New 6.8 inch eReader from Onyx now available in the US

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Janet54

I bought one from Amazon and am returning it. The page turning drove me nuts.
... the kindle app ...
... Scribd ... the page turning was horrible and slow ...

From what I have seen in the following video
the built-in reading apps are not that bad.
Looks like the app has to be optimized somehow from "LCD" version to "e-ink" version

[Randy11]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I asked onyx-boox about cases, and they said that they should be on sale in a couple of weeks. I don't know whether or not it support magnetic sleep. It is a very useful feature, I agree.

From the Onyx part : https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=155

Originally Posted by Booxtor

Hi guys,

just wanted to report a thing that I discovered accidently - the original Onyx cover (available in our store as a bundle with T68) interacts with the Boox. If you close the cover - the Boox goes in suspend mode. As soon as you open the cover, the Boox comes back from suspend mode. Didn't know about this feature during work with my test device. Nice surprize
__________________
EREADER-STORE.EU

[Katsunami]

Very good. Which store sells this bundle?

Ah. Ereader-store.de. 189 euro for the reader, cover, and a charger. Good price.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by kacir

From what I have seen in the following video
the built-in reading apps are not that bad.
Looks like the app has to be optimized somehow from "LCD" version to "e-ink" version

This video makes it look like the text is gray and not black. If someone who gets one could post a side by side picture of the T68 with another eink reader to see the difference that would be very helpful. My first ereader was a Boox 60 and the font was gray which made it a little difficult. When I got my Sony 950 the difference between them was night and day.

[Randy11]

An update about the cover from http://ereader-store.de :

Originally Posted by Booxtor

[mgmueller]

A friend of mine got his T68 yesterday.
I had thought about it myself and so of course I had to check it out.
For me: I'll definitely pass.
The concept is tempting: Kindle, Nook, Kobo and other apps - on an eINK device!
But the implementation, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired.

First of all: Build quality. It's no disaster. But the buttons for example are odd and not that well built. They rest slant on the housing. So you push them in an awkward angle and they "wiggle around".

Last but not least: Unbelievably slow. I've tested the Kindle app and after 2 page turns already had been frustrated. Page turns take more than a second (close to 2 seconds, it seems). This might not be a biggy, 5 years ago the first Kindles might have been equally slow. But now, being used to Paperwhite 2 or Nook GlowLight and the likes, to me this kind of sluggishness would be unbearable.

Else: All apps I've tested had been working in general. But all as sluggish as the Kindle app.

Display quality: I didn't have any of my readers with me, so I couldn't compare directly. But on its own, display quality seemed okay. I didn't find anything bothersome.
The text seems a bit "washed out". I'd compare it to the older Kindles, before Paperwhite. Again: No disaster, but for someone who's interested in the reader probably worth direct comparison to a state-of-the-art reader.

Meaning:
Build quality and haptic are not the best, but would be acceptable (barely). But the responsiveness and speed in general are a "no Go" for me. Reminded me a bit of the videos I've seen of Pocketbook Color Lux (another interesting device, that's probably not quite there yet).
It's a shame, the concept itself would be fantastic.

[Randy11]

I don't understand why you don't test the applications allready installed in the device. I'm not very suprised to know that an application build for a specific device like Kindle or Kobo haven't the better performances on an other device.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I doubt they will be willing to pay return shipping and shipping the repaired or replacement unit between Europe and N.America. And then customs may want to take a cut each time. And then UPS like to add fantasy charges, too...

Really, it's a questionable proposition if you are not in Europe. I've just read of one new owner's device resetting a lot. Also someone in N.America has one of those big Sonys and its playing up. Getting support is going to be an expensive business, and neither device is cheap to begin with.

I often enough have the opposite situation: Shipping from the US to Germany. Unfortunately, lots of gadgets are launched in the US first. Next one might be NVIDIA Shield 2 in a few months.
I'm not too worried about ordering hardware. Of the tons of gadgets I've bought over the years, only few ever failed. And those few usually from the very beginning. Meaning: Arriving already with a defect.
I've decided, to take that risk for the gadgets I'm really interested in.

But there's still an enormous problem: Customs and shipment are bearable for a gadget > $ 200. But for accessories?
I'm not ordering a cover, costing $ 20 in the US and ending up in Europe for $ 60...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Looks nice. I like the page turn buttons....

I've only tested a few apps on my friends T68: Kobo, Kindle and Nook.
The page turn buttons didn't work in those.
No biggy for me, I would use the touchscreen anyway.
But for some it might be important (for me, I'd wish those page turn buttons wouldn't be there anyway, due to the poor build quality).

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Randy11

I don't understand why you don't test the applications allready installed in the device. I'm not very suprised to know that an application build for a specific device like Kindle or Kobo haven't the better performances on an other device.

I've only tested, what would have been useful for me: Kobo, Kindle and Nook apps, the 3 reading apps/gadgets I use most frequently.
If I'd mainly use the pre-installed apps, it would be just another reader. Then it wouldn't be interesting for me, I'd miss the integrated bookstore from one of the big players...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Randy11

I don't understand why you don't test the applications allready installed in the device. I'm not very suprised to know that an application build for a specific device like Kindle or Kobo haven't the better performances on an other device.

I've tested the Android Kindle, Nook and Kobo apps. They are not built for a specific device, but working on all Android devices.
They work perfectly fine on my Nexus 7 for example. Or my Kindle Fire HD + HD 8.9 and Nook HD+. Even on my dated Sony tablet P. Even on the BlackBerry PlayBook with its Android emulator.
Different units with more powerful hardware, obviously. But this would be the usage pattern interesting for me: All my main reading apps combined in a single unit. Not a tablet with limited battery life and lots of bulk and heft, but an eINK device with all its advantages.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

A friend of mine got his T68 yesterday.
I had thought about it myself and so of course I had to check it out.
For me: I'll definitely pass.
The concept is tempting: Kindle, Nook, Kobo and other apps - on an eINK device!
But the implementation, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired.

First of all: Build quality. It's no disaster. But the buttons for example are odd and not that well built. They rest slant on the housing. So you push them in an awkward angle and they "wiggle around".

Last but not least: Unbelievably slow. I've tested the Kindle app and after 2 page turns already had been frustrated. Page turns take more than a second (close to 2 seconds, it seems). This might not be a biggy, 5 years ago the first Kindles might have been equally slow. But now, being used to Paperwhite 2 or Nook GlowLight and the likes, to me this kind of sluggishness would be unbearable.

Else: All apps I've tested had been working in general. But all as sluggish as the Kindle app.

Display quality: I didn't have any of my readers with me, so I couldn't compare directly. But on its own, display quality seemed okay. I didn't find anything bothersome.
The text seems a bit "washed out". I'd compare it to the older Kindles, before Paperwhite. Again: No disaster, but for someone who's interested in the reader probably worth direct comparison to a state-of-the-art reader.

Meaning:
Build quality and haptic are not the best, but would be acceptable (barely). But the responsiveness and speed in general are a "no Go" for me. Reminded me a bit of the videos I've seen of Pocketbook Color Lux (another interesting device, that's probably not quite there yet).
It's a shame, the concept itself would be fantastic.

Did you use the white background in the Kindle app? I was just wondering if the sepia background would take longer on an eink device.

You say the text is washed out - was it gray instead of black? That was a problem in the original Boox readers. You'd think that would have been fixed by now. Was it washed out everywhere?

[pierro78]

here is a kindle app test so that everybody can judge :

also here : https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=153 Geekaren says that Kindle app v4.2.0.101 works better than the newest one
(she also wrote an article on her blog : http://karenclassic.wordpress.com/20...l-impressions/ )

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Did you use the white background in the Kindle app? I was just wondering if the sepia background would take longer on an eink device.

You say the text is washed out - was it gray instead of black? That was a problem in the original Boox readers. You'd think that would have been fixed by now. Was it washed out everywhere?

I've tested more or less all settings for the Kindle app. The page turn did seem the same for all settings. I don't have those old units anymore. But from what I remember, I'd compare the speed of the page turn in the 3 reading apps I've tested with my old (but beloved) Sony 505. Back then, it didn't bother me, to wait for a second. But now, being used to Paperwhite 2 and the likes...

"Washed out" probably is a bit too harsh.
A more accurate description probably would be:
The text appears dark grey, not black. Again, this reminds me of what I've had on my readers a few years ago.
This "washed out" effect is everywhere, not just in specific apps.
The text is legible without any problems at all. But it didn't seem quite on par with what I'm used to nowadays.
But like I wrote: I didn't have Paperwhite 2 or any other recent reader with me for comparison.
Maybe I was overcritical about the display, because of my disappointment with speed and build quality.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pierro78

here is a kindle app test so that everybody can judge :

also here : https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=153 Geekaren says that Kindle app v4.2.0.101 works better than the newest one
(she also wrote an an article on her blog : http://karenclassic.wordpress.com/20...l-impressions/ )

I had installed the newest Kindle app on my friend's device.
Maybe there's in improvement with an older version?
But if you check the video from your link around 2:50 to 3:05 (building the cover of the Brothers Karamazov), you perfectly see what I mean by "sluggish". It takes about a second (sometimes close to 2 seconds) to build up the screen. Common a few years ago on all readers, but quite obvious compared to the more recent ones.