New 13.3" Onyx Boox. Rumours, prototype specs, first pictures - Page 42

Icey · 08-21-2016, 07:19 AM

what do you mean? i have the last update and just did an hard reset

Android version : 4.0.4
Kernel
3.0.35
jenkins@HP-Z220-SFF workstation 1
Mon Jul 4 20/1

Build number
2016-07-04_19-58_1.7.5_rc1_9fe2ee1

HarryT · 08-21-2016, 07:33 AM

Dr Drib means that your profile (the information below your name) says "Device: none yet". It makes it much easier to give you appropriate help if you edit your profile (click the "User CP" button in the blue bar near the top of the screen) to reflect the device that you actually has. It's not mandatory to do so, of course, but it's in your own best interest to keep the profile current.

Icey · 08-21-2016, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icey

My Onyx max is slower than my onyx m96 .......

for opening file, turning page... it's HORRIBLE

Oh ok,

i had hope that i could have help to fix that it's so slow

Dr. Drib · 08-21-2016, 12:15 PM

Someone will be along shortly to offer advice and/or some discussion on this, I would imagine.

Be patient.

soundpp2000 · 08-26-2016, 01:31 AM

Thanks.

apos · 08-30-2016, 06:21 PM

in February ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonathanM

My Max has arrived and it looks beautiful.

Hi folks,

there should meanwhile have been many deliverings of devices!

Does anybody out there ids USING the MAX in real world situations - not just looking at its beauty ?
Especially how is the PDF-Experience (Reflow, ...). How performs the NEO Reader? Xodo? ...
Can anybody give us an real world status how the device performs with the e-Ink display (ghosting, speed, ...).
How is the hardware quality (flexing of the case, buttons, ...)?
Can anyone make a video about pros and cons (mainly the new features like the display, how it performs)?

Because this is a very special device and selled rarely compared to standard ebook readers it would be nice of the owners to share their experience.

I know there is a 35 min video out there, but this comes from the owner of a german store. Thanks for this video, but this is from February and predelivering state, there had been no comments and there is no update of it. This makes me feel a little bit ... hmmm ...

.

Thanks in advance.
Greetings Axel

iacchi · 08-30-2016, 08:15 PM

I can't make a video right now, but here are some impressions:

I use the device mainly to read scientific literature (and the odd ebook when I'm at work with dead times

). Here are the answers to your points:

Yes
PDF reading experience is good for me so far. I haven't managed to make it automatically trim white margins in the papers, but there's a function that lets you zoom in with a custom portion of the window and it takes 20 seconds to manually trim all the white margins. I have no idea what Xodo is. Koreader works fine as well, although I prefer NEO reader. Reflow? What is reflow? This is a freaking 13" screen!
To read scientific literature, ghosting is a bit high (IMO) if you don't fully refresh the page every turn, that's why my NEO reader is set this way at the moment. When that is set, no ghosting at all (like, actually zero). The battery lasts a long time regardless and you can afford recharging this device more often anyway. For ebooks it's ok though. The page turn speed is slower than your usual ebook reader (I've only had 6" readers before) but the page is much bigger and so understandable I think. The time is still totally fine for me.
Quality of the hardware is pretty good, nothing to say on that regard. It also weights more or less as my 6" Boox reader!
Pros: if you need a 13" eInk screen, I think you know the pros already.
Cons: possibly some of this are temporary, I don't know if they will be permanent.
- Android is lagging a bit behind (it's ICS) and not all applications that work with ICS can be installed on the Max for some reason. Also, don't expect the speed of a modern, mid-to-high end smartphone.
- I own a TTRSS instance and I wanted to read my newsfeed on the Max, but TTRSS-Reader can't seem to fetch the RSSs. It can detect my subscriptions, but it loads indefinitely while fetching the content.
- Even after doing screen alignment, the pen is not perfectly aligned with the screen but it writes 1-2 mm to the left of where you put the tip. (I will actually report this sometime...) Depending on how you incline the pen, this problem is less pronounced.
- The partitioning of the system is not great and you can't install too many apps. I would have preferred more space for the data partition and less for the SD, considering that you can also install an external SD card if you wish.
- The library also displays weird items, like zip files.
- Surfing the internet on an eInk display is a bit weird.
- Sometimes, when you're turning a PDF page, the page won't turn. If you turn in the other direction and then go forward again, everything works fine.

All in all: does it fit my needs: yes. Would I buy it again: yes. I wouldn't have minded a bit better hardware, but I don't know if I would like a capacitive touch screen: when you write with the stylus you really need to put your hand on the screen and all sorts of weird things would happen at that point I guess with a capacitive touch screen, unless it can be disabled when the pen is working.

If you have any other question that I can answer, I'll be happy to oblige.

apos · 08-31-2016, 05:52 AM

Very much thanks iacci,

that's the information I was really looking for. You covered everything really important!

One question remains: how about the hardware buttons. Do they perform well? With which apps?

Reflow ... 13,3 - yes, you are completely right

I simply am not able to imagine yet. But cropping is a more important fact and you answered that already.

The problems with android 4.0.4 and compatibility with some apps (TTRSS ?!) I expected. You should probably contact the developer, perhaps it is really just a simple problem with TTRS missing an android system library .... But there is certainly more to come (android 4.4).

Xodo is a very good reader app with multi document support and cloud functionality (dropbox, google, onedrive). But probably it is too resource hungry. Some report this app not working very well on Onyx devices.

Formating: yes, this is a problem on many devices. Solution: you should consider rooting the device which will give you (theoretically from android 2.2 up) the possibility to use "app2sd" to move most of apps partially to a specially formatted sdcard. This works pretty well on e.g. my Pocketbook Surfpad 4L. Android is very conservative concerning holding space for the system (which is OK). You should also install an app like SDMaid (cheap, very good!) which cleans up the cache and other system space that hinders apps from installing. The combination of both gave me the possibility to use 1,7 GB of 2 GB system space with tons of apps

There should be informations how about do rooting in this thread and here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=273940 . You can root a device without having to reformat or reinstall your system! It is simple as installing an app.

Speed: surely I don't expect "smart phone speed" from a Freescale 1 GHz processor

I remember my 9,7 Pocketbook 912 with 500 MHz and 256 MB Ram which worked pretty well 5 years ago ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OksWzxZ1knU ). And turning a 13,3 page takes a little bit longer (considering these are one of the first devices out there).

Ghosting: thanks for this information. As long as there is a possibility to avoid that (full screen refresh), that would be OK for me.

Pen: What you described should not happen at all for a device which such a precise pen. And a device that is mainly drive by a pen. This seems not to be a software problem. You should consider return the device for repair or at least contact the store.

I will still wait a little bit after the first "children's diseases" will be cured and if Onyx will hold its promises to release an update to android 4.4 (there is already a prerelease available for testing).

But mainly I will carefully watch over the process how they will work and react on hard- and software related problems that users have. Service for such a professional device which such a high price tag is everything!

The Onyx simply meets a lot of my precautions.

I don't expect pocketbook to release the Pocketbook CAD-Reader this year. I read somewhere, that after a lot of software related problems they are very conservative releasing new devices.

Thanks again and greetings
Axel

iacchi · 08-31-2016, 06:06 AM

Hi Axel,
about the buttons: I've only really used them to flip pages or to go back, and they work pretty well that way. I'm also left-handed, so they're exactly in the right spot for me :P
For everything else, you need the pen anyway for most of the interactions and once it's out it's just easier to use that.

About the rooting: if I will really really need it, I'll consider that. For the moment it's ok like this.

Android 4.4 for me would be useful to install something to manage my Zotero library and maybe it would add a bit more compatibility with other apps, that's all.

About the pen yes, I will contact the store. The problem is that at the moment I'm in Australia and it's a pain in the ass to send it back and forth. Closer to Christmas I'll go back to Italy and I'll send it from there if they can ship it back before I go back down under, otherwise I'll wait until I go back to Europe for good.

If there's any other question I can answer or something that I can test, let me know.

apos · 08-31-2016, 06:15 AM

Android Update 4.4: our german dealer already offers a inoffiocial prerelease update to 4.4 (http://ereader-store.de/de/content/8-downloads ) but which results in a complete reformatting of the device (no update path)!

iacchi · 08-31-2016, 06:18 AM

I don't see any update to 4.4 for the Max yet (and I've bought my device there and I usually check every two weeks to see if it has come out). When it does, I won't mind formatting.

apos · 08-31-2016, 06:24 AM

iacci: another question:

I you find the time: could you test TTS (text to speech) e.g. with NEO reader? Most interesting with a pdf (ePub should be no problem anyhow).

@android 4.4 update: The link to the update showed above this is an unofficial update, so 4.4 will come, I am sure.

iacchi · 08-31-2016, 06:27 AM

I've never used the TTS so I'll need to figure it out, but I'll test it and record something so that you can judge by yourself (I don't have anything to confront it with)

rine111 · 09-02-2016, 03:02 AM

I had a 'pen offset' problem with my Vivotab Note 8 tablet. I found that I could 'fool' it into having the writing appear under the stylus by offsetting where I tapped during the initialising process.

iacchi · 09-02-2016, 03:25 AM

Yes, I was thinking about that.

08-21-2016, 07:19 AM	#616
Icey Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Onyx max	what do you mean? i have the last update and just did an hard reset Android version : 4.0.4 Kernel 3.0.35 jenkins@HP-Z220-SFF workstation 1 Mon Jul 4 20/1 Build number 2016-07-04_19-58_1.7.5_rc1_9fe2ee1 Last edited by Icey; 08-21-2016 at 07:30 AM.

08-30-2016, 08:15 PM	#622
iacchi Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 66 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne Device: PRS-500; Boox C67ML; Boox Max	I can't make a video right now, but here are some impressions: I use the device mainly to read scientific literature (and the odd ebook when I'm at work with dead times ). Here are the answers to your points: Yes PDF reading experience is good for me so far. I haven't managed to make it automatically trim white margins in the papers, but there's a function that lets you zoom in with a custom portion of the window and it takes 20 seconds to manually trim all the white margins. I have no idea what Xodo is. Koreader works fine as well, although I prefer NEO reader. Reflow? What is reflow? This is a freaking 13" screen! To read scientific literature, ghosting is a bit high (IMO) if you don't fully refresh the page every turn, that's why my NEO reader is set this way at the moment. When that is set, no ghosting at all (like, actually zero). The battery lasts a long time regardless and you can afford recharging this device more often anyway. For ebooks it's ok though. The page turn speed is slower than your usual ebook reader (I've only had 6" readers before) but the page is much bigger and so understandable I think. The time is still totally fine for me. Quality of the hardware is pretty good, nothing to say on that regard. It also weights more or less as my 6" Boox reader! Pros: if you need a 13" eInk screen, I think you know the pros already. Cons: possibly some of this are temporary, I don't know if they will be permanent. Android is lagging a bit behind (it's ICS) and not all applications that work with ICS can be installed on the Max for some reason. Also, don't expect the speed of a modern, mid-to-high end smartphone. I own a TTRSS instance and I wanted to read my newsfeed on the Max, but TTRSS-Reader can't seem to fetch the RSSs. It can detect my subscriptions, but it loads indefinitely while fetching the content. Even after doing screen alignment, the pen is not perfectly aligned with the screen but it writes 1-2 mm to the left of where you put the tip. (I will actually report this sometime...) Depending on how you incline the pen, this problem is less pronounced. The partitioning of the system is not great and you can't install too many apps. I would have preferred more space for the data partition and less for the SD, considering that you can also install an external SD card if you wish. The library also displays weird items, like zip files. Surfing the internet on an eInk display is a bit weird. Sometimes, when you're turning a PDF page, the page won't turn. If you turn in the other direction and then go forward again, everything works fine. All in all: does it fit my needs: yes. Would I buy it again: yes. I wouldn't have minded a bit better hardware, but I don't know if I would like a capacitive touch screen: when you write with the stylus you really need to put your hand on the screen and all sorts of weird things would happen at that point I guess with a capacitive touch screen, unless it can be disabled when the pen is working. If you have any other question that I can answer, I'll be happy to oblige.

08-31-2016, 05:52 AM	#623
apos Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 28670 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Ludwigshafen, Germany Device: 623 Touch Lux, 912 Pro (selled), Surfpad 4 L, Waiting for CAD-Reader !	Very much thanks iacci, that's the information I was really looking for. You covered everything really important! One question remains: how about the hardware buttons. Do they perform well? With which apps? Reflow ... 13,3 - yes, you are completely right I simply am not able to imagine yet. But cropping is a more important fact and you answered that already. The problems with android 4.0.4 and compatibility with some apps (TTRSS ?!) I expected. You should probably contact the developer, perhaps it is really just a simple problem with TTRS missing an android system library .... But there is certainly more to come (android 4.4). Xodo is a very good reader app with multi document support and cloud functionality (dropbox, google, onedrive). But probably it is too resource hungry. Some report this app not working very well on Onyx devices. Formating: yes, this is a problem on many devices. Solution: you should consider rooting the device which will give you (theoretically from android 2.2 up) the possibility to use "app2sd" to move most of apps partially to a specially formatted sdcard. This works pretty well on e.g. my Pocketbook Surfpad 4L. Android is very conservative concerning holding space for the system (which is OK). You should also install an app like SDMaid (cheap, very good!) which cleans up the cache and other system space that hinders apps from installing. The combination of both gave me the possibility to use 1,7 GB of 2 GB system space with tons of apps There should be informations how about do rooting in this thread and here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=273940 . You can root a device without having to reformat or reinstall your system! It is simple as installing an app. Speed: surely I don't expect "smart phone speed" from a Freescale 1 GHz processor I remember my 9,7 Pocketbook 912 with 500 MHz and 256 MB Ram which worked pretty well 5 years ago ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OksWzxZ1knU ). And turning a 13,3 page takes a little bit longer (considering these are one of the first devices out there). Ghosting: thanks for this information. As long as there is a possibility to avoid that (full screen refresh), that would be OK for me. Pen: What you described should not happen at all for a device which such a precise pen. And a device that is mainly drive by a pen. This seems not to be a software problem. You should consider return the device for repair or at least contact the store. I will still wait a little bit after the first "children's diseases" will be cured and if Onyx will hold its promises to release an update to android 4.4 (there is already a prerelease available for testing). But mainly I will carefully watch over the process how they will work and react on hard- and software related problems that users have. Service for such a professional device which such a high price tag is everything! The Onyx simply meets a lot of my precautions. I don't expect pocketbook to release the Pocketbook CAD-Reader this year. I read somewhere, that after a lot of software related problems they are very conservative releasing new devices. Thanks again and greetings Axel Last edited by apos; 08-31-2016 at 06:18 AM.

08-31-2016, 06:24 AM	#627
apos Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 28670 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Ludwigshafen, Germany Device: 623 Touch Lux, 912 Pro (selled), Surfpad 4 L, Waiting for CAD-Reader !	iacci: another question: I you find the time: could you test TTS (text to speech) e.g. with NEO reader? Most interesting with a pdf (ePub should be no problem anyhow). @android 4.4 update: The link to the update showed above this is an unofficial update, so 4.4 will come, I am sure. Last edited by apos; 08-31-2016 at 06:35 AM.

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08-21-2016, 07:33 AM	#617
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,557 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Dr Drib means that your profile (the information below your name) says "Device: none yet". It makes it much easier to give you appropriate help if you edit your profile (click the "User CP" button in the blue bar near the top of the screen) to reflect the device that you actually has. It's not mandatory to do so, of course, but it's in your own best interest to keep the profile current.

08-21-2016, 12:15 PM	#619
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,465 Karma: 59592133 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	Someone will be along shortly to offer advice and/or some discussion on this, I would imagine. Be patient.

08-26-2016, 01:31 AM	#620
soundpp2000 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2; Onyx Boox Max.	Thanks.

08-31-2016, 06:06 AM	#624
iacchi Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 66 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne Device: PRS-500; Boox C67ML; Boox Max	Hi Axel, about the buttons: I've only really used them to flip pages or to go back, and they work pretty well that way. I'm also left-handed, so they're exactly in the right spot for me :P For everything else, you need the pen anyway for most of the interactions and once it's out it's just easier to use that. About the rooting: if I will really really need it, I'll consider that. For the moment it's ok like this. Android 4.4 for me would be useful to install something to manage my Zotero library and maybe it would add a bit more compatibility with other apps, that's all. About the pen yes, I will contact the store. The problem is that at the moment I'm in Australia and it's a pain in the ass to send it back and forth. Closer to Christmas I'll go back to Italy and I'll send it from there if they can ship it back before I go back down under, otherwise I'll wait until I go back to Europe for good. If there's any other question I can answer or something that I can test, let me know.

08-31-2016, 06:15 AM	#625
apos Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 28670 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Ludwigshafen, Germany Device: 623 Touch Lux, 912 Pro (selled), Surfpad 4 L, Waiting for CAD-Reader !	Android Update 4.4: our german dealer already offers a inoffiocial prerelease update to 4.4 (http://ereader-store.de/de/content/8-downloads ) but which results in a complete reformatting of the device (no update path)!

08-31-2016, 06:18 AM	#626
iacchi Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 66 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne Device: PRS-500; Boox C67ML; Boox Max	I don't see any update to 4.4 for the Max yet (and I've bought my device there and I usually check every two weeks to see if it has come out). When it does, I won't mind formatting.

08-31-2016, 06:27 AM	#628
iacchi Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 66 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne Device: PRS-500; Boox C67ML; Boox Max	I've never used the TTS so I'll need to figure it out, but I'll test it and record something so that you can judge by yourself (I don't have anything to confront it with)

09-02-2016, 03:02 AM	#629
rine111 Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 14482 Join Date: Feb 2016 Device: large	I had a 'pen offset' problem with my Vivotab Note 8 tablet. I found that I could 'fool' it into having the writing appear under the stylus by offsetting where I tapped during the initialising process.

09-02-2016, 03:25 AM	#630
iacchi Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 66 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne Device: PRS-500; Boox C67ML; Boox Max	Yes, I was thinking about that.