Onyx Boox Kepler series

[loviedovie]

Thanks for the update. Have you tried the latest nightlies? Are those the nightlies or the release?


Is the upper layer of the screen orwhatever top surface is reflective? If so do you think it is distractive when reading? I have a C67ML Carta and the surface is liek rough which I prefer because it does not reflect much.

Originally Posted by sharkcow

Tried it out today; obviously it's still work in progress. The latest version 1023 doesn't run at all, version 894 works but the font can't be changed (is always the same sans serif font). Version 696 is functional, although there is always a large (~3 lines of text) black bar at the bottom of the screen. Haven't experienced any crashes with version 696 yet.

sharkcow

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by sharkcow

Hi all,

Since some time, I've been observing a yellowing of the screen on the edges on my kepler (see image - somewhat enhanced to show the effect clearly but it is definitely noticeable)... although this adds to the realism of paper pages, I'm a bit worried. I'm guessing some adhesive is gassing out. Has anyone else observed this?

thanks,
sharkcow

I've seen nothing like it on mine. You may wish to talk to Onyx about it, and the possibility of a warranty return for repair and/or replacement.

[sharkcow]

Originally Posted by loviedovie

Thanks for the update. Have you tried the latest nightlies? Are those the nightlies or the release?

those were all nightlies as I didn't see the releases. Tried the latest release now, but that doesn't start either. BTW, the black border seems to be the top status bar of the kepler which sometimes ends up on bottom without content. So I guess you'll have to experiment what works for you...

Originally Posted by loviedovie

Is the upper layer of the screen orwhatever top surface is reflective? If so do you think it is distractive when reading? I have a C67ML Carta and the surface is liek rough which I prefer because it does not reflect much.

The screen is only slightly diffuse reflective. I'm ok with it but I try to avoid the direct reflection of a strong light source.

[farfromrefuge]

Finally received my Kepler (1.8.2 installed) and i love it!
Now i am looking for the best apps: reader, dictionary ... But also the best way to get ebooks
I would love to hear from all of you guys as this is my first ereader. We could even put this on the first page as it might be useful to others.

So:
- What's your favorite ereader? kepler integration, features, speed, dictionary integration ... Personnaly i would tend to say OReader for now but i still need to solve my dictionary issue
- What's your favorite dictionary? I tried the Onyx one but if i try to download dicts, i only see chinese ones, and i need english and french ones. Can we get more from the web?. I also tried GoldDict : crashes, ColorDict: nice but integration is not that good (activity taks a long time to open and is not really that readable)
- Any 3rd party app we should use?
- About the screensaver: Any way to change it? Or even disable it? What i would love is for the last screen to remain, it would make more sense to me.
- Any way to change the off screen? I would even love to get the "off" screen to show my last screen (taking a screenshot on shut down)

A lot of questions Thank you guys for helping me in choosing that great ereader!

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by farfromrefuge

- What's your favorite ereader? kepler integration, features, speed, dictionary integration ... Personnaly i would tend to say OReader for now but i still need to solve my dictionary issue

...

- Any 3rd party app we should use?
- About the screensaver: Any way to change it? Or even disable it? What i would love is for the last screen to remain, it would make more sense to me.
- Any way to change the off screen? I would even love to get the "off" screen to show my last screen (taking a screenshot on shut down)

My preferred reader is AlReader. Main reasons were best implementation of footnotes & built-in 180-degree screen rotation (placing the page-turn buttons near the bottom of the screen, for ease of pressing). I also liked its ability to swap into & out of fullscreen easily & the customisation of fullscreen header & footer.

(I don't use dictionaries within eReaders at all, so cannot comment on them.)

Only 3rd party app I make use of is SyncMe Wireless, for syncing my eReader with my PC (which I use to organise my eBook collection in a directory-based hierarchy).

I think somebody did post a method for changing the screens -- but it involves replacing files within the firmware package, so is a tad complicated and fraught.

[sharkcow]

Originally Posted by farfromrefuge

Finally received my Kepler (1.8.2 installed) and i love it!
Now i am looking for the best apps: reader, dictionary ... But also the best way to get ebooks
I would love to hear from all of you guys as this is my first ereader. We could even put this on the first page as it might be useful to others.

So:
- What's your favorite ereader? kepler integration, features, speed, dictionary integration ... Personnaly i would tend to say OReader for now but i still need to solve my dictionary issue
- What's your favorite dictionary? I tried the Onyx one but if i try to download dicts, i only see chinese ones, and i need english and french ones. Can we get more from the web?. I also tried GoldDict : crashes, ColorDict: nice but integration is not that good (activity taks a long time to open and is not really that readable)
- Any 3rd party app we should use?
- About the screensaver: Any way to change it? Or even disable it? What i would love is for the last screen to remain, it would make more sense to me.
- Any way to change the off screen? I would even love to get the "off" screen to show my last screen (taking a screenshot on shut down)

A lot of questions Thank you guys for helping me in choosing that great ereader!

* I also use AlReader for almost all files
* GoldenDict assigned to the bottom tap zone so it takes 2 taps to look up a word, font size is adjustable
* quite a few 3rd party apps, most useful:
- towelroot (post 182)
- button savior
- calibre companion
- file manager+
- hacker's keyboard
* as Hrafn mentioned, you need to change the contents of a system file to change the screensaver images or the off screen (cf. post 243). So I'm afraid dynamically changing them is out of the question.

[EBookFanMan]

I got my Kepler Pro from Banggood on June first. I'm on my third epub using the default reader although I've installed Moon+ Reader Pro and ES File Explorer Pro and Calibre Companion.

I've run into a problem however: The screen has developed a horizontal line running from one side to the other that looks to be a pixel wide and an inch from the top of the screen. This line is always the opposite color of the background. ie. black on a white background or white on a black background and on the sleep screen it is a contrasted gray that is relatively easily discernible.

The question is this: hardware problem? Or some sort of firmware/software problem that a refresh/reset could fix. I've emailed customer support at Banggood but they've yet to reply about warranties. Or are all such done through Onyx?

[sharkcow]

Originally Posted by EBookFanMan

I got my Kepler Pro from Banggood on June first. I'm on my third epub using the default reader although I've installed Moon+ Reader Pro and ES File Explorer Pro and Calibre Companion.

I've run into a problem however: The screen has developed a horizontal line running from one side to the other that looks to be a pixel wide and an inch from the top of the screen. This line is always the opposite color of the background. ie. black on a white background or white on a black background and on the sleep screen it is a contrasted gray that is relatively easily discernible.

The question is this: hardware problem? Or some sort of firmware/software problem that a refresh/reset could fix. I've emailed customer support at Banggood but they've yet to reply about warranties. Or are all such done through Onyx?

Most likely, Onyx will ask you to perform a factory reset. You may as well try to use the Mfg tool (post 176, pm me if you need the files). I had some strange display effects when updating until I reflashed the device using the Mfg tool. If this doesn't help, you hardware is most likely defective.

[mdp]

Originally Posted by sharkcow

you need to change the contents of a system file to change the screensaver images or the off screen (cf. post 243). So I'm afraid dynamically changing them is out of the question.

Originally Posted by Hrafn

I think somebody did post a method for changing the screens -- but it involves replacing files within the firmware package, so is a tad complicated and fraught.

Sorry guys, maybe I have good news. If you are using substantially the same firmware of the Onyx tablets I have, to change the screensaver you have a direct option in the Guided User Interface: just long press on an image (e.g. a JPG file), and the option to install it in the pool of the rotating images appears in the menu. A window will appear to associate the image of choice to one of the available slots.

This certainly works on the MaxCarta - it should work on all latest firmwares.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by mdp

Sorry guys, maybe I have good news. If you are using substantially the same firmware of the Onyx tablets I have, to change the screensaver you have a direct option in the Guided User Interface: just long press on an image (e.g. a JPG file), and the option to install it in the pool of the rotating images appears in the menu. A window will appear to associate the image of choice to one of the available slots.

Tried this (took quite a bit of playing to find an app that would reduce the bit depth of the greyscaled images below 24), but the option to "Set As Screen Saver" is greyed-out.

[sharkcow]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Tried this (took quite a bit of playing to find an app that would reduce the bit depth of the greyscaled images below 24), but the option to "Set As Screen Saver" is greyed-out.

Great news! This works fine for me - I used the files I had created previously to tediously replace the screensaver using ninjamorph (grayscale bmp 1448x1072). This makes things _much_ easier. Anybody want to program an app that automatically takes the cover image of the current book and puts it into the screensaver using this method? ;-)

[Hrafn]

Onyx Box's Russian distributor has announced a waterproof variant of the Kepler Pro, the Robinson Crusoe. (This will probably mean that it'll also be available from their US subsidiary.)

So it looks like, although early reports of there being a waterproof Kepler were in fact accurate, anybody foolhardy enough to read their base-model Kepler Pro in the bath is likely to have their story come to a sudden halt.

[Hat-tip: the-digital-reader.com & .the-ebook.org]

[stangri]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Onyx Box's Russian distributor has announced a waterproof variant of the Kepler Pro, the Robinson Crusoe.

As it doesn't have BT listed in specs, looks like it's a waterproof variant of Kepler and not a Kepler Pro.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by stangri

As it doesn't have BT listed in specs, looks like it's a waterproof variant of Kepler and not a Kepler Pro.

As (i) the (non-Pro) Kepler never came to fruition (I don't think even a prototype of it was ever presented in public), (ii) as originally conceived, its main point of differentiation from the Pro was its lack of page-turn buttons ("Tips: only Kepler Pros support Next \ Prev. button.") -- which the Robinson Crusoe has and (iii) was explicitly conceived as having "WIFI + Bluetooth" wireless connectivity (across all three models), I think we can categorically state that the Robinson Crusoe is a variant of the Kepler Pro not the (now mythical) Kepler.

So until we see Onyx-Box release a Kepler-style chassis without page-turn buttons, can we please cease and desist continually raising the spectre of the Kepler (or Kepler Lite) every time a new variant is announced.

Until the buttons of the turning of the pages vanishith from the face of the Reader of the ebooks, there shalt be no Kepler, lest it be Pro!

(Incidentally, until somebody actually gets their hot clammy hands on a Robinson Crusoe, we don't even know for certain that it lacks BT -- it could be simply an oversight on the Russian site's specs listing -- it wouldn't be the first time a retailer has made such a mistake.)

[stangri]

You're of course entitled to your opinion, however you should refrain from forcing it onto others. There's clearly more than one model of Kepler on the market. Check out that Russian site to find out more.

BTW, please link the page stating Crusoe has BT.