4 ms·

How are the alternatives. Although i will miss my collection of books but I'm going to be in the market for the next ebook reader.

BCharlie 6y ago
Though I haven't analyzed other devices (because I don't own them), they could easily have similar issues. I personally really want an open e-ink device, but I haven't seen one for sale unfortunately. For now, I do Calibre ODPS server with Marvin app on a phone, but it doesn't really compare.
Reventlov 6y ago
I wrote https://remy.grunblatt.org/blog/kobo-aura-h2o-hacking.html https://remy.grunblatt.org/blog/kobo-aura-h2o-hacking.html a while ago. At some point it sent ISBN to google. The domain I extracted for my kobo aura: api.ipinfodb.com api.kobobooks.com auth.kobobooks.com authorize.kobo.com kbdownload1-a.akamaihd.net kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net mobile.kobobooks.com pool.ntp.org script.hotjar.com social.kobobooks.com ssl.google-analytics.com static.hotjar.com stats.g.doubleclick.net storeapi.kobo.com vars.hotjar.com www.google-analytics.com www.google.com www.google.fr www.googletagmanager.com www.msftncsi.com
- dddw 6y ago
  Nice, thanks for that writeup
anotherboffin 6y ago
I don’t know the alternatives, but do know you have software like Calibre in order to keep your book collection despite changing your device.
roter 6y ago
Got my mother-in-law a Kobo Forma. Relatively pricey but I was able to walk her through how to check out a book from her local library via Cloud Library & transfer it to her device. Was a life-saver while the physical library was closed due to Covid-19. I was a little concerned as there were complaints about fabrication but her experience has been very positive.
bwilliams 6y ago
Feels somewhat abandoned at times, but Apple Books is okay.
AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
Kobo's have comparable (even superior, IMO) hardware to the Kindle line. The thing that everyone who migrates from Kindle to Kobo seems to get hung up on is that it does not have an option to wirelessly sync books that have been sideloaded across devices. This is because Kobo does not give everyone a private cloud like Amazon does (I imagine it would be prohibitively expensive to do so for anyone but Amazon). It's not a big deal for me, but apparently it's a dealbreaker for some Kindle refugees that they can't start reading a sideloaded book on their phone and pick up where they left off when they open their Kobo.
- fouc 6y ago
  I have a $350 Kobo Forma and the UI is so slow compared to my $200 Kindle. It takes a long time to startup and it has horrible & slow touch detection which makes it really hard to highlight quotes properly. Maybe other Kobo variants do better however.
- sweatpants 6y ago
  I don't see why that should be expensive/difficult. Ebooks are mostly small files. It would be hard to ramp up a gigabyte unless you end up with image laden items such as pdfs. Synching can be an issue. I had a one of the early kindles, and it was fine until I hit a few hundred items. It would re-index and be completely unresponsive for 10minutes at a go. That could have been done cloud side. In the end I decided I needed to purge loads of documents/titles to get it useful again. But accidentally sat on it. So game over. Moved to a simple Nook and SDCard loads.
MattPalmer1086 6y ago
I just switched from my Kindle Paperwhite to the Kobo Libra H2O and I really like it. It's easier to hold with dedicated page turn buttons, good lighting, and fast screen response time. Also water resistant and good battery life. So far I've been able to get all the books I've wanted, mostly from the Kobo store, but it can work with any open format.
- wombatmobile 6y ago
  What drove you to abandon your Kindle Paperwhite, MattPalmer1086?
  - MattPalmer1086 6y ago
    The battery stopped holding its charge, so I looked around. I particularly wanted open formats, and I've been getting away from Amazon in general.
- input_sh 6y ago
  I've switched from Paperwhite to Kobo (Aura I think?) and the highlighting feature is really making me miss my Paperwhite. 1. I can't highlight text across pages. 2. There's also an issue in which I navigate to some highlight and the text gets shown in a dark grey against black background, making it nearly impossible to read. 3. Since I can't highlight text properly (thanks to issue 1), I can't simply extract my highlights from a book, so I have to manually type it on a laptop, which is a painful experience thanks to issue #2.
jabroni_salad 6y ago
I have an Onyx Nova 2 and I like it quite a lot. It runs android and has access to the android ecosystem, so I can read my webnovels and mangas and even kindle books without needing to use any external applications like Calibre.
- thekyle 6y ago
  I read this comment on my Nova 2. It's a very nice capable device for tasks like web browsing, email, and note taking (either with the pen or Bluetooth keyboard).
wolco 6y ago
My favourite ebook reader is: Aluratech black and white https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e2WoVRsap9Q https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e2WoVRsap9Q No drm, suppported all formats, held a charge for a week. No internet. Fits in jeans pocket. It came out in 2009... I wish they still made them.

BCharlie 6y ago

Though I haven't analyzed other devices (because I don't own them), they could easily have similar issues. I personally really want an open e-ink device, but I haven't seen one for sale unfortunately. For now, I do Calibre ODPS server with Marvin app on a phone, but it doesn't really compare.

Reventlov 6y ago

I wrote https://remy.grunblatt.org/blog/kobo-aura-h2o-hacking.html https://remy.grunblatt.org/blog/kobo-aura-h2o-hacking.html a while ago. At some point it sent ISBN to google. The domain I extracted for my kobo aura: api.ipinfodb.com api.kobobooks.com auth.kobobooks.com authorize.kobo.com kbdownload1-a.akamaihd.net kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net mobile.kobobooks.com pool.ntp.org script.hotjar.com social.kobobooks.com ssl.google-analytics.com static.hotjar.com stats.g.doubleclick.net storeapi.kobo.com vars.hotjar.com www.google-analytics.com www.google.com www.google.fr www.googletagmanager.com www.msftncsi.com

dddw 6y ago
Nice, thanks for that writeup

anotherboffin 6y ago

I don’t know the alternatives, but do know you have software like Calibre in order to keep your book collection despite changing your device.

roter 6y ago

Got my mother-in-law a Kobo Forma. Relatively pricey but I was able to walk her through how to check out a book from her local library via Cloud Library & transfer it to her device. Was a life-saver while the physical library was closed due to Covid-19. I was a little concerned as there were complaints about fabrication but her experience has been very positive.

bwilliams 6y ago

Feels somewhat abandoned at times, but Apple Books is okay.

AdmiralAsshat 6y ago

Kobo's have comparable (even superior, IMO) hardware to the Kindle line. The thing that everyone who migrates from Kindle to Kobo seems to get hung up on is that it does not have an option to wirelessly sync books that have been sideloaded across devices. This is because Kobo does not give everyone a private cloud like Amazon does (I imagine it would be prohibitively expensive to do so for anyone but Amazon). It's not a big deal for me, but apparently it's a dealbreaker for some Kindle refugees that they can't start reading a sideloaded book on their phone and pick up where they left off when they open their Kobo.

fouc 6y ago
I have a $350 Kobo Forma and the UI is so slow compared to my $200 Kindle. It takes a long time to startup and it has horrible & slow touch detection which makes it really hard to highlight quotes properly. Maybe other Kobo variants do better however.
sweatpants 6y ago
I don't see why that should be expensive/difficult. Ebooks are mostly small files. It would be hard to ramp up a gigabyte unless you end up with image laden items such as pdfs. Synching can be an issue. I had a one of the early kindles, and it was fine until I hit a few hundred items. It would re-index and be completely unresponsive for 10minutes at a go. That could have been done cloud side. In the end I decided I needed to purge loads of documents/titles to get it useful again. But accidentally sat on it. So game over. Moved to a simple Nook and SDCard loads.

MattPalmer1086 6y ago

I just switched from my Kindle Paperwhite to the Kobo Libra H2O and I really like it. It's easier to hold with dedicated page turn buttons, good lighting, and fast screen response time. Also water resistant and good battery life. So far I've been able to get all the books I've wanted, mostly from the Kobo store, but it can work with any open format.

wombatmobile 6y ago
What drove you to abandon your Kindle Paperwhite, MattPalmer1086?
- MattPalmer1086 6y ago
  The battery stopped holding its charge, so I looked around. I particularly wanted open formats, and I've been getting away from Amazon in general.
input_sh 6y ago
I've switched from Paperwhite to Kobo (Aura I think?) and the highlighting feature is really making me miss my Paperwhite. 1. I can't highlight text across pages. 2. There's also an issue in which I navigate to some highlight and the text gets shown in a dark grey against black background, making it nearly impossible to read. 3. Since I can't highlight text properly (thanks to issue 1), I can't simply extract my highlights from a book, so I have to manually type it on a laptop, which is a painful experience thanks to issue #2.

jabroni_salad 6y ago

I have an Onyx Nova 2 and I like it quite a lot. It runs android and has access to the android ecosystem, so I can read my webnovels and mangas and even kindle books without needing to use any external applications like Calibre.

thekyle 6y ago
I read this comment on my Nova 2. It's a very nice capable device for tasks like web browsing, email, and note taking (either with the pen or Bluetooth keyboard).

wolco 6y ago

My favourite ebook reader is: Aluratech black and white https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e2WoVRsap9Q https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e2WoVRsap9Q No drm, suppported all formats, held a charge for a week. No internet. Fits in jeans pocket. It came out in 2009... I wish they still made them.