Looking to make an Android eInk tablet...

[wardamnjake]

In the Professional opinion of anyone who's running Android on an eReader, which reader will give the best ANDROID experience? (first post here, be nice!)

My uses would be: RSS, PDF, Opera Mini (rarely), Dropbox, maybe sudoku or crosswords, calculator (and hopefully that battery widget I saw on YouTube!). I'd love Pocket or Instapaper, but am fine with a feed wrangler app. And of course eReader apps (never owned an eReader, so no idea which one on this).

I've used my mom's kindles since she got the first one and have wanted something for my RSS and saved articles for a few years now; finally ready to take the plunge! I get a lot of PDFs in school (less important, PDFs would be luxury, although I've looked into PDF to ePUB convertors as an option?) and have a few ebooks on my hard drive, but I'm most interested in my internet content (and hopefully for offline viewing as well?)

For the sake of running Android in full, I am under the impression the Nook roots work best. If this is wrong, let me know and I'll start researching other devices! Otherwise, based on what I've read, I'm thinking the nook Simple Touch, Simple Touch w/ Glowlight, or the Glowlight? I'm looking for optimal Android performance. The light would be nice, because other than at school I do most reading in bed, willing to sacrifice is Simple Touch root runs smoother. No microSD on Glowlight is unappealing...

Thanks for any help! Let me know what you guys think!

[davidfor]

A little searching here will find several e-ink devices that run Android. Effectively, they are e-ink Android tablets. The brand to look for is Onyx.

A little more searching would have found a thread or two about running Android on most of the Kobo ereaders. This is simple. Open the device, remove the micro SD card and write an image to it. Put everything back together.

I can't comment on how well either of the above work as I haven't seen the former and have little interest in the latter. You might want to do the searches and read the discussions on each of the options.

And as you are interested in Pocket, the Kobo ereaders include Pocket functionality. It works quite well if you are adding articles to pocket while browsing elsewhere. They do a good job displaying PDF, but the screen size make this not so good. You can zoom in, but navigation is clumsy.

[wardamnjake]

I should have been more clear, that was a terrible way to start a thread, and a horrible first post in the forum! After reading iffy reviews of Android based readers, as well as considering the attractive price point of old hardware I think rooting a nook is my best bet. NewsRob and Instafetch should meet my two biggest needs. Please, if I'm wrong, or yall have a better suggestion, please let me know!

Now, just need to decide on which one. I'd like the backlight, but I'm most interested in optimal performance. Does the root work better on any one device?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by wardamnjake

I should have been more clear, that was a terrible way to start a thread, and a horrible first post in the forum! After reading iffy reviews of Android based readers, as well as considering the attractive price point of old hardware I think rooting a nook is my best bet. NewsRob and Instafetch should meet my two biggest needs. Please, if I'm wrong, or yall have a better suggestion, please let me know!

Now, just need to decide on which one. I'd like the backlight, but I'm most interested in optimal performance. Does the root work better on any one device?

I'm not sure about rooting the Nook--I believe that they are limited to older versions of Android, which will limit your options for apps. I have an OnyxT68, and it functions ok as a reader using Calibre companion and a few reader apps. I've never used it for web browsing, mostly because I really dislike web browsing on a small screen--I generally don't do it on my phone, either, or on my Kindle Fire. The touch screen on the T68 isn't the best, but it is better than the one on my Kobo Aura HD. What are the "iffy reviews" that you're seeing?

Shari

[cybmole]

Davidfor: does that "simple" Kobo thing void the guarantee though. And surely safer to not overwrite the original sd but to use a replacement, then it is all reversible?

[wardamnjake]

From what I've read and watched, the Android roots on the Kobo seemed more glitchy and unstable than everything I saw about the Nooks. I'm not a fan of eReaders that have to be used with a stylus, but then again I've never even owned my own eReader. I looked at Onyx Boox and some other others that come running android, but the price is the only deferent with those. They're product line is vast though, and my research was limited, so if one of their lower end models fits my needs I'd be interested in exploring then!

While I planned to run Opera with the page reload tweak for smoother scrolling, browsing wouldn't be the main function. I guess my title is a little misleading referring to it as a tablet. I don't own a tablet, so the ability to use it as such would be nice.

To clarify, I am still looking for a mobile reading solution outside of my iPhone. I work with lots of PDFs for school, and have researched ways to optimize them and/or convert them over to EPUB or the likes with Calibre and other tools. I also have a library of reference material and books as PDFs (that I also would convert) I'd like to be able to carry with me. So reader app or two(I'd like to start buying reference material as ebooks in the future) , an RSS wrangler (RSSRob?), and read it later functionality (Instafetch?) are what I'm really after. The ability to download apps to control CPU usage and what not is also appealing with the android root

forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1933615

[wardamnjake]

It seems like the T68 is exactly what I'm looking for. The price point is a little out of my league tho. With a Nook Touch or TwGL, I have the option of buying cheap hardware and coaxing functionality out of it (also nice to have the SD expansion ability readily available). It also seems near impossible to ins any Onyx Boox for sale any where! Regardless, sub-mid $100 range is what I'm after. Old Android and old apps is not an issue if the functionality is there!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by cybmole

Davidfor: does that "simple" Kobo thing void the guarantee though. And surely safer to not overwrite the original sd but to use a replacement, then it is all reversible?

You open the device, so yes it probably voids any warranty. And using a separate card makes sense.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by wardamnjake

Regardless, sub-mid $100 range is what I'm after. Old Android and old apps is not an issue if the functionality is there!

Keep in mind you get what you pay for.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You open the device, so yes it probably voids any warranty. And using a separate card makes sense.

probably best done with a cheap old ebay one then, which anyway fits the OPs price criteria

at the risk of getting flames for "not reading the question", I still don't really get the need for full android.
surely much of OPs wish list can be done with a kindle PW or an off-the-shelf Kobo HD if combined with calibre to automate the news feeds to it.
both of those have reasonable PDF zoom etc capabilities, and do notes, annotations, collections..., and have basic (crap) web browser.
( any e-ink web browser is going to be unpleasantly slow & lacking in features)

[shalym]

Originally Posted by cybmole

probably best done with a cheap old ebay one then, which anyway fits the OPs price criteria

at the risk of getting flames for "not reading the question", I still don't really get the need for full android.
surely much of OPs wish list can be done with a kindle PW or an off-the-shelf Kobo HD if combined with calibre to automate the news feeds to it.
both of those have reasonable PDF zoom etc capabilities, and do notes, annotations, collections..., and have basic (crap) web browser.
( any e-ink web browser is going to be unpleasantly slow & lacking in features)

There is no "need" for full Android, but it is what the OP asked for. I agree with you about the quality of the browser, but I wasn't aware that there was a calculator, crossword app, and soduko app built into (or available for) the Kindle PW or Kobo HD.

Also, there is one thing that I use my Onyx for that I can't (easily) do with either my Kindle or my Kobo, and that is email.

Shari

[cybmole]

my kobo aura hd has built in Sudoku, but the app store ones are much better. dunno what the latest kindles have...
Anything with a browser shoudl be able to do webmail, to some extent, and same goes for crosswords, calculator
e.g. if i put "online calculator" into google it finds lots - but whether they need flash or other add-ons...

[shalym]

Originally Posted by cybmole

my kobo aura hd has built in Sudoku, but the app store ones are much better. dunno what the latest kindles have...
Anything with a browser shoudl be able to do webmail, to some extent, and same goes for crosswords, calculator
e.g. if i put "online calculator" into google it finds lots - but whether they need flash or other add-ons...

As you say, though, the browser on most e-ink devices is, to put it mildly, inadequate. I prefer being able to install an email app and view it that way--for my usage it works much better. I can't imaging using my Kindle or Kobo for email unless it was the most dire of emergencies.

Shari

[eschwartz]

Well, there are Kindle hacks for calculators, and I am pretty sure sudoku and crosswords as well.

It isn't hard -- you just need to cross-compile existing linux applications.
Kobos probably have all that too.


Personlly I see no problem doing math directly in a bash shell.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Well, there are Kindle hacks for calculators, and I am pretty sure sudoku and crosswords as well.

It isn't hard -- you just need to cross-compile existing linux applications.
Kobos probably have all that too.


Personlly I see no problem doing math directly in a bash shell.

Do the Kindle hacks work on the newer Kindles? The nice thing about the Onyx is that you don't have to do any hacks--you just go to the app store and download whatever you need.

Shari