MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Onyx Boox 60

Nate the great · 09-18-2009, 12:55 PM

The Boox was announced back in March at CeBit. MobileRead was the first to bring you information on this device, and now we're the first (well, second) to get our hands on it.

I've been wanting to see one of these babies since forever. It finally arrived today. I'm not a good photographer, so I won't be posting unboxing pictures. But that's not a big loss because a Chinese ebook site has already posted a review with several good pictures.

The pictures are here. A Goolge translated version of the site can be found here. I'd recommend that you have both open at the same time because the Google translation drops the pictures. MobRead also posted a copy of the English language user's manual in PDF.

I'm only going to post a few words because I want to get back to using it. The user manual has the technical specs and features. I'm using a pre-release version of the English language firmware, so i don't have all the features listed. For, example, I cannot sketch.

Formats

The listed formats include PDF, RTF TXT, HTML, PDB, CHM, Epub, and Mobi. Both Mobi and Epub work just fine and are quite readable. I'm pretty sure it's using FBReader to display Mobi. (I recognize the bugs.) I think it's using Adobe DE to display Epub. I can see those annoying page numbers on the side of the screen, and image links don't work (this is a common Adobe bug). Adobe is also listed on the About page. I just authorized the Boox under DE.

Part of the reason I'm not sure is that the user manual doesn't actually _say_ that the Boox has DE support. I tried to plug it in to the USB port to see if Adobe DE would notice it. The Boox is not recognize as a USB device by either of my computers. (I did mention that the firmware is pre-release, right? ) This was fixed.

screen refresh speed
I compared the Boox with the Cybook Opus after turning the full refresh off on both devices. The Boox is just barely slower than the Opus. The difference is so small that my eyes could be tricking me. I also noticed that both are displaying the same behavior with widows and orphans, which pretty much confirms that the Boox is using Adobe DE.

Touch screen & menu
It's a Wacom screen, so don't lose the stylus. All menu navigation is through the screen.

Readability
I can't answer this yet, but I do know that I'm going to set aside my Opus (even though the Boox is bigger and heavier) because the Boox has the one feature that the Opus desperately needs: a sleep mode.

Connectivity
I haven't tested the Wifi because my network is buggy. I will come back to this.

09-18-2009, 12:55 PM	#1
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	Onyx Boox 60 - first impressions The Boox was announced back in March at CeBit. MobileRead was the first to bring you information on this device, and now we're the first (well, second) to get our hands on it. I've been wanting to see one of these babies since forever. It finally arrived today. I'm not a good photographer, so I won't be posting unboxing pictures. But that's not a big loss because a Chinese ebook site has already posted a review with several good pictures. The pictures are here. A Goolge translated version of the site can be found here. I'd recommend that you have both open at the same time because the Google translation drops the pictures. MobRead also posted a copy of the English language user's manual in PDF. I'm only going to post a few words because I want to get back to using it. The user manual has the technical specs and features. I'm using a pre-release version of the English language firmware, so i don't have all the features listed. For, example, I cannot sketch. Formats The listed formats include PDF, RTF TXT, HTML, PDB, CHM, Epub, and Mobi. Both Mobi and Epub work just fine and are quite readable. I'm pretty sure it's using FBReader to display Mobi. (I recognize the bugs.) I think it's using Adobe DE to display Epub. I can see those annoying page numbers on the side of the screen, and image links don't work (this is a common Adobe bug). Adobe is also listed on the About page. I just authorized the Boox under DE. Part of the reason I'm not sure is that the user manual doesn't actually _say_ that the Boox has DE support. I tried to plug it in to the USB port to see if Adobe DE would notice it. The Boox is not recognize as a USB device by either of my computers. (I did mention that the firmware is pre-release, right? ) This was fixed. screen refresh speed I compared the Boox with the Cybook Opus after turning the full refresh off on both devices. The Boox is just barely slower than the Opus. The difference is so small that my eyes could be tricking me. I also noticed that both are displaying the same behavior with widows and orphans, which pretty much confirms that the Boox is using Adobe DE. Touch screen & menu It's a Wacom screen, so don't lose the stylus. All menu navigation is through the screen. Readability I can't answer this yet, but I do know that I'm going to set aside my Opus (even though the Boox is bigger and heavier) because the Boox has the one feature that the Opus desperately needs: a sleep mode. Connectivity I haven't tested the Wifi because my network is buggy. I will come back to this. Last edited by Nate the great; 09-23-2009 at 08:09 AM.