Onyx Boox i86

[parkher]

Originally Posted by AdmiralAnimE

I'm considering this reader, Inkpad 840 and Aura H2O, it will be my first and I intend to read epub, pdf and manga. Also, is the difference in the screen technology noticeable (pearl, carta)? I can't see the devices in person... mostly kindles here...

Yes, the difference between Pearl and Carta is noticeable.
I have Aura HD (Pearl) and my sister has Aura H2O (Carta).
Carta looks cleaner and whiter. Contrast is better. Perhaps not better by 50% as they claim, but still. And the white background is warmer (less bluish), I like it. The difference perhaps is more noticeable when it is darker in the room. When the light is very strong, the difference is less noticeable when both become whiter.

[parkher]

Originally Posted by poppe

Hi parkher.
I downloaded and have tried the coolreader -eink you mentioned as first choice. I find it works beautifully. The page turns buttons work but are the reverse order of normal. You can use the page turn buttons as volume keys and then they work as normal. When used as volume the long press forward to refresh the page does not work. So I would just use the normal setting as page turn button and press the other one when wanting to navigate forward or backwards.
I tried to change the font and bold the font. It worked.
I could navigate through the menus with the page forward/backward buttons (I think you asked about that) sometimes.
To open a book in the file browser worked.
I did not find any resent books option.
There are some shortcomings though:
The i86 is equipt with a 3,5mm female earphone jack so you can connect it to earphones and listen to text-to-speech (tts). For some reason jotas version is stripped of this feature.
The "more" submenue in jotas version is stripped of quite a lot of different subheadings.
apart from tts it misses:
toggle text auto format
open previous book
Toggle automatic page flipping

If you want to know more tell me so.

As to the page turn buttons, it should be possible to re-assign them in the settings of CoolReader as well (I am using swapped next/previous buttons on T2)

Recent books - I use it all the time, my favorite way to open also new books, not only recent ones. And yet, I too cannot find such an option
I have it mapped to a hardware button as a double press (T2 has 5 buttons).
It is also possible to assign it to a tap zone - probably it is the only way to use it if there are not enough buttons.
In the CoolReader settings you can configure 9 tap zones, 2 actions for each tap zone. The secondary action for each tap zone can be set globally either to long tap or double tap so that the opposite tap can be configured for something else, for example, to pass a word to a dictionary.

Toggle text auto format? I am frequently using toggling between the internal book formatting and CoolReader formatting. There is a check box in settings (Enable document internal styles), but I have it mapped to a button as well. I might have it on a tap zone on a device with not enough buttons.

Jotas version does not have many in my view unnecessary features. It is an advantage to me, especially on a 6" reader.

1) - it better supports buttons (at least, the 5 buttons of T2) and better supports e-ink (although I have not tested the latest builds of the official version).

2) - it better supports landscape orientation (important to me on 6", but not on 6.8" or 8" obviously)
For example, from the recent list I can get faster (with a single long tap) to the additional actions and the actions I need are at once visible at the bottom while in the official version they are at the top and not even visible, and you have to scroll down (buttons do not work!). So you need to scroll down (on e-ink!!) only then you see the actions. In portrait mode they might be available at once, though, and on 8" landscape mode is not needed.
Likewise some other things in various settings were tailored to better support landscape. Also the status bar can be configured to have a continuous thin line instead of unnecessary progress indicator, etc.
But I have not tested newest official builds - they were going in the wrong direction when I stopped using them - adding more and more bells and whistles for phones...

BTW, can you see the (books on the) external card with the built-in file manager of CoolReader?

[psychowood]

Originally Posted by parkher

Yes, the difference between Pearl and Carta is noticeable.
I have Aura HD (Pearl) and my sister has Aura H2O (Carta).
Carta looks cleaner and whiter. Contrast is better. Perhaps not better by 50% as they claim, but still. And the white background is warmer (less bluish), I like it. The difference perhaps is more noticeable when it is darker in the room. When the light is very strong, the difference is less noticeable when both become whiter.

Keep in mind that Aura HD and H2O have a different resolution (1014x758 vs 1430 x 1080), too, so it's not just something related to e-ink technology.

[medwatt]

I got my mum a kindle paperwhite 3 and I decided to see how the front light of the KW3 compares with that of the i86. Before you look at the attached images, please note that both images where taken from my smart phone camera in automatic mode. I don't think the phone's camera accurately reflects the way both devices look in reality. For instance, KW3' front light has a yellowish tinge while the i86' has a bluish/whitish tinge. The KW3' front light is more evenly distributed. The i86' front light is relatively brighter towards the lower/bottom edge (which is much more pronounced in the image than in reality). Overall, I'd say the KW3' has the better front light because I prefer warmer colors to cooler colors. Also, for some reason which I cannot explain, the KW3 looked 'friendlier'.

[Raiden]

So is the HDML Plus the same machine as the ML Plus? I got my i86ML Plus from a random eBay seller who I assume got it in China . . . what would happen if I tried to install Android 4.4 using the download from ereader-store.de?

[medwatt]

Here are comparisons in the contrast levels of the i86, the sony prs-t1 and the kindle paperwhite 2015.

Even though it might not be apparent in the pictures, text on the t1 looks slightly blacker than text on the i86.

In terms of the whiteness of the background it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to tell the difference. As soon as you turn off the LEDs, it requires some close inspection to tell which of the devices has the whitest background. On the three, the background of the paperwhite is a hair whiter than the backgrounds of the i86 and the t1.

[John F]

Originally Posted by psychowood

Keep in mind that Aura HD and H2O have a different resolution (1014x758 vs 1430 x 1080), too, so it's not just something related to e-ink technology.

I think you are mixing up the Aura resolution with the Aura HD resolution.

[mdp]

Hello,
for those interested in alternative versions of FBReader, which can be installed alongside the custom one from Onyx (which unfortunately retains the package name of the original - so you cannot install the latter as it is), and with reference with my relevant former posts:
I just created new .apk files from the latest versions of FBReader today. Unfortunately, while they seem to work flawlessly on the emulator, they do not seem to work properly on the i86.

So, to just give the ability to install FBReader, please find here an /old/ version, which I modified long ago (I suppose for the T68), and which works 99.9% - meaning, the only possible error here is for me to upload the wrong file. I have been using this for (somehow) years. The .apk is zipped just to have it accepted by the uploader.

Following, I will post the files which do not work, in case somebody else manages to solve the interface issue they show.

[mdp]

(following previous post)
The modified FBReader .apk - latest versions downloaded today - were obtained as follows:
-- renamed the package name in the Manifest (to enable installation)
-- changed the app name in /res/values/strings.xml (to make the new version in the User Interface recognizable)
-- modified the equivalent /org/geometerplus/fbreader/fbreader/FBView.java to enable two-columns view also in portrait mode
-- in case of the 3.x/4.x/5.x version, modified /res/values-v23/styles.xml to prevent two errors that apktool would show in rebuilding the package

Unfortunately, once installed on the i86, the applications - while being responsive to touch, showing menu, toolbars etc. - do not display anything in the main area. White on white, black on black.

I first tried with the latest FBReader 2.6, for Android 3.x/4.x/5.x . Since this did not work, I tried for the version for 2.x - but the visual glitch persists. If anybody has an idea why this happens, I am curious. Anyway, in the former post I attached an old version which should certainly work. I will attach here the versions obtained today, which DO NOT work.

[timofonic]

What do you think of KOreader? It uses crengine, but it uses LUA and has lots more stufft

https://github.com/koreader/koreader

[nivieru]

There's a new software update at the ereader-store website, from december 29

[Cereal]

Originally Posted by nivieru

There's a new software update at the ereader-store website, from december 29

So there is. Has anybody given it a try yet? If so, are there any problems with it? I'd also be curious about what the new launcher design is like.

[medwatt]

Originally Posted by Cereal

So there is. Has anybody given it a try yet? If so, are there any problems with it? I'd also be curious about what the new launcher design is like.

The only thing I noticed is a new icon set.

[poppe]

Originally Posted by parkher

BTW, can you see the (books on the) external card with the built-in file manager of CoolReader?

I don't have a external card so I can't help you with that,

/Poppe

[smayonak]

Originally Posted by parkher

BTW, can you see the (books on the) external card with the built-in file manager of CoolReader?

I can. It's located in Menu --> Go To

And then you have to manually select the document from the extSD directory.