You Can Now Order Pine64’s Linux eReader

[Quoth]

The Kobo eink use Linux, are easily free from adverts and subscriptions.

An ereader is like a CD audio player, a VHS, A DVD player or a dishwasher. It's a single use niche appliance, unlike a smart phone, tablet, laptop or so called "Smart" TV.

I'm convinced eink is too slow for decent note taking and for most applications other than reading non-interactive text. That's after years of use of different makes.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The Kobo eink use Linux, are easily free from adverts and subscriptions.

An ereader is like a CD audio player, a VHS, A DVD player or a dishwasher. It's a single use niche appliance, unlike a smart phone, tablet, laptop or so called "Smart" TV.

I'm convinced eink is too slow for decent note taking and for most applications other than reading non-interactive text. That's after years of use of different makes.

Try a Palma 2 or any other recent Onyx Boox device using BSR. I find scrolling works fine on my Palma.

I also think that note taking works great on my Boox devices. I don't know what kind of functions you miss?

[Quoth]

The reMarkable notetaking, or Basic Notebooks worked on Kobo, but that's hardly more than drawing. No real-time preview / conversion to actual text like GBoard handwriting, or Nebo on Android (not eink Android).

Plenty of 3rd party apps don't work on the expensive Boox. You can have a basic eink for novels and a decent tablet for everything else for the same money.

I support "open" hardware and software, but the are better things to put the effort into than another eink ereader or an another attempt to use eink for something other than reading. I also tried text editing with BT Keyboard on my Android eink and it works but is pointless.

I'll stick to reading, and when proofing I'll do big highlights and very little text on the touch keyboard on my eink. There are now OLED & LCD with screens as good as eink with a front light on and battery life comparable or better than Sage or Oasis. A modular open source Linux tablet would be nice, but only if a decent matte screen and not designed by idiots.

What's Onyx boox battery life like when using the BSR continiously? Even non-BSR eink uses dramatically more power with anything interactive. The normal low power on eink is only when reading with no front light, no BT and no WiFi, because almost asleep till the page turn.

[haertig]

I do computer things on ... a computer (running Linux, of course). But I have no need or desire to do computer things on an eReader, or tablet for that matter. I consider these as single purpose devices (the eReader), and app-running devices (the tablet and smart phones).

If we didn't already have a ton of very good eReaders and tablets available to us, this community oriented device might be of some interest. But the fact is, we have our choice of some very good and very cheap eReaders. We may argue about the minor differences in one vs. the other, but the bottom line is they all do a remarkable job of displaying books for reading.

I predict this new device will end up going nowhere. You have to think about who the target market is. This appears to be Linux folk who like to mess with technical operating system stuff. That describes me to a tee. But I don't want one of these. I don't see any need for the development. It's a solution in search of a problem. Sorry.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Plenty of 3rd party apps don't work on the expensive Boox.

Oh? I'm not questioning you, I'm just asking what the issue is.

The Pine64 seems to me to be asking to be orphaned. In a world where enthusiasm seems to have a half-life of about a week a long life does not seem likely.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Renate

Oh? I'm not questioning you, I'm just asking what the issue is.

I guessing some won't work because it's eink, some because of version of Android, some due to changes needed to make Android work on eink.
My experience is with Android 8 on the Boyue Likebook Mars (phoenixed as Meebook) where one app even stopped working because the Chrome stuff was wrong version, though that app still worked on Android 8 phone and Playstore did allow updates in general.

I got my Mars for the Local Library loans and it did work. The Google Playstore Books still working when Borrowbox stopped working. Lichess and K9 mail and Musicolet worked just about, but there was always the issue of some GUI element being invisible. No version of Solitaire worked. The Google Gboard was unusable for handwriting (but works on some ancient phones even an earlier Android just with a finger).

Originally Posted by Renate

The Pine64 seems to me to be asking to be orphaned. In a world where enthusiasm seems to have a half-life of about a week a long life does not seem likely.

No argument. If you want an eink "Tablet" then Boox does seem best show in town, but isn't cheap and I'm sceptical it's as good as OLED or LCD Android with a matte screen.