Why a vault beats a notebook (or your browser)
A paper notebook is single-device, unsearchable, and a security disaster the moment it's lost. A browser-built-in manager (Chrome, Safari) is OK for casual use but lacks strong key derivation, cross-browser sync, and breach monitoring.
A dedicated encrypted vault gives you: cryptographic randomness for password generation, instant cross-device sync, breach monitoring against the HIBP database, and structured fields for non-password secrets (API keys, TOTP, cards). All while keeping the encryption guarantees that browsers don't quite reach.