Full Android Tablet with E-Ink Screen

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by MysticKatDaddy

I read that the Onyx tablets have some special software that makes regular android apps more visible on an e-ink screen so I'm currently looking at the Onyx Boox M96+. I can get that on amazon and then return it to them if I don't like it.

It's called the A2 mode, or the no-flash refresh mode, or variations thereof. It stops the screen from flashing and allows its to scroll / move like a tablet LCD screen. It is essential for browsing and reading pdfs on an e-ink screen. I use it on a Nook ST. I would not consider an e-ink "tablet" without this mode.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Rizla

It's called the A2 mode, or the no-flash refresh mode, or variations thereof. It stops the screen from flashing and allows its to scroll / move like a tablet LCD screen. It is essential for browsing and reading pdfs on an e-ink screen. I use it on a Nook ST. I would not consider an e-ink "tablet" without this mode.

The Boyue devices do this automatically.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rizla

It's called the A2 mode, or the no-flash refresh mode, or variations thereof. It stops the screen from flashing and allows its to scroll / move like a tablet LCD screen. It is essential for browsing and reading pdfs on an e-ink screen. I use it on a Nook ST. I would not consider an e-ink "tablet" without this mode.

A2 mode is, however, a 1-bit display mode, ie black and white only, rather than the usual 16 greyscales. The faster refresh speed therefore comes at a price. Not an issue for text-only applications, but very definitely noticeable for PDFs that contain images.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A2 mode is, however, a 1-bit display mode, ie black and white only, rather than the usual 16 greyscales. The faster refresh speed therefore comes at a price. Not an issue for text-only applications, but very definitely noticeable for PDFs that contain images.

You just toggle it when it's a problem.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rizla

You just toggle it when it's a problem.

Certainly. My post was for the benefit of readers who may have been unaware of what A2 mode was. Rather than saying "It is essential for browsing and reading pdfs on an e-ink screen", I'd prefer to qualify that and add "... provided that they're text-only PDFs". A much better solution is of course to read your PDFs on a device with a screen large enough to remove the necessity of scrolling. There are a number of eInk devices with 9.7" screens available.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Rizla

You just toggle it when it's a problem.

Or use a Boyue which does it automatically. I had an Onyx Boox T68 and thought that eink just didn't work well with scrolling. I got a T62 and scrolling through text is readable. I scroll through settings in apps and scroll through my books in Calibre Companion with no problem using list view.

[MysticKatDaddy]

Just an update. I did try an Onyx Boox but found there was only room for 1 or 2 apps so it did not fit my needs. Also websites would not show up correctly or be unreadable. I even tried converting a nook but that didn't work either. I finally heard about the Dasung E-Ink monitor and have ordered one of those. I'll at least be able to use it with my laptop or desktop.

It doesn't look like there will be anything decent in e-ink that will allow you to browse the web, use apps like facebook and twitter, and red email for years to come yet.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MysticKatDaddy

It doesn't look like there will be anything decent in e-ink that will allow you to browse the web, use apps like facebook and twitter, and red email for years to come yet.

Have you looked at the 13.3" Onyx Boox Max?

[404 Not found]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you looked at the 13.3" Onyx Boox Max?

There's also the "TheGoodE-Reader.com" 's first crowdfunded 13.3" ereader, which actually seems to have about the same specs for the same price...
Check https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/1...r/x/11309348#/

Originally Posted by MysticKatDaddy

It doesn't look like there will be anything decent in e-ink that will allow you to browse the web, use apps like facebook and twitter, and red email for years to come yet.

I've been doing that for 6 months now on Icarus illumina XL 8". Sure you have to make a few tries before finding the right version of apk you need, but there's almost always one working : I got gmail and facebook Lite for instance, both work very well.

[frantoo]

I have the same problem: chronic migraine with severe sensitivity to light. On bad days, even a minute at my mobile or computer screen will trigger a migraine. So I am desperately searching for alternatives and I'm willing to sacrifice a lot of comfort for it. It just has to work mostly stable and enable me to use some apps, the browser and an external keyboard.

404 - how satisfied are you with the stability of the XL?
Have you tried using an external keyboard with it?

I've been using the Onyx Boox i86 for some time, but it annoys me.

- There is too few space for apps (I have a news magazine app, facebook, facebook messenger, an office app and that's it).
- The browser keeps crashing regularly
- The facebook app keeps crashing whenever there is a video preview in the feed (pretty often)
- Other apps crash sometimes as well
- It keeps saying "nearly no phone space left". I suspect that might be a cause for crashes as well. Does anybody know if that means disk space or RAM?
- Cannot install apps on or move to external MicroSD card.

I have updated to the latest firmware, but that did not help at all.

Does anybody have any tipps for getting the i86 to run more stable (e.g. has anyone tried updating to Android 4.4) or if any other Ereader would be better?

P.S.: I also have the Dasung eInk monitor, but that also does not run very stable.

Kind regards, Fran

[vickylahkarbytes]

There is another way of doing it in an Android,
You can extract the text from the e book and make a pdf of the same with a much less brighter background like grey and read it in the Android. I do the same using the moon reader. I have attached a snapshot of it.
Problem I had with kindle is that highlighting text and exporting is a real problem with kindle. it saves the highlighted part in a separate file which sometimes the windows cannot identify.

[frantoo]

For me, it's not so much about reading ebooks, that works fine on any reader. I would like to have an eInk (e.g. screen which does not shine light into my eyes) alternative for browsing the internet or using apps like a news app, Facebook, messanger etc.

[404 Not found]

Hi Frantoo,

Originally Posted by frantoo

404 - how satisfied are you with the stability of the XL?
Have you tried using an external keyboard with it?

That's definitely the best Android e-ink device I've had, but as with any device of the kind, it only has 1 Ghz CPU and 512 ram so you can't expect it to deal with more than 2 (not too heavy) apps in multitasking.

It used to be very fast (when I did the playstore update and had it wiped for instance) but now I probably have too many apps or I don't know (I have 47), so it slowed just a little in general, and a loooooot on Chrome (btw I tried "Brave" and it's really truly faster, so it might only have to do with Chrome).

Otherwise it works quite seamlessly with CoolReader, EZpdf and WPS office. I'm really amazed by the latter : it's much much faster than Gdocs (but you have to export as .docx) although just like Chrome, it used to be much faster.

I have a micro-usb android keyboard, designed for phones or small tablets, and it works really well. That's actually one of my "dreams come true".

Originally Posted by frantoo

- There is too few space for apps (I have a news magazine app, facebook, facebook messenger, an office app and that's it).
- The browser keeps crashing regularly
- The facebook app keeps crashing whenever there is a video preview in the feed (pretty often)
- Other apps crash sometimes as well
- It keeps saying "nearly no phone space left". I suspect that might be a cause for crashes as well. Does anybody know if that means disk space or RAM?
- Cannot install apps on or move to external MicroSD card.

Yep, too few, not enough : nobody is really betting on these devices except the crowd of funders. It's probably the proof that it is really useful and also that it is not really profitable... You can use Link2SD or Msgr for instance, to have the internal set apps moved to SDcard. Facebook Lite version is actually working quite well

[lensmann]

Originally Posted by 404 Not found

I have a micro-usb android keyboard, designed for phones or small tablets, and it works really well. That's actually one of my "dreams come true".

That's very interesting. Could you give more details on which brand your keyboard is, and where you got it from? I've seen reviews from people saying that they couldn't get USB OTG running on the Illumina XL (or the Inkbook 8, which is the same hardware), so if there's a keyboard which has been proven to work that would be very useful.

I'm in the market for an ereader in the 8- to 10-inch range. I will be using it to reply to emails and do light editing via WPS Office in addition to reading large-format PDFs, so getting one which I can use with a keyboard is quite critical. The difficulty is that the readers which support Bluetooth or USB OTG also seem to be stuck on Android 4.0, which means that Dropbox (and other similar apps) won't install. The XL would be a good fit if it's possible to get a keyboard to work.

[404 Not found]

That one looks very much like the one I have. I think it's the same (except mine is AZERTY). There's no brand on it, wherever I look. Just search for "micro usb android keyboard" and pretty much all the images results are similar to my keyboard.