How many times have you walked into a room and said something like “I wish we had a whiteboard?” Maybe it’s because I’m an engineer but this happens to me on almost a daily basis. A new product called Think Board X combines a traditional whiteboard with some pretty killer new features… the ability to turn almost any flat surface into a whiteboard and the ability to digitize anything that is written on that surface.
What Is Think Board X?
Think Board X is a peel and stick sticker that can be applied (and removed and re-applied) to just about any flat surface and used as a whiteboard. Once installed you can write on the Think Board X with a dry erase marker just like you would on a traditional whiteboard. When you are finished writing, the next feature of Think Board X comes into play… digitally capturing the content. Think Board X works with the Rocketbook app (for both iOS and Android) and allows you to use your mobile device to capture your ideas and send them on to your digital destination of choice. Sound familiar? It should, I wrote about the Rocketbook line of notebooks a while back here on GeekDad.
Think Board X Details
The Think Board actually comes two different sizes. The Think Board X I was sent was the “Small” version and is about the size of an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper. There is also a “Large” version of Think Board X and it is poster sized (2’x3’). The “Small” size is a good size to take with you on travel if you want to use it in your hotel room or in whatever office rooms you might be having meetings in. It’s easy to roll up and pack into your bag. The “Large” size is better if you have a permanent spot to install and use your Think Board X.
Installation is really easy, especially for the “Small” Think Board X. There is a short installation video you should watch first and then clean the surface you want to install onto and then the install itself should only take a few seconds. The walls in our house have an “orange peel” finish on the walls, so it is not flat. It is highly recommended that you use a completely flat surface, so instead of using a wall, I installed my Think Board X on one of our kitchen cabinets (which had a nice flat outer door). As advertised the Think Board X is easily removed without leaving a residue or damaging the surface.
Just like I talked about in my article about the Rocketbook line of notebooks a while back, the Think Board X text and drawings/diagrams can also be digitized and sent to your storage service of choice.
Features of the Rocketbook app:
- Uses your smartphone/tablet camera to digitize content
- Handwriting Recognition (OCR)
- Crops and enhances each image taken
- Automatically generate a PDF
- Email Transcription
- Smart Titles
- Smart Search
Those last two features may need a little explaining. Smart Titles allows you to surround text at the beginning of your page with double pound signs and it takes the text inside those characters and uses that text for the name of the file. For example, if you started off with “## My Class Notes ##” then your file would be named “My Class Notes.pdf.” The Smart Search feature is a feature within the Rocketbook App itself that allows you to search for anything you have scanned into the app including any of the handwriting that Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has been used on.
Compatible Storage Services:
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- Box
- OneDrive
- OneNote
- Slack
- iMessage
- iCloud
Verdict
The Think Board X is one of those products that everyone will have a use for. Being able to quickly set up a whiteboard on any flat surface and then take it down and use it somewhere else is pretty slick all by itself. But then pair that with all the data capture features of the Rocketbook App, and you’ve got yourself a pretty powerful productivity and creativity tool. I have just been using mine as another surface in my house to write notes about packing our house for our upcoming move, but the uses for this product are endless. Think Board X is available for $14.99 in the small size, for $39.99 in the large size, and is also available in a small size 3-pack for $29.99 on the Think Board website.
Disclaimer: Think Board provided me with a small Think Board X for the purpose of this review.
