MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Onyx Boox M96 vs Sony Digital Paper (with video links)

machinogodzilla · 06-14-2016, 06:15 AM

Hi Inktelligent :-)

Excellent review, very thorough and thought out. I found a couple of issues, though, listed near the bottom. Can we expect a follow-up review with Onyx Max vs Sony?

Your M96 have this stylish silver edge around the bezel, looks like Onyx did a face-lift on this model, quietly so as not upset people like me

That preview option in Sony is very good, I want!

The contrast slider in M96 you don't really have to slide, I could see you were struggling to grab the edge of it, tapping anywhere within the slider box is enough.

Your demo clearly shows that the menu layout of Sony is superior to that of Onyx. Especially frequently accessed features like the zoom options which in Onyx (any device) are buried deep inside the menu. Also I think it's a good idea they use the long edge of the Sony reader for the icons.

The trick to precise highlighting is, once you've 'grabbed' the start or end marker, to imagine there is no marker and focus on the tip of the stylus instead, which you drag to the base of the letter you want the highlighting to end (or start) at. In the case of your video the tip of the pen should last touch the bottom right of the 'y' letter. I have no problem with highlighting text as small as a typical newspaper size.

Another great idea in Sony's software is to allow hand writing annotations in addition to typing, Onyx should have that too. Can you browse all of your annotations on the Sony? This is kind of possible in Onyx, but again very tedious (same goes for the bookmarks). You have to do Menu -> Notes -> Annotation (or Bookmark) for every item.

The quick erase function in Onyx is great but dangerous at the same time. Positioned next to 'line erase' it takes very little to tap on the wrong option and... doh! All the scribbles gone, no "Are you sure?" dialog box or anything.

That M96 does not support tables of contents in PDF files is not correct. While you cannot tap on the TOC links in the document, you can go to Menu -> Notes -> TOC and access it from there. You can therefore access it from anywhere in the document.

That you have to use 'Search' for going to a particular page is also incorrect. You just tap on the 12/123 style page indicator in the bottom left corner. You may have the status bar disabled, in which case go to Menu -> More -> Settings -> System -> Enable Reader Status Bar. 'Search' is for searching

Finally, regarding the 'General Thoughts' at the end of the video, you implied that M96 was unreliable. Can you expand on that, please?

06-14-2016, 06:15 AM	#2
machinogodzilla Addict Posts: 208 Karma: 176052 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: PBook 902† Kindle† Nook SimpleTouch† Onyx M92† i86† M96 N96ML NotePro	Hi Inktelligent :-) Excellent review, very thorough and thought out. I found a couple of issues, though, listed near the bottom. Can we expect a follow-up review with Onyx Max vs Sony? Your M96 have this stylish silver edge around the bezel, looks like Onyx did a face-lift on this model, quietly so as not upset people like me That preview option in Sony is very good, I want! The contrast slider in M96 you don't really have to slide, I could see you were struggling to grab the edge of it, tapping anywhere within the slider box is enough. Your demo clearly shows that the menu layout of Sony is superior to that of Onyx. Especially frequently accessed features like the zoom options which in Onyx (any device) are buried deep inside the menu. Also I think it's a good idea they use the long edge of the Sony reader for the icons. The trick to precise highlighting is, once you've 'grabbed' the start or end marker, to imagine there is no marker and focus on the tip of the stylus instead, which you drag to the base of the letter you want the highlighting to end (or start) at. In the case of your video the tip of the pen should last touch the bottom right of the 'y' letter. I have no problem with highlighting text as small as a typical newspaper size. Another great idea in Sony's software is to allow hand writing annotations in addition to typing, Onyx should have that too. Can you browse all of your annotations on the Sony? This is kind of possible in Onyx, but again very tedious (same goes for the bookmarks). You have to do Menu -> Notes -> Annotation (or Bookmark) for every item. The quick erase function in Onyx is great but dangerous at the same time. Positioned next to 'line erase' it takes very little to tap on the wrong option and... doh! All the scribbles gone, no "Are you sure?" dialog box or anything. That M96 does not support tables of contents in PDF files is not correct. While you cannot tap on the TOC links in the document, you can go to Menu -> Notes -> TOC and access it from there. You can therefore access it from anywhere in the document. That you have to use 'Search' for going to a particular page is also incorrect. You just tap on the 12/123 style page indicator in the bottom left corner. You may have the status bar disabled, in which case go to Menu -> More -> Settings -> System -> Enable Reader Status Bar. 'Search' is for searching Finally, regarding the 'General Thoughts' at the end of the video, you implied that M96 was unreliable. Can you expand on that, please?