How can people here still recommend/buy Onyx devices after the T68?

[pickyaxe]

I mean, sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what Onyx did with that device is deplorable.

1) They released a device at a premium price that starts bootlooping when it reaches 50-60% battery (effectively cutting battery life in half), has a laughably inaccurate touchscreen and a minimum brightness setting akin to the average flashlight.

2) They gave zero indication that they were aware of these problems.

3) They release no firmware updates (only updates are by the two resellers, and these are just slight UI enhancements).

4) They released newer devices and EOL'd the T68.

and.. people here still recommend this company. I think it's worth it for anyone considering buying an Onyx to read this and form their own opinion.

[kuskro]

Originally Posted by pickyaxe

I mean, sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what Onyx did with that device is deplorable.

1) They released a device at a premium price that starts bootlooping when it reaches 50-60% battery (effectively cutting battery life in half), has a laughably inaccurate touchscreen and a minimum brightness setting akin to the average flashlight.

2) They gave zero indication that they were aware of these problems.

3) They release no firmware updates (only updates are by the two resellers, and these are just slight UI enhancements).

4) They released newer devices and EOL'd the T68.

and.. people here still recommend this company. I think it's worth it for anyone considering buying an Onyx to read this and form their own opinion.

You are right, but people buy these products because with minor tweaks they work like a charm. I agree about the idea of buying final products in which things work from the box. Onyx is unable to place product in the market working properly but the products' hardware is good enough for the purpose of people and having a workable Android 4.0.4 is a pioneer trait of this company.

Check if you like this post to enhance your T68.

[Sweetpea]

Of that list you posted, I only encounter the minimum brightness of the backlight. Which is not a minimum at all. I've not encountered any bootloops and I've never had any android device which got more than 1 update. So, why should I not recommend it?

[karlnapf]

With my T68 I have had not a single problem, everything works fine.
Before I was reading on various Kindles, but the T68 satify me most.

[Feher]

I agree with you and i also wish that Onyx does a better quality check of their devices in future.


Still, Failure of one model won't put me away from the entire brand. As far as software or firmware is concerned, Onyx is the only ereader manufacturer for me in existence.

[JimMcLaren]

Every problem you mention has been experienced by someone. But I don't think many (if any) have experienced them all. The only one on your list that is a real problem that I've experienced is the touchscreen. I would like it to be a little less bright at the lowest setting but it's not as extreme as you make it sound. On the good side.

• The device runs Android and I can use it with other Android software which makes it very useful for me. It also comes with the Google market.
• The launcher is very good, especially since this was designed as a reader, not a tablet. The launcher screen has your most recent reads which is what you want if you read more than one book at a time like I do. You can get to any other apps you install easily enough. There is NO reason to install any other launcher if you are going to use it as a reader.
• The reader software is excellent. The reader can read just about any format (at least all of the most popular ones) and PDF support is excellent. I don't think I've used a reader (or reading software) than can reflow a PDF as well. I see no reason to install any other reading software.
• It comes with a web browser which is decent, especially since it can save your pages for offline reading.
• The screen is very crisp. I like having a slightly larger screen for reading but don't want a 10 inch screen.
• The reader is very comfortable to hold. It's pretty lightweight, especially for it's size.

The problems are not as bad as you make them sound. Out of the box this is a very good reader. It needs no customization to be good. I've never had another reader I can say that about. Do you even own a Boox device or are you just stirring the pot?

[HarryT]

I was very happy with my T68 and had none of the problems that you describe. I initially had issues with inaccuracies of the touchscreen, but a firmware update fixed them for me.

The only reason I sold it was because I just had too many devices, not because I was unhappy with it.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by kuskro

Check if you like this post to enhance your T68.

That's some serious hackage right there. Interesting to see so much activity around customizing the device.

But the reports of faults are worrying to users who would have to ship this device internationally. The costs and delays of returning devices are concerning. Onyx needs to develop a reputation for rock-solid hardware if they want to sell more widely.

[kuskro]

Originally Posted by Rizla

That's some serious hackage right there. Interesting to see so much activity around customizing the device.

But the reports of faults are worrying to users who would have to ship this device internationally. The costs and delays of returning devices are concerning. Onyx needs to develop a reputation for rock-solid hardware if they want to sell more widely.

Totally agree, to build Onyx's reputation they need a trustmark, what they've been offering are commodities.

[cicabum]

It's true that the T68 has small problems (inaccurate) about touchscreen , but i'll never change it because it's exactly what i was looking for and Booxtor gives great technical assistance: i've never seen a seller talks directly with clients and gives solutions in so short time. I think it's simply an amasing thing! I will change my device only when they will upgrade actual version of T68: 6.8" screen is perfect for me! :-)

[downeaster59]

I never had touchscreen issues with my T68, but I had random bootloops and other glitches. I had to return my first T68, and then my second, before getting one that worked properly. Still, I won't be harsh on Onyx products. In fact, now that I have the C67ML (very similar to the AfterGlow 2), I'm hopeful about Onyx in the future. My C67ML has a dual-core processor, so it is noticeably quicker and smoother than the T68. The T68's processor has a larger display to manage, and a higher resolution at that. It really needs a dual-core processor. The C67ML shows none of the glitches with certain apps that the T68 had (all three of them!). Give a new T68 a dual-core processor and other improvements that the C67ML has, and I'd still be very tempted to buy another one, even with my C67ML. Like others have said, I like the larger screen, especially for certain books.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by pickyaxe

and.. people here still recommend this company. I think it's worth it for anyone considering buying an Onyx to read this and form their own opinion.

People not only recommend this company, they are buying the readers faster than Onyx can make them. I have been eying this reader for some time and it is almost constantly out of stock.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by pickyaxe

How can people here still recommend/buy Onyx devices after the T68?

How? Speaking as a potential buyer:

1. Most manufacturers, if they are around for long enough, produce the occasional 'lemon' product model.
2. The manufacturers least likely to produce the occasional lemon, the big players like Amazon and Kobo, tend to produce readers that conflict with my 3 core requirements: (i) physical page turn buttons/sensors; (ii) directory-based navigation; & (iii) FBReader, or something very similar. I would rather have a reader that does what I want it to imperfectly, than one that does what I don't want it to perfectly.
3. Of its main competitors in the field of readers-that-do-what-I-want, Pocketbook has an even worse track-record than Onyx of producing duds (and arguably hasn't produced a competitive reader since the 360). The other main competitor, Boyue, seems to have only produced a only very small number of reader models, so it's lack of a dud product is hardly telling.
4. I've yet to see a comparison review claim that the T68 is unambiguously worse than the Inkpad (it's main competitor from Pocketbook).

For these reasons, I will continue to look closely at Onyx for the replacement for my i62HD, when I wear it out.

[darryl]

The T68 is a very good e-reader, and has a lot to recommend it. I also commend Booxter on his support and his efforts to have Onyx resolve problems. Having said this, I was not impressed with Onyx's reaction to the screen accuracy issues. I have not been following this for some months, so don't know if there have been more recent developments, but at that time Onyx did not accept there was even a problem, thought accuracy was good enough for most users, and hinted at a hardware problem which would be fixed in later versions. Personally, I wasn't worried with the issue originally, and just assumed it would be corrected by a later firmware upgrade. But I found that it in fact became more annoying over time. Later firmware updates did fix the issue for some. Booxter is good, but Onyx left a lot to be desired.

The other big issue is battery life. I loved the idea of an open Android e-ink reader, essentially an e-ink tablet. But unfortunately this comes at the cost of having a battery life similar to a tablet rather than, say, a Kindle or Kobo running a highly customised OS. I loved being able to choose my own reading software, but found that I only really wanted to use the device for reading, and did not utilise the other capabilities of Android. I also love the idea of being able to use all of the various "walled gardens" without removing the DRM, since we may end up going through a period where some DRM cannot be removed, for example, the new Adobe DRM if vendors do eventually adopt it. I may keep my T68 in a drawer against that time, though unless Kusko's changes fix the problems a Boyue may be a better choice for this, even though it uses older screen technology and is much more cheaply constructed.

Yes, there are customisations which can help with battery life, such as disabling certain unrequired services and using CPU management software. I have seen a claim on one thread that these measures produced for them similar battery life to a dedicated reader, but most seem to achieve an improvement well short of this goal.

I will at some stage dig out the T68 and try it with the measures outlined in Kusko's post, but still cannot see it coming up to either my H2O or Paperwhite 2. I won't say I would never buy another Onyx device, but I would want to see a better attitude from Onyx before I did.

[Rizla]

It's the possibility that I might have to return the device that concerns me. That's going to be expensive and time-consuming. Software-based problems can be resolved remotely. Onyx, get the hardware stable. Then more international buyers will seriously consider your devices.