Using Onyx Book primarily as an e-reading device

[marst]

Having become extremely frustrated with a Kobo that seems to be gradually deteriorating, I have to consider some other device. The Boox line seems very full-featured albeit at noticeably higher prices.

So far the Boox reviews I've seen spend a lot of time on the sketching and note-taking features, the pen, the UI, sundry bells and whistles, and so forth. I have yet to find a review that focuses mostly (or only) on the nuts-’n’-bolts of using a Boox device as an e-reader.

If there's someone here who uses it heavily for e-reading and has experience with various e-reader apps, I'd love to talk with you about that. (I'll skip the questions for now...need to see first if anyone wants to talk about it. :-)

[LDB]

I'm looking forward to following this. I've been thinking about a 10" Boox as a larger page size version e-reader.

[Pajamaman]

It's fine. I use AlreaderX to read with. The red comfort light is darker than the Kobo, but the contrast of the screen is probably not quite as a good, but it's good enough for me and I'm fussy. I use a Nova gen 1 and a Poke Pro 1.

[marst]

I started out with one of the first Kindles—what poorly designed software. Later I used a Samsung tablet. I found a great e-reader app—very full-featured, a great library system, and tons of typographic controls. But it couldn't open anything other than DRM-free books (it started out being able to read B&N ePubs, but then B&N changed their encryption system and the program could no longer open those files). And then its authors appeared to abandon it. Too bad about that.

I've got all sorts of questions—too many for a single comment! So let me start here: Boox's "Neoreader" program looks pretty good in the videos I've seen about it.

• I have not used the B&N Android app for a long time and have never used the Kobo e-reader app. Do either of those compare features-wise with Neoreader?

• Is there some way of "registering" Neoreader with B&N or Kobo so that it can open DRM-protected files downloaded from those sites?

• The brief video reviews I've seen of Neoreader seem to show that it doesn't have a control enabling the user to select alignment—that is, to switch from full left-right justification to flush-left/ragged right. Is that correct—it does not have this feature?

[Question Mark]

You can install and run various apps such as those for Kobo or Kindle. Not sure how well they work compared to using them on a Kobo or Kindle device. But work they would.

However, why not just strip the DRM off of books which you have purchased? Very easily done. And then you can use them with any reading app. Neoreader is very good, particularly for PDFs. Moon+ Reader is my preferred reading app for many books.

To learn how to strip the DRM off books which you have purchased, just search: drm removal tool calibre and remember that Apprentice Alf is your friend.

[marst]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

However, why not just strip the DRM off of books which you have purchased? Very easily done. And then you can use them with any reading app. Neoreader is very good, particularly for PDFs. Moon+ Reader is my preferred reading app for many books.
To learn how to strip the DRM off books which you have purchased, just search: drm removal tool calibre and remember that Apprentice Alf is your friend.

Yes, I used to do that a lot and I guess for the sake of versatility I'll start doing it again. Hopefully DeDRM is somewhat easier to "deploy" than it was when I first used it a few years ago. (I did come to think of Apprentice Alf as a friend, for sure.) I almost never read PDFs on a tablet, so it'd be 99% ePub files.

When I was using the Mantano Reader app (later renamed to Bookari) on a Samsung tablet, it was easy enough to place the book files wherever I wanted them, as I had access via file-management apps to the file system. I'd just put an .epub file where I wanted it, then tell the e-reader app to open and import it into the app's library. Is it similarly easy on a Boox device (with, say, Neoreader)?

If memory serves, Moon+ can display books flush-left/ragged-right even if their CSS contains "text-align:justify". Mantano Reader could not do that. I'd have to edit the CSS and kill that hard-coded justification command. Bit of a pain in the neck. Presumably Moon+ can still do that—and Neoreader? Is it able to override hard-coded full justification?

[church mouse]

@Marst
I use my Poke 2 solely for book reading. I have a Kindle Voyage, and two Kobos in storage but my Poke 2 is my favourite ereader and the only one I use now (though I still love the page turn buttons on the Voyage).

I cannot recommend the NeoReader app - I cannot get the font size anywhere near small enough for my liking, also it has no invert (night) mode and no over-ride of alignment. I have also found it far more temperamental on accepting epubs or correctly reading a TOC.

I have tried just about all of the available reading apps. Not one is perfect for me (unsurprising) but a number I can happily live with:

Koreader has wonderful functionality, although switching to invert text on my Poke does cause it to choke sometimes (I have discovered that a restart of the app restores sanity). However, installing fonts and dictionaries is not as simple as for some of the other readers, though no issue if one has ever used Koreader on Kobo. My impression is that Koreader seems slightly heavier on battery use than either AlreaderX or FB Reader, but I have not carried out a dedicated long-term test.

AlreaderX (in Beta on the Play store). I have found this very stable. I just wish it handled footnotes/links with a pop-up in the way that Koreader and FB Reader do.

FB Reader - also very stable. The UI does not allow one to set up different tap zones for different functions (as Koreader and AlreaderX do) and I really dislike that it does not give page in chapter details - in fact, that is the main reason I do not use it but merely keep it in reserve.

Moon+ Reader - again, very stable. This caused me the most hassle in getting the text/background colours configured best for eink. I also dislike that it gives page in chapter but only a percent reading for the entire book. I ended up uninstalling the app.

I use Calibre for book storage. The Calibre Companion app works well for me, though I also have Calibre set up to give server access via a browser. All of the above apps allow one to set folders to search on the reader to find downloaded books.

I believe all of these will handle alignment over-ride. (My own preference is justified with no hyphenation).

Of course, we all have our own functional likes and dislikes with ereader UIs, so what I like in a reader another may hate. I have not commented upon note taking/highlighting abilities in the apps because that is something I never do. I am simply a book reader. That said, I hope you may have found some of this helpful.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by LDB

I'm looking forward to following this. I've been thinking about a 10" Boox as a larger page size version e-reader.

I have 2 10.3 inch devices: Boox Note Air (because of the design) and Likebook Alita (because of SD and much better file system options in USB-OTG).
On both I use:
- Calibre Companion, Library Management.
- AlReader, reading application for DRM free epub (started by CC).
- The internal application, for a fixed layout and when I want to make handwritten notes.
- Pocketbook App, reading application for Adobe DRM books.

[menpe]

Take a look at this topic, it might have everything you need without fluff.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by menpe

Take a look at this topic, it might have everything you need without fluff.

Pretty much the only thing that sets the P10 apart is that it's cheaper.
It's heavier, screen made of glass and not Mobius, no SD card, less RAM and then an even weaker CPU - no thanks!

[marst]

Originally Posted by menpe

Take a look at this topic, it might have everything you need without fluff.

That appears to be a different manufacturer. For now I'd like to concentrate on finding out more about the Onyx products rather than try to survey multiple product lines—too much information to absorb at once.

[marst]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

On both I use:
- Calibre Companion, Library Management.
- AlReader, reading application for DRM free epub (started by CC).
- The internal application, for a fixed layout and when I want to make handwritten notes.
- Pocketbook App, reading application for Adobe DRM books.

Searching for info on Calibre Companion—that looks like an interesting app, and thanks for mentioning it. Does it support user-created/user-named collections? That was a hugely useful feature in Mantano Reader. I could make collections and sub-collections. They thought it out very well. It had excellent text display engine and highlighting (Kobo is so crude in that regard) and you could install custom fonts. What a shame they seem to have stopped developing it.

If there's an Android app for Adobe DRM books—I take it this means you can register the Boox via ADE?

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by marst

[FONT="Garamond"][SIZE="4"]Having become extremely frustrated with a Kobo that seems to be gradually deteriorating, I have to consider some other device. The Boox line seems very full-featured albeit at noticeably higher prices.

And why the Boox line?
The Likebook line is similarly equipped (except for 6 inches, 13.3 inches and Note Air) but with significantly lower prices.

[marst]

Originally Posted by church mouse

I have not commented upon note taking/highlighting abilities in the apps because that is something I never do. I am simply a book reader. That said, I hope you may have found some of this helpful.

Thanks very much for taking the time to write so much information. It was very helpful. With the e-reader app I once used (alas, no longer supported) I did a lot of highlighting, and there was an option to save collections of highlights into a single text or HTML file—and share them by adding them as an attachment to the mobile device's email program. Or—much faster—a highlighted passage could be copied to the Android clipboard and then pasted into an email message. Highlights and notes could be organized into collections and assigned tags/keywords so that they could be searched-for. Altogether the highlights/notes-related features were downright brilliant.

I wouldn't expect to find so much functionality in many other e-reader programs. But if it were possible at least to copy and share highlighted text and/or the next of notes, it would certainly be good for a start. (That, and to be able to override the full left/right justification hard-coded in so many books' CSS.)

Thanks again.

[marst]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

And why the Boox line?
The Likebook line is similarly equipped (except for 6 inches, 13.3 inches and Note Air) but with significantly lower prices.

I'm sure I'll be visiting the Likebook forum here when I get around to looking at those products.