Onyx Boox M96

[por]

Hi all,

I got my unit today and wanted to share some first impressions. I will also ask Booxtore some questions here so that they can be answered for everyone.

My first impression is that the device shows some great potential but the software at the moment is far from perfect. For example, in theory, annotation on the M96 should be at least as fast as on the M92 (when in A2 mode (only pure black and white image but fast refresh)), however, this is at present not so. Currently, in most programs where you can scribble the lines seem to appear slightly slower than on the M92, if you are in A2 mode and much slower in normal mode. Booxtor told me they are currently working on a special PDF-reader for the M96 that should solve this issue.

@outremer: Yes, you can scroll with no flickering in the browser in A2 mode .

Booxtor, I am not able to find a way to rotate the screen so that it applies for all apps and menus. I could only find such an option in the PDF reader. Is there such an option somewhere?

I am also not able to switch between tasks (clicking the battery (upper left corner) sometimes shows a task but most of the time doesn't). I know that the tasks are still running (in the background) since if I start an the app it continues immediately from where I left it.

[Read&Write]

An interesting bench mark of the screen's refresh rate would be an app like Word Feud or navigational apps. Do those have any chance of working on the m96? In that case, I might consider ditching my M92 in favor of the new device.

[fgdas]

Could someone try to test bluetooth keyboard with M96.

My intention is to use it with PDF reader for hands free wireless page turning.
Down, up or left and right keys.

Thank you!

[2holdon]

Originally Posted by sao

Thanks for the kind offer!

Hardware questions:
(1) How much free storage is available? (go to setting->storage)
Internal Storage
Total Space 496 MB
Apps 56.17 MB
Available 378 MB
Internal Storage
Total Space 2.27 GB
Apps 109 MB
Downloads 1.38 MB
Available 2.15 GB

Downloaded some pdfs and installed Dropbox.

(2) Does M96 support USB OTG? (i.e. can M96 read a flash driver connected to the usb port? -- to test this you would need a OTG cable)
Sorry, not OTG cable at hand.

Software questions:
(1) Does M96 have access to the google play store?
Yes. I already installed Dropox without any problem.
Android version is 4.0.4

(2) Suppose it does; can you install the app "lecturenotes (trial version)" and see how well it works -- uploading pdf's (speed?), writing (lag? smooth?), saving (speed? format?)
For sample pdfs could you try a random paper from e.g. http://arxiv.org
/list/hep-ex/recent ?
This is all very subjective.
I am having trouble getting a good readable handwriting going. At a decent writing speed I am experiencing a one letter lag.
I downloaded the first pdf of the site you mentioned (the one where they -like thousand people- are looking for a dark photon). While I am able to fit the whole page on the screen, I feel that the resolution gets to its limit. I may upload an actual image to illustrate that.
(3) Is the M96 rooted? You can check this by running the free app "Root Checker".
"Sorry. This device does not have proper root access."
THANKS!

All answers are in the quote above.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by por

My first impression is that the device shows some great potential but the software at the moment is far from perfect.

I am not able to find a way to rotate the screen so that it applies for all apps and menus. I could only find such an option in the PDF reader. Is there such an option somewhere?

I am also not able to switch between tasks (clicking the battery (upper left corner) sometimes shows a task but most of the time doesn't). I know that the tasks are still running (in the background) since if I start an the app it continues immediately from where I left it.

The device is open Android. Isn't the point that you can install 3rd-party apps to achieve things like screen rotate?

Also, in Android, pressing the Home button brings up a list of running processes. You can install something like Button-Savior if you lack the hardware button.

[2holdon]

Originally Posted by por

@outremer: Yes, you can scroll with no flickering in the browser in A2 mode .

How do I switch between the two modes?

Originally Posted by por

Booxtor, I am not able to find a way to rotate the screen so that it applies for all apps and menus. I could only find such an option in the PDF reader. Is there such an option somewhere?

I agree. There does not seem to be such an option. However, using "Rotation Locker" from the Play Store solves this. (Portrait, Landscape, Auto).

Originally Posted by por

I am also not able to switch between tasks (clicking the battery (upper left corner) sometimes shows a task but most of the time doesn't).

I concurr. Using the Homebutton does not help either. In general I am having trouble getting to the homescreen quickly...

[por]

@ 2holdon: In the top right corner of screen there is an icon with rotating arrows. When you click it it asks you if you prefer Quality over performance (A2).

[Booxtor]

I am going to create a new thread here for M96/T68 updates and Neo PDF Reader updates (in 2-3 days). Updates will appear every week.
Currently updates must be installed manually (very easy though). A little bit later - as OTA by connecting to the Internet.

The problem with slow scribbling will be solved soon - we have already a solution.
Regarding screen rotation - there are at least two solutions:
- in generally screen can be rotated by appropriate apps like mentioned above
- page view can be rotated in some standard reading apps

[CampGareth]

I'll just write stuff here for now while I wait for my videos to get processed (quad cores are not enough )

Out of the box everything seems to work as you'd expect, except the home button, the home button is actually a menu button... not sure why. You have to use the home icon in the top left of the screen. Build quality is plastic and creaky but not enough to cast doubts over the longevity of the device. Wacom only touch, quite hard to get used to switching between buttons pressed with a finger and things on screen pressed with a pen.

Every PDF I threw at it worked just fine including part one of this whitepaper ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-u...%BCller_theory ) and some PDF with large images I found. Epubs and mobis also work just fine, and you can go to some pretty small font sizes while everything is still readable but there are limits.

The real fun started when I rooted it (thanks booxtor) and used market helper to start installing things. Apex launcher works and brings back the original android settings menu. The problem I'm having is that quite a few apps crash, I've tried adobe reader which crashes while loading a PDF, angry birds crashes on launch as does chrome, MX player crashes when you try to play a video (didn't expect it to work well but it'd be nice to test the refresh rate). On the working list is the stock browser (I can read blogs at last! ), most google apps like gmail, docs, and play music. Solid explorer also works nicely. ADB is enabled by default for you tinkerers.

In the default reading apps (coolreader mostly?) A2 refresh works fairly well, 5 pages or so then a full refresh. Outside of those the screen just never does a full refresh so things can get a bit ugly.

I've also found a few bugs in things like the notification bar, in trying to move things around something's been broken, I ended up installing so many apps that the icons ended up inside the clock.

Overall? A solid meh, works very well as an ereader and it handles zoomed pages far better than a kindle DX, but as an android device it has some fairly serious bugs that need fixing.

[2holdon]

Originally Posted by por

@ 2holdon: In the top right corner of screen there is an icon with rotating arrows. When you click it it asks you if you prefer Quality over performance (A2).

Thanks.

But in this A2 mode my M96 is useless. Webpages cannot be read at all, artefacts of older pages are all around, quality goes down to what I had last seen on EGA video (if anyone remembers those: CGA, EGA, VGA, etc.).

Neither the browser nor reading a pdf is possible. And by that I am not talking about any comfort. You will need a good amount of creativity to make out the letters. In a pdf that may or may not work.

So no, it is not an option at all. Disappointing.

Another thing. The M96 crashes when I try to erase scribble in a pdf. I get the Android window that asks me whether to close the application or wait. If you click on wait it takes a while (5 seconds) and it will work again. If erasing works without this it takes at least 2-3 seconds... :-/

[por]

Originally Posted by 2holdon

Thanks.

But in this A2 mode my M96 is useless. Webpages cannot be read at all, artefacts of older pages are all around, quality goes down to what I had last seen on EGA video (if anyone remembers those: CGA, EGA, VGA, etc.).

Neither the browser nor reading a pdf is possible. And by that I am not talking about any comfort. You will need a good amount of creativity to make out the letters. In a pdf that may or may not work.

So no, it is not an option at all. Disappointing.

Another thing. The M96 crashes when I try to erase scribble in a pdf. I get the Android window that asks me whether to close the application or wait. If you click on wait it takes a while (5 seconds) and it will work again. If erasing works without this it takes at least 2-3 seconds... :-/

The default PDF reader is quite bad. Booxtor said they are currently working on an alternative one.

A2 browsing is kind of possible in landscape mode if the text is not too small...(I am using Dolphin browser+jetpack+adblock).

[Booxtor]

Guys, today I have uploaded an update file to our server. You can install it to your M96 directly using OTA feature of M96:

1. create an empty file in the root folder of your M96 and name it ota_stg (also just for this one time)
2. Change your language settings to English (just for this one time) and turn Wifi ON (I hope you have Wifi connection nearby)
3. go to settings->about ->other system update -> check from cloud (there should be a new version)
4.Start download and update.

Neo PDF Reader is already included. Scribbling works just fine


Another very important (but hidden) feature - long press on home (menu actually) button force refresh of the page. In some situation you will get lots of artefacts (darker backgroudn of third party apps). Using this feature you can easily make screen readable again

[2holdon]

Originally Posted by Booxtor

3. go to settings->about ->other system update -> check from cloud (there should be a new version)

No. No update package available.

File ota_stg is in root. Does the file need any file extension?

[2holdon]

Oh, without the stylo the M96 cannot be operated.

E.g. using the browser is completely impossible.
Typing will not work, because the 5 way button often interpretes one click as two. This makes it impossible to select the correct letter on the keyboard. Also no mouse or link highlighting is possible. Therefore clicking a link ist impossible.

This all does not seem like a 300+ Euro Product.

[por]

Originally Posted by 2holdon

Oh, without the stylo the M96 cannot be operated.

E.g. using the browser is completely impossible.
Typing will not work, because the 5 way button often interpretes one click as two. This makes it impossible to select the correct letter on the keyboard. Also no mouse or link highlighting is possible. Therefore clicking a link ist impossible.

This all does not seem like a 300+ Euro Product.

It's just like an android phone or tablet, they can't be operated without using the touch screen either.