As for other "effects", in theory the HDD led on the front panel could be interfaced with some actuator to produce vibration and sound when data is accessed.
Personally, I can't wait for the PineNote to exit the development phase and become an usable product; other e-paper readers are too closed and/or depending on cloud services I have no intention to surrender my personal data to.
What's wrong with a Kobo reader? Kobo is friendly to modding, so you can install e.g. the open-source interface KOReader and never use the company's own interface. Even if you use Kobo's software, initial setup can be done without registration, and you can just leave the reader in airplane mode for the entire lifetime of the device, so it would never connect to any cloud.
I have enough experience with Pine64 to not regard their products as anything other than toys that never meet their potential.
I second a very positive vote for Kobo. There are great resources for setting them up with no registration, and they work very well. Easy to get inside and make any changes you want.
Also second the downvote for Pine products. They look good off the bat, but there is no ongoing support and low compatibility.
