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The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

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Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#31

Post by pluralmonad »

sieve wrote: post #8

Got the X4. Put CrossPoint on it. Works like a charm. The http server accessible over wifi makes transferring books extremely simple. (Shame on the Kindle for locking everything down.) This is proof-of-concept that a microcontroller is more than enough for something like an e-reader. I have a Kindle and a Kobo. They are sturdy devices. But the X4 is the one that is a genuine e-reader. Would not get it as my one and o…

Not being lighted is what has kept me from trying it. If they do add lighting I hope it is a front light and not a back light. Hard to beat a front lit e-ink display for reading. Bonus points for warmth settings.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#32

Post by criddell »

kstrauser wrote: post #25
sieve wrote: post #8

Got the X4. Put CrossPoint on it. Works like a charm. The http server accessible over wifi makes transferring books extremely simple. (Shame on the Kindle for locking everything down.) This is proof-of-concept that a microcontroller is more than enough for something like an e-reader. I have a Kindle and a Kobo. They are sturdy devices. But the X4 is the one that is a genuine e-reader. Would not get it as my one and o…

I'm with you on every bit. I love my Kobo Libra 2 and it lives on my nightstand table. It's an excellent reader. The X4 with CrossPoint is an alright reader, but I've been chewing through books on my morning commute because it fits in my jacket pocket and I can have it out on the train without bumping into other people. It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment when I'm…

Does your reading position sync up between the two devices?

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#33

Post by criddell »

miohtama wrote: post #6

For those who can afford it, I can recommend the Boox Note for the ebook reader. It comes with full Android, so you are not limited to books but can read news, Hacker News, and other doomscrolling that fills the Internet. In a pinch, you can also connect it to a Bluetooth keyboard and use it as a development terminal. SSH terminal looks gorgeous on e-ink.

A problem with Boox that some here care about is their non-compliance with the GPL. Their devices run modified GPL software and they have (AFAIK) refused to release their modifications.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#34

Post by aanet »

I've been eyeing the Xteink Reader but cannot decide between the X4 (4.7" diag) and X3 (3.7" diag).

FWIW, the X3 requires a pogo pin cable, while the X4 requires a standard USB-C.

Anybody got any recommendations?

Thanks!

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#35

Post by timw4mail »

NDlurker wrote: post #3

I've had the X3 for a month and I love it. It's so small I forget it's in my pocket and have almost washed it a couple times. I'm working on custom firmware for it, so I ordered an X4 when they had the 20% off sale to test on there too.

As a crazy person with both, I have mixed feelings between them.

In favor of the X3:

- Crisper text

- Whiter display

- Slightly better battery life

- Top-mounted power button (subjective)

In favor of the X4:

- Larger display

- Plain USB-C charging

- Slightly better custom firmware support

- Backward and forward button on the same side (subjective)

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#36

Post by dfee »

i bought a pocketbook era lite recently, and it's a bit too locked down for my tastes - though usable. i kinda just want a dumb appliance. actually, i want a linux appliance. this probably sounds very "not productized" to a PM, but 99% of what's on there i don't want: a book store, games, etc.

i wish there was just an SDK for building apps (i'll vibe code towards a great epub experience, i'm fine with that). and, i'm fine plugging it in via USB or even SCPing files over wifi. but, it sends my reading progress to a server every time i use it which is highly annoying and concerning. however, the form factor is sufficient.

i guess i was hoping it'd be more aligned with steam's direction with their steam machine.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#37

Post by sieve »

kstrauser wrote: post #25
sieve wrote: post #8

Got the X4. Put CrossPoint on it. Works like a charm. The http server accessible over wifi makes transferring books extremely simple. (Shame on the Kindle for locking everything down.) This is proof-of-concept that a microcontroller is more than enough for something like an e-reader. I have a Kindle and a Kobo. They are sturdy devices. But the X4 is the one that is a genuine e-reader. Would not get it as my one and o…

I'm with you on every bit. I love my Kobo Libra 2 and it lives on my nightstand table. It's an excellent reader. The X4 with CrossPoint is an alright reader, but I've been chewing through books on my morning commute because it fits in my jacket pocket and I can have it out on the train without bumping into other people. It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment when I'm…

> It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment

This. The form factor is almost the right one for an e-reader. The battery lasts for weeks. It is so open that you could probably write your own firmware for it based on CrossPoint or similar for your own needs.

Needs some iterative development while ruthlessly culling requests for random features.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#38

Post by naravara »

WillAdams wrote: post #30
ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #2

I got one, it's pretty cool that it's small enough to just magnet to the back of your phone. If your someone who needs to use a large font on their ereader to read its certainly not for you, but the screen size is good enough for regular sized text. It's also cool that it's chip is just an ESP32.

I would like to see a phone case which this inserts into --- bonus points if there's a way to use it as a status display for the phone for use in bright/direct sunlight.

The obvious innovation is to just make the back of the phone case an eInk display. No need for all the bulk when you can merely have an app on your phone that controls the case-display and the phone can output whatever reader app you want to it like a companion/IoT device.

Or it can be a little bit bulkier and just be a dedicated ereader that is shaped like a phone case. Either way works.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#39

Post by timw4mail »

camel-cdr wrote: post #11
WithinReason wrote: post #7

CrossPoint 1.4.0 came out 2 hours ago: https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader/relea...

I skimmed over the project a bit. It seems quite ambitious to aim to reimplement epub, considering that means supporting HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript. Is there a ebook format that isn't just build arround the concept of a webbrowser?

While I agree in terms of modern browser expectations (and books absolutely should not need JavaScript), I think books in HTML makes a lot of sense. HTML was meant for sharing text documents, after all.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#40

Post by criddell »

I've looked at this device and I wonder how good the layout engine is. Screenshots never show text with any hyphenation going on which makes me wonder if it even supports hyphenation.

One of the images on the Amazon page for the reader has somebody holding one beside their laptop and if you look at the screen, it looks terrible. There are even words jammed together ("would be most suitable forthe job").

I love that it has physical buttons though. My reader is the Kindle Oasis and the buttons are one of my favorite features of the device. The Oasis layout engine and typography are both pretty good and I wonder if the X4 would end up feeling like a big downgrade.

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