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I've got a Boox Note 3 and love it for what it is (my hardware has been fine), but I'd find it very hard to recommend generally. Boox are dodgy at best (GPL vio

by Latty 2y ago

I've got a Boox Note 3 and love it for what it is (my hardware has been fine), but I'd find it very hard to recommend generally. Boox are dodgy at best (GPL violations, random connections to china, etc...), you start with an already old version of Android and if lucky you might get another major version, they aren't cheap, Android stuff is mostly not designed for black-and-white/low refresh rate and some apps have unreadable buttons, things like that. But, with that all said... it's great for my specific uses. Android is just so much better if you want to run self-hosted stuff. When it dies or the software just gets that old I'll be really at a loss for what to get to replace it.

abound 2y ago
Yeah, I have a Max Lumi and I feel broadly the same way. My hardware has been great, I use it daily and have read 100s of books and written thousands of pages of notes on it, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others because I think mine has already stopped getting updates, the GPL violations aren't great, and the cloud stuff seems a bit dodgy. On the cloud stuff though -- note syncing has support for WebDAV, so I've fully disabled the Boox Cloud integration and all notes get synced to my self-hosted OwnCloud server, which is nice. I'd love to figure out how to install some stock Android or Linux on it down the road, though Boox's notes + reading apps are really quite good, and likely very optimized for the hardware.
TechDebtDevin 2y ago
Boox is dodgy, but everyone I know that has one loves them. I wouldn't expect any Chinese company to respect GPLs. Although, I've seen people on Reddit say they can have QA issues, and if you receive that unit you're likely SOL, this is the only reason that I've been hesitant to spend money on one. I've also been eyeing this new company, daylight, that has a 60hz refresh rate with what I think is E-Ink[0]. Their website says E-Paper, not sure if that's different from E-Ink. Unfortunately, they've always been on wait list months out every time I've looked. https://daylightcomputer.com/product https://daylightcomputer.com/product
- spaceisballer 2y ago
  It’s definitely not e-ink, it’s a type of LCD. Been reading about it and it seems like users are pretty hyped about it. I don’t really need another tablet, I want a really good writing experience. I’m test driving the Boox Go 10.3 but I may return it and wait for the new Supernote offering. Or I’ve been reading up on de-bloating the Boox software if I keep it.
- grogenaut 2y ago
  I have a boox note 3, I don't love it. I barely use it. Have a remarkable 2 but spouse stole it when I iddn't use it much. I bought a scribe and used it more. I had 2 sets of classes this spring. I used the crap out of the scribe. I tried the boox for it and went back to the scribe. All I was doing was taking written notes in class and using it as infinte paper for doing homeworks. The boox takes forever to wake up and just is more laggy. It was usable for reading stuff in google docs outside but an umbrella and a laptop worked better. That said all 3 have amazing battery life, they'd all last all semester on a charge.
- infotainment 2y ago
  Daylight is a reflective LCD, like what you’d find on the classic Game Boy. I find their marketing of it as “e-paper” to be highly misleading.
  - AlanYx 2y ago
    It's RLCD but with a twist. It has microperforations, so they can put the backlight behind the screen without making it transreflective. I agree the terminology is misleading though.
- draven 2y ago
  It was because of the bad things I read about warranty/support that I bought my Note Air 3 on Amazon. I paid a bit more but at least I knew I could return it easily if there was an issue.
- RossBencina 2y ago
  I've seen people on Reddit mention QA issues too, but at this stage I'm more suspicious of sock puppets on Reddit than of Boox. Buying from a source where you know you can return and have a guaranteed warrantee period is prudent for any significant purchase. In my country there's a local distributor that offers this.
misja111 2y ago
My last e-reader was a Boox Note. It did its job but was slow and after a couple of years just didn't start up anymore. Then I switched to Kindle Scribe, mainly for the large screen. It was amazing, it was so much faster and more responsive. I even started to use the scribe to make notes, though I didn't buy it for that purpose. With the Boox Note I never did that because of the slowness, it was just annoying.
mtalantikite 2y ago
I got a Boox Go 7 as my first ereader a few months back and I feel the same way. I like it for my own use, which is mainly loading foreign language books in from Calibre into KO Reader, but I'd never recommend it to someone unless they were pretty technical.

by Latty 2y ago

abound 2y ago

Yeah, I have a Max Lumi and I feel broadly the same way. My hardware has been great, I use it daily and have read 100s of books and written thousands of pages of notes on it, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others because I think mine has already stopped getting updates, the GPL violations aren't great, and the cloud stuff seems a bit dodgy. On the cloud stuff though -- note syncing has support for WebDAV, so I've fully disabled the Boox Cloud integration and all notes get synced to my self-hosted OwnCloud server, which is nice. I'd love to figure out how to install some stock Android or Linux on it down the road, though Boox's notes + reading apps are really quite good, and likely very optimized for the hardware.

TechDebtDevin 2y ago

Boox is dodgy, but everyone I know that has one loves them. I wouldn't expect any Chinese company to respect GPLs. Although, I've seen people on Reddit say they can have QA issues, and if you receive that unit you're likely SOL, this is the only reason that I've been hesitant to spend money on one. I've also been eyeing this new company, daylight, that has a 60hz refresh rate with what I think is E-Ink[0]. Their website says E-Paper, not sure if that's different from E-Ink. Unfortunately, they've always been on wait list months out every time I've looked. https://daylightcomputer.com/product https://daylightcomputer.com/product

spaceisballer 2y ago
It’s definitely not e-ink, it’s a type of LCD. Been reading about it and it seems like users are pretty hyped about it. I don’t really need another tablet, I want a really good writing experience. I’m test driving the Boox Go 10.3 but I may return it and wait for the new Supernote offering. Or I’ve been reading up on de-bloating the Boox software if I keep it.
grogenaut 2y ago
I have a boox note 3, I don't love it. I barely use it. Have a remarkable 2 but spouse stole it when I iddn't use it much. I bought a scribe and used it more. I had 2 sets of classes this spring. I used the crap out of the scribe. I tried the boox for it and went back to the scribe. All I was doing was taking written notes in class and using it as infinte paper for doing homeworks. The boox takes forever to wake up and just is more laggy. It was usable for reading stuff in google docs outside but an umbrella and a laptop worked better. That said all 3 have amazing battery life, they'd all last all semester on a charge.
infotainment 2y ago
Daylight is a reflective LCD, like what you’d find on the classic Game Boy. I find their marketing of it as “e-paper” to be highly misleading.
- AlanYx 2y ago
  It's RLCD but with a twist. It has microperforations, so they can put the backlight behind the screen without making it transreflective. I agree the terminology is misleading though.
draven 2y ago
It was because of the bad things I read about warranty/support that I bought my Note Air 3 on Amazon. I paid a bit more but at least I knew I could return it easily if there was an issue.
RossBencina 2y ago
I've seen people on Reddit mention QA issues too, but at this stage I'm more suspicious of sock puppets on Reddit than of Boox. Buying from a source where you know you can return and have a guaranteed warrantee period is prudent for any significant purchase. In my country there's a local distributor that offers this.

misja111 2y ago

My last e-reader was a Boox Note. It did its job but was slow and after a couple of years just didn't start up anymore. Then I switched to Kindle Scribe, mainly for the large screen. It was amazing, it was so much faster and more responsive. I even started to use the scribe to make notes, though I didn't buy it for that purpose. With the Boox Note I never did that because of the slowness, it was just annoying.

mtalantikite 2y ago

I got a Boox Go 7 as my first ereader a few months back and I feel the same way. I like it for my own use, which is mainly loading foreign language books in from Calibre into KO Reader, but I'd never recommend it to someone unless they were pretty technical.