We use notebooks so often for school that we don’t often think of how they could be improved. For many, any old 75 cent notebook will do, but this year I tried a reusable notebook, the Rocketbook Everlast, and it has made my life so much easier.

Listed for $34 on the Rocketbook website, the most obvious feature of this notebook is that it has fewer than 40 pages. It seems like an exorbitant amount of money until you realize the pages erase with a swipe of a wet paper towel and can be endlessly reused as long as you write with an erasable Pilot FriXion pen. Although it seems weird to erase all your hard work, you can scan your notes and store them online before erasing. I found that the pages usually erased with ease, though occasionally there would be a slight smudge. The number of pages has not been a problem for me as I’ve always erased them before using up the entire notebook.

One surprise with the Everlast notebook is that the polyester pages are glossy and smooth instead of a paper-like texture. Also, a pack of seven erasable pens of assorted colors on Amazon costs about eight dollars. The ink can take a while to dry, so it took some time before I learned how to avoid smudging my writing. It would probably be unusable for left-handed writers.

Another unusual quality about the pages is that they have a dot grid instead of lines, which I find useful because I use the horizontal lines for taking normal notes and the grid for diagrams or tables.

The cover comes in black, white, red, light blue, and dark blue, and the notebook comes in a standard size (8.5in x 11 in) and an executive size (6 in x 8.8 in) with four extra pages.

All these features aside, a common concern is how to keep track of notes that are constantly being erased. The Everlast has an app which is used to scan your notes. From there, you can set up a system to automatically send them as a PDF to a Google Drive folder, Dropbox, or as a text to someone. You can even take multiple scans and make them into a GIF.

The app knows where to send your scanned notes by reading which one of seven symbols you’ve checked off at the bottom of the page such as an apple, rocket, or bell. For example, I have set up my notebook so that when I check off the apple, the scanned page is sent to my math folder on Google Docs.

By using the Rocketbook Everlast, I have been able to save a lot of space in my backpack by replacing four thick notebooks with one thin one. Also, it’s much lighter and saves paper. Most importantly for me, I won’t lose my notes anymore because they’re online instead of on paper that can easily rip out of my old tattered notebooks.

Overall, the Rocketbook Everlast’s pros outweigh the cons. If you want to digitize and organize your notes, this notebook is a great tool that can last for life.