Your best tips & tricks, Onyx Boox devices

[norweger]

1) Converting text to epub

It's usually best to read epub, so whenever you have a long text to read, upload it to Google Docs on your computer, and access Google Docs on your Onyx, and click save as epub, and download the epub, and it's so much easier to work with. (I did it on the Note3)

I'll post more when I've got it, but I'd like to hear your tips.

[DuskyRose]

I use Windows 10, and use Calibre to convert everything to epub. Then I can just plug in my Boox Nova 2 and the program will recognize it.

I could load them that way, (Send to device) but I usually save the books I want to transfer into another file and just copy them over to the Nova file with the file name of my choice.

Plugging it into Calibre lets me create a column in the program so I know what I have loaded on the Nova without opening it. I can mark that column 'yes'. I can see what I have on there, and what's new I want to load up.

Side loading is just copy and wait for them to load. Nova recognizes them pretty quickly.

I have noticed that when deleting a lot of books, the storage space doesn't seem to register for reuse completely. So I've found that to reclaim a lot of space I save the files on it that I want to replace, then format the device. That seems to free up large chunks of space. Then copy everything back over. (Like pictures and fonts.)

The Nova is about the easiest matchine to set back up among all the others I've had to format to factory specs.

[winstonma]

To me, it depends on where the text comes from

• Web Article
  I would save the content in Pocket and open it using Pocket Android App. Pocket supports reading resume.
• Small Note/Text (<500 word, which you can finish reading in one shot)
  I would save the content in Google Keep (I think Evernote is good but the free version limited 2 devices) and open it using Google Keep Android App.
  If I have to send small amount of text, I would also use Telegram, open a group of one (first open a group of 2, and then kick the extra person). Then send the text onto that group (from PC, or Android), then you can read the text by opening Telegram on your Boox. I also use this method for transferring apk files.

I personally prefer cloud-based solution because I could send data from device and read it anywhere. Still, if you have a large amount of text (500+ word), then you might consider Calibre solution if you need to keep the reading progress for reading resume.

Hope this helps.

[Stremon]

My trick to make the Neo Reader background grey
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=336677

[kandwo]

I have created a private telegram channel to which I upload everything I want to use on my Nova 3 and Hisense A5 Pro: fonts, books, apks, etc.

That way it's instantly available for both devices.

I also use the sync progress feature of Koreader on both devices, so that I can read on my phone and seamlessly continue from the same page on the Nova.

I think I'll start using Pocket to read articles on my e-ink devices rather than in the browser on my laptop.

[winstonma]

Originally Posted by kandwo

I have created a private telegram channel to which I upload everything I want to use on my Nova 3 and Hisense A5 Pro: fonts, books, apks, etc.

That way it's instantly available for both devices.

I also use the sync progress feature of Koreader on both devices, so that I can read on my phone and seamlessly continue from the same page on the Nova.

I think I'll start using Pocket to read articles on my e-ink devices rather than in the browser on my laptop.

Great. I'd use Dropbox + DropSync to store static content (books, apk always change version). Store the books in a folder within dropbox and use dropsync to sync the books across all my devices.

I would use Telegram to transfer apk and clipboard message (e.g. SMS verification code/one time password, too lazy to retype).

[norweger]

Originally Posted by kandwo

I have created a private telegram channel to which I upload everything I want to use on my Nova 3 and Hisense A5 Pro: fonts, books, apks, etc.

I didn't even know we could load third party fonts. I would surely like to try Helvetica.

@winstonma. Dropbox and Dropsync, great solution!

Another thing with Onyx. When reading some textbook, it's really handy to read it in NeoReader and scribble away in the actual e-textbook, while reading. Like you would in a physical textbook with a highlighter. I have tried some with note in a split screen window, but when short notes suffice, writing directly in the book trumps having a separate note.

[winstonma]

Originally Posted by norweger

I didn't even know we could load third party fonts. I would surely like to try Helvetica.

@winstonma. Dropbox and Dropsync, great solution!

Another thing with Onyx. When reading some textbook, it's really handy to read it in NeoReader and scribble away in the actual e-textbook, while reading. Like you would in a physical textbook with a highlighter. I have tried some with note in a split screen window, but when short notes suffice, writing directly in the book trumps having a separate note.

The textbook you are referring is the scanned one or regular epub/pdf? Actually I am not sure how to use custom font in Neoreader but I use Moon+ Reader and I use custom font.

Never use highlight feature so I really can't comment here.

[norweger]

Originally Posted by winstonma

The textbook you are referring is the scanned one or regular epub/pdf? Actually I am not sure how to use custom font in Neoreader but I use Moon+ Reader and I use custom font.

Never use highlight feature so I really can't comment here.

I actually get my textbooks scanned for pay. It works like a charm on simple textbooks, but there are niggles on those with pictures.

In textbooks with with pictures, the epub gets broken up whenever there is a big regular picture. I can surely read such epubs even though the text is broken up where there are pictures, but it could be more smooth. Anyways, I slap the pictures in the World's Most Wonderful App: AnkiDroid, and that works fine enough.

I also get all the scanned books in pdf format. Regular pdf (like 2.2 GB), pdf with OCR (like 0.5 GB) and pdf with ocr enhanced (0.25 GB). That's the biggest book. Usually the numbers are smaller.

Reading a PDF ain't in any way as good as epubs, naturally. The fonts on the epub in the native Onyx Boox reader though, that works perfectly fine.

Thanks for asking, btw.

[macallik]

Anyone else care to share any tips? I got my device this week

[Markismus]

I use TotalCommander with the SFTP plugin to go to my fileserver on the LAN and OpenVPN to connect to my LAN from everywhere*. Both on my Onyx Note Pro and Hisense A5 Pro CC, I've got all the files that I can wish for: Basically the 64GB on the NotePro is a nice buffer, so that I won't have to delete anything I want to keep close. Also backups are easily transfered back to fileserver.


_____________________________
* You'll need ssh access to your fileserver for LAN, a VPN server on your router or fileserver and VPN client on your device.

[macallik]

Two weeks in & here are the things that made a big difference for me:

Pocket
I have already been using Pocket to read articles for 2-3 years. I highly recommend it for news articles as it also strips out the ads. Swipe right to left to enable page flipping which is a better navigation option for eInk readers

Alternatively, add 'Scrolling buttons' to your Navigation Ball to have the ability to have dedicated buttons to flip the page. The cool part is that they are separated from the Navigation ball and you can place the buttons anywhere on the screen.

Print to PDF in Chrome
For long, resource-rich webpages that don't play well with Pocket, I have started printing to pdf on my computer (Ctrl + P) and syncing them to my Boox via Google Drive + AutoSync.

Neoreader can work with even the crappiest pdf layouts, but I was pleasantly surprised with how the Chrome print-to-pdf strips out a lot of the clutter. You can strip margins and delete headers/footers for a more minimalist document. Great for blogs, webpages with a lot of graphics, and deep dives into forum threads and subsequent responses.

[rfog]

I convert all my reading ebooks into PDF, custom font at 16px, custom header/footer with chapter progress, 12x16 page size.

Then I use Dropbox + FolderSync to sync the reading folder between devices. To maintain sync reading position, I bookmark current page (or scribble it) and then run FolderSync (or let it run automatically at 3:00 AM).

Main problem here is if I change device, I need to kill NeoReader before get bookmarks/scribbles updated, and sometimes I need to kill several times despite the fact that it acknowledges the changes because on book opening it shows an updating progress percentage.

And since new ePub viewer shows remaining pages in chapter, and seems hyphenation is done right, I'm thinking to go back to use ePub for reading if I find a way to set a reading position synchronisation (page number in an external note is not useful because each device has its own internal pagination).

[carltonbp]

Boox work with lots of bluetooth remotes. Get a little bluetooth controller and you can turn pages with that.

[underscore]

i think new "my daily organizer" from My Deep Guide is worth mentioning here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXjYHtfDP6A