Note v2?

[gandoe]

Although I had been waiting (impatiently!) for the new availability of the Note on Amazon - and in the process scouring these forums as well as other venues - I realize that I have kept reading vague implications about "enhanced" or "revised" versions of the Note.

There are many reasons why the new Boox Note (and Max2, for that matter) is a significant upgrade, and provides a strong rationale for purchase, including: improved screen resolution, reasonable computing horsepower, Android 6, among others.

However, it's also a significant investment....more than my Samsung tablet, and more than my smartphone. For the over 5 bill price, I would hope that it would tick all of the boxes, and not just some. The boxes it's missing (for my needs) includes SD card port, and front light.

Hence, my hesitation about pulling the trigger. Can anyone substantiate or lend credence to the rumors of an enhanced version, and if so, is there any indication about the addition of either SD Card capability or frontlights?

TIA
Ed

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by gandoe

For the over 5 bill price, I would hope that it would tick all of the boxes, and not just some. The boxes it's missing (for my needs) includes SD card port, and front light.

Hence, my hesitation about pulling the trigger. Can anyone substantiate or lend credence to the rumors of an enhanced version, and if so, is there any indication about the addition of either SD Card capability or frontlights?

Initially there was talk of a pro version of the Note coming out later this year. From what I recall the only differences from the current version of Note would be increased onboard memory, 64 GB instead of the current 32, and the addition of an HDMI port.

Haven't heard any word of the Note Pro in quite a while so I don't know if that is still on the table.

However, there was more recent talk of an upcoming 9.7" device with a frontlight and SD card slot:

Onyx also showed off a new 9.7" ereader called the Onyx Boox Note S. It has a new OS, but an old low-res screen.

Note S

CPU: 1.6GHz quad-core
Screen: 9.7", 1200 x 825 resolution
Frontlight: optional
OS: Android 6.0
RAM: 1GB
Storage: 16GB, microSD card slot
Touchscreen: stylus, capacitive touch
Connectivity: Wifi, BT
Ports: microHDMI
Speaker, mic
Battery: 2.8Ah
Size: 249 x 177 x 8mm
Weight: 380 grams

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/...ctronics-fair/

[cqman]

Not in the near future (Within one year).

When a company was planning to produce a new model, there were always some rumors of potential different details to test the water.

For some previous "rumors":

1. Max2 without touch screen: Vetoed
2. Note with HDMI: Vetoed
3. Note with SD card: Slim in the future version. I guess it depends on the feedback of current Note users.
4. Max2 and Note with front lights: Never unless E Ink provides a feasible solution.

[gimble]

I think the demand can be great for an updated version after a year or so if they do the following:

1. Add physical buttons (including a home button)
2. SD card expansion
3. Update their specs further
4. Open source their reader and note taking app to allow the community to address & fix issues directly. This will free up their development team to focus on firmware updates & improvements.

[gandoe]

Thank you all for the comments and info. So it doesn't appear there will be significantly different choices within a one year timeframe. Now the decision is whether the current offer is acceptable for the investment.

Ed

[mdp]

Originally Posted by gimble

1. Add physical buttons (including a home button)

I think "Home" is already set, in the paradigmatic framework, as "Long press of Back".

Originally Posted by gimble

3. Update their specs further

How? What do you miss?

[gimble]

Originally Posted by mdp

I think "Home" is already set, in the paradigmatic framework, as "Long press of Back".

Yeah, but it isn't implemented. Full button mapping control + more physical buttons is needed.

Originally Posted by mdp

How? What do you miss?

A bigger battery. Faster processor, more RAM, even just catching up with the current phone hardware. Ideally, considering the price of these devices, they should be able to work as portable development/testing environments when cut away from the "cloud".

[citytrader]

Originally Posted by gandoe

However, it's also a significant investment....more than my Samsung tablet, and more than my smartphone. For the over 5 bill price, I would hope that it would tick all of the boxes, and not just some. The boxes it's missing (for my needs) includes SD card port, and front light.

Front light could be something handy but why do you need a SD Card port when you have more than 20GB of store available?... is more than enough for books.

[Randy11]

Originally Posted by citytrader

Front light could be something handy but why do you need a SD Card port when you have more than 20GB of store available?... is more than enough for books.

I invite you to read all discussions about the SDCard on the Max2 thread forum. I can cite : security is my main concern (no network, no cloud), easy to manage some type of data (personal or professional, the both can't exist in the same support sometimes), extend the capacity of your storage, use the SDcard port of your portable computer to transfer the data on the SDCard useful in travel, unlimited read/write access on the SDCard without risk because you have always the data somewhere else (from 2012 all my books are on a SDCard in my M92), you can crash the OS during an update without risk to loose the data because you have removed the SDCard before to make the update, etc.

[Drew22]

Onyx barely brought Note on the market and people already think about Note 2 . That's funny.

Looking back at the company's history, there is no episode where they released an updated e-reader in the same dimension category so soon. To bring something new in the 10 inch category Onyx and E-Ink need a technological breakthrough which won't happen over night. For the time being, what they have accomplished is incorporated in Note and Max2. Even if they would make the effort to bring a slightly improved Note (with a stronger battery or more memory), there are simply not much margins left to increase the price. Not many people would give like 100 € more for a bit of memory or some other marginal improvement...

Hopefully, the next generation of e-readers will not only aim to be faster but also to include colours at an acceptable resolution (minimum 200 dpi).

[gimble]

Originally Posted by Drew22

Looking back at the company's history, there is no episode where they released an updated e-reader in the same dimension category so soon.

Actually, they have done so with the Max series. They released Onyx Max in May 2016, followed by Max Carta in early 2017 and Max2 at the end of 2017. Expecting an update next year isn't unrealistic, especially considering that Onyx's sales have improved and they are expanding/refreshing their entire product line.

Originally Posted by Drew22

there are simply not much margins left to increase the price. Not many people would give like 100 € more for a bit of memory or some other marginal improvement...

Hopefully, the next generation of e-readers will not only aim to be faster but also to include colours at an acceptable resolution (minimum 200 dpi).

At these price points, they cant just be simple ereaders, and have to work as productive devices to find a viable market. For that, keeping up with performance requirements is important.

Hi-res colour tech would be great, but it is still a few years out unless other competitors emerge with production ready screens very soon to push eink technology forward at a faster space.

[citytrader]

Originally Posted by Randy11

I invite you to read all discussions about the SDCard on the Max2 thread forum. I can cite : security is my main concern (no network, no cloud), easy to manage some type of data (personal or professional, the both can't exist in the same support sometimes), extend the capacity of your storage, use the SDcard port of your portable computer to transfer the data on the SDCard useful in travel, unlimited read/write access on the SDCard without risk because you have always the data somewhere else (from 2012 all my books are on a SDCard in my M92), you can crash the OS during an update without risk to loose the data because you have removed the SDCard before to make the update, etc.

All you wrote above can be easily done with USB OTG, all people that need this should send an email to Onyx support and ask to solve this bug in the kernel as I did and problem solved, you don't need an SDCard.

NOTE: The file android.hardware.usb.host.xml is present in my Note because I checked through adb.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by citytrader

All you wrote above can be easily done with USB OTG

No, USB OTG cannot fully replace an SD-Card: it is less practical. It's a patch.

Originally Posted by citytrader

and ask to solve this bug in the kernel

Which bug in the kernel? What did I miss?

Originally Posted by citytrader

why do you need a SD Card port when you have more than 20GB of store available?... is more than enough for books.

Not for books. Apart from video: maps. The maps I keep on my phone are in the order of ~4GB (each). Etc.

[citytrader]

Originally Posted by mdp

No, USB OTG cannot fully replace an SD-Card: it is less practical. It's a patch.

Any external SDCARD have much less speed compared to the internal one in all the devices I tested because of the crappy controllers the devices uses.

A USB OTG is not a patch, I use it a lot with my phones/tablets when I work and I need to exchange information with my customers, is very useful.

The exSDCARD is used to take down the device's costs, when I had my Galaxy S7 with 128GB (it costed a bit more than a 32GB), and I never had the need to use an external SD (even adding movies) and I'm a person that tweaks a lot my devices, changing kernels, tweaking the rom, etc.

Originally Posted by mdp

Which bug in the kernel? What did I miss?

I attached the USB OTG and didn't work with the Note.
In all the devices I had where USB OTG didn't work, was a simple problem in the kernel or something missing in the ROM, for sure something the Onyx engineers are doing something wrong.

Originally Posted by mdp

Not for books. Apart from video: maps. The maps I keep on my phone are in the order of ~4GB (each). Etc.

I have diverse tablets and each one has its own purpose, I don't believe this device is for watching videos at all and for the case of the maps, I don't know how the Note could be useful without a GPS...

23GB for reading are plenty for doing whatever I like, if I need encrypted information, I use Boxcryptor.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by citytrader

and for the case of the maps, I don't know how the Note could be useful without a GPS...

That's odd. None of the paper maps which I use have a GPS function, and, yet, they have proven extremely useful to me over the years.

When out hiking, even when I happen to have a digital map, I always carry a paper map with me in case my digital device gets broken or loses power.

Paper maps are also good for viewing in direct sunlight. And this is what makes the Note especially good for maps, the fact that one can view it in direct sunlight.

Also, the lower power consumption means that one mightn't have to worry so much about the battery dying on an extended trip. I am so glad that the Note has a version of Android that has allowed me to install one of my hiking map apps.

As it happens, I have never consciously used GPS. I usually have the location feature switched off on my devices.

The first time I ever used GPS was by accident last year while hiking in Japan. I turned my tablet on to have a look at a map. I wanted to zoom in on an area closer than my paper map was showing. Was surprised to see this blue pointer right about where I was standing. Took me a minute to realize what it was and how it had got there. I had had to enable my location earlier that day to download the map and then had forgotten to turn the location feature off.