Onyx M96 - Performance

[ensta]

Hi all,

Am considering purchasing an M96.
However I have a few questions, and concerns - partly because of mainly negative reviews on amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Onyx-BOOX-M9.../dp/B00M1RKK1Y

I am looking for a unit to do writing, PDF reading and some browsing.
If you guys have some time I'd very much appreciate your experience with using the unit.

1 - Writing
How does the unit work with bluetooth keyboards? Does it keep the devices paired OK between uses? How stable is this tech?
Can the unit do handwriting recognition natively? IE, write to TXT file. If not, will Google Handwriting Tool work OK? Any experience with this?

2 - PDF reading
This seems a pretty solid feature. Any thoughts on this? How does DropBox sync work for file management?

3- Browsing
I understand this is a minor feature for this device (and e-inks in general). However:
Is there the option to disable automatic loading of media/pics? If so, how does this affect page load times? What's the average for blogs/article/text-based webpages?
Does the device automatically select mobile versions of websites, where available?

Any other general info would be great, or links to forum posts. Are people happy with the device, would they buy again?

Many thanks in advance,
N*

[fgdas]

Wait for new 13.3" Onyx:

Originally Posted by Booxtor

I just got very first pictures of new 13.3" Onyx Boox.

In the first version Onyx is going to use just inductive touch (with big pen).

Additionally Onyx is going to use the newest flexible PVI HD screen with 2200x1650 (207 DPI)
Weight currently is about 400g.

Expected availability - spring of 2016.

[ensta]

Thanks for this/
I'd like to wait for this.
But I need something that will fullfil this role right now.

Cheers

[allochi]

@ensta, I just go mine almost 2 weeks ago, I got the M96+ from ereader-store, I was not sure at the beginning, it took me some time to decide.

Simply said, I can't imagine my life now without the M96+, it's an amazingly device.

1 - Writing
I don't use a keyboard, the touch keyboard works fine for simple things, like search, but I replaced it with Google Handwriting, the speed and quality of the handwriting is good, the only annoying thing, is the animation, which I can't disable. It's fast, but if I write something 10 words or more, the recognition start to lag.

2 - PDF reading
Onyx Neo Reader is great, it allows you to crop and divide the pdf in too many ways, this way you can have the text zoomed and easy to read, I always increase the contrast to about 160, and the text becomes dark and better to read. Flipping pages is fast! even with scanned pdfs.

3- Browsing
The funny thing is that I started to use it for browsing more and more, I installed also Pocket, and now I forward my readings to the M96+ and read them from there. There are setting to control the text size, it always turn it into bold and dark text, for me it's great as most of the websites I forward to the Onyx are text heavy. I actually prefer reading documentation on it. actually, now, I prefer doing all the readying on the Onyx.

I love the device, I have a kindle Voyage that is feeling lonely on the table, because M96+ became my main reading device. I'm not missing the 300ppi of Voyage.

I only charged it like 2-3 time in these 2 weeks, mostly because of the WIFI, if I don't use the wifi, the battery is great. it's not as heavy as someone would image 507g is, actually the weight is nicely balanced. Oh, and get the large pen, the small pen that comes with it is fine, but nothing like a big pen.

Hope this answer some of you questions.

[timofonic]

@allochi


I'm waiting for my M96+ to arrive, so you made me less worried!

I'm a total disaster with paper. Is Google Handwriting able to change to draw mode for writing math formulas? Or is able to recognize them too?

Are there handwriting recognition alternatives that can be more optimized than Google Handwriting? Does it use cloud for the processing?

Where can I get the big pen? Can I buy it along with the device? My dream pen would be one also usable with 0.7 pencil and pen with red, blue, black, green. I'll avoid paper, but still not always (I need colors to organize myself).

[allochi]

@timofonic

let's put it this way, if you are looking for an eink device to read pdfs and browse the Internet, then don't wory, you will love it, I'm replying to you using handwriting from the device.

you will need to spend time and explore what are your best settings. it's not a computer nor a tablet, althought I have to say, for me it's replacing a need for a tablet, unfortunatly eInk is not fast enough, so anything beyond reading and note taking is not practicle. I'm also using it to draw, specially logic diagrams during my meetings with the clients, so yes, it's that fast.

I'm waiting for my big pen, it's a full size pen, and it suppose to have an ereaser at its end. I'm buying it from the same shop, the ereader-store. I'm also waiting for thier 13.3 device to come out.

if you are wondering this reply took me 3x the time than say if I replied from my computer. Maybe I need more training

[grapiuna]

Originally Posted by allochi

@timofonic

let's put it this way, if you are looking for an eink device to read pdfs and browse the Internet, then don't wory, you will love it, I'm replying to you using handwriting from the device.

you will need to spend time and explore what are your best settings. it's not a computer nor a tablet, althought I have to say, for me it's replacing a need for a tablet, unfortunatly eInk is not fast enough, so anything beyond reading and note taking is not practicle. I'm also using it to draw, specially logic diagrams during my meetings with the clients, so yes, it's that fast.

I'm waiting for my big pen, it's a full size pen, and it suppose to have an ereaser at its end. I'm buying it from the same shop, the ereader-store. I'm also waiting for thier 13.3 device to come out.

if you are wondering this reply took me 3x the time than say if I replied from my computer. Maybe I need more training

Allochi,
I've created a discussion to exchange information about the best config for M96. It'll be nice to have your opinion:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=268387
Thanks!