New "Mars" device from Likebook?

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by crane3

Are people equating the paleness to less brightness? Does adjusting the "brightness" level provide more 'darkness'? Also, could the orange be like the Kobo where Kobo lies that the default time the orange gets turned on is at 11:00 PM but the orange really gets turned on at 10:00 PM then gets darker at 10:30 PM & 'full darkness(?)" at 11:00 PM. May have to check if the comfort light get darker over time.

I don't use the "comfort light" as it is a bit of eyestrain for my eyes as not enough light & contrast. But then, before cataract procedures, my eyeglass correction was at -14 diopter. I do not read in the dark except when there is a power outage!

I can't speak for anyone else, but in my case, paleness with the comfort setting is not about less brightness. I've tried turning up the light to maximum and turning it down. The comfort light is much paler than the comfort light on my Onyx Nova, even though it is still better for me than the "non-comfort" light on the Mars. In fact, the paleness enhances contrast compared to my Nova. That's a plus.

And no, the time of day - or night - doesn't make a difference in the comfort light on my Mars.

I don't read in the dark, either! But my eyes seem to favor the comfort light - even the pale one - over the normal, more bluish light at any time of day or night.

[fduniho]

Originally Posted by crane3

Are people equating the paleness to less brightness?

No, what I mean by pale is a color that is more of an off-white than a true orange.

Originally Posted by crane3

Does adjusting the "brightness" level provide more 'darkness'?

No, it reduces darkness. The off-white is more yellowish but not really yellow. It's similar to the light from a soft incandescent bulb.

Originally Posted by crane3

Also, could the orange be like the Kobo where Kobo lies that the default time the orange gets turned on is at 11:00 PM but the orange really gets turned on at 10:00 PM then gets darker at 10:30 PM & 'full darkness(?)" at 11:00 PM. May have to check if the comfort light get darker over time.

No, it is manual, not automatic.

Originally Posted by crane3

I do not read in the dark except when there is a power outage!

I will if I wake up at night. A brightness level of 3 for warm light works well in the dark.

[jscris]

Does anyone with a Mars also have a Kindle Voyage and could compare sharpness and contrast?

[franzli]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I saw a post in another forum from someone who says that, if we use adoptable storage, firmware updates can be installed if we download the update and then update manually. I'll experiment with that the next time an update is available.

Thanks a lot, that actually works! I downloaded the firmware update, renamed the file in the folder /sdcard (filename has BY in it and a date) to update zip and triggered an update from local storage, which then went smoothly! A bit more complicated than having everything install automatically, but easy enough for me as long as I don't have to set up the adoptable storage from the start.

Unfortunately, the Recents menu is still disabled, so you still need to jump through hoops just to switch between apps - how stupid!

[Vortex]

Originally Posted by franzli

Thanks a lot, that actually works! I downloaded the firmware update, renamed the file in the folder /sdcard (filename has BY in it and a date) to update zip and triggered an update from local storage, which then went smoothly! A bit more complicated than having everything install automatically, but easy enough for me as long as I don't have to set up the adoptable storage from the start.

Where are you downloading the updates from?

[Cengizhan Gunes]

Originally Posted by Matilo

@ all
I am considering buying the Likebook Mars but I am still skeptical because I read that sometimes the OS freezes and you have to reboot it again. Is this still a problem after the lastest update?

My Mars work normally, the smooth reading make me happy.

[franzli]

Originally Posted by Vortex

Where are you downloading the updates from?

I just used the file that the automatic updater downloads and renamed that.

[Caluthius]

Has anyone been able to use the Nook reading app on their Likebook Mars?
If so, how did you do it?

[Lparsons21]

Originally Posted by Caluthius

Has anyone been able to use the Nook reading app on their Likebook Mars?

If so, how did you do it?

Nope, it doesn’t work but Nook for Web does


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[feelmaroon]

Originally Posted by jscris

Does anyone with a Mars also have a Kindle Voyage and could compare sharpness and contrast?

Have a Kindle 4, Voyage and both Oasis'. They all have pretty unique screens in my opinion...In some ways its hard to compare Kindle devices with any others as I think there is a really large brand bias and ecosystem bias so i'll try to just talk device itself. Terms like sharpness and contrast are so subjective to eyes (some of the great arguments of front lighting are a great example to see how much range there is in opinion) but with that said, overall sharpness I'd have to go with the Kindles, in particular the generations from the Voyage on and contrast i'd have to go with the Likebook just because you have so much control of the screen/text as well as using various reading apps to create conditions of preference. Consider the various layers of an e-reader (e-ink, touch layer, light layer, choice of cover for said layers) and I think this might be what you're talking about, what looks the best all in all in an eye test. The Voyage would probably win that with lighting off and the Likebook with the lighting options on (because there is so much range of control to get it to look how you like it too). Overall pop of text itself, probably the Kindles but once again, Kindles can't do the kind of things that a Lifebook Mars can do (bluetooth typing of gmail, reading NY Times via web and A2 (Anti-Aliasing where you aren't flashing all the time), using Pocket, 2 column reading in landscape, animated page turns). For some of us, these things are massive and make the small loss in possible picture quality with overall use. They're really different devices.The Voyage screen is gorgeous to me as long as i'm not in the dark or needing to use the light. It's much better on the eyes than the Lifebook Mars despite the smaller size. If you're just wanting to read and do nothing else, get that 7" Oasis as they lighting to me is vastly improved from the Voyage. The quality of that screen in everyday reading conditions is amazing. If you need that extra inch, i'd take the Lifebook over the Kobo 8" just cause the amount of extra features you get.

[jscris]

Originally Posted by feelmaroon

Have a Kindle 4, Voyage and both Oasis'. They all have pretty unique screens in my opinion...In some ways its hard to compare Kindle devices with any others as I think there is a really large brand bias and ecosystem bias so i'll try to just talk device itself. Terms like sharpness and contrast are so subjective to eyes (some of the great arguments of front lighting are a great example to see how much range there is in opinion) but with that said, overall sharpness I'd have to go with the Kindles, in particular the generations from the Voyage on and contrast i'd have to go with the Likebook just because you have so much control of the screen/text as well as using various reading apps to create conditions of preference. Consider the various layers of an e-reader (e-ink, touch layer, light layer, choice of cover for said layers) and I think this might be what you're talking about, what looks the best all in all in an eye test. The Voyage would probably win that with lighting off and the Likebook with the lighting options on (because there is so much range of control to get it to look how you like it too). Overall pop of text itself, probably the Kindles but once again, Kindles can't do the kind of things that a Lifebook Mars can do (bluetooth typing of gmail, reading NY Times via web and A2 (Anti-Aliasing where you aren't flashing all the time), using Pocket, 2 column reading in landscape, animated page turns). For some of us, these things are massive and make the small loss in possible picture quality with overall use. They're really different devices.The Voyage screen is gorgeous to me as long as i'm not in the dark or needing to use the light. It's much better on the eyes than the Lifebook Mars despite the smaller size. If you're just wanting to read and do nothing else, get that 7" Oasis as they lighting to me is vastly improved from the Voyage. The quality of that screen in everyday reading conditions is amazing. If you need that extra inch, i'd take the Lifebook over the Kobo 8" just cause the amount of extra features you get.

Thanks. So far, the Voyage has had the best contrast of all I've tried. In particular, when using night mode (reversed type on black) the black is denser on the Voyage. Since my husband now has my Voyage, I'm reading on my Oasis2 since the bluetooth went out on my Likebook Plus. I really do like the remote page turn on the Androids so was wondering how the screen compares and whether I should think about getting a Mars. Do prefer the flat screen of the Oasis and Voyage though. <sigh>

[crane3]

For 'sharpness' you might find that a semi-bold font works very well. I find the normal style is too thin fro e-ink & the bold font too fat/blobby or having the bold ticked to on with moon+reader. So decided to try semi-bold style.

I use the windows Geogia-pro font & finally installed the semi-bold. For my eyesight & Mars/Moon settings, it looks much better than the bold font & good contrast without being looking a bit out-of-focus(?).

Don't know it the semi-bold applies to all fonts on e-ink but should be easy to try on the Mars. Cannot check it out on the Kobo as it only allows selecting a font family & Kobo does the bolding(?) of the font.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by crane3

For 'sharpness' you might find that a semi-bold font works very well. I find the normal style is too thin fro e-ink & the bold font too fat/blobby or having the bold ticked to on with moon+reader. So decided to try semi-bold style.

I use the windows Geogia-pro font & finally installed the semi-bold. For my eyesight & Mars/Moon settings, it looks much better than the bold font & good contrast without being looking a bit out-of-focus(?).

Don't know it the semi-bold applies to all fonts on e-ink but should be easy to try on the Mars. Cannot check it out on the Kobo as it only allows selecting a font family & Kobo does the bolding(?) of the font.

I use a medium weight font which I think is the same as a semi bold, and it works great on eink. It's Clear Sans and I found it on font squirrel. It took a while to find it because I need a sans-serif, but I want one that has a capital I that doesn't look like a lower case l. Some sans fonts also include what looks like a serif g, and font squirrel makes it easy to find because the search results show a sample.

[jscris]

Originally Posted by crane3

For 'sharpness' you might find that a semi-bold font works very well. I find the normal style is too thin fro e-ink & the bold font too fat/blobby or having the bold ticked to on with moon+reader. So decided to try semi-bold style.

I use the windows Geogia-pro font & finally installed the semi-bold. For my eyesight & Mars/Moon settings, it looks much better than the bold font & good contrast without being looking a bit out-of-focus(?).

Don't know it the semi-bold applies to all fonts on e-ink but should be easy to try on the Mars. Cannot check it out on the Kobo as it only allows selecting a font family & Kobo does the bolding(?) of the font.

I've used Georgia and others, but lately have stuck with Deja Vu Serif E-Ink and make it a little bolder on the KOA2. Semi Bold might be a nice option for a font that has it. Thanks.

[feelmaroon]

Originally Posted by jscris

I really do like the remote page turn on the Androids so was wondering how the screen compares and whether I should think about getting a Mars. Do prefer the flat screen of the Oasis and Voyage though. <sigh>

Ahh, the remote page turn is very nice. Likebook has the swap inversion too with the black back white text if you like that feature. The autopage turn is pretty incredible, especially if you use MoonReader's pixel scroll. That way you're not losing text of an entire page and instead only have scrolling text rising and you can adjust it with swiping up or down to slow it to a very very slow crawl to a speedy autoscroll.