Reading experience on 10.3" inch device for a medical student

[jameswillow]

I know this topic is brought repetitively again and again and i am sorry for that.I have done all the research and read most of the threads about kinda topic in this forum.Still i have confusion and struggling for my final decision.

Like the title said i am a medical student and read medical textbooks approximately 12 hours per day with my computer and getting eyestrain day by day.So i decided to buy an eink reader for reading medical text books which usually have two columns.Even though most medical textbooks have images ,i am using eink reader only for text not even for note taking.I am currently thinking about buying boox note air 2 and max series is pretty expensive for me.Do you guys think note air 2 or any other 10.3 inch eink reader will be suitable for reading something like attached picture( screen shot of my medical textbook Robbin pathology).I am very slow reader so that i dont mind moving around the page is so slow or things like that.Only thing that i concern is fonts are very small and unreadable getting more eye strain.I am patient enough for cropping the pdfs and okay with landscape mode if needed.
I am sorry if there is any grammar errors or spelling.Please be kind with that.

[David Munch]

Yes. I think I would get the Remarkable 2 though, in your case.

[kandwo]

In the native reading app on Onyx Boox readers you can choose to show one column at a time. The text in that column would then be zoomed in full screen, making the text bigger. If all or most your textbooks are in that format, I think it would be easy to read on a Note Air device.

Here's one video where the article mode is shown with the PDF divided into 4 regions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5HE01amvdc.

EDIT: I found the article used in the video. Dividing the paper, consisting of two columns, into 4 sections in portrait mode made the text comfortably readable even on my Nova 3 (7.8" screen).

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by jameswillow

I am currently thinking about buying boox note air 2

The Boox Note Air 1 has the higher contrast screen.
The Note air 2 has a writing foil, which makes writing more pleasant, but reduces the screen contrast.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

The Boox Note Air 1 has the higher contrast screen.
The Note air 2 has a writing foil, which makes writing more pleasant, but reduces the screen contrast.

I suspect it also increases glare from ambient light.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I suspect it also increases glare from ambient light.

A comparison of two Boox devices, one with, the other without this foil can be seen here starting at about minute 13
I find the picture quality of the Nova Air much worse

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

A comparison of two Boox devices, one with, the other without this foil can be seen here starting at about minute 13
I find the picture quality of the Nova Air much worse

I agree. I also find it surprising that Voja doesn't consider it a problem. Well, maybe not that surprising considering he reads in speed mode (lots of ghosting) and seems to prioritize writing over reading.

I can't imagine reading on anything worse than the Nova 3 that I have. The contrast and screen clarity is barely usable with the frontlight turned off (unless you have really bright ambient lights/sunlight). I have good eyesight so anything that makes text slightly blurry/fuzzy/unclear is of great annoyance to me - maybe the people happy with the clarity don't have that?

I imagine the original Note Air has the same screen quality as the Nova 3, so in that case I'd recommend getting that rather than the Air 2.

[jameswillow]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

The Boox Note Air 1 has the higher contrast screen.
The Note air 2 has a writing foil, which makes writing more pleasant, but reduces the screen contrast.

Is there any huge difference between note air and note air 2's contrast?And what about remarkable?I have heard remarkable contrast is pretty bad.Is this true?

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by kandwo

I agree. I also find it surprising that Voja doesn't consider it a problem.

He only cares about writing

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by jameswillow

Is there any huge difference between note air and note air 2's contrast?And what about remarkable?I have heard remarkable contrast is pretty bad.Is this true?

Have you looked at the quality of the screens in the video?
And the Remarkable can't do much except write notes.
But it is asked for a reader, not a device for writing

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

He only cares about writing

Yes, sadly, since he is one of few good reviewers. Almost nobody does in-depth reviews with screen comparisons. I haven't found any with serious screen comparisons of 10 inch readers (controlling for backlight, fonts, etc. while showing and browsing the same text in 4K).

I'd also love to have a bigger reader for manga, PDFs and dual screen reading (dictionary/translation on one side, text on the other), but there just isn't enough information out there. And the screens, aside from their relatively low PPI, seem subpar regarding contrast and clarity.

I hope Onyx starts producing more devices optimized for actual reading instead of focusing on note taking only.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by kandwo

I hope Onyx starts producing more devices optimized for actual reading instead of focusing on note taking only.

I don't think so - they can earn more with devices like this

[downeaster59]

I own a Note Air 2, and I have had numerous E-ink devices in the past. I fully agree with the posters who say that the Note Air 2's contrast with the front light off is not great. I bought the original Note which had no frontlight, and ended up selling it because the contrast was not good enough. However, with the frontlight on, I am quite satisfied with the Note Air 2. I have compared the Note Air 2's screen to that of the Nova 2 and the Nook Glowlight 4. The latter two have 300 dpi, while the Note Air 2 is 227 dpi. I have to look very closely to see differences in how the text looks. The front light in each has a slightly different warm/cool color mix.

My point is that with the frontliight on, the lesser contrast is not an issue for me.

It depends on how you want to use the device.

[LDB]

I don't have an answer to your question but wish you well. What school do you attend? My father was a GP and practiced 50 years, 49 of them on the same corner in Houston.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

I don't think so - they can earn more with devices like this

While I agree that it's probably going to be their main line, they do have some devices purely for reading: the Poke and now the Leaf. They even seem to understand that some users want physical page turn buttons, so they included that in the cover for the Leaf (and I think for the Nova Air) - it's just poorly implemented.

If you look at the (primarily) Russian market they also have the models Kon-tiki 1/2 (a Nova 2/3 without the wacom layer) and, more importantly for this discussion: Lomonosov, a 10" reader without a wacom layer purely for reading. The Lomonosov doesn't have physical page turn buttons, doesn't have the latest Carta 1200/1250 and has a cheaper screen in general (only 200 PPI), so in my view it falls short of being a good reading device.

For a reading device I think I'd prefer an indented screen like in the Libra 2 (which has the best contrast and clarity of recent devices). Flush screens tend to reduce the clarity of the screen and also be fingerprint magnets. So a design like the original Note from Onyx, but with a better screen and preferably page turn buttons.