Onyx Boox Max vs. GoodEreader 13.3" (no name)

[Randy11]

Originally Posted by Jmirko

- I also don't mind the Netronix' smaller battery, as it contributes to the lighter weight (350g vs 530g). Whether I need to charge it daily or weekly doesn't make a difference for me (with Android you can forget about weeks on a charge if you actually use the device).

For me, the great interest in e-ink is the battery life. I never charge my M92 more than one time in a month, I use it ten hours by week. With the ebooks and e-ink I have the benefit to have all my books with me and to have the same freedom than with a paper book, I'm not looking every time for a plug to charge my smartphone or tablet.

The idea to have something good in everything is interesting but be careful, frequently the thing is not good at all. Sony has make a very good device with the DPS-T1. The reading experience seems very good. The errors was to accept only PDF files, a very high price (justified ?) and to not open the sell to everyone. I think that the price is not an absolute obstacle.

[Feher]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

A question for the Max. How is Kindle support? I seen one video and they kinda didn't have the buttons working for it (probably not using volume button to turn page enabled) and the transitions look horrible. Is that any better with the buttons?

I just installed Kindle app on my i86 to check how it will work. I hadn't installed it till now because i had assumed that the app has animations which will be problematic.

The page turn buttons are not working. I have to turn the pages with touch only. What do you mean by "(probably not using volume button to turn page enabled)"?
Is there some setting which can remap the keys?

Also, transitions are ok. I had assumed that they will be horrible which is the case with few other apps but they seem to be bearable. But i don't like the tiny dictionary at the bottom and the app is too limiting compared to my usual reading setup (I usually read in OReader with GoldenDict software for awesome dictionary support). I tested the Kindle app in fast refresh mode as well. To be able to use the app in fast refresh mode, i will have to change the default font to Charis Sil Modified to get better contrast

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Feher

I just installed Kindle app on my i86 to check how it will work. I hadn't installed it till now because i had assumed that the app has animations which will be problematic.

The page turn buttons are not working. I have to turn the pages with touch only. What do you mean by "(probably not using volume button to turn page enabled)"?
Is there some setting which can remap the keys?

Also, transitions are ok. I had assumed that they will be horrible which is the case with few other apps but they seem to be bearable. But i don't like the tiny dictionary at the bottom and the app is too limiting compared to my usual reading setup (I usually read in OReader with GoldenDict software for awesome dictionary support). I tested the Kindle app in fast refresh mode as well. To be able to use the app in fast refresh mode, i will have to change the default font to Charis Sil Modified to get better contrast

Ah, thank you for testing that. There is a setting in the Kindle app (from the main view) that enables page turning with volume keys. The video I seen would pop up some volume slider whenever he was pushing the buttons. Will also depend which Kindle app is installed - the phone app looks different than the tablet app. I remember an older version having no transition when using the volume keys, but the slow sliding when touching screen (not sure if that was on a tablet or phone). Now on my phone with kindle 4.21.0.65 it is the same sliding with tap screen and buttons - only swiping is even slower as it follows the speed of finger at first.

Appears there is no real bigger screen alternative to Amazon's eink devices yet when removing DRM is unfeasible (e.g. for library or KU books).

[xhacker]

@Booxtor

1. Competition is good for the consumer, as it will raise standards. You appear to be selling the best device (Onyx Boox Max) therefore you should not worry about the good e reader device. Of course if good e reader deliberately make false claims about the Onyx book Max we should all call them out in the comments section! If they are blocking people that is very disconcerting.

2. I agree, a warranty is highly desirable which is one of the reasons i will buy your device over the good e reader

3. I don't fully understand. I assumed both devices were running the same version of Android and would be be able to download and run the same apps?

4. is equivalent to 2.

The one area where good e reader is winning is publicity, they publish regular (albeit highly edited) videos, post comments, photos etc. In contrast so far, you have only released one video, please promote the Onyx Boox Max better. It is clearly the better device so you have the easier job.

[parachufla]

Hi,
I do use the kindle app (The tablet one) on a m96.
Enabling the "volume keys" option enables page turning using the joystick.

Page turning produces some letter havoc for a short lapse, but it is bearable.

I miss using left handed buttons for page turning. Any known trick to enable left handed buttons for page turning?

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Ah, thank you for testing that. There is a setting in the Kindle app (from the main view) that enables page turning with volume keys. The video I seen would pop up some volume slider whenever he was pushing the buttons. Will also depend which Kindle app is installed - the phone app looks different than the tablet app. I

[Booxtor]

Originally Posted by parachufla

Hi,
I do use the kindle app (The tablet one) on a m96.
Enabling the "volume keys" option enables page turning using the joystick.

Page turning produces some letter havoc for a short lapse, but it is bearable.

I miss using left handed buttons for page turning. Any known trick to enable left handed buttons for page turning?

It is quite easy. In the system bar on top you can see a +- <> icon. It changes the behaviour of page turn buttons on the left side:
<> regular mode
+- volume buttons mode
In some apps (like Kindle app) you can you so adjusted volume buttons mode for page turn functionality.

[Booxtor]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

A question for the Max. How is Kindle support? I seen one video and they kinda didn't have the buttons working for it (probably not using volume button to turn page enabled) and the transitions look horrible. Is that any better with the buttons?

Actually it works quite well with Kindle app on remapped "volume buttons".
For some reason I have rooted my sample Max and installed some apps from Google Play using market Helper app (pretending to be a Samsung S5 phone). I heard there are two versions of Kindle App - for tablets and for phones. I guess I probably have installed a phone version. I didn't like it at all especially in comparison to our own apps
Once I got my sample back I will try the Kindle app again, this time in tablet mode.

[DuckieTigger]

@Booxtor: Thanks for that. Of course most any app is better than the Android Kindle app. Except when it is necessary to leave DRM intact.

[deb2016]

Hello,

I would like to purchase one of these 13" ereader.

My main interest it the possibility to hand-write notes as if on paper, that is to say to take note when attending courses and also to annotate articles (mostly pdf files).

Do you think it is possible with any of these 13" ereaders ? It mainly depends on the screen sensitivity type, the provided pen and how well the screen understands pressure levels.

As far as I looked into their specifications, the onyx boox advantages are : bluetooth + audio, greater ram and storage, very soon disponibility, a better warranty and supposedly a better after sale service.

The good ereader advantages are that its screen allows both fingers touch and pen ones so that its daily use should be more intuitive, it is also more open source.

I think the prices are about the same when you add the eventual taxes and shipping cost. Also, the onyx boox's battery is larger, but bluetooth and audio makes a greater consumption than the goodereader's one, so I think that is why, despite on the battery capacity difference, both ereaders provide approximately the same battery life.

The goodrereader seems closer to my needs. But there are a few points that tends to make me prudent :
- it depends on the indiegogo campaign, nevertheless it seems presently fulfilled;
- it is not a real company, so what if it there are damages ? how to claim the warranty ?
- in such project, it would be surprising there is no delay, I do not want to wait until another company releases a similar product, with better specs and price !!
- how will be the software support in the future ? sometimes, when the project is open source, a "good will" handles upgrades and provides generously to others, but it seems wise to not bet to much on this.

The onyx boox advantages are not key arguments for me as I do not buy such an ereader to hear music or to plug a bluetooth device into it. Of course, it would be better if the goodereader had more memory and storage, but both provide the possibility to add a 32GB sd card, which is enough for my needs.

I favour more the screen quality and abilities, the goodereader ability to accept finger touch seems to me really nice, but I do not know if it is enough to support the drawbacks I mentioned before.

Finally, which ereader would you advice me to go with ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards.

[joblack]

Since today I have the Max.

Annotations work fine. Both for scribbling and texts in PDF files. Booxtor demonstrated the functionality in a Youtube video.

It really depends on the Android App you have installed. The included apps are working for me so I haven't tried any others.

I have bought several e-ink devices from Booxtors store before so maybe I am a little bit biased by the good customer service.

The other 13.3 inch e-book reader looks IMHO a little bit shady. At least the device isn't available yet and I doubt it will really hit the market in summer.

I don't think somebody really needs the finger touch function but if cannot live without it that would be a showstopper. Despite that I have used my Onyx M96 with the stylus pen and it was 'cool' and 'good' enough.

Taken all together I still recommend the Onyx Boox Max.

[fozzedout]

Originally Posted by joblack

Annotations work fine. Both for scribbling and texts in PDF files.

I have an M96, and with the fat stylus, I found the point of the pen to be off from where the nib is - and my only solution was to pull out the nib part to gain any resemblance of accuracy.

Does this suffer from the same problem?

Also, is it a true touch sensitive (pen has to make contact to register) or does it also register if it's floating above the surface?

[oranges]

i preordered the onyx boox max today and cancelled my good ereader backing a couple days ago. here are the main reasons (taken from my comment i posted on digital ereader's blog):

— promo videos seem staged: i like the 13.3 good ereader on paper but they don’t post any unedited videos — all their current videos are with the content preloaded, as if they are hiding performance issues.

some users have asked for unedit videos shot from the camera of a phone, which seems effortless, but they are avoiding it till the campaign closes it seems like

— moving campaign goals: originally the campaign said if they hit 60 units, they would ship it out by summer. now they will ship it out by summer once they reach 150k USD (almost +90 units). http://i.imgur.com/7vYyTHX.png?1

— 512 MB ram seems iffy for android, but they could easily eliminate any doubts about the performance with UNEDITED videos. the fact that they purposely don’t post any videos to reassure their backers performance isn’t an issue makes me believe there really are problems. going with the onyx boox max 1gb is a bit more safe

the main pros going for the good ereader are the weight and touch screen — this was my main reason to buy it over the onyx boox max, but in the end it wasn’t worth risking my cash with these guys after seeing the way they are handling their campaign, it makes their backers question what is going on.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by oranges

— promo videos seem staged: i like the 13.3 good ereader on paper but they don’t post any unedited videos — all their current videos are with the content preloaded, as if they are hiding performance issues.

some users have asked for unedit videos shot from the camera of a phone, which seems effortless, but they are avoiding it till the campaign closes it seems like

As I would dearly like to get such a device, I have been following this campaign quite closely. Have to agree with you on this. Initially, their videos seemed promising. Then, the questions started and the videos stopped. They have promised more videos and invited more questions, but in the last month have only produced a 48 second video which revealed nothing new.

They have certainly been uploading videos critiquing other ereaders during this time. Why not their own? Kinda makes you think that they are trying to hide a very underwhelming performance.

— moving campaign goals: originally the campaign said if they hit 60 units, they would ship it out by summer. now they will ship it out by summer once they reach 150k USD (almost +90 units). http://i.imgur.com/7vYyTHX.png?1

In all fairness to them, they said that if they reached 60 units, they would ship them out by "the end of the summer". Technically, that would be by September 22nd, the autumnal equinox.

Their stretch goal says that if they reach 150 units, they will ship them out by summer which would seem to imply that they would be shipping out by June 20th, the summer solstice. Not sure that they will make that target. It will be close, judging by the current rate of interest shown in their campaign.

Whether they could fulfill that promise if they were to reach that goal is another question altogether. I have considerable doubts about that which were further compounded by a recent post on their Indiegogo page by one of the campaigners.

— 512 MB ram seems iffy for android, but they could easily eliminate any doubts about the performance with UNEDITED videos. the fact that they purposely don’t post any videos to reassure their backers performance isn’t an issue makes me believe there really are problems.

Just 512 MB of RAM and only 4GB of internal storage some of which will be eaten up by the OS. Not impressive specs. How many apps would one be able to install with specs like that if one cannot install the apps to the micro sd card? Not very many, I wouldn't think.

As much as I would like such a device, I think I can wait. My money is too hard come by to chance it like that.

[deb2016]

Hello,

Thanks for your answeers.

the main pros going for the good ereader are the weight and touch screen — this was my main reason to buy it over the onyx boox max, but in the end it wasn’t worth risking my cash with these guys after seeing the way they are handling their campaign, it makes their backers question what is going on.

This is quite close to my point of view : a 13" ereader with finger touchscreen and the ability to write with a pen is what I am looking for : to manipulate the screen with fingers and pens is the closest experience to paper handling. I am not so bothered that some applications or opening huge pdf are a bit slow, as long as the hand writing / note taking / pdf annotating remains a nice experience.

Regarding the good ereader indiegogo campaign, I heard several voices on other threads of this forum expressing their doubts on either the hardware promises (512 RAM, 4GB storage, navigation fluidity, ...) or on the campaign solemnity, its delays and after sale service (as for their goals, it seems achieved).

So I really have mixed feelings, on the one hand the Onyx Boox Max lacks just what I desire most, on the other hand going with the good ereader is like making a great bet. I would love to think that everything will go well : delivery on time, hardware keeps its promise and no necessity to call the after sale service.

With the Onyx boox max, is it really impossible to interact with the screen with fingers ? at least to select applications (as on smartphones) or to turn pages ?

[deb2016]

Hello,

I come again to you to ask you if you know other ereaders with dual touch (both fingers and pen) ?

At least the onyx boox 9.7" seems to perform that.

Indeed, it seems to me for now wiser to target a smaller, also cheaper, ereader which meets all my requirements, than to go with 13" ereaders which are expensive for the moment and not yet full featured.