I've Obsidian Sync set up so that my Obsidian vault is synced across all my devices. I don't do much input into my vault on the Page, but mainly use it to view notes I've already written, or to keep my TODO list open while I do other things throughout the day.
Regarding the scrolling, do you reckon it'll be possible to implement it like how the Galaxy Watches do their scrolling?
If you touch the edge of the screen and rotate it, it scrolls clockwise and anti-clockwise. Works decently enough although I do prefer the physical wheel.
Do you have any sources for this? Afaik Samsung phones are still massively popular with young people in Korea.
How do you read books you don't want to?
How do you guys read books that you don't feel like reading?
I consider myself a decent reader. If I'm very interested in a book, I'm able to stay up all night, reading it as much as I can until I feel like if I read anymore I'll get fired for sleeping on the job. I love to read fantasy books, but usually most interesting fiction books are able to keep my attention.
The trouble I've got is with non-fiction books. Books that are talked about as "must reads". Books like Sapiens, The Selfish Gene, Pale Blue Dot, or any textbook/technical documentation. I've tried again and again to read non-fiction books. Breaking it up into smaller chunks, listening to them as audiobooks, or just slogging through it page by page. But nothing seems to stick in my head if I grind through them.
Now, before you go "Hey naznsan, just don't! Life is too short to read books you don't want to read!", the thing is, I want to read these books. Some of them explain things I'm decently interested in. Some of them I have to read for work/education. I just seem to have trouble either focusing, staying motivated, or retaining any information in such books.
So does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how I could read such non-fiction books like I read my fiction? Or am I doomed to just slog through page by page, relying on my notes to do all the remembering?
It's a good question. For now I'm still working through a few books that I had in my backlog that are available on Project Gutenberg.
I've been looking around for a few ebook stores that sell books in epub format, but am struggling to settle on one. I do want to buy and not pirate them as much as possible, but most people seem to point me towards ebook piracy sites whenever I ask.
Please give us another update here once the choc version is done, I'd be super interested in trying it out!
Sorry I might not be understanding this correctly, but does that mean the choc version will have proper choc spacing and be 2mm closer? And a properly located trackpad on top of that?
That is exactly what I've been waiting for. I printed the case for a MX Skeletyl but found the spacing a bit too far, and the choc skeletyl that I printed felt a bit off for some reason.
I've been using a Corne for a while now, and I find it very comfortable and efficient to use.
If you don't mind soldering and assembling your own kits, you could try a Corne kit. Most Corne PCBs seem to have a 6th col you can snap off. So you could try get a kit with one of those, try the 6 col, and if you don't need that extra column, simply snap it off and re-flash the board for a 5col Corne.
Think I mentioned it somewhere here before, but it's usually to keep costs down. eInk devices are relatively less demanding than modern smartphones, and utilize some older chipsets as they don't need the extra power. This also helps keep costs down.
Problem with using holder chipsets is that Android itself only supports a few generations at a time, so they won't be able to get the latest versions of Android, nor the privacy and security features that come with it.
I own two Boox devices, the Note Air 2 Plus, and the Page. The NA2+ is primarily used as a notebook replacement, while the Page has become my go-to reader. I use the Page to read anything from pdf files to even documentation using eInkBro. The whole experience is very good, and while I wouldn't trust either of them to handle anything actually related to my work due to privacy reasons, they've become a valuable part of my working process.
I haven't tried connecting a keyboard to either device and typing like that, so I can't say much about that experience. But I do agree that with greyscale and a bit of fine tuning, you should be able to get nice syntax highlighting as well.
Choc spacing on split ergo keyboards
For the last few months, I've been daily driving a Corneish Zen, a split keyboard with choc spacing. I find it very pleasant to use, but wanted to try a split keyboard that isn't flat, like a Dactyl.
The Skeletyl looked like it was right up my alley, having a similar layout as the Corne and the same number of keys, so I tried printing a half and was surprised at how big it seemed. Maybe I just have smaller hands, but the spacing between keys seemed really far.
My question is, are there any variants of Dactyl keyboards that were designed to be used with choc switches/keycaps? While I could try modify the Skeletyl step files, I'm not that confident in Fusion360 and just wanted to see if there was something done first.
As someone with full Android in both their reader and note-taking device, can I ask why you might be hesitant?
For comparison, I downloaded the Kindle app on the Page and loaded up the book I'd been reading on my Paperwhite just last night.
The Page definitely feels lighter, and the bezel with the page turning buttons makes it much more comfortable to hold than the Paperwhite in my opinion. This may change though, as I haven't been able to do an extensive reading session with the Page yet.
The screen also feels quite on par with the Paperwhite. When I installed the Kindle app on my Note Air 2+, I couldn't get the text to look as crisp as the Paperwhite even with the display optimization settings dialed in, but the Page's text looks as crisp. I'm thinking this might have something to do with the NA2+ having that extra pen input layer between the front glass and the eInk panel.
One of the big reasons I bought this even though my Paperwhite is still perfectly fine was because I wanted to have total control over my device and media. While I could've just read DRM removed versions of my eBooks on the Kindle, I had a great experience using my NA2+ with Syncthings and Obsidian that I decided a new device would be worth it. The Page also lets me read from websites at night, while Kindle's browser still feels really sluggish.
Received the Boox Page today, AMA
Context
I've been a long time user of the Amazon Kindle, starting with the first ever one with the physical side buttons, all the way to the Paperwhite 8th gen. While I had been very happy with it, a few things happened recently that pushed me towards getting this:
- The whole issue with Reddit kind of made me realize that I didn't want to trust a company with all my books, no matter how big or trustworthy the company seemed. All my eBooks so far have been bought from the Amazon store, and read on my Kindles.
- I bought a Note Air 2 Plus a few months ago, and it was a really good device for my needs
- Onyx released the Page
Initial thoughts on Onyx Page
- It's very light, and very thin. It doesn't feel cheap or anything, but it feels lighter than my Paperwhite despite this having a slightly larger screen
- The page turning buttons are really nice, and having a side bezel I can hold on to while reading is also very comfortable
- The back is a bit glossier than I would've liked. It's just smooth, and a big fingerprint magnet
- The graphical art they have on the back is not indented or whatever the opposite of indentation is. It feels more like something they've etched onto the surface
Closing thoughts?
I've spent the last few hours trying this and that, downloaded the Kindle app to read (probably) my last Amazon store bought Kindle book. I will be spending the next few hours porting my Kindle books into Calibre, removing the DRM and storing them in my personal cloud :)
I don't think there have been any reviews out there yet, so feel free to ask me anything regarding this, and I'll try my best to answer them.
Think it might be something to do with the chips they use in them, IIRC Android versions only support a certain generation of chipsets.
Companies are using relatively older chips in e-reader devices as they have no need for a modern, better one and would likely add unnecessary cost, just to run a more recent version of Android