|
I posted on the Boyue T80 thread about my solution.
The Boyue T80 Likebook Plus (same as Icarus Illumina HD) works with a bluetooth keyboard. In fact, I've paired it with a logitech k380, a generic aluminum folding keyboard I-Clever, and the Brydge Mini. Pairing is a little quirky. I find that I have to unpair all devices before I add a new one.
The Boyue runs Android 4.22, so it runs Google Drive, but not Google Docs (there appears to be a workaround, but I haven't figured out how to load the older version of Docs yet)
When I write on the Boyue/Icarus, I use Jotter Pad which synchs to Google Drive, but you're limited to txt. files on the Boyue. Kingsoft Office works on the Boyue, but I find synching with Kingsoft Office kind of frustrating (it creates a new local file instead of saving directly to the cloud). I go back and forth from Calmly Writer on my Chromebook. There are some formatting issues with .txt files. I do final on Google Docs or LIbre Office, bur going back and forth from formatted rtf docx or Google Doc to txt has some hazards.
One warning, writing seems to use a fair amount of battery on an e-reader. E-ink's battery life comes from the fact that it takes little to no power to maintain a static screen. That's great if youre reading a full page of text. If you're writing, the screen is rewriting constantly and you're running bluetooth. If you synch a lot (something I do), you're using wi-fi quite a bit.
E-ink on a 300 dpi screen tends to do screenwrites a bit slowly. It's tolerable, but there's a slight delay and it's easy to type too fast for the screen. The Alphasmart is much quicker and my guess is that it's due to lower resolution and having dedicated software o/s for it. I don't like it as a primary indoor word processor, but it's fine for outdoor or ad hoc use. I've noticed that the dedicated e-ink writing devices both use lower res screens and are on proprietary operating systems. I suspect that's no accident. btw, I use a screen rotate program to put it in landscape. There is something less distracting about an e-ink screen.
The Brydge Keyboard was built for the Ipad Mini 4, but it makes a really interesting match for the Boyue, because it's hinged and backlit. Not only can you write outdoors in sunlight. You can use it outdoors at night :} The excellent but smaller keyboard kind of slows down my typing just enough.
|