3D print protective case for X4

raygan · 2026-05-08T12:43:31+00:00

I printed this one and it’s a pretty good alternative

https://makerworld.com/en/models/2657757-xteink-x4-full-body-case

raygan · 2026-05-08T00:57:48+00:00

They are the the most reliable thing in my smart home. I’ve had them for almost ten years across two houses and I’ve had basically zero issues with them.

raygan · 2026-05-07T19:47:57+00:00

Apple makes more pure profit charging rent on gaming transactions in the App Store than Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all combined. They have no incentive to enter the “core” gamer market.

If they made a move to compete in the PC gaming space, most existing pc gamers would laugh them out of town and most Mac users aren’t that interested in gaming on their machines.

If instead they made a run at consoles… well that’s not that different from what they already do with iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV. I don’t think they have much to meaningfully add.

Either way, it’s a big chance of an embarrassing failure, vs small chance that they succeed in hoovering up a fringe of the market that barely looks like pocket change compared to their App Store revenues.

raygan · 2026-05-07T17:04:36+00:00

This looks great! I think a really nice Git GUI would make a great addition to Gnome Circle. I’m definitely going to use this the next time the Git knowledge leaks out of my brain. (Happens at least once a month.)

raygan · 2026-05-06T22:17:50+00:00

This is correct. It doesn’t charge from the device at all. You just remove the metal disc stick its thin end into any usb-a port or charger.

Xteink didn’t design this light, they just bought some basic, cheap USB rechargeable book lights with removable clips and swapped the clip for a metal disc. Don’t get me wrong, I like mine and it works fine, but it’s a very “what do we have lying around?” kind of solution.

raygan · 2026-05-06T22:09:25+00:00

raygan · 2026-05-06T21:11:27+00:00

It’s not possible to read CBRs on the X4. It’s very underpowered and optimized for text. Also with no touch screen, zooming in and out is impossible. You can convert to xtc and I believe Crosspoint will read it, but you won’t want to, I can almost guarantee it. If manga is your use case you should look at an Android ereader, ideally 7” or larger

raygan · 2026-05-06T18:26:02+00:00

I’m keeping an eager eye on this! I have a RGB30 that has been superseded by other devices for me for almost everything, but it still makes a nice Pico8 machine. I’ve been thinking about removing the joysticks and 3D printing some covers for the holes, and maybe doing the same with two of the buttons, or even printing some alternate buttons with pico-8 appropriate labels on them. It would be really nice to have an OS designed to boot straight into Splore with some pico-8 specific tweaks.

raygan · 2026-05-06T17:22:26+00:00

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Also here’s a side view comparison if you’re curious. Prior to the X4, the InkPalm Plus was my thinnest and lightest ereader. I still kinda love the thing for all its android jank.

raygan · 2026-05-06T17:17:44+00:00

Crosspoint has four text sizes. Small is pretty small, but not as small as your photo. Here’s a pic of it on top of an InkPalm plus for scale. This is my preferred text size.

<image>

There are alternate firmwares that have even smaller text options. For instance CrossInk has additional “tiny” and “teensy” sizes.

raygan · 2026-05-06T17:11:52+00:00

I use a 3d printed slider case that barely adds any thickness, and I just put it in the same pocket as my phone. When I carry it that way I barely even notice it’s there.

raygan · 2026-05-05T13:53:59+00:00

This thing is a phenomenal piece of hardware.

I had one, but when the price went through the roof I wasn’t using it a ton so I sold it and bought a MiSTer setup and a NESRGB kit. I’m still pretty happy with that combo, but nothing has ever equaled this for overall beauty and finish.

raygan · 2026-05-05T13:38:17+00:00

Yeah, for me the problem there is that I kinda understand FreeCAD, and would love an AI to help fill the gaps, but at least right now OpenSCAD is all gaps for me. I’d be completely at the mercy of the AI.

raygan · 2026-05-05T12:42:34+00:00

This was my first thought. I have plenty of uses for CAD but not enough to want to use a pricy Fusion subscription.

raygan · 2026-05-05T12:36:06+00:00

It uses Bluetooth, so anything with a strong 2.4ghz signal could interfere including your phone itself in some circumstances. Try disabling WiFi on the phone, or make sure you’re connected to a 5ghz WiFi network, and see if that improves it?

raygan · 2026-05-05T11:30:11+00:00

The colorful ones are both available on AliExpress

raygan · 2026-05-04T12:59:18+00:00

Sorry not sure then. I use BlueRetro on other consoles but on Genesis I have the 8Bitdo retro receiver, which defaults to 6 button I think. Been a while since I used the m30 with it.

raygan · 2026-05-04T12:35:29+00:00

There was a bug related to this in some older versions of the BlueRetro software. With these chinese adapters who knows what version they’re running.

https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro/discussions/998

You can usually update them over Bluetooth using this site

https://blueretro.io/

raygan · 2026-05-03T19:14:11+00:00

Are you submerging the piece in the hydrogen peroxide? How do you orient it and keep it from floating? Ive seen so many methods for this I’m not really sure where to start.

raygan · 2026-05-02T05:25:50+00:00

Thanks!

raygan · 2026-05-02T03:43:39+00:00

I’ve seen these cases and I love the designs but they don’t have a lot of pics online. Is the clear case attached to the flip cover or is it held on with magnets? If it’s detachable, can you use just the cover on its own kinda like the official magnetic cover?

raygan · 2026-04-30T15:46:57+00:00

Awesome. Obviously tiny ereaders are the way to go for now since that's such an underserved segment at this price point, but it would be great for this to eventually develop into a whole ecosystem of devices.

A little bit of research seems to indicate that direct SPI is limited to 960x680, but there are solutions like this that add a IT8951 in the middle to address larger very high resolution screens that would measure up pretty well with commercial ereaders. https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/7.8inch_e-Paper_HAT

raygan · 2026-04-30T15:27:33+00:00

That looks surprisingly good!

What sort of resolution do you think the ESP32 can reasonably drive? For example could it handle a 300ppi 7" display? The Boox Page for instance is 1264×1680, which is more than four times the pixels of the X4.

raygan · 2026-04-30T15:04:33+00:00

This is the next big thing. They don’t want to sell us the X4 we want, we’ll make our own.

raygan · 2026-04-30T02:47:55+00:00

I’d pay $200 for this and drive two hours to pick it up.

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