myNotebook: Carbon, Pearl and Tan Review - Screenshot 1 of 2

The popular myNotebook in Red, Green or Blue is a cheap and useful application that gives DSi owners another reason to carry the machine wherever they go. So how does the new myNotebook: Carbon, Pearl and Tan – reviewed here in Carbon – improve on the original?

While the original versions had 32 pages, the new version has 128. There is a new blank page type for users who want to draw and not have lines or squares behind their images; a clock; and a battery meter. You can also unlock three new lined and squared paper themes, bringing the total to 12 of each. The most notable new feature is the ability to export each page to the DSi photo album and subsequently to an SD card.

Other than the additional content, myNotebook: Carbon, Pearl and Tan are essentially the same as the previous versions. You still hold the DSi sideways like a book, and use the Up/Down or Y/A buttons to flip pages until the one you want is on the touchscreen. You can write with thin or thick lines and on lined, blank or grid paper, and erase things manually or by choosing to clear an entire page. Owning other Nnooo products unlocks additional paper styles instantly, but even if you don't own another of their games, you can unlock them by simply using the notebook often.

The new exporting feature defines this new version, so owners of the previous versions must ask themselves: is having your writing or drawings set free from the DSi worth another 500 Points? Exporting your work is simple, with one slight drawback: if you are writing on lined paper, when you export the page it will be flipped on to its side, making uploading it directly to Facebook somewhat awkward. This can be easily fixed with any image editing software on your computer if you're exporting to an SD card, but the DSi itself has no feature to rotate images back to how you you originally intended.

myNotebook: Carbon, Pearl and Tan Review - Screenshot 2 of 2

As before, myNotebook is being released three times, as myNotebook: Carbon, myNotebook: Pearl and myNotebook: Tan. Each version is exactly the same, so you may want to wait until your favourite colour is released. With 128 pages available to write and draw on, you'll likely only need one colour of the improved virtual notebook.

Conclusion

If you found some uses for the first myNotebook, or passed altogether the first time around, picking up this new version is a safe bet. It's a nice app that should've been included with the DSi in the first place. You get four times the amount of pages for just over twice the price of the orginal, so bargain hunters should steer clear of the original versions now that the new version is available.