5 ms·

What good alternatives are there though? I failed to find anything good a few years ago when I needed an e-reader.

by xutopia 5y ago

deadalus 5y ago
Kobo is the best alternative and they provide software updates to sort out issues. It supports epub and pdf.
- zcmack 5y ago
  i almost bought a Kobo earlier this year but talked myself back into the Kindle ecosystem just for whispersync. while i vastly prefer reading on the kindle itself, i do often find myself reading on my phone during unexpected downtime. MOBI sucks but even self-converted epub MOBI seamlessly syncs progress.
josefresco 5y ago
Today on HN there's an extensive thread about Kobo readers. Here: http://devinlogan.org/e-readers.html http://devinlogan.org/e-readers.html Thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28585129 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28585129
SamBam 5y ago
I've enjoyed the Kobo. It's easy to side-load books using Calibre, and they're store is fine, and library integration using Overdrive is fine.
dotancohen 5y ago
I love my Nook. And you can easily install a launcher and other apps on it via ADB. I use mine to study with Anki (Ankidroid). The Nook has had the colour-temperature changing feature for a few years now. I have two devices with that feature.
acabal 5y ago
Personally I still use a Kobo Aura One from ~2016. IMHO it's a perfect ereader: Larger form factor, eink, amber frontlight, and the 2nd-best renderer on the market. (iBooks being the best, but obviously not an option for eink.) When using Kobo's kepub format, you basically get a modern Webkit renderer. (Note that regular epubs trigger the much worse ADE renderer.) It's a pity you have to use their kepub format, but fortunately kepub is just epub with some extra HTML. I've been hoping for years that Kobo will get its act together and enable their good Webkit renderer for plain epubs so we can stop having to make kepubs, but that hasn't happened yet. Additionally I believe you can install other software like koreader on Kobos, so if you don't like Kobo's own software you have options, unlike Kindle.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- cassianoleal 5y ago
  There's a plugin for Calibre that converts epubs to kepubs automatically when you send them to the device. Literally set and forget. Install plugin, get kepubs always.
- AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
  I had written a comment that some sites just add KEPUB output into its CI/CD pipelines, but then I re-read your username and remembered who I'm talking to. :) I imagine there's probably some sort of Sales Executive over at Rakuten that thinks keeping an inferior rendering engine present on the device is just enough incentive for the average user to do as much of their shopping as they can within the Kobo ecosystem.
tomComb 5y ago
What about a 'remarkable'? A bit big for an eReader perhaps (10") but supports Epub and PDF, is a fairly open platform with lots of community activity and they are about to add the ability to sync with cloud services which I think will enhance its usability. Not to mention the ability to take notes with a pen. Or there are three similar Onyx Boox products.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
  For reading it does a bad job (check the reddit) and at a pricepoint of 800$, a boox might be better
  - tomComb 5y ago
    Not sure where you got the $800? The Boox has many different models so specifying a price without a model wouldn't make sense, so I assume you were referring to the RM2. The RM2 is US$400, which is expensive compared to e-readers, but is not $800. And BTW, yes, it is annoying how USD are just assumed, but that is our reality for better or worse (and I'm not an American).
    - Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
      800$ was at the remarkable 2, but I didn't realize it put the pricing in Canadian Dollars, so the total for a tablet + "pen plus" ended up being 800$ CAD, not 800$ USD.
- sabauma 5y ago
  I've replaced my Kindle with a Remarkable 2 and am generally pleased with the overall experience. The larger screen is nice, as is the ability to read/annotate academic papers on the same device. There are a bunch of little things that would improve the epub experience, like improved navigation and bookmarks (never really made use of these on my Kindle though). The biggest missing feature IMO as a Kindle replacement is the lack of builtin lighting.
- nafizh 5y ago

What good alternatives are there though? I failed to find anything good a few years ago when I needed an e-reader.

deadalus 5y ago

Kobo is the best alternative and they provide software updates to sort out issues. It supports epub and pdf.

zcmack 5y ago
i almost bought a Kobo earlier this year but talked myself back into the Kindle ecosystem just for whispersync. while i vastly prefer reading on the kindle itself, i do often find myself reading on my phone during unexpected downtime. MOBI sucks but even self-converted epub MOBI seamlessly syncs progress.

josefresco 5y ago

Today on HN there's an extensive thread about Kobo readers. Here: http://devinlogan.org/e-readers.html http://devinlogan.org/e-readers.html Thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28585129 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28585129

SamBam 5y ago

I've enjoyed the Kobo. It's easy to side-load books using Calibre, and they're store is fine, and library integration using Overdrive is fine.

dotancohen 5y ago

I love my Nook. And you can easily install a launcher and other apps on it via ADB. I use mine to study with Anki (Ankidroid). The Nook has had the colour-temperature changing feature for a few years now. I have two devices with that feature.

acabal 5y ago

Personally I still use a Kobo Aura One from ~2016. IMHO it's a perfect ereader: Larger form factor, eink, amber frontlight, and the 2nd-best renderer on the market. (iBooks being the best, but obviously not an option for eink.) When using Kobo's kepub format, you basically get a modern Webkit renderer. (Note that regular epubs trigger the much worse ADE renderer.) It's a pity you have to use their kepub format, but fortunately kepub is just epub with some extra HTML. I've been hoping for years that Kobo will get its act together and enable their good Webkit renderer for plain epubs so we can stop having to make kepubs, but that hasn't happened yet. Additionally I believe you can install other software like koreader on Kobos, so if you don't like Kobo's own software you have options, unlike Kindle.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
cassianoleal 5y ago
There's a plugin for Calibre that converts epubs to kepubs automatically when you send them to the device. Literally set and forget. Install plugin, get kepubs always.
AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
I had written a comment that some sites just add KEPUB output into its CI/CD pipelines, but then I re-read your username and remembered who I'm talking to. :) I imagine there's probably some sort of Sales Executive over at Rakuten that thinks keeping an inferior rendering engine present on the device is just enough incentive for the average user to do as much of their shopping as they can within the Kobo ecosystem.

tomComb 5y ago

What about a 'remarkable'? A bit big for an eReader perhaps (10") but supports Epub and PDF, is a fairly open platform with lots of community activity and they are about to add the ability to sync with cloud services which I think will enhance its usability. Not to mention the ability to take notes with a pen. Or there are three similar Onyx Boox products.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
For reading it does a bad job (check the reddit) and at a pricepoint of 800$, a boox might be better
- tomComb 5y ago
  Not sure where you got the $800? The Boox has many different models so specifying a price without a model wouldn't make sense, so I assume you were referring to the RM2. The RM2 is US$400, which is expensive compared to e-readers, but is not $800. And BTW, yes, it is annoying how USD are just assumed, but that is our reality for better or worse (and I'm not an American).
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
    800$ was at the remarkable 2, but I didn't realize it put the pricing in Canadian Dollars, so the total for a tablet + "pen plus" ended up being 800$ CAD, not 800$ USD.
sabauma 5y ago
I've replaced my Kindle with a Remarkable 2 and am generally pleased with the overall experience. The larger screen is nice, as is the ability to read/annotate academic papers on the same device. There are a bunch of little things that would improve the epub experience, like improved navigation and bookmarks (never really made use of these on my Kindle though). The biggest missing feature IMO as a Kindle replacement is the lack of builtin lighting.
nafizh 5y ago