Elipsa New Kobo (N604) [Elipsa - ed.]

[RobertJSawyer]

Originally Posted by Skydog

As it happens, I did indeed read carefully what you wrote. BOOKS, yes BOOKS, also come in PDF format (I have more than a few).

Perhaps a simple qualifier would have been a more accurate statement.

Yes, your post would have been better with a qualifier (not all PDFs, or even most, are books, as you well know, and most commercial PDF books are indeed DRM protected and cannot be marked up on the Elipsa anyway), along with an acknowledgment of the truth of what had been said, and well sourced, originally.

[Amon_Re]

Welp, I went up & preordered me one, after seeing the latest goodereader video I'm satisfied that my (simple) needs are met. Let's just hope that actually getting one is easier than getting a new GPU in 2021

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Because, last I checked, there's still no real way to do that in the ePub standard.

Unlike in a PDF .

Sidebar: the ePub spec is a nightmare, if you can actually point me to something that does look like a standard, I'm mildly interested, because this comes up time and again in KOReader, and every time I look into it, the answer is still: waiting for the standard.

I guess there's formatting standards and standards applied to those reading an ePub. I'm concerned with the latter. As is, if I buy an ePub from eBook.com or Google Books or even Kobo, I can copy the .ascm file to my Tolino or PocketBook, and download the book from the device. On either the PocketBook or Tolino, page numbers will be the same and the layout will be the same. If I buy from Smashwords (non-DRM) this "standard" will also apply to my Kobo, Sony, Tolino, PocketBook and Nook.

Unlike the Elipsa (which is marketed as a note taking device) I can mark-up and save the marked-up pages in my PocketBook Touch HD3 (and copy them to my computer). As far as I can I tell, I can do this with any format (except DjVu). (Mark up is not a feature I normally use.) This is why the limitations of the Elipsa seem really odd to me. It seems much more limited than a standard PocketBook reader. (I would like to test these features, but didn't bring the HD3 with me to Texas, so it will have to wait another 10 days or so.)

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by rcentros

It's not like saving it to the cloud would be the only other option. Why not the ability to export your notes to your computer?

As is, not working with DRM PDFs and not saving notes for KePubs anywhere but on the Elipsa, seems to negate the whole point of the mark-up features. I think I read somewhere that the mark-up doesn't work at all on standard ePubs (or am I mixing this up with something else?).

Not being able to annotate protected PDFs that don't allow annotations or highlighting is completely and utterly normal. Adobe Acrobat Pro even won't allow you to do that without removing the security with the password and any program that does is going outside PDF spec. At least for academic journal articles protected PDFs are not common.

ePub limitations are worse and kind of dumb but it's not that surprising since Kobo restricts how much you can copy out of a book to something absurd like 3 sentences (incredibly annoying!). I'm guessing this was some sort of publisher pleasing move. Can't have folks exporting a page or two of a 500 page book...

[Calenorn]

Fascinating video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX-K2WjIS5k

A behind the scenes look at how Kobo's latest reader, Kobo Elipsa, gets made.

[NiLuJe]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Fascinating video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX-K2WjIS5k

A behind the scenes look at how Kobo's latest reader, Kobo Elipsa, gets made.

Oh, hello, AllWinner B300 SoC ;'( (That's 4 Cortex A7, so, this is the sound of my armv8 dreams being shattered you've just heard ^^. That's admittedly three more than on the Nia, and at twice the clock speed, but, meh').

Not a huge surprise, between Amazon going with MediaTek for the still-mysterious future Kindle, and vague hints on the Kobo side, we knew NXP was going bye-bye, and that given the OEM, it would most likely either be RockChip or AllWinner, but, oh, well, at least they're mildly familiar (e.g., PocketBook & Bookeen have been using B2xx SoCs for a while), even if the little we've seen of 'em with PB support in KOReader (and, well, admittedly, more with the aborted Bookeen port, since PB maintains a compat shim w/ the NXP ioctls) leaves me less than enthusiastic...

[lkmiller]

I'm torn between this and the Onyx Note Air.

[Nightyume]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I guess there's formatting standards and standards applied to those reading an ePub. I'm concerned with the latter. As is, if I buy an ePub from eBook.com or Google Books or even Kobo, I can copy the .ascm file to my Tolino or PocketBook, and download the book from the device. On either the PocketBook or Tolino, page numbers will be the same and the layout will be the same. If I buy from Smashwords (non-DRM) this "standard" will also apply to my Kobo, Sony, Tolino, PocketBook and Nook.

Unlike the Elipsa (which is marketed as a note taking device) I can mark-up and save the marked-up pages in my PocketBook Touch HD3 (and copy them to my computer). As far as I can I tell, I can do this with any format (except DjVu). (Mark up is not a feature I normally use.) This is why the limitations of the Elipsa seem really odd to me. It seems much more limited than a standard PocketBook reader. (I would like to test these features, but didn't bring the HD3 with me to Texas, so it will have to wait another 10 days or so.)

marking up with a pen or typed text? Because typed would be easier and I think there's a way to export those notes (not officially but using calibre or something).

One of the issues with writing on an epub (or kepub) is the reformatting. It seems that kobo has dealt witht his by remembering where you made the note. If you change formatting there is an indicator of where the note was made and if you click on it it shows you a window with the original text/formatting/note and a button which lets you reset the formatting to what you had it at when the note was taken).

They explain how they do it on their how-to page:

https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500001927562

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Nightyume

marking up with a pen or typed text? Because typed would be easier and I think there's a way to export those notes (not officially but using calibre or something).

The PocketBook does both (apparently, I still have to test this and I don't have the PocketBook with me). It saves your hand-written notes as an image. You mark what you want to save by drawing a line.

From the PocketBook manual...

NOTES

Notes allows you to save favorite book fragments and make handwritten records directly in the text. All the notes will be displayed in the book's table of contents. To enter notes mode, select Note reading menu section.

And, in the Notes Menu...

Save the part of the page as an image simply by drawing a line from the first to the last point.

https://support.pocketbook-int.com/f...ch_HD_3_EN.pdf

(You'll probably have to do a search for "Notes" if you go to the manual.)

Originally Posted by Nightyume

One of the issues with writing on an epub (or kepub) is the reformatting. It seems that kobo has dealt witht his by remembering where you made the note. If you change formatting there is an indicator of where the note was made and if you click on it it shows you a window with the original text/formatting/note and a button which lets you reset the formatting to what you had it at when the note was taken).

They explain how they do it on their how-to page:

https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500001927562

I'll have to look into that. On the PocketBook it's just grabbing an image. (Or so I gather.)

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The PocketBook does both (apparently, I still have to test this and I don't have the PocketBook with me). It saves your hand-written notes as an image. You mark what you want to save by drawing a line.

From the PocketBook manual...


And, in the Notes Menu...



https://support.pocketbook-int.com/f...ch_HD_3_EN.pdf

(You'll probably have to do a search for "Notes" if you go to the manual.)



I'll have to look into that. On the PocketBook it's just grabbing an image. (Or so I gather.)

Indeed, on PocketBook devices you can make annotations on the text, which are saved as notes in the book and in the notes application. They work with any type of file (epub, pdf, cbz...), with or without DRM. They are not intended as note-taking devices, but you can use this feature as an add-on sometime.

They can also be exported as images within an html file, along with the rest of the notes that have been made using traditional underlining. It is really a screenshot of an area that you choose and that is saved as a note in the book.

I leave an example of a video made with the old Pocketbook Touch HD 2 to show you the process.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DEd...w?usp=drivesdk

[Mercador]

For those who preordered, did you were charged already? I'm a bit surprised that I have to pay before that the unit is already shipped.

[CallOfCth'reader]

Originally Posted by Mercador

For those who preordered, did you were charged already? I'm a bit surprised that I have to pay before that the unit is already shipped.

UK here. I was charged when I placed the pre-order. It makes sense, because otherwise stock could be all locked up by people pre-ordering but not actually buying.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Fascinating video:

This is the correct way to post a YouTube video.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is the correct way to post a YouTube video.

You found it. My post did its job.

No one comes here to be judged by you as to whether we are posting 'correctly'. Back off.

[Michal Jancik]

Battery pen ?
I see no interest in buying this e-reader model.
It is far from having as much function as a competing device.
Very basic for a high price

The "PocketBook InkPad X" is also more interesting with Bluetooth and support for audiobooks + TTS, file explorer.