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Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

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Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#21

Post by wolvoleo »

tiagod wrote: post #14
hamdingers wrote: post #5

> There are no physical buttons on the front That's too bad. For whatever reason I find swipe gestures on e-ink annoying. I currently use a Kobo Clara BW and miss dedicated page-turning buttons. I see they're offering the print files for the case, maybe there will be some pins on the ESP32 exposed somewhere for adding buttons

I don't like swiping, but kobo supports just a single touch on the right and left edges of the screen for switching pages, and I don't mind that.

I don't like that either. Physical buttons with real feedback are so much better.

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#22

Post by neoden »

hamdingers wrote: post #5

> There are no physical buttons on the front That's too bad. For whatever reason I find swipe gestures on e-ink annoying. I currently use a Kobo Clara BW and miss dedicated page-turning buttons. I see they're offering the print files for the case, maybe there will be some pins on the ESP32 exposed somewhere for adding buttons

They even kind of admit that themselves and offer a remote page turning accessory with buttons for Kobo readers)

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#23

Post by wolvoleo »

holysoles wrote: post #13

I almost bought an xteink the other week but held off due to lack of a frontlight option. I instead resurrected my nook simple touch (2011) with this project [1] from XDA forums, its made it infinitely more usable and still has good battery life. [1] https://xdaforums.com/t/nst-g-the-phoenix-project.4673934/

Xteink is coming with a backlit option soon.

Be aware though they're trying to block third party software and their own sucks badly. I don't understand why they try to block this because it makes their hardware actually worth buying.

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#24

Post by KennyBlanken »

This is 10 year old ebook technology for the sake of being "open", when one can just install KOreader on a Kobo.

KOreader fixes nearly all of the annoying bullshit in Kobo's firmware, which frankly, is terrible. The UI is poorly organized (why the hell is night mode so hard to get to!?), crashed routinely (just like it did ~10+ years ago...), and page changes are painfully slow, barely any improvement from the much older Kobos. It also provides support for remote libraries and a slew of other features. The UI isn't very clean, but it has a ton more features.

I've never understood how my much newer Kobo is just as slow as my first Kobo reader which was 10+ years ago, or why both of them rather frequently hang and have to be power-cycled.

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#25

Post by pjerem »

tiagod wrote: post #14
hamdingers wrote: post #5

> There are no physical buttons on the front That's too bad. For whatever reason I find swipe gestures on e-ink annoying. I currently use a Kobo Clara BW and miss dedicated page-turning buttons. I see they're offering the print files for the case, maybe there will be some pins on the ESP32 exposed somewhere for adding buttons

I don't like swiping, but kobo supports just a single touch on the right and left edges of the screen for switching pages, and I don't mind that.

What I love with my pocketbook is that i can hold the thing by placing my right thumb on the "next page" button and my left thumb on the "previous page" button.

To me it's the most amazing feature of an e-reader against the real book : you can read comfortably with 0 movement. You just mindlessly press the buttons that are already under your thumbs to navigate the book.

And the bonus is that it's clicky and instant, which, as strange as it sounds, makes it the only device that I own that make me feel it's magic. Which is a shame because in another timeline, all our tech should be well designed and magical-like.

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#26

Post by pjerem »

kjs3 wrote: post #10
hamdingers wrote: post #5

> There are no physical buttons on the front That's too bad. For whatever reason I find swipe gestures on e-ink annoying. I currently use a Kobo Clara BW and miss dedicated page-turning buttons. I see they're offering the print files for the case, maybe there will be some pins on the ESP32 exposed somewhere for adding buttons

Yeah...I stick with my Kindle Oasis for the buttons. I'll wait until/if this gets them; otherwise would have been a no brainer purchase.

The Xteink 4 has button. Else PocketBook are the kings of buttons (and well placed at that).

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#27

Post by jerojero »

wolvoleo wrote: post #23
holysoles wrote: post #13

I almost bought an xteink the other week but held off due to lack of a frontlight option. I instead resurrected my nook simple touch (2011) with this project [1] from XDA forums, its made it infinitely more usable and still has good battery life. [1] https://xdaforums.com/t/nst-g-the-phoenix-project.4673934/

Xteink is coming with a backlit option soon. Be aware though they're trying to block third party software and their own sucks badly. I don't understand why they try to block this because it makes their hardware actually worth buying.

They're working with the crosspoint team.

The official hardware (if you buy through their website or amazon) is not blocked. Only Aliexpress offerings.

But yes, they are coming with a FRONTlit option. Although it'll also have a touchscreen and no front buttons.

I'm hoping maybe in a year or so they make an actual successor with the same button layout, no touchscreen (or with a touchscreen but still with all the buttons) and a better chipset (though nothing major, what the X3 has is enough).

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#28

Post by Semaphor »

tiagod wrote: post #14
hamdingers wrote: post #5

> There are no physical buttons on the front That's too bad. For whatever reason I find swipe gestures on e-ink annoying. I currently use a Kobo Clara BW and miss dedicated page-turning buttons. I see they're offering the print files for the case, maybe there will be some pins on the ESP32 exposed somewhere for adding buttons

I don't like swiping, but kobo supports just a single touch on the right and left edges of the screen for switching pages, and I don't mind that.

Same for the kindles, but the buttons used to be much better. I'll probably buy a used (they are discontinued) oasis some day just to get buttons.

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#29

Post by wolvoleo »

jerojero wrote: post #27
wolvoleo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xteink is coming with a backlit option soon. Be aware though they're trying to block third party software and their own sucks badly. I don't understand why they try to block this because it makes their hardware actually worth buying.

They're working with the crosspoint team. The official hardware (if you buy through their website or amazon) is not blocked. Only Aliexpress offerings. But yes, they are coming with a FRONTlit option. Although it'll also have a touchscreen and no front buttons. I'm hoping maybe in a year or so they make an actual successor with the same button layout, no touchscreen (or with a touchscreen but still with all the butto…

Oh ok but why do they block the Ali ones then? I don't think they're on Amazon here in Spain. And if I have to order from China I'd greatly prefer Ali express because they have good consumer protection.

And yes I meant front light sorry. I didn't know that one won't have buttons.

Re: Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader

#30

Post by Mikhail_Edoshin »

jerojero wrote: post #27
wolvoleo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xteink is coming with a backlit option soon. Be aware though they're trying to block third party software and their own sucks badly. I don't understand why they try to block this because it makes their hardware actually worth buying.

They're working with the crosspoint team. The official hardware (if you buy through their website or amazon) is not blocked. Only Aliexpress offerings. But yes, they are coming with a FRONTlit option. Although it'll also have a touchscreen and no front buttons. I'm hoping maybe in a year or so they make an actual successor with the same button layout, no touchscreen (or with a touchscreen but still with all the butto…

(As far as I understood those from AliExpress can also be unblocked.)
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