Onyx Boox Note 10.3 is available Now

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Possible is an interesting word. It is possible to use the flexible E Ink Mobius with a glass front and then use a Front light but the weight advantage would be lost. (Personally I think this would be a good tradeoff.) Many vendors depend on E Ink themselves to supply the full screen including the front light and they no longer list front lights for 9.7" screens even though they have made them in the past. The way a front light works is to place the LED lights on the edge of a light guide and depend on uniform distribution. Some people already complain when the light isn't exactly uniform and then gets much more difficult as screen sizes increase. I do think that most of these problems can be overcome with current offerings possibly with lights on several edges instead of just one. But again uniform light is the goal.

Dale

To get the light even, the light layer also has a fine pattern etched into one surface to scatter some light back into the layer in specific areas. The light evenness is thus finely tuned for a completely flat layer. If the layer bends, then the light will no longer be even because the internal reflections will change significantly. Some areas will get darker and some brighter. I think that is the major limitation to using the light layer over a e-ink screen that can bend (whether from manufactured waviness or from the whole device bending when held). I think that the bending problem is more serious than the problem of distributing light over a bigger area.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Although I wouldn't really want to watch many videos on either device, [...]
Curiously, the sound quality was better on the original Max than on the Note on which the sound quality was somewhat choppy

Your penitence will be to sing "Summertime" thrice.

I had the definite sensation that the speakers' quality was sensibly better on the MaxCarta than on the Max2.
Are you using the embedded speaker or magic-working (= no-jack) headphones?

On a different topic, still within comparisons:
would you run an 'adb shell cat /proc/cpuinfo', and report especially on the line that starts with "Hardware"?
Bonus points if you also run Geekbench3 (internet must be enabled, because the benchmark results are uploaded to populate the database for consultation). "3" is the interesting one (not 4).

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by mdp

Your penitence will be to sing "Summertime" thrice.

It was snowing this morning where I live. Summer in the park with my Note seems like a distant dream... But one to look forward to.

Originally Posted by mdp

I had the definite sensation that the speakers' quality was sensibly better on the MaxCarta than on the Max2.
Are you using the embedded speaker or magic-working (= no-jack) headphones?

Have only tried with the speakers on each device and with YouTube videos. I will also give it a try with BT headphones and an audio file when I get home to get a better sense of where the problem lies.

Could very well be the speakers on the Note. The sound is very choppy, which is strange given that the video images flow fairly smoothly.

Originally Posted by mdp

On a different topic, still within comparisons:
would you run an 'adb shell cat /proc/cpuinfo', and report especially on the line that starts with "Hardware"?

I have tried. When I open up the command window in the ADB platform tools, the Note does not show up when I type in "adb devices". Not sure why. It works on my Max and one of my tablets. For some strange reason, the Note is not showing up even though I have it in debugging mode and set up for MTP transfers.

Originally Posted by mdp

Bonus points if you also run Geekbench3 (internet must be enabled, because the benchmark results are uploaded to populate the database for consultation). "3" is the interesting one (not 4).

You'll have to explain the process a little more clearly for me. Not really sure how to run such a test.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by rkomar

To get the light even, the light layer also has a fine pattern etched into one surface to scatter some light back into the layer in specific areas. The light evenness is thus finely tuned for a completely flat layer. If the layer bends, then the light will no longer be even because the internal reflections will change significantly. Some areas will get darker and some brighter. I think that is the major limitation to using the light layer over a e-ink screen that can bend (whether from manufactured waviness or from the whole device bending when held). I think that the bending problem is more serious than the problem of distributing light over a bigger area.

Good points, I think it is a given that the light layer cannot bend which is why it much be backed with glass that does not bend, even a little bit although temporary flexing is preferable to breaking. It must also be transparent or all is lost. Gorilla glass is the standard practice these days but the back layer where the E Ink lies doesn't need to be glass and it is the one that usually breaks. I do think the bigger area is a significant issue given the bending problem cannot be tolerated.

Dale

[SnowMuffler]

Anyone that ordered from ereaderstore that didn't receive their cover in the first wave receive theirs yet? I was originally told covers were coming in the week after i received my Note and it would be shipped then.

2 weeks later no cover and again back to no replies from emails. I understand the delays, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.

[rpvreviews]

still not in amazon, when asked says too much demand, so no date for when available in amazon. Don't want to order from ereaderstore as it has too many issues to delivery to USA

[iFlak]

Originally Posted by rpvreviews

still not in amazon, when asked says too much demand, so no date for when available in amazon. Don't want to order from ereaderstore as it has too many issues to delivery to USA

I was in the same boat. The date that I needed the ereader/writing tablet has come and gone, (A big project at work where I needed to take a lot of notes) and another is fast approaching. Their CES sales pitch worked and I wanted a Note badly, but instead I ordered the Max 2 because I was impatient. Sadly, it was to big for me and I sent it back. All inquiries into when the Note would be available were met with dates that never came and then complete silence. Finally, in my frustration, I ordered a reMarkable. It's not the ereader I want but it seems perfectly capable of taking and storing notes.

I actually feel better because now I can wait for reviews to make sure the Note lives up to it's promises and maybe order it later in the year. I know what I'm getting at least with the reMarkable, (Good note taker/crappy ereader) plus it's on sale right now for $100.00 USD off. It also has 2-5 day DHL shipping and they respond to Facebook inquiries almost immediately. We'll see how it goes.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by SnowMuffler

Anyone that ordered from ereaderstore that didn't receive their cover in the first wave receive theirs yet? I was originally told covers were coming in the week after i received my Note and it would be shipped then.

2 weeks later no cover and again back to no replies from emails. I understand the delays, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.

No cover here yet either. However, I am not too worried. I imagine ti will come once the initial rush has calmed down. Hopefully, the extra stylus which I also ordered and which did not arrive with my Note will also come when my cover eventually ships.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Have only tried with the speakers on each device and with YouTube videos. I will also give it a try with BT headphones and an audio file when I get home to get a better sense of where the problem lies.

Could very well be the speakers on the Note. The sound is very choppy, which is strange given that the video images flow fairly smoothly.

Well, I have since performed a couple of short audio experiments with the Note.

When paired with BT headphones, the choppiness of the audio persisted when watching videos on YouTube or Twitter. However, the audio was fine with the BT headphones when watching a videos on the BBC. It was also fine when listening to a music MP3 file.

I then repeated the exact same tests using the internal speakers on the Note. Sound was choppy when watching YouTube and Twitter videos, but was fine when listening to a music file or watching a news video on the BBC.

Conclusion: nothing wrong with the speakers on the device.

Not sure why there is some choppiness to the audio when watching YouTube or Twitter videos. However, I was watching them in the browser and not in their own apps. Perhaps watching them in the YouTube app would improve matters. However, as I don't intend to watch many YouTube videos on the device, I am not overly worried.

It's just good to know that the speakers appear to be fine. I don't anticipate using them much, but it is wonderful to have that option available if needed.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

When paired with BT headphones, the choppiness of the audio persisted when watching videos on YouTube or Twitter. However, the audio was fine with the BT headphones when watching a videos on the BBC. It was also fine when listening to a music MP3 file.
[...]
Not sure why there is some choppiness to the audio when watching YouTube or Twitter videos. However, I was watching them in the browser and not in their own apps

The web page of youtube is extremely heavy javascript wise, and it's the ugliest thing to run on mobile. It chokes even on higher-end devices.

Originally Posted by Question Mark

I then repeated the exact same tests using the internal speakers on the Note. Sound was choppy when watching YouTube and Twitter videos, but was fine when listening to a music file or watching a news video on the BBC. // Conclusion: nothing wrong with the speakers on the device.

It's just good to know that the speakers appear to be fine. I don't anticipate using them much, but it is wonderful to have that option available if needed.

Good to know. I remember the quality of the speakers in the MaxCarta as "nothing to note, work surprisingly well" and the quality of the speakers in the Max2 as giving faint, unclear output. But I did not test and compare them properly.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

I have tried. When I open up the command window in the ADB platform tools, the Note does not show up when I type in "adb devices". Not sure why. It works on my Max and one of my tablets. For some strange reason, the Note is not showing up even though I have it in debugging mode and set up for MTP transfers.

I think it is pretty typical. On Linux, we sometimes have to add devices on
/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
using lines like
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="18d1", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
or
ATTR{idVendor}=="04e8", ATTR{idProduct}=="1234", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
(we get those "vendor" and "product" values from the `lsusb` command)

In general, you will find many threads like the following (which could well contain the solution):
Android device does not show up in adb list (on StackOverflow)
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...up-in-adb-list

But you do not need a desktop tu run commands on Android, you can install for example (I use it)
Term.apk
from jackpal, who has the project page at
https://github.com/jackpal/Android-Terminal-Emulator
and the package for installation is available on both play.google.com and at
https://jackpal.github.io/Android-Terminal-Emulator/

Originally Posted by Question Mark

You'll have to explain the process a little more clearly for me. Not really sure how to run such a test.

Geekbench 3 is (should be - maybe access it from the tablet, so the website sees that you want the Android version) available at
http://www.geekbench.com/geekbench3/
I see that it is more difficult to find the APK for geekbench3, but a google search returns a few results, among which
https://www.apksum.com/app/Geekbench...labs.geekbench

Geekbench 4 returns different values (cannot be compared to those of 3), plus had some other limitation I cannot remember.

If you want to scan an APK after downloading and before installing, I see that a Quora answer returns that virustotal.com - which you know - also scans APKges, but also nviso.be and andrototal.org exist.

to compare results with other systems - a Pentium3, a Nokia phone, a server installation, the latest Intel or the first ARM - check the database of results at
http://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench3/
the following page is the geekbench 3 search for Onyx
http://browser.geekbench.com/geekben...2%9C%93&q=onyx
those Jan 2, 2018, for example, are yours truly.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by mdp

Good to know. I remember the quality of the speakers in the MaxCarta as "nothing to note, work surprisingly well" and the quality of the speakers in the Max2 as giving faint, unclear output. But I did not test and compare them properly.

Well, I didn't do extensive testing and I'm certainly no audiophile. Just watched a few videos and listened to a songs with BT headphones and with the internal speakers. Just wanted to make sure there were no problems with the speakers because the choppiness while watching YouTube almost made it sound like there was a loose wire. Thankfully, that seems not to be the case.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by mdp

In general, you will find many threads like the following (which could well contain the solution):
Android device does not show up in adb list (on StackOverflow)
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...up-in-adb-list...

Thank you for all that. However, it may be several weeks now until I can look into it as things will get very busy at work for me now until about June.

Cheers.

[Waiting4somethin]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

2. There was a fair bit of flashing as the page loaded and each time it refreshed when scrolling.

3. Some photographs on a regular news site didn't load.[/indent]

Did you try android 4.4 for the Max? I’m not familiar with the benefits of firmwares released subsequently to the product launch, but I saw this post:

I have just upgraded my Boox Max from v1.8.1 to the 4.4 and it is amazingly better! The device is much faster and all my apps just run, no glitches. Before for every app installed from Google Play I had to try, re-try, re-try... be so patient to finally start the app for the first time. In 4.4 the apps just start from the first time

I cannot believe it is such a huge difference. I am even suspecting now that there was something f* in the firmware on my device from the beginning so perhaps I should have re-flash it long ago, even with 1.8.1 to just fix it.

The 4.4 Android works fine. The new browser is so much quicker (finally usable to say) and it is actually very convenient to read mobile websites - wow I will actually use it to read all my favourite news at coffee breaks

I don’t know, maybe that helps your device run smoother.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Waiting4somethin

Did you try android 4.4 for the Max? I’m not familiar with the benefits of firmwares released subsequently to the product launch, but I saw this post:

I don’t know, maybe that helps your device run smoother.

From what I have read, there were some bugs with the Android 4.4 update and it never got beyond the Beta stage.

Although it is possible to use the original Max for browsing, it is not ideal. But I don't really need it for that. I got it mainly for reading PDF files and taking notes and sketching for which it works quite well.