Video: Hands-on with Onyx International's Boox e-reader
By Darren Murph 
posted March 3rd 2009 10:26AM
posted March 3rd 2009 10:26AM
posted March 3rd 2009 10:26AM
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The thing looks like a massive iPod, good thing the shell is changing some.
Ok, how about some of Engadget mods try doing everyone a favor and can this clown?
Um, but, it DOES look like a giant iPod. He didn't say anything incendiary or insulting.
I wish they mentioned about how much less it would cost than the Sony reader. In all honesty, if someone could bring a reader to the market that was really inexpensive and did just what it says (lets you read lots of books), I would buy it instantly. As it is, I'll just buy the books made of paper for now.
I couldn't agree more. A buddy had one of the Sony's and I liked it alot, but when I checked out the actual price of the ebooks themselves? Forget it. I wouldn't mind paying $250-$300 for a reader if I got ebooks $5. But I have found books that were only printed in hard cover or are technical can be as much as $20. Last time I checked, it didn't cost anything to reproduce an electronic file for download, but it does for paper....
So if the big deal about this e-paper is how well it can be read in daylight and by the light on your nightstand etc. Why do companies insist on adding very reflective glass(like) screens to these kinds of devices? I like my books matte (even my glossies)
Good point. I have no idea why they would have made it glossy....
It takes all kinds. Some like to look through frosted glass that makes text look fuzzy like the Sony 700, while others like a very clear panel that makes the text sharp. I'm with the latter. So I may have to move the unit to avoid a reflection. BFD.
Found some specs, in case people were wondering:
Technical Specs
Content Formats Supported
EPUB PDF HTML TXT CHM MOBI
JPG/BMP/PNG/GIF/TIFF
MP3
Interfaces
Touch Screen
USB Type A Connector For USB Memory Stick
SD/MMC Slot
2.5mm Stereo Audio Jack
(Optional)WIFI 802.11g Wireless LAN
System Specification
Processor: 532 MHz
Ram: 128MB
Flash memory: 512MB
Screen: 6-Inch
The usb memory stick is very interesting, also optional wifi is really smart.
FAIL. Badly, I might add.
first to fail thats for sure.
@ Shadowmaker
spot on with the reflective glass. Super Fail.
fail.
I want a reader which shows me books and lets me highlight things, I don't want an MP3 player. Part of the awesomeness of e-ink is that it hardly uses battery, adding all that other crap ruins that awesomeness.
Well, the video did show him writing on documents. Don't know if that can be exported, but it certainly allows it on device.
Overrated
The interesting feature for me is the ability to annotate books. I need to write on my books. That feature alone makes it worth considering for anyone who teaches.
I will buy an e-reader when the give me the following:
e-ink display
compatibility with most/all e-book formats
memory card slot
USB connection to PC/Mac for data transfer and charging
and a price tag under $225
I don't think that's much to ask. Realistically, for one that doesn't do wireless book purchasing and transfers, I'd expect to pay no more than $200, and I don't care how much e-ink costs. It's called "loss leader" and it gets you in the market. Lose a bit on the e-reader, and make it up in e-book sales.
Kindle looks awesome, but at nearly $400 and with no promises that they won't gimp features if the publishers whine loud enough, I can't justify it. Most other readers are similarly-priced and have 1/2 the features.
You can't have both a loss leader on hardware making it up with book sales AND compatibility with all/most formats. Taking a loss on the front end with no guarantee you'll make it up on the back end is bad business. Pick one or the other.
The Soney prs-505 is not far from that price.
Reminds me of when I ran GeoWorks on my 386SX, slow and ugly.
PVI is still the big price issue that needs to be overcome. With only 1 supplier for the screen technology prices will remain high.
Yawn. Until someone comes out with an A4 or 8.5x11 screen ebook reader I can use to view business documents, I'll hold off, thank you. Magazines, newspapers, and large print would benefit from the larger screen as well, but the "killer app" for me would be not having to schlep 400+ page documents when I travel. These things are just toys until they up the screen size.
The iRex DR1000S comes very close to A4 (it has a 10.2" screen). You can tell the DR1000S not to display the margins on A4 documents so they appear at their natural size. However it is considerably more expensive than the smaller devices.
The whole e-reader thing is a nice idea but the library is free and used book stores can offer alot of books for $400. If these people are serious they need to do more research and make a product that is actually better than a book in your hand.
Reflective screen?! And just days ago I thought I'd like this thing. Fail.
So much wasted space. They could have fit a keyboard on it.
How about just showing us how well it displays ebooks rather than every possible function in random order and as quick as possible!
White plastic looks naff
Reflective screen = very bad
Would be nice to have an affordable alternative to the Sony 505 or the (yet to be released in the UK!) Kindle
From the gallery it looks like they have a screen protector on the test unit (there are some air bubbles which are visible in some of the shots.)
Annoyingly this means that it's hard to tell if the screen is reflective or matte.
If it is matte but needs a screen protector to keep it looking good, then that's even more worrying.
Other than that looks a lot nicer than the Kindle
I still think the best device for an ebook would be:
1. a totally waterproof, sealed unit (so you can use it in the bath, by the pool, on the beach or wherever else people take paperbacks)
2. Rubberised and shaped for easy holding
3. updated over local wifi/bluetooth or something (so no need to break the waterproof surface.)
4. Forget MP3 entirely so no need for a headphone socket (realistically its never going to compete with a dedicated mp3 player)
5. Matte screen (this one is a no-brainer)
6. Solar film on the back face (or on the cover or both) (These things use so little power that any amount of daylight would keep it working, so naysayers would have stop saying "well paper books never run out of batteries")
Oh and "Don't Panic" in large, friendly letters on the front.
Ugly.
From the spec we can see they use the same display with SONY's reader and if that,Maybe it's not the reflect screen but the angle of video shooting.
So big lould noise in Cebit.
Does anyone else want to say "Boox" with some weird accent?
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Back on topic: I like annotation, but somebody needs to develop an open format, so I don't lose all my notes as soon as I decide to change devices.
Will somebody please stop producing contrast-flashing readers and move onto something friendlier?