Onyx Boox Note 10.3 is available Now

[mdp]

Originally Posted by Randy11

it's my opinion too.

Yes, the device's price is high, some function exists (WEB, video, APK), but it's an e-reader, mainly make to read.

I'm now focused on the softwares to read : NeoReader2 and Librera. Taking notes is useful. And for the videos, I confirm the full HD is impossible, but for some WEB courses is sufficient.

Those "what it is" bring dangerously void abstractions. What's difficult in "a tablet with an EPD display, produced by a growing company", which already contains all the substance?

Honestly, I do not get any sense or meaning out of those "it is". It goes without saying that EPD is promising in reading and perplexing in evaluating Pantone. People's difficulties are in other areas - except for those who were not acquainted with less apparent limits of EPD (rates, ghosting etc).

[flibber]

Originally Posted by Randy11

it's my opinion too.

Yes, the device's price is high, some function exists (WEB, video, APK), but it's an e-reader, mainly make to read.

I'm now focused on the softwares to read : NeoReader2 and Librera. Taking notes is useful. And for the videos, I confirm the full HD is impossible, but for some WEB courses is sufficient.

This maybe your opinion but it is definately not as it is being sold in reviews....

https://goodereader.com/blog/electro...-reader-review

"It is brimming with great hardware and does not lock you into a walled garden like Sony and Remarkable does"

"The entire software experience is utterly amazing, apps instantly load and drawing has minimal latency. I was certainly not disappointed with any delays, which was surprising."

"The stylus performance is superb"

"These devices were all marketed as a digital note taker, aimed at professionals and students that wanted a replacement to paper. The company also hyped Android as being more open than standard Linux based readers and Google Play."

"It does not lock you into a closed ecosystem like the Sony Digital Paper or the Remarkable. You have complete freedom to download and install any apps you want and customize tons of UI features."

"Onyx made the call to launch the Note with Android 6.0, which makes it the only brand in the world to run it. This opens up hundreds of thousands of additional apps you can install and run properly."

"The Note is recommended for anyone who wants to take digital notes and wants their device to last weeks, without a charge."

[citytrader]

Originally Posted by flibber

This maybe your opinion but it is definately not as it is being sold in reviews....

https://goodereader.com/blog/electro...-reader-review

"It is brimming with great hardware and does not lock you into a walled garden like Sony and Remarkable does"

"The entire software experience is utterly amazing, apps instantly load and drawing has minimal latency. I was certainly not disappointed with any delays, which was surprising."

"The stylus performance is superb"

"These devices were all marketed as a digital note taker, aimed at professionals and students that wanted a replacement to paper. The company also hyped Android as being more open than standard Linux based readers and Google Play."

"It does not lock you into a closed ecosystem like the Sony Digital Paper or the Remarkable. You have complete freedom to download and install any apps you want and customize tons of UI features."

"Onyx made the call to launch the Note with Android 6.0, which makes it the only brand in the world to run it. This opens up hundreds of thousands of additional apps you can install and run properly."

"The Note is recommended for anyone who wants to take digital notes and wants their device to last weeks, without a charge."

That reviews are full of crap or paid.

Except for the screen, the hardware has the same performance of a tablet from 2014 and I showed here the benchmark and the Wifi is only 2.4G, in 2018 not having 5G Wifi from a tablet is unacceptable and even worse because the wifi just because is connected without traffic consumes 6% of battery each hour.

This tablet today, is not ready for note taking for the horrible lag the pen has, so the stylus performance is pure crap.

It does not lock you into a closed system but they don't tell you that the applications are not optimized for eink and in the case of the Note, you get tremendous image retention from any app, so thousands of app not suited for this device. I can use an FTP server to transfer my books and that is handy and that is part of some usage that is better than a closed system.

Note is recommended for the people that wants to read book/documents at 10", browse some stuff in the web and do some other stuff related with reading.

This Note is laggy even when using the finger and is not suited for taking notes with the current firmware, who knows if with a software improvement it could be better.

What about support?... Onyx support is NOT existent.

Has this device flaws? yes, but I bought it to use as an ereader and is by miles much better option than my Kobo Aura One. It fit my needs.

Any device has its flaws, my tablets with Amoled destroys my eyes when reading, so I can see a movie but I can not use it to read a book or browse web for long time for example, so if I have to choose a grey scale eink device with some image retention and its lag problems or suffer my eye strain, I prefer the first option taking care of my eyes.

The difference between what I write and the reviews is that mine is honest, lot of reviews aren't, they are simply lying and this is useful to know because the next time you will understand who is telling a lie or not in a review.

[flibber]

Originally Posted by citytrader

That reviews are full of crap or paid.

That is my concern.

Either Onyx is happily compliant in going along with these descriptions or they are party to the active promotion of them... either way, the previous perceptions in this forum that this product is only meant to be primarily a ereader does not mirroring the various reviews and promotions seen elsewhere on the internet.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by citytrader

the hardware has the same performance of a tablet from 2014

I guess it is a compromise with battery efficiency. Are you aware of what these series sported before? It took a while to have the idea emerge that while you are skimming through the contents of a bi-stable display you do not need any CPU at all, but when you want that content appear you want it to happen as snappily as reasonably possible... The idea of a compromise between none and "something please".

Originally Posted by citytrader

This tablet today, is not ready for note taking for the horrible lag the pen has, so the stylus performance is pure crap

But are you talking about the native application or 3rd parties'? Because - I do not do note taking (or not on the Max2 - I take notes on my pocket device), but the brief checks I did show surprisingly fast scribbling on the Onyx Note app.

That other applications (e.g. the MS one and other leading ones) do not work as expected is well known - it has something to do with the way the stylus works on the Onyx, which I understand is kind of a different input source. I understand that, the way they implemented it, it would take a developer to modify their note-taking application to make it work as expected.

Originally Posted by citytrader

tremendous image retention

I guess you mean the ghosting - are you in "normal", not A2 ("fast"), "Greyscale Update" mode? I think in A2 it is heavier.
I am not meeting the same problem the way I am using the device now, but in applications that keep the status bar on you tap on the clock whenever you want to issue a full screen refresh, and on fullscreen applications I have alternative commands to do the same. I have to do that infrequently. I had seen times and devices in which ghosting was a real annoyance - I would certainly notice (for lack of better word) bad ghosting if I had it.

Originally Posted by citytrader

my tablets with Amoled destroys my eyes when reading

Sorry, but - are you actually using white on black? Eyes are personal, but I do not have any fatigue on AMOLED: of course, with a moderately lit white on a perfectly black background... And of course, not in daylight (you would squint).
Have you applied a good matte screen on the tablet, which I guess glossy?

[mdp]

Originally Posted by flibber

This maybe your opinion but it is definately not as it is being sold in reviews....

Sorry Flibber, but I just re-read the review contents, and I have to say after a more paced consideration I mostly do not see faults, unless one believes that enthusiasm is misleading.

> brimming with great hardware
I love to have a RK3288 there.

>does not lock you into a walled garden
Does not! Thank God!

>the stylus performance is superb
I just tried - it is (Max2).

>Android as being more open than [common] Linux based readers
Well, if the common ones are locked...

>You have complete freedom to download and install any apps you want
Yes...

>This opens up hundreds of thousands of additional apps
Yes...

>run properly
Ok, that's kind of gratuitous. This forgets both that Android can have UI glitches varying with devices, and that user expectations may not match a number of deviations, constraints and exceptions.

>last weeks, without a charge
Probably - the way they use it. The way I use it, I seriously doubt it - but that's me. I mostly write with it.

[Kumabjorn]

Saw some posts mentioning that OneNote didn't run, or run well on the Note. That would be the main reason for me getting that device. So could someone please elaborate? What is the problem and is there a possibility it will be fixed?

[flibber]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Saw some posts mentioning that OneNote didn't run, or run well on the Note. That would be the main reason for me getting that device. So could someone please elaborate? What is the problem and is there a possibility it will be fixed?

For me there were two issues. First there is terrible pen lag. When you draw a line you have to wait two seconds before it displays. However, you can't just write and wait for it to catch up because if you do multiple strokes you will find when it does eventually display there are strokes missing. Secondly hand/finger touch moves the page, so your hand can't touch the page while writing. It only takes about 10 seconds of use before you realise its virtually impossible to use in any form.

I think I read somewhere that MS have refused to make any changes to their apps for these devices.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by citytrader

That reviews are full of crap or paid.

You must be very careful of anything read on that particular site.

Very briefly last year, they advertised a service on their website where they essentially said they would run sponsored articles, specifically mentioning that those articles would give no indication that they were sponsored.

They removed the advertisement for such services shortly after it was revealed and roundly ridiculed in a forum on Mobileread. However, I have little doubt that they remain open to such practices. Their reviews are hardly rigorous or objective.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...2&postcount=43

Were they paid for their "review" of the Note in question which was linked to?

Dunno. However, they offer the Note for sale on their site so they certainly have a vested interest in moving that product. Interestingly, the devices sold on their site ship from China, not from Vancouver where they are located.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by flibber

Either Onyx is happily compliant in going along with these descriptions or they are party to the active promotion of them... either way, the previous perceptions in this forum that this product is only meant to be primarily a ereader does not mirroring the various reviews and promotions seen elsewhere on the internet.

If you don't do your homework, particularly when making an expensive purchase, you shouldn't really complain.

It is common knowledge that some reviewers are bought. Others may intentionally give soft and favourable reviews of a product in the hopes of receiving free review units. That particular site has been known to sell their review units.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=292475

They also sell the Note. That should automatically arouse some suspicion into their claims.

Moreover, that site is well known for their questionable reviews and practices. There is plenty of information here in the threads on Mobileread and elsewhere revealing their shady practices.

[citytrader]

Originally Posted by mdp

I guess it is a compromise with battery efficiency. Are you aware of what these series sported before?

I'm aware but that is comparing with the worst and I don't share that, in the case of the note, you remove the display and you have a tablet from 2014 with wifi 2.4G (Not 5G WTF!?) that is worse than the Galaxy Tab S, in two words: very outdated.

Originally Posted by mdp

But are you talking about the native application or 3rd parties'? Because - I do not do note taking (or not on the Max2 - I take notes on my pocket device), but the brief checks I did show surprisingly fast scribbling on the Onyx Note app.

I'm talking about 3rd party applications.

Originally Posted by mdp

I guess you mean the ghosting - are you in "normal", not A2 ("fast"), "Greyscale Update" mode? I think in A2 it is heavier.

I mean screen retention as you see in the screenshot in both modes (normal and A2), very present in dark areas, this screen has shadowing too but is a different effect.

Originally Posted by mdp

Sorry, but - are you actually using white on black? Eyes are personal, but I do not have any fatigue on AMOLED: of course, with a moderately lit white on a perfectly black background... And of course, not in daylight (you would squint).
Have you applied a good matte screen on the tablet, which I guess glossy?

In fact, eye strain is very personal, in my case for example in the Windows Amoled tablet screen, the eye strain is terrible even watching movies but in Android is less problematic.

[citytrader]

CORRECTION ABOUT THE PEN:

I did a test with the built in note application and the pen was totally responsive, the sensation is like writing with a pencil on the paper.

I had a bad impression before because I used applications downloaded from the app store.

I don't understand why Onyx don't make the pen compatible with all applications? if they do this, this device could become excellent for taking notes.

[cqman]

Originally Posted by citytrader

I don't understand why Onyx don't make the pen compatible with all applications? if they do this, this device could become excellent for taking notes.

Technically impossible for Onyx to make the pen compatible with all apps once and for all.

They really want to optimize note taking experience for our customers on third party apps.

Check my other thread.

[citytrader]

Originally Posted by cqman

Technically impossible for Onyx to make the pen compatible with all apps once and for all.

They really want to optimize note taking experience for our customers on third party apps.

Check my other thread.

They should open source kernel, firmware, etc and the community will do what they don't...

[mdp]

Originally Posted by citytrader

They should open source kernel, firmware, etc and the community will do what they don't...

Yes and no.
Of course if they open-sourced some enthusiasts will gather and patch, expand, contribute fixing etc.
But in the context of 3rd party apps, we cannot in general modify code: we can fork open products if they need linking to the Onyx SDK; we can publish patched packages (that's what I do, if you noticed around); we can hardly touch commercial products, especially MS I would say.