[jlark]

Originally Posted by enosder

I am disappointed by the Onyx Boox Max I just bought. It appears to not have undergone serious usability design or quality control.

My thoughts exactly, except I wouldn't put it this nice. Given its price it's a piece of crap, hardware- and software-wise, and whatever desirable features it has are overshadowed by backwards engineering.

Originally Posted by enosder

The single core processor runs from slow (PDF opening, navigation) to unbearably slow when it waits for all graphic rendering to occur instead of buffering (browser, email, on-screen keyboard).

While waiting for useless animations inherited from an unmodified android (e.g. advancing the cursor).

Originally Posted by enosder

Rendering quality is barely acceptable, with various aberrations due to menu ghosting and poor dithering algorithms.

Add to that braindead handling of full refreshes - that instead of waiting to cleanly and fully render, treat you to a nice render - flicker - flicker - render.

On a related note, reading it in the sun, where this device should shine (pardon the pun), is abominable. First, one needs to find the right position to not get blinded by the glare, and then try not to remember how much one paid to stare at the wimpy, greyish, badly antialiased text.

Originally Posted by enosder

The physical design is stupid: the power button protrudes from the bottom and is pressed when the device sits vertically.

The choice of buttons shows no consideration for usability. Since it is unusable without constantly reaching for the stylus due to missing navigation buttons (d'oh), the menu and back buttons are more of a nuisance, getting in the way of the prev/next buttons.

Ok, I'm being unfair, they do save a bit of gorilla arm, but the button placement is awful, unusable both in portrait and landscape mode. Pair this with the distasteful cheap plastic with no grip, and you've got a recipe for displeased customers.

And speaking of the stylus and buttons: reaching for the home button on the top-left side with the stylus... Ugh.

Originally Posted by enosder

Build quality is weak: after one trip in a backpack, the case of mine formed a big bump on the back and now it wobbles when resting on a flat surface.

I got the same bump on the back. Actually, mine also arrived slightly distorted on the front, above the USB plug, but I ignored it. It did travel with me for about a month in the backpack, but always in its protective cover, and always carefully placed against the laptop so it would never bend (with the laptop on the inside, against my back, and the wondrous device in the next "compartment", which keeps it neatly snugged against the laptop but without much pressure). Then one morning I took it out and it wouldn't start, and I noticed the bump. The previous day it spent a few hours in the trunk of the car, so I assumed it was the battery that inflated due to heat, although that didn't make much sense - it stayed there from ~ 3 PM to 6 PM, before the heat wave hit Europe. It only started up after I left it charge for a longer while (which is weird, it should've had enough power to last more, definitely not go *that* dead while sleeping, so something drained it real bad (no surprise there, given how crappy its sleep management is)).

Now it does work, although there seems to be some ghost "stylus presses" registered: I sometimes get random screen refreshes, and it did start an application on its own while the app launcher was open. I tried to watch it with adb and see what's going on, but I can't replicate it.

I've postponed sending it back for warranty, the thought of that is kinda nauseating given my experience with the device and the vendor so far. All in all, a sad experience.

The software could be improved, but that takes cooperation from Onyx, and so far that doesn't seem to be their intention. Which is again sad, because an e-ink android tablet that's easily hackable would attract developers. And then there's the hardware...

P.S.: and to add insult to injury: it phones home without user approval.