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

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I was poking around Kobo's site, comparing specs between my Clara and the Elipsa. I noticed some obvious upgrades, like USB-C support as well as 802.11 ac, meaning the Elipsa can connect to my 5GHz network, unlike my Clara. Others have pointed out the lack of a ComfortLight PRO, which means I won't be using my Elipsa late at night unless I'm wearing blue light blocking glasses. The CPU is beefier, though. The Clara clocks in at 1GHz and the Elipsa has Quad Core @ 1.8 GHz. I suspect that stylus will need a faster CPU to keep up with the strokes, but this will mean that the keyboard should technically feature faster typing as well. No more lagging as I type notes? I'm definitely looking forward to that. The eInk screen is the Carta 1200, but the DPI takes a hit. I'll see how that works out when I get it.

The internal storage is a nice 32GB, but I didn't notice a spec for onboard RAM. The Clara has 512mb. Has anybody heard from early reviewers what the onboard RAM is for the Elipsa?

Lastly, the re:Markable likes to promote its product as a "visualization power tool". There are some beautifully rendered illustrations out there done on the re:M. Has anything been said of the Elipsa's drawing capabilities? It's thought to have the same screen as the re:M, but I haven't seen anything on its drawing tools. Looking on the Elipsa site I see under the "Create Notebooks…" section that "Kobo Elipsa’s built-in notebook feature has room for all your notes, ideas, and to-do lists. Transform your handwriting to typed text with just a tap and clean up lists and shapes." I didn't realize it had handwriting recognition. That's going to be helpful. However, despite seeing variable line width in the sample drawings, I don't see much in the way of controls. Perhaps the stylus' buttons handle line width? However, the re:M mentions brushes, etc. If the Elipsa offers more robust rendering tools, Kobo hasn't seen fit to advertise them. Can anybody point me to a review that mentions or explores the artistic aspect of the Elipsa?

The Kobo Elipsa Stylus is pressure sensitive like most others which can be used to vary line width. My Deep Guide's first impression video walks through features available in notebooks. Doesn't look like it offers features helpful for art like layers so far. Handful of different pen types.

Remarkable has the edge on the artistic aspect since it's the only eInk device IIRC that supports pen tilt detection which allows for effects for mimicking using the side of your pencil for shading for example. They also have layer support in their notebook.

For art though a more powerful color tablet like the iPad might be better, more full featured drawing/painting programs, more power for bigger more complicated files, pen tilt detection and of course color!

[patrik]

My Deep Guide's Unboxing and first impressions. 44 min (he speaks very slowly, watch it at 1.5x).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JMafD98rOE

[Mercador]

Originally Posted by Cootey

The internal storage is a nice 32GB, but I didn't notice a spec for onboard RAM. The Clara has 512mb. Has anybody heard from early reviewers what the onboard RAM is for the Elipsa?

I don't remember which video had this, but it's 1gb Ram.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I find the heated disdain for the Elipsa fascinating. It’s clearly designed to be a note taker more than an eReader. It’s targeted to a completely different market. The re:Markable proved that there is a market for low power, editing & note taking devices. ...

Not really disdain (at least not on my part) — more surprise. For me, the main reason I would buy a note taker / eReader is to mark-up programming or text books. These usually come with DRM PDF and, apparently, the Elipsa mark-up feature doesn't work with DRM PDFs. Sometimes text books come in standard ePub, but (again, apparently) the Elipsa mark-up feature doesn't work with standard ePubs either. A PocketBook will allow mark-up for any format (except DjVu) and will allow you to save the marked text to images (basically selected area screen grabs). I realize that the PocketBooks are not advertised as note takers (and would be mechanically inferior to the Elipsa), but it seems like the Elipsa could at least do as much with DRM PDFs and standard ePubs. Also, if I remember correctly, there's no way to save these marked-up notes anywhere but on the Elipsa — that, particularly, seems like a very odd limitation.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

The Kobo Elipsa Stylus is pressure sensitive like most others which can be used to vary line width. My Deep Guide's first impression video walks through features available in notebooks. Doesn't look like it offers features helpful for art like layers so far. Handful of different pen types.



Remarkable has the edge on the artistic aspect since it's the only eInk device IIRC that supports pen tilt detection which allows for effects for mimicking using the side of your pencil for shading for example. They also have layer support in their notebook.



For art though a more powerful color tablet like the iPad might be better, more full featured drawing/painting programs, more power for bigger more complicated files, pen tilt detection and of course color!

Fantastic unboxing. I look forward to his in-depth review. That was the sort of info on the writing/art tools that I had been looking for. I already own an iPad with Pencil and Procreate, so I’m not looking for a new drawing device per se, but I do plan on taking notes and making occasional doodles.

Like him, I was disappointed with the pen sensitivity, but that can be adjusted in an update since the technology is there already. I was mildly disappointed to learn there is no tilt detection, but for my needs, I won’t actually miss it.

However, overall I was pleasantly surprised since Kobo’s page was pretty but sparse on details. For marking up documents AND being a large eReader, it’s exactly what I was hoping it was.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Cootey]

Thank you patrik & Mercador for your replies. I appreciate the info.

Originally Posted by rcentros

Not really disdain (at least not on my part) — more surprise. For me, the main reason I would buy a note taker / eReader is to mark-up programming or text books. These usually come with DRM PDF and, apparently, the Elipsa mark-up feature doesn't work with DRM PDFs. Sometimes text books come in standard ePub, but (again, apparently) the Elipsa mark-up feature doesn't work with standard ePubs either. A PocketBook will allow mark-up for any format (except DjVu) and will allow you to save the marked text to images (basically selected area screen grabs). I realize that the PocketBooks are not advertised as note takers (and would be mechanically inferior to the Elipsa), but it seems like the Elipsa could at least do as much with DRM PDFs and standard ePubs. Also, if I remember correctly, there's no way to save these marked-up notes anywhere but on the Elipsa — that, particularly, seems like a very odd limitation.

The Elipsa exports to Dropbox, at least. So it may be able to share more than you think, but I’ll need to see more in-depth reviews to know fully.

I wonder if Kobo running their own bookstore complicated licensing with Adobe. It seems that side-loading for reading will still work, but Adobe may consider a marked up PDF as a derivative work. But I’m just speculating. I don’t know enough about PocketBooks to speculate on the difference further.

I didn’t realize that markup only works on kepubs. Fortunately, I convert all epubs to kepubs, so I’ll not run into this issue. Other people may find that limiting, though.


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[Nightyume]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Not really disdain (at least not on my part) — more surprise. For me, the main reason I would buy a note taker / eReader is to mark-up programming or text books. These usually come with DRM PDF and, apparently, the Elipsa mark-up feature doesn't work with DRM PDFs. Sometimes text books come in standard ePub, but (again, apparently) the Elipsa mark-up feature doesn't work with standard ePubs either. A

Originally Posted by Cootey

Thank you patrik & Mercador for your replies. I appreciate the info.





The Elipsa exports to Dropbox, at least. So it may be able to share more than you think, but I’ll need to see more in-depth reviews to know fully.

I wonder if Kobo running their own bookstore complicated licensing with Adobe. It seems that side-loading for reading will still work, but Adobe may consider a marked up PDF as a derivative work. But I’m just speculating. I don’t know enough about PocketBooks to speculate on the difference further.

I didn’t realize that markup only works on kepubs. Fortunately, I convert all epubs to kepubs, so I’ll not run into this issue. Other people may find that limiting, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

From the official Kobo help page for Elipsa note taking

Supported file types

You can use your Kobo Stylus to write notes on these files:

Kobo ePub (.kepub)
ePub (.epub)
PDF (.pdf)
Note :Your Kobo Stylus cannot write notes on DRM-Protected PDF files and PDF files that disables annotations and markups.



It's normal not to be able to annote DRM protected PDFs, as has been stated by others in this thread. The ones you mention sidestep this by technically not annotating them but rather annotating a screenshot.

And you CAN annotate epubs according to Kobo.

Personally if I am making a handwritten note in a book it's because I want to see it there while I read it, not in an image that I have to open separately. And both them and the Elipsa have a list view for your notes so that should be fine.

You won't likely be creating great art on it but it seems to be decent at doodles. Here's a review (in Spanish) where they state as much and show a doodle they made:
https://www.xataka.com/analisis/kobo...no-anotaciones

I am curious though. The community has sideloaded koreader and stuff, do you think they might now create an option for a slightly fuller fledged art app?

As for the pressure sensitivity in My Deep Guide. When he was testing it out it didn't seem great but I actually liked the variation in stroke width due to varying pressure in his writing so I think it'll be one of those situations where I have to try it out myself to see if I like it or not.

Now I just have to wait for it to be available locally (or until I get my act together and move back to Can).

[cellaris]

In my opinion Pocketbook e-readers are not note-taking devices. They have that curious text markup feature (which you do see in the book, not to be confused with the screenshot which is another additional form of annotation), but they are not specifically designed for it. Comparing the PB InkPad X with the Kobo Elipsa I think may lead to confusion. The InkPad X is primarily a reading device that has additional features (music player, audiobooks, TTS, text markup) that are not usually present in a pure e-reader, but it is not really designed for regular note taking.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Mobius screen has the connectors on the narrow side.
There is no space for this in the housing.
There is also shatterproof glass (Asahi).

Can Asahi be flexed as much (as was done with the Elipsa) without breaking? I've not heard of glass that flexible.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can Asahi be flexed as much (as was done with the Elipsa) without breaking? I've not heard of glass that flexible.

Look - it is used by Boox devices.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can Asahi be flexed as much (as was done with the Elipsa) without breaking? I've not heard of glass that flexible.

Asahi Glass is used for the front protective layer and, from I've seen of the specs, is very similar to Corning's Gorilla Glass. They can be flexed quite a bit. Remember those videos of iPhones being flexed? Their nameless glass front layer is similar to Gorilla Glass.

On the other hand, in the thread referenced by @ottischwenk, the owner of a Note 3 which has an Asahi Glass front layer has this to say:

Originally Posted by Robert Bitzer

Contact Onyx customer service and they can get your screen replaced. You will have to send it to one of their service centers, mostly likely one in Europe. My Note 3 glass replacement cost about $180 US a while ago. Expensive, but I have to say they did a perfect job. Good luck!

[JSWolf]

@DNSB, I think you quoted the wrong person. @Robert Bitzer is not @otischwenk

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

@DNSB, I think you quoted the wrong person. @Robert Bitzer is not @ottischwenk

In another thread, @ottischwenk referred to a thread in which that post was the first reply to the OP.

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Yes, a stupid and not well thought out design.
This is what happens when you mix Mobius with glass without paying attention to the overall construction.
And that is also one of the reasons why I chosed the Boox Note Air.

Basically, I only read his posts for the amusement value. For me, suggesting that you need to use plastic front layers with a Mobius display is very humourous considering how little effort it takes to find devices with a Mobius substrate and a glass front layer.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Basically, I only read his posts for the amusement value. For me, suggesting that you need to use plastic front layers with a Mobius display is very humourous considering how little effort it takes to find devices with a Mobius substrate and a glass front layer.

It's simple - you have a choice between light weight, bendable and poorer image compared to heavy, stiff and good image quality.

[anacreon]

Just ordered from Fnac.com, for 380€ since I have the FNAC card and agreed to fetch it from the store (15 minutes by bus from home). Availability announced: from 18 June - I hope it will be so because I wish for enough time to load and learn it before going on holidays.

I've read everything I could find about it here and elsewhere, and the reasons I chose to buy it are

• mostly, I need a 10" device to read most of my PDFs and kepubs with tables/graphs/maps, plus the Forma's 8 Gb are not enough for all the PDFs I want on the reader - that would be enough to be worth the price for me
• the stylus is an added bonus: it is often difficult to select part of a word with a finger to look it up in dictionaries (often necessary for German for instance), and to outline text. I've often wanted to add a comment to my selections - I don't mind not being able to save it. And I couldn't care less about the levels of pressure: I have a Surface Book 2 (15") with a fine pen and good drawing apps, and no black and white smaller anything interests me for drawing. And contrary to books, I mostly prefer physical paper and drawing materials.
• secondarily, I plan to test reading graphic novels on it

I regret the absence of comfort light and facing pages, and I hope I won't mind the 227 dpi. Anyway I love the Libra and will continue to read plain kepubs on it, particularly on the go and at night.