Improv Electronics has been selling a line of writing tablets for a few years — and unlike most things we call tablets these days, Improv’s Boogie Board devices really are designed for writing, reading, and not much else. They feature low power LCD displays that can hold an image indefinitely without using power after you’ve written on it.
In other words, a Boogie Board is sort of a replacement for a pad of sticky notes, a bulletin board, or a notepad, depending on how you use it.
Earlier this year Improv showed off a new model called the Boogie Board Sync, featuring a 9.7 inch screen, built-in storage, and the ability to connect to other devices wirelessly. Now it’s up for pre-order from Amazon for $100
The Sync is designed to replace paper and pencil, letting you jot notes and save hundreds of pages to internal memory. Then you can transfer those PDF files to a computer, phone, or tablet over a Bluetooth connection. You can also sync your data with Evernote.
You can also use pair the Boogie Board Sync with a computer and use it as a writing slate or hook up a projector so you can jot notes on the tablet and view them on screen in a sort of virtual white-board mode.
The Boogie Board Sync isn’t as versatile as an iPad or Android tablet. It has a black and white screen. It doesn’t run third party apps. But it gets up to a week of battery life and sells for just about $100.
There is plenty of memory, use more then one page.
The deal killer for me is that you can’t selectively erase anything. Erasing is an all or nothing proposition.