Icarus Illumina (E653)

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

This has 4gb internal memory - is the app storage limited to a smaller portion, or is all memory available to install apps? The T68 limits you to 500 mb for installing apps which isn't much.

I have installed a dozen apps and have yet to hit the limit. That's a heck of a lot better than the T68.

If you have more questions, I started a Q&A:
http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...rived-install/

[elchamaco]

What about battery, some users are reporting battery fast drawn.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by elchamaco

What about battery, some users are reporting battery fast drawn.

I am seeing that as well. Even though it wasn't used much, the battery drained itself after only a few days on my desk.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by didierm

My Boyue (or Boeye) T61 arrived last Thursday.

Boyue appears to be the OEM for the Icarus E653 : this is confirmed by comparing the firmware updates of both the T61 (http://pan.baidu.com/share/home?uk=2...ategory/type=0) and the E653 (http://194.33.112.113/~icarusre/open...ormation_id=11).

Please keep in mind that this is my first dedicated e-ink e-reader ; I can only compare the handling and reading experience with the FNF iFive X2, a Chinese tablet which is fairly unknown but has an excellent price/performance ratio (RK3188 quadcore, 8.9", 1920x1200). It unfortunately suffers from a relatively large weight (~ 600g) and a - like most tablets - unreadable screen in sunlight.
I used it to read ebooks at night, and - now owning the T61 - currently use it to read comics ; the retina screen is a big plus here.


Back to the T61/E653.

As I like to have a lot of characters on the screen (mimicking the page layout of the real life dead tree stuff), I would have preferred a slightly larger screen (6.8-8") with a higher resolution (1440x1080 or 1600x1200), e.g. the Onyx T68.

However, as currently only the T61 offers Android 4.2, bears an affordable price tag, and serves me as a first introduction to an e-ink reader, the decision was quickly made.


I like the T61 very much.

It perfectly fits my hands, has a slightly rubber-ish texture, and offers a hardware page refresh button (which I use a lot). The built-in reading light has a very nice range, from very dim to quite bright, and appears to evenly light the screen (again, I cannot compare to other e-readers).

Extra storage is cattered for through a microSDHC slot.
Although the mounting/unmounting commands are provided for in the Storage Setup screen, the microUSB port does not seem to offer USB Host functionality (which would allow to attach e.g. USB memory sticks).


The device came with the 20140617 firmware ; I immediately installed the 20140814 update (which is initiated by copying the update.zip to the root directory ; upgrading takes a couple of minutes and leaves your data intact).

I look after my privacy, hence I do not buy Windows or Apple phones/tablets and more specifically, I want my Android stuff rooted.
The T61 is very easy to root (see below).

As the T61 runs Android but does not have access to the Google Play Store (the Google apps are missing), additional apps are installed by downloading (built-in browser) or copying (over USB) the apk to the device, and/or installing alternative market apps. I did not try to install GAPPS, as I have no use for Google's privacy-invading stuff on an e-reader.

Hence I first downloaded and installed F-Droid (https://f-droid.org), after which I installed both SuperUser and Root Verifier.

The device is rooted (this is on your own risk ; if the following sounds like gibberish, just skip it) by :
- extracting the su binary from the /assets/armeabi/ folder in the com.koushikdutta.superuser_1030.apk file ;
- copying the su to /system/xbin/ via adb remount and adb push ;
- in an adb session, chmod-ing the binary to 6755.
(I repeat : making mistakes here may brick your device, rendering it unusable.)

Root access is now verified by the previously installed 'Root Verifier' app.


After rooting,I did install a firewall (AFWall+ from the F-Droid repo) and the XPosed/XPrivacy modules (http://xposed.info).
Installing Titanium Backup (http://matrixrewriter.com/android/) and the Ghost Commander file manager (F-Droid) completed the basic Android setup.



For e-reading purposes (no rooting required), I installed both FBReader (http://fbreader.org/FBReaderJ) and CoolReader (F-Droid). Aard (F-Droid) provides the dictionary functions, and Comics Reader (F-Droid) and Open Comic reader (Play Store & https://github.com/sketchpunk/opencomicreader) are capable comics readers.

As you may have noticed by now, I strongly favour open source.


Google Play apps can easily be downloaded by the excellent cross-platform Raccoon desktop client (http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon) and then transferred to the e-reader.
This is how I installed Calibre Companion, which works very well on the T61.



Caveat :
I bought the T61 in China, at a very favorable price (as I wrote, my first introduction to e-ink). If you need to apply for warranty, you may be out of luck (return shipping usually isn't worth the price of the device).
Not having any experience with Icarus' customer support, I nevertheless - based on my current experience with the T61 - would not hesitate to recommend the E653 to friends and relatives.


My personal conclusion : if you fancy the freedom of a (rooted) Android device, this e-reader should be on your list.



HTH,
Didier

What OS did you use for Racoon desktop? Nate at the Digital Reader wasn't able to get it to work. He has Win7 on a Lenovo laptop - any pointers to get it working? http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...comment-599993

[cnmcleod]

Yes, battery I think fails...
I've had it on suspend mode with all apps disabled.. after 3 days and 12 hours has fallen to a 37%!!!

I'll read a book after finishing the one I'm reading on my Sony T2 and will post the results but....

Edit. 4 days on suspend mode, not used, battery 0%

[didierm]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

What OS did you use for Racoon desktop? Nate at the Digital Reader wasn't able to get it to work. He has Win7 on a Lenovo laptop - any pointers to get it working? http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...comment-599993

Racoon is a Java app, hence should work on all platforms (from first-hand experience, it works perfectly on Fedora 20).

"It won't run for me" (Nate) doesn't provide much of a clue.
Does he have Java installed ? Was he able to launch the app ? Did he enter his Google Store credentials ? Did he receive any error messages ? If so, which ones : from Windows, or from Racoon ? Did he have a look at the manual ? So many questions, so few answers ....

Update:
Here a Windows user :
http://www.lesen.net/forum/ebook-rea...497#post238497

[didierm]

Originally Posted by cnmcleod

Edit. 4 days on suspend mode, not used, battery 0%

Personally, IMO, I don't care too much whether I have 1000-1500 page flips or 8000 flips : battery time is a small trade-off to pay for the versatility of Android, especially as the device loads via the now standard and omnipresent 5V microUSB.

IIRC, the battery loads up quite fast too with a 1A supply.

[cnmcleod]

What I like/want in a E-ink Reader is charge once and forget to do it again during weeks, read what and where I want; for using Android and apps I have my Tablet or smartphone. Before launching ereaders with android they should optimize first the OS. IMO...

[didierm]

Originally Posted by cnmcleod

What I like/want in a E-ink Reader is charge once and forget to do it again during weeks, read what and where I want; for using Android and apps I have my Tablet or smartphone. Before launching ereaders with android they should optimize first the OS. IMO...

I guess we have different needs ; I just add the eReader (which easily lasts 2-3 days on a charge) to the charging schedule of my other devices (phone, tablet, ...).

For me, not being restricted to the manufacturer's apps and being able to install my own eReader apps, dictionaries, encyclopedias, ... strongly outweighs the shortened battery life.

[crt]

For me the battery drain issue is particularly important. The easiest way around is the following:
in 'Settings' go to those that have to do with personal preferences and select the one that shuts-down (not sleep) the device within 20 mins of inactivity.
As for the additional applications, I have installed the E-reader store application from the Icarus site (just an apk file) and I can get almost anything I need directly from the WiFi connection of the device.

[nightboy]

Hi everybody.
I got my t62 today to replace my old NST.
I rooted mine but had a problem. In fact, ADB is not working(before and after rooting) .
Is anyone having this problem (T61 or E653) ?

[Purple Lady]

I ordered my T62 a few days ago so I should be getting it within the next 2 weeks. Hopefully you will have figured out everything by then and posted it.

[rdjack21]

Originally Posted by nightboy

Hi everybody.
I got my t62 today to replace my old NST.
I rooted mine but had a problem. In fact, ADB is not working(before and after rooting) .
Is anyone having this problem (T61 or E653) ?

How about some pics when you get a chance that is. I'm looking to replace my NST as well with the T62 I just have a few more things in front of the new reader then I will be ordering I hope in the next few weeks.

[nightboy]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I ordered my T62 a few days ago so I should be getting it within the next 2 weeks. Hopefully you will have figured out everything by then and posted it.

I did

Adb's problem is related to the board's windows driver.

Originally Posted by rdjack21

How about some pics when you get a chance that is. I'm looking to replace my NST as well with the T62 I just have a few more things in front of the new reader then I will be ordering I hope in the next few weeks.

ImageS violate guidelines for size - MODERATOR]

t62 + solo universal case (not the best option )

Image violates guidelines for size - MODERATOR]

I am using Nova Launcher.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by nightboy

I did

Adb's problem is related to the board's windows driver.




ImageS violate guidelines for size - MODERATOR]

t62 + solo universal case (not the best option )

Image violates guidelines for size - MODERATOR]

I am using Nova Launcher.

How much space is available to install apps? Are you going to try to install Google play store? How did you root?