam! I ordered this 10 days ago and it still “in processing “. My expected delivery is today or tomorrow. Unless they process it today and hand-deliver it by pony express tomorrow then I just don’t see it happening. Thinking I’ve been lied to…
@user52932544 When did you end up receiving it?
@mehvid1 on 6/11. A week late. Could’ve been worse!
Commenting after received:
I wish I paid more attention to the whole ‘Panda Planner’ thing as opposed to this just being a ‘Rocketbook’ notebook.
As for the rest: The covers are ok. Nothing to (or could) write home about. Saw some nicer stuff at Walgreens for $8. Blank paper included.
The PandaRocket covers are cut same size as the pages which has some pros & cons.
The giant plastic spiral is both giant and plastic. Can confirm enough room for more blank pages.
Writing experience is just what people say. The dry-time/smearing is more annoying than the skipping/too smooth surface. Was pleased to see replacement pens & refills aren’t too expensive, and function decently on their own (thanks, Pilot). They do have some ugly tribal-tattoo-like design on them though. And classic case of choose to loose your cap or choose to loose your eraser.
Also wishing I went with two of the same size instead of one of each. Combining the few blank pages & calendars, plus rearranging the layout would have made this less Meh.
/showme altruistic nerdy quartz
I only recieved one planner. thought i was getting two?
@lrpete that’s correct.
@lrpete but seriously, I believe you had a choice of two sizes… or you could’ve ordered two of each or one of each. What you should’ve received depends on what you paid.
@lrpete I see you only ordered one unit – this sale was for a single notebook, not a 2-pack