Onyx 27 October Announcement

[WillAdams]

Not seeing any discussion of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g69oMk2iIaw

The Tab Ultra is really tempting to me:

https://shop.boox.com/products/tab

(probably would have ordered one if I didn't have the Kindle Scribe pre-ordered already)

One feature I'm not seeing discussed --- does it have the ability to function as an e-ink display over HDMI? (in particular for a Raspberry Pi 4)

[WillAdams]

Two other questions:

- can it run the Kindle App? Is that a reasonable way to read books?

- how well does Nebo.app run on it? EDIT: apparently the native note app is based on this technology

[dkccerbero]

I'd like to know also if the Tab ultra can (like a 2 in 1 or a Notebook could) use the USBC to be connected to a projector via HDMI...

[Renate]

Theoretically, the two new big ones use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 which has the potential to do DisplayPort over USB Type C if they built it into the kernel.
The 665 belongs to mid-range SoC like the 730, 730G.
I don't believe the 662 (NoteAir2, NovaAir2) support DisplayPort.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Two other questions:

- can it run the Kindle App? Is that a reasonable way to read books?

- how well does Nebo.app run on it?

It does run the Kindle app, as other Onyx devices already do. It should be a feasible way to read your books. It will probably be slower than using a Kindle directly, but I'm unsure how noticeable that will be. I also know that Onyx has optimized the performance of the Kindle app in some recent update.

However, the PPI is rather low - 227 instead of 300 of the Amazon Scribe (or basically any 6-8 inch reader out there outside of budget models) - and therefore the experience won't be as pleasant.

[downeaster59]

The real shocker in the Tab Ultra is that is has... gasp!!! ... a microSD card slot!!!!!

https://shop.boox.com/products/tab

That slot, and the 128 GB of internal storage, could make this an interesting alternative to the Note series.

Edit: For reading purposes.... Unless you're reading pdfs often, I'd go with the Nova Air 2 as a better option. 7.8 inch display, 300 dpi. For me, it's become the ideal size for a reader. Six inch displays are doable but now seem a bit small; 20 inch displays ore okay but seem a bit too big!

[csdvrx]

Originally Posted by Renate

Theoretically, the two new big ones use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 which has the potential to do DisplayPort over USB Type C if they built it into the kernel.

And if they didn't, we can try to compile modules: Onyx helpfully provides /proc/config.gz

They don't release their source, and the different ksyms may be a problem, but nothing is impossible with a System.map + some time

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

The real shocker in the Tab Ultra is that is has... gasp!!! ... a microSD card slot!!!!!

https://shop.boox.com/products/tab

That slot, and the 128 GB of internal storage, could make this an interesting alternative to the Note series.

Edit: For reading purposes.... Unless you're reading pdfs often, I'd go with the Nova Air 2 as a better option. 7.8 inch display, 300 dpi. For me, it's become the ideal size for a reader. Six inch displays are doable but now seem a bit small; 20 inch displays ore okay but seem a bit too big!

The Nova Air 2 on the other hand did not get the SD card slot and only has 32GB storage. That makes no sense to me as both the Tab Ultra and Leaf 2 will now have an SD card slot.

I agree that the 7.8 inch size is pleasant to use. It's also quite good for manga and smaller sized BW comics. And those are exactly what would need more storage - the space on my Nova 3 is running low due to all the comics I have loaded onto it. Some I could read online using Tachiyomi, but then the battery dies quickly..

The Nova 5 (Chinese market only) seems a better deal with both page turn buttons and an SD card slot.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by kandwo

The Nova Air 2 on the other hand did not get the SD card slot and only has 32GB storage. That makes no sense to me as both the Tab Ultra and Leaf 2 will now have an SD card slot.

I agree that the 7.8 inch size is pleasant to use. It's also quite good for manga and smaller sized BW comics. And those are exactly what would need more storage - the space on my Nova 3 is running low due to all the comics I have loaded onto it. Some I could read online using Tachiyomi, but then the battery dies quickly..

The Nova 5 (Chinese market only) seems a better deal with both page turn buttons and an SD card slot.

I see that the Leaf 2 has an sd card slot. That has a seven inch screen. That is a decent option!

[danicca]

I'm also very curious about Leaf, but I haven't seen review/video anywhere. Hoping it will show up somewhere soon.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by danicca

I'm also very curious about Leaf, but I haven't seen review/video anywhere. Hoping it will show up somewhere soon.

The white version will be released later this month. Hopefully, we'll see a review before Christmas.

If the screen is as good as on the Libra 2 I will probably buy it. It will be flush on the black version, but sunken on the white one.

[danicca]

I'm leaning toward white, but I have no idea how onyx boox warm light and screen compares to kobo. The previous leaf looks good though.

[WillAdams]

A very positive report on the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra --- Sketchbook runs:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Onyx_Boox/c...k_is_actually/

>I've been waiting for one of these eink tablets to finally offer a raster based drawing app that wouldn't bog down overtime like the default vector notetaking apps that come with remarkable, onyx, supernote. I was excited about Onyx Boox and the entire android app market to deliver, but was dissapointed in the performance of Sketchbook and other painting apps on my first device the Note 5. But finally the Tab Ultra delivers with sketchbook and other painting apps working great, even better with ultrafast mode. So yeah this is for any other artists out there waiting to pull the trigger