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I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is

I very consciously did not buy a Kindle when choosing an Ereader about a year ago. The Kobo H2O is incredible and has served me very well. The format support is wonderful, and the stock OS does more than I need (though there is a whole community of custom OSes that also look cool). Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is.

hkgjjgjfjfjfjf 4y ago
jfim 4y ago
> Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Easy purchasing of ebooks from Amazon, combined with their large selection of ebooks.
- nucleardog 4y ago
  Yeah like, I don't wanna point out the typical HN problem but... Imagine explaining this to someone's grandma. "Click this Amazon shortcut, type your book name up here, click on it down below, press 'buy now'. If it doesn't show up right away, wait 5 minutes and check again." Versus... something to do with trying to download mobi files (from where?), starting calibre, starting an import process, locating said files (this is seriously harder than you think for most people), plugging your reader into your PC, running a sync process...
  - anakaine 4y ago
    1. Turn on the reader. 2. Go to "Kobo Store". 3. Look for a book. 4. Click "Buy". 5. Click the book to open it. Thats about my workflow in the kobo, assuming I didn't drop a file on there via usb.
  - michaelmrose 4y ago
    99% of this difficulty goes away if Grandma uses her phone or tablets browser to download unlimited free books from zlibrary and reads them on the same device. Honestly the grandma example is starting to feel dated. When I was born in 1980 a 50 year old grandma was born in 1930 and probably didn't own a TV until they were raising their own family. The same 50 year old today was born in 1972 and would have been 5 when the Apple II hit the scene. At what point do we realize that eventually old folks will be those that only grew up with iphones and stop assuming that anyone with grey hear needs to be assumed to be technically incompetent.
    - scarygliders 4y ago
      Don't know why you're being downvoted. This born in '69 53 year old right here is programming backends and frontends for websites, and PySide5/6 Qt5/6 applications. I'm still sharp as a pin. Like you say, there has to be some point at which those younger than I stop thinking someone in their 50's isn't as hopeless with technology as they assume. Of course not everyone in my Gen X'er group will be like me, then again, I know of folks in their 20's who struggle with anything IT. Quit with the ageism, people. It's getting old ;)
      - josephg 4y ago
        I got yelled at at a conference for using my mum as an example of a user who wouldn’t use some complex software solution. I was told off for being sexist, or ageist or something. They didn’t get it. My mum is super smart and prolific. She has a PhD in international development and has helped tens of thousands of disadvantaged kids go to school. It’s not that she’s not smart enough. She just doesn’t care about the technology. She’s not going to spontaneously get comfortable with the terminal and learn rsync. But she can install Dropbox no problem. If a kindle just works and has all the books in easy reach, that’s what I’ll recommend to her. She’s too busy to bother with software that’s not user friendly. That’s not ageism. I think about her a lot when I build software because I respect her. She deserves to spend her day thinking about her job, not thinking about stupid tech problems.
        scarygliders 4y ago
        I agree with what you say. I've witnessed more than enough software with absolutely abysmal UI/UX and don't have time for that myself - except for when I really need to, like this one truly abysmal phone app for an energy company which I need to use to pay for my energy. It looks and acts like it was designed/coded by idiots; additional popups to remind me to rate the app (already did and it was very negative!), a popup with an "okay, got it" prompt - the only prompt - which instead of setting that yes, I actually did get it, just pops up again the next time reminding me to use some feature I don't want to use. And so on. That's obviously the fault of the people involved in vomiting out the abysmal application(s). But yes I agree, most people simply don't care about the technology, they just want a Thing to do the thing they want it to do, no muss no fuss. This situation has always been the case and I can't envisage a time when it will change.
  - input_sh 4y ago
    You're presenting it as if Kobo doesn't have its own store. It does: https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebooks https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebooks You can access it via Kobo e-reader, same as accessing Amazon's store on a Kindle. Somewhat more limited selection, but both contain Big Five publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster) that own hundreds if not thousands of imprints. Calibre/OPDS server/custom software (like koreader) are an added bonus for the techies, but it's absolutely not a requirement. If your requirement is ease-of-use, there's no difference. If your requirement is a hacker-friendly device, you can do it on both, but it's in my experience somewhat easier to do on a Kobo.
  - schnitzelstoat 4y ago
    A grandma might be pushing it, but my SO learned how to use Calibre and she isn't very tech-savvy. Also, Amazon isn't as easy as it sounds - I used it a few times and found it quite confusing to get it on my Kindle after purchasing on Amazon. And its a nightmare as I moved country and would prefer to purchase a larger selection of ebooks in English from my home country etc. but I have a separate Amazon account and stuff.. that was even more confusing.
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    - turn up e-reader - click apps (if it's not the default screen) - click "whatever has store in the name" - buy the book - rinse and repeat I'm sure anybody can learn how to do it, even if the brand it's not Bezos's.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  The ridiculous pricing of ebooks on Amazon in the last few years has forced me to alternate sources. I'm not interested in paying through the nose for something that's far cheaper to distribute than a printed book. In today's market Kindle doesn't offer any value proposition.
  - criddell 4y ago
    When I'm buying something, I'm not thinking much about their margins. For me, it's mostly about value. An ebook is searchable, gives me instant access to a dictionary, doesn't take up space in my house, I can read in the dark, it's more comfortable to hold, and I can set the font to a size that works for my aging eyes. That $10 ebook of The Dog Stars is a much better value for me than a $4 paperback copy. Paper books have their place too. For example, I want physical cookbooks that I can leave open on a stand as I work in the kitchen.
  - TheCoelacanth 4y ago
    An ebook is only marginally cheaper to distribute than a printed book. If you're doing a reasonable sized print run, it's only going to cost you a dollar or two to print a book. Most of the cost is in labor to write and edit the book, which still needs to happen for ebooks.
    - Turing_Machine 4y ago
      Printing is only one of many costs, though. Shipping, returns, expen$ive retail space for physical inventory, salary and benefits for retail clerks, utilities, insurance, shoplifting losses...
  - themadturk 4y ago
    For me, a 66-year-old who's been reading voluminously for about 60 of those years, the value proposition of the Kindle (or probably just about any ereader, probably) is: 1. I don't have to store all the physical books I would have acquired over the decades. 2. I can carry around a large number of those beloved books with me at all times. 3. I can vary the font size, which my ageing eyes appreciate.
- vanchor3 4y ago
  Not to mention books available exclusively on Amazon due to KDP Select.
paranoidrobot 4y ago
It's trading customisation/flexibility for ease of use, at a (potentially) higher cost. The older kindles with 2G/3G "Whispersync" functionality had another major drawcard of working just about anywhere, even if you didn't have wifi coverage or a phone with data services. I have in the past used this to load several more books while in an airport in a foreign country between flights. Many people if you hand them a Kindle can easily navigate the store and buy a book. Without that built-in store, then they're now going to have a bunch more hurdles: they need a computer, internet access (or an offline store), the skill and ability to run and use Calibre, the knowledge of where to get eBooks from, how to get them in the right format (or convert them), etc.
- pantojax45 4y ago
  The Kobo Store is really easy to use - plus Overdrive (library ebook software) is natively integrated into Kobo as well. It’s basically equivalent to Amazon and when you purchase from Kobo (or check out from local library) it shows up automatically when you sync via wifi. They’ll even price match Amazon (credit for difference in cost +10% bonus) just by filling out a form.
  - innocenat 4y ago
    Kobo doesn't have wireless sync for third party book. That's a killing feature for many people on Kindle.
    - relix 4y ago
      Kobo's default OS has Dropbox and Pocket support. You can just drop a book in your Dropboox and it'll appear on your Kobo through wireless sync.
      - innocenat 4y ago
        Dropbox is only available on Kobo Forma, Sage, and Elipsa. It isn't available in more popular Libra 2 or Aura HD.
adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
The lack of 5 ghz wifi and micro usb are slightly annoying, but overall, I love it.
- fastball 4y ago
  What in the world do you need 5GHz wifi for on an e-reader?
  - nephanth 4y ago
    Maybe their AP only supports that?
  - Kelm 4y ago
    Wouldn't it be more convenient to only need one wifi network without 2 frequencies? Especially in dense urban areas where "wifi pollution" is high and it can be difficult to find an unused 2.4GHz channel
  - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
    As I said, it's slightly annoying, not a deal-breaker. It required me to change my wifi setup to be dual band (I'm in an apartment so lots of congestion on 2.4 ghz, and I don't need the extra range).
  - qwerty456127 4y ago
    I usually disable 2.4 Ghz WiFi on the routers I set up because 2.4 Ghz WiFi is just a needless radio spectrum pollution nowadays (unless you need to connect retro devices). I initially decided to phase it out in hope of improving BlueTooth (wireless earphones) stability.
    - fastball 4y ago
      2.4Ghz covers more area.
      - goosedragons 4y ago
janpieterz 4y ago
I switched from a Kindle to a Kobo, and now back to a Kindle. My experience was that the Kindle's responsiveness to changes (next/previous/moving around in the OS) was better, just significant enough to be bothering me when I was using the Kobo.
- rapind 4y ago
  The latest low end kindle response time is horrendous and the material is slippy. I lost my paperwhite so replaced it last week and the quality has really really dipped. Also it was the cheapest kindle but cost more than I originally spent in my paperwhite… I’m returning it next week when I finish my current book.
  - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
    They have three tiers. Paperwhite is the middle so you're going to see a difference with the low end model.
  - QuarterReptile 4y ago
    Newest version of the Paperwhite is a big step up. The larger screen and better processor are both put to good use.
thih9 4y ago
Kindle can be significantly cheaper and easier to obtain. You can still use Calibre with Kindle, that’s what I do.
Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
> I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Availability. I can get the Kindle delivered the same day (or) the next from a village(Now a corporation) in Southern India. Once my Kindle didn't wake up, Got it replaced within couple of days near the end or after warranty period. That said, I'm with you and wouldn't be buying a Kindle again. It's Value/Price is low for its utility, Especially since Amazon is locking up the device and has started interrupting bulk emails from approved email addresses. Also since I have started to limit my purchases from Amazon. Now, I have to pester my friends and family from overseas to buy the Ereader not available here (or) Order one with international shipping and pray that the customs don't hold it and charge me a kidney(Compute devices are often charged 2x-3x the cost as excise duty!).
- zinekeller 4y ago
  > Now a corporation Just stating that while I understand what you meant, it could be confusing to others not familiar with subdivisions of India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation_(India))
  - Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
    Thanks, It's indeed confusing without specifying what a corporation is.
  - KSteffensen 4y ago
    Coming from a small country, it is amazing to me that an urban area of at least 1 million people is referred to as a village. I consider myself to live in a town and that has only 12000 residents.
  - sundarurfriend 4y ago
    I'm from southern India too, likely even from the same state Abhishek_Muthian is from, and this meaning of corporation didn't occur even to me when reading their comment. I was wondering if they meant the village had become a company town or something. Thank you for the clarification.
fastball 4y ago
> Combined with Calibre I'd imagine something like < 1% of Kindle owners use Calibre, so presumably the value prop is... an e-reader that works well without needing any external software. Most people just buy books from Amazon I expect, so they don't really need multi-format support.
- themadturk 4y ago
  I use Calibre primarily to...hmm, preserve my ownership of the books I have given money to Amazon for (if, for example, Amazon should decide to pull another 1984.) I certainly don't need Calibre to use my Kindle, but I'm glad I have it.
zzzbra 4y ago
Kobo’s iOS and desktop reading experiences are very subpar (although they seem to be fixing that with new experimental features for iOS)and there’s no cloud sync for the most popular (“cheaper”) models.
wy35 4y ago
Back when I was shopping for an e-reader, the Kobo was more expensive than the equivalent Kindle for the same price. Plus, Kindles go for very cheap on Prime Day.
gommm 4y ago
It's more convenient to send an ebook via calibre to my kindle than to my kobo. I configured send to email on calibre, so it's just one click to send via calibre. On the other hand, I love the pocket integration on kobo whenever I want to read articles and the overdrive library integration is great. It's why we have both a kobo and a kindle shared between me and my wife. Besides this, from an ergonomic point of view, the kindle oasis is better than the kobo sage, it's lighter, feels better in hand. The Kobo forma is better than the sage in term of ergonomy but when I had mine it broke after 13 months.
sureglymop 4y ago
I've been using it for years with KOReader instead of the stock OS and it's been amazing. I can ssh into it, open epubs directly from my nextcloud, sync reading progress etc with calibre. It's great! KOReader is one of the best pieces of open source software i have ever come across.
omnimus 4y ago
I can recommend PocketBook i recently got some cheaper Touch HD model. It simply does the job. It runs linux, it has several book sync options natively and you can instal KOreader on it easy.
- mikolaj1024 4y ago
  I am using PocketBook Touch HD 3. Design is fantastic, however... It has really annoying bugs. For a long time - it had a problem with event handling - pages not flipping (than flipping several at once). Finally fixed - after years. And then they introduced a new bug - it randomly turns one page back instead of forward - yes occasionally...
  - omnimus 4y ago
    I have the same. Have you tried using KOreader? https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-PocketBook-devices https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Po... recent versions really improve the reading experience over the default reader app.
omnimus 4y ago
I can recommend PocketBook.I recently got some cheaper Touch HD model. It simply does the job. It runs linux. It has several book sync options (including dropbox) out of the box. And you can instal KOreader on it easy which i recommend.
ekianjo 4y ago
Kindle work very well too when you install koreader.
- themadturk 4y ago
  You need a slightly older-than-current firmware version, though, correct? I haven't kept up on Mobiread forums lately.
  - ekianjo 4y ago
    not sure about newer kindles i have one whose firmware does not get updates anymore.
just_for_you 4y ago
>I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is One reason I'm stuck with Kindles is because Amazon makes it sane to look up words when reading Japanese books and articles. When you use Amazon's "Send to my Kindle" service (eg, you email a book to yourself, and then it appears on your device), Amazon seems to do some kind of de-conjugation which magically knows how to break-apart terms and grammar so that you can easily look anything up. Normally, if uploading straight to your device, or if using a Kobo, a term you want to look up has to match your on-device dictionary exactly, which is clunky and awful, especially since Japanese doesn't use spaces and has lots of inflections. If Kobo had something similar, I'd ditch using Kindles entirely.
- gambiting 4y ago
  As someone whose first language isn't English - 100000x times this. The fact that I can just hold down on any word and instantly see its definition is just incredible. It's a must have feature of any e-reader for me.
  - Derbasti 4y ago
    Kobos have this feature
    - gambiting 4y ago
      Didn't know that! Can you upload custom dictionaries to them? That was my only gripe with how Kindles do it - they support this feature in some languages but not others.
      - goosedragons 4y ago
        Yeah it's possible but it's not an official feature (it's not hard though).
        Derbasti 4y ago
        What are you talking about? It's built right into the Kobo reader, and has been for years. https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017639893-Define-words-with-the-dictionary-on-your-Kobo-eReader https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017639893-Define-...
akudha 4y ago
I have a couple of thousand books on my ageing Kindle. Looking for a new ereader, will check out Kobo. Do you buy books from Kindle and convert them to ePub?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- kcartlidge 4y ago
  The Kobo book store is smaller than Amazon's, but still huge. The UI may look different, but it is still the same process of search/browse, buy/preview. Either on the web site or from the device. All the talk of conversions and Calibre etc in the thread is possibly muddying the waters as it is totally unnecessary if you just want to mirror the Kindle flow.
msh 4y ago
I am not located in the US and dont have an american payment method. Amazon will still let me shop ebooks from amazon.com I have previously had problems (I dont know if its still a problem) with being allowed to buy US books from other ebook stores, like kobo, when I did not have a US credit card.
maratc 4y ago
The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.
- qwerty456127 4y ago
  AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    > Kindle shows you ads Never seen an advert on my Kindle.
    - actionfromafar 4y ago
      I turned off WiFi on mine because I was too annoyed by ads.
      - chrisseaton 4y ago
        Where do they show up? Never seen one.
        sofixa 4y ago
        There's a specific, cheaper version (10 euros cheaper in France) that has ads in.
        5e92cb50239222b 4y ago
        An ad replaces the "screen saver" when you unlock the device (until you swipe it away), and there's a small banner at the bottom of the book list in the main menu. You probably bought a more expensive version with no ads. They can also be removed later for a small fee, or you can simply never enable wi-fi and there will be no ads at all.
lbwtaylor 4y ago
Kindle unlimited - great for pulpy sci-fi books. Some people hate it, but I enjoy it and it's a killer feature for me.
- ryanmercer 4y ago
  Agreed, "SHTF"/"EOTWAWKI" types too. Any good recent sci-fi recommendations? After spending 23 days without running water in July due to multiple well failures, I've lost interested in SHTF/EOTWAWKI and need to get back into sci-fi titles that I'm not listening to via Audible for the performers (Omega Force, Expeditionary Force, Undying Mercenaries, Bobiverse, etc).
Bayart 4y ago
The Kindle I got last year is one of the best purchases I've ever made, I can't believe I went all that time without an ereader. Having to convert epubs to azw3 is the only minor inconvenience.
unixhero 4y ago
Thanks for the recommendation, this looks like a very interesting product. But it is Sold Out Sigh
henriquemaia 4y ago
Similar story here. Bought a Kobo Libra half a year ago, after more than ten years using Kindles. I chose this Kobo for its bigger screen, as well as hackability. It was cheaper than a corresponding Kindle. Also, I knew I could easily install Koreader [1] in it, pretty much the only UI I have been using for many years now. I'm glad I did. However, and this is important. Though happy with this Kobo, truth is that it feels cheaper. I keep it on a good case, and I use it with care, as I'm pretty sure it won't survive any fall from whatever height I may drop it. And my previous Kindle, a paperwhite 4, had its tumbles, and survived them quite nicely. And not exactly because I was fortunate. So there's that. But don't get me wrong. I'm not Kindle-nostalgic. I just have enough experience with both to know what I can reasonably expect from my current device. [1] http://koreader.rocks/ http://koreader.rocks/
- Shorel 4y ago
  I have a PocketBook, and it feels more expensive than the Kindles I've had before.
wink 4y ago
The kindle's value prop is that it has existed for a while and I'm pretty sure my 8y old model would still work if I hadn't left it on a plane. So I bought a used one from a friend and that's been working for many years. I see no reason to upgrade e-readers all the time. I'm not telling you or anyone to buy a Kindle, but from a VERY quick look my Kindle cost half of what a Kobo costs (tolino seems to be available around the 70-80€ mark though and so far has worked fine although the default seems to be some nasty Adobe ebook management software). Maybe 150 or 200 is worth it to you if you use it all the time, but for me it was mostly 1-2 books a month, which weren't necessarily cheaper than on paper.
- goosedragons 4y ago
  Are you German? Tolino eReaders are basically just rebadged Kobos at this point with a different software stack for a few European countries. I can get a Kobo Nia for $130 CAD (about €100), a base model Kindle is $120 CAD. They are very close in price and on the high end the Kobo is cheaper and offers more.
  - wink 4y ago
    Interesting, I did not know that, thanks. I didn't make up the numbers above, I just quickly looked at geizhals.de for a comparison - maybe Kobo-branded Kobos are exceptionally expensive here then. I don't have a tolino myself, but gave support to a family member in the recent past, that's why I've held one and used the software. That one was sold by a physical book store chain. But overall that doesn't change my main point - or maybe Kindles have gone up in price, I'm pretty sure I paid closer to 70€ than 100€, which is still 1/3. Could be that it was a sale, and they don't even have that base model anymore, but as I said I was 100% happy with it.
- NoboruWataya 4y ago
  > I'm pretty sure my 8y old model would still work if I hadn't left it on a plane. Can confirm - I am currently using a ~12 year old Kindle 3rd gen, with no problem at all. In fairness it hasn't seen very heavy use but even for the battery and electronics to have held up for that long, often being stored in sub-optimal conditions, is fairly impressive IMO. I strongly dislike Amazon and its walled garden but I dislike waste more so I have no intention of upgrading before I have to. I mostly use my ereader to read free ebooks downloaded from Gutenberg/Standard Ebooks/etc anyway.
grahamannett 4y ago
I'm on my 3rd kindle now and have had all the previous ones for like 7+ years or something before I broke it or an issue arose. I bought a different e-reader between the first and second kindle I had and returned it because the similar kindle at the time was cheaper and way nicer quality (and everything I read is transferred through Calibre). I looked again when I was buying a new kindle last year and it seemed similar that there was no clear winner for what was better than the kindle or similar but cheaper and a reputable brand. I'd love not buying Kindle if I knew what to get but every-time I look into it, seems like people suggesting similar products for marginally worse prices or its just personal preference of the person with no real justification.
whyoh 4y ago
>I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is The device itself seems pretty good (hardware). I don't own one, but I'm looking at the Kindle Paperwhite now and I can't find anything better for the same price. If you do, please let me know. Yes, the lack of ePUB support sucks, but you can convert to Amazon's format pretty easily from what I've read.
bambax 4y ago
Amazon gave me a Kindle Oasis (the prize for being a finalist in last year's 'Amazon Storytelling' contest). I would never have bought it myself since it costs €249 (!) but I have to say it's a fantastic device. It's super-legible, has enormous memory, is water resistant, and has buttons for page-turning. Other than Kindle books that arrive directly after buying, I send books to it via email through Calibre, which removes DRM in the process. Calibre also did the mobi conversion, and now this step is not even necessary anymore.
- ryanmercer 4y ago
  >I would never have bought it myself since it costs €249 (!) I bought my Oasis 2 around for closet to 299 EUR (309.97 USD) when I was making 30k USD a year, was 100% worth it to me while I still had a fully functional kindle keyboard and kindle paperwhite 3. If you're a casual reader, that might seem expensive, but if you are chewing through 1-3 books a week like I do (heck I read 3 books last time I flew from Indianapolis to San Francisco and 2 more on the return flights), it becomes a much better price. I've been using it for almost 5 years now which has me at a cost of 17 cents per day with thousands of hours of use (about 8 cents an hour if I had to guess).
  - bambax 4y ago
    Actually I had bought a Kindle Keyboard 3G in 2011, which at the time cost $189, so not that far from the cost of a Kindle Oasis today. It served me well for many years. While it's still working (and the keyboard is so nice to use to type in notes) the plastic case has become "sticky" and a kind of thick film comes off in places. It's strange and very unpleasant. Recently the battery died, I refurbished it with a new battery from Aliexpress and it came back to life. When the Oasis arrived I gave the 3G to my kids.
  - criddell 4y ago
    I bought an Oasis on Prime Day and it's mostly a nice upgrade from my old Paperwhite. The only negative is the battery life. I have to charge it twice as often as I had to with my years old Paperwhite.
- 4y ago
throwaway6734 4y ago
The kindle oasis is one of the nicest pieces of hardware I've ever used
misiti3780 4y ago
I can click a single button on Amazon and get a book pushed to my kindle in < 30 seconds. How is that not an incredible value proposition?
- kcartlidge 4y ago
  It is. It just isn't unique to Amazon. That's exactly how Kobo do it too, from their own bookstore on the web or from the device itself.
unethical_ban 4y ago
Back in 2014, I bought a nook, returned it. I bought a kobo, returned it. I bought a Kindle voyage that I love to this day. #1 reason: out of those three, Kindle is or was the only ebook vendor I could crack with DeDRM and actually own my books. With Kindle for PC 1.17, I can still pull down my books and import them to my Calibre library for safe keeping. Can one DeDRM their Nook or Kobo files in 2022? PS: Kobo typography was noticably worse than Kindle in 2014. Again, it may have changed. PPS: I wish the symmetrical origami cover of the voyage was more used. I lay in bed and flip from side to side while reading. A book like cover or one that just is meant for vertical support is not sufficient for my use case.
- filmgirlcw 4y ago
  If you have an Eink Kindle, you don’t even need to use the Kindle desktop app to download the book files to use with DeDRM and Calibre. I personally find using the desktop app more of a PITA than just downloading the files, but YMMV.
collegeburner 4y ago
i got my kindle for way under half that price. jailbroke it and now i can do whatever i want. so the value prop is cheap ass hardware subsidized by daddy bezos.
filmgirlcw 4y ago
As others have said, I think the value for the Kindle is pretty damn high. * Works in lots and lots of countries * Great iOS and Android apps to supplement reading on Eink * Well-priced devices, even if you pay to remove ads, that offer years and years of software support and are extremely durable/reliable * Great hacking community and ability to use things like DeDRM to bring your purchases to other devices * Insanely robust library that is far more consistent than other services. * Ability to easily side-load other content via the Send to Kindle feature * Audible integration/sync/discounts If you prefer Kobo, that’s fine. But I’ve always seen it as the second-rate alternative owned by the second-rate Amazon (Rakuten). If I’m going to get tied into any ecosystem, I’d prefer for it to be the biggest/most active. But that’s just me. Edit: formatting
- Keyframe 4y ago
  I love my Oasis. Only major issue I have is with leather cover I bought with it.. when cover is open and behind the kindle itself.. you cannot easily grip on it anymore since there's no rised edge anymore. If that's the only thing bothering me, I'm good. The only other is there's no direct O Reilly support, so I have to go through shady motions in order to read a book from my O'Reilly sub on my kindle.
- philistine 4y ago
  A point that you're forgetting, which is extremely important for a lot of people, is access to a public library's collection of ebooks. In Canada, Kobo is overwhelmingly capable of connecting with a public library, while Kindle cannot. It is, in my experience, the number one reason why people around me choose a Kobo over a Kindle.
  - agentdrtran 4y ago
    You can get library books on your kindle, you just need to use a phone app
    - dihydro 4y ago
      That doesn't seem like a solution, but a work-around. I'm sure it works fine, but why should that extra step be necessary?
dihydro 4y ago
I am of the same thought. But I was gifted a Kindle so I am enjoying it besides. I have used Calibre to side load many of me pre-existing books and it works well.
LeafItAlone 4y ago
Where do you get your books from? My main use for my Kindle ($99, early 2015 model) is from library systems that use Libby/Overdrive. It’s super easy to check out a book and have it delivered to my kindle. Kindle supports whatever DRM is used to return the book when the loan period is over. And I don’t have to feel guilty about bypassing DRM on the service. What’s the process like for the Kobo?
- HelloMcFly 4y ago
  Works the same on Kobo - full OverDrive integration.
gm3dmo 4y ago
I don't have a kindle but its value to me is that my 84 year old Mum can use hers without needing to call me for technical support.
rossmohax 4y ago
Kobo promotes own proprietary format "kepub", which has own better renderer. Standard epub is rendered using generic, not so good looking rendering engine.

hkgjjgjfjfjfjf 4y ago

jfim 4y ago

> Combined with Calibre, I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Easy purchasing of ebooks from Amazon, combined with their large selection of ebooks.

nucleardog 4y ago
Yeah like, I don't wanna point out the typical HN problem but... Imagine explaining this to someone's grandma. "Click this Amazon shortcut, type your book name up here, click on it down below, press 'buy now'. If it doesn't show up right away, wait 5 minutes and check again." Versus... something to do with trying to download mobi files (from where?), starting calibre, starting an import process, locating said files (this is seriously harder than you think for most people), plugging your reader into your PC, running a sync process...
- anakaine 4y ago
  1. Turn on the reader. 2. Go to "Kobo Store". 3. Look for a book. 4. Click "Buy". 5. Click the book to open it. Thats about my workflow in the kobo, assuming I didn't drop a file on there via usb.
- michaelmrose 4y ago
  99% of this difficulty goes away if Grandma uses her phone or tablets browser to download unlimited free books from zlibrary and reads them on the same device. Honestly the grandma example is starting to feel dated. When I was born in 1980 a 50 year old grandma was born in 1930 and probably didn't own a TV until they were raising their own family. The same 50 year old today was born in 1972 and would have been 5 when the Apple II hit the scene. At what point do we realize that eventually old folks will be those that only grew up with iphones and stop assuming that anyone with grey hear needs to be assumed to be technically incompetent.
  - scarygliders 4y ago
    Don't know why you're being downvoted. This born in '69 53 year old right here is programming backends and frontends for websites, and PySide5/6 Qt5/6 applications. I'm still sharp as a pin. Like you say, there has to be some point at which those younger than I stop thinking someone in their 50's isn't as hopeless with technology as they assume. Of course not everyone in my Gen X'er group will be like me, then again, I know of folks in their 20's who struggle with anything IT. Quit with the ageism, people. It's getting old ;)
    - josephg 4y ago
      I got yelled at at a conference for using my mum as an example of a user who wouldn’t use some complex software solution. I was told off for being sexist, or ageist or something. They didn’t get it. My mum is super smart and prolific. She has a PhD in international development and has helped tens of thousands of disadvantaged kids go to school. It’s not that she’s not smart enough. She just doesn’t care about the technology. She’s not going to spontaneously get comfortable with the terminal and learn rsync. But she can install Dropbox no problem. If a kindle just works and has all the books in easy reach, that’s what I’ll recommend to her. She’s too busy to bother with software that’s not user friendly. That’s not ageism. I think about her a lot when I build software because I respect her. She deserves to spend her day thinking about her job, not thinking about stupid tech problems.
      - scarygliders 4y ago
        I agree with what you say. I've witnessed more than enough software with absolutely abysmal UI/UX and don't have time for that myself - except for when I really need to, like this one truly abysmal phone app for an energy company which I need to use to pay for my energy. It looks and acts like it was designed/coded by idiots; additional popups to remind me to rate the app (already did and it was very negative!), a popup with an "okay, got it" prompt - the only prompt - which instead of setting that yes, I actually did get it, just pops up again the next time reminding me to use some feature I don't want to use. And so on. That's obviously the fault of the people involved in vomiting out the abysmal application(s). But yes I agree, most people simply don't care about the technology, they just want a Thing to do the thing they want it to do, no muss no fuss. This situation has always been the case and I can't envisage a time when it will change.
- input_sh 4y ago
  You're presenting it as if Kobo doesn't have its own store. It does: https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebooks https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebooks You can access it via Kobo e-reader, same as accessing Amazon's store on a Kindle. Somewhat more limited selection, but both contain Big Five publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster) that own hundreds if not thousands of imprints. Calibre/OPDS server/custom software (like koreader) are an added bonus for the techies, but it's absolutely not a requirement. If your requirement is ease-of-use, there's no difference. If your requirement is a hacker-friendly device, you can do it on both, but it's in my experience somewhat easier to do on a Kobo.
- schnitzelstoat 4y ago
  A grandma might be pushing it, but my SO learned how to use Calibre and she isn't very tech-savvy. Also, Amazon isn't as easy as it sounds - I used it a few times and found it quite confusing to get it on my Kindle after purchasing on Amazon. And its a nightmare as I moved country and would prefer to purchase a larger selection of ebooks in English from my home country etc. but I have a separate Amazon account and stuff.. that was even more confusing.
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  - turn up e-reader - click apps (if it's not the default screen) - click "whatever has store in the name" - buy the book - rinse and repeat I'm sure anybody can learn how to do it, even if the brand it's not Bezos's.
kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
The ridiculous pricing of ebooks on Amazon in the last few years has forced me to alternate sources. I'm not interested in paying through the nose for something that's far cheaper to distribute than a printed book. In today's market Kindle doesn't offer any value proposition.
- criddell 4y ago
  When I'm buying something, I'm not thinking much about their margins. For me, it's mostly about value. An ebook is searchable, gives me instant access to a dictionary, doesn't take up space in my house, I can read in the dark, it's more comfortable to hold, and I can set the font to a size that works for my aging eyes. That $10 ebook of The Dog Stars is a much better value for me than a $4 paperback copy. Paper books have their place too. For example, I want physical cookbooks that I can leave open on a stand as I work in the kitchen.
- TheCoelacanth 4y ago
  An ebook is only marginally cheaper to distribute than a printed book. If you're doing a reasonable sized print run, it's only going to cost you a dollar or two to print a book. Most of the cost is in labor to write and edit the book, which still needs to happen for ebooks.
  - Turing_Machine 4y ago
    Printing is only one of many costs, though. Shipping, returns, expen$ive retail space for physical inventory, salary and benefits for retail clerks, utilities, insurance, shoplifting losses...
- themadturk 4y ago
  For me, a 66-year-old who's been reading voluminously for about 60 of those years, the value proposition of the Kindle (or probably just about any ereader, probably) is: 1. I don't have to store all the physical books I would have acquired over the decades. 2. I can carry around a large number of those beloved books with me at all times. 3. I can vary the font size, which my ageing eyes appreciate.
vanchor3 4y ago
Not to mention books available exclusively on Amazon due to KDP Select.

paranoidrobot 4y ago

It's trading customisation/flexibility for ease of use, at a (potentially) higher cost. The older kindles with 2G/3G "Whispersync" functionality had another major drawcard of working just about anywhere, even if you didn't have wifi coverage or a phone with data services. I have in the past used this to load several more books while in an airport in a foreign country between flights. Many people if you hand them a Kindle can easily navigate the store and buy a book. Without that built-in store, then they're now going to have a bunch more hurdles: they need a computer, internet access (or an offline store), the skill and ability to run and use Calibre, the knowledge of where to get eBooks from, how to get them in the right format (or convert them), etc.

pantojax45 4y ago
The Kobo Store is really easy to use - plus Overdrive (library ebook software) is natively integrated into Kobo as well. It’s basically equivalent to Amazon and when you purchase from Kobo (or check out from local library) it shows up automatically when you sync via wifi. They’ll even price match Amazon (credit for difference in cost +10% bonus) just by filling out a form.
- innocenat 4y ago
  Kobo doesn't have wireless sync for third party book. That's a killing feature for many people on Kindle.
  - relix 4y ago
    Kobo's default OS has Dropbox and Pocket support. You can just drop a book in your Dropboox and it'll appear on your Kobo through wireless sync.
    - innocenat 4y ago
      Dropbox is only available on Kobo Forma, Sage, and Elipsa. It isn't available in more popular Libra 2 or Aura HD.

adgjlsfhk1 4y ago

The lack of 5 ghz wifi and micro usb are slightly annoying, but overall, I love it.

fastball 4y ago
What in the world do you need 5GHz wifi for on an e-reader?
- nephanth 4y ago
  Maybe their AP only supports that?
- Kelm 4y ago
  Wouldn't it be more convenient to only need one wifi network without 2 frequencies? Especially in dense urban areas where "wifi pollution" is high and it can be difficult to find an unused 2.4GHz channel
- adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
  As I said, it's slightly annoying, not a deal-breaker. It required me to change my wifi setup to be dual band (I'm in an apartment so lots of congestion on 2.4 ghz, and I don't need the extra range).
- qwerty456127 4y ago
  I usually disable 2.4 Ghz WiFi on the routers I set up because 2.4 Ghz WiFi is just a needless radio spectrum pollution nowadays (unless you need to connect retro devices). I initially decided to phase it out in hope of improving BlueTooth (wireless earphones) stability.
  - fastball 4y ago
    2.4Ghz covers more area.
    - goosedragons 4y ago

janpieterz 4y ago

I switched from a Kindle to a Kobo, and now back to a Kindle. My experience was that the Kindle's responsiveness to changes (next/previous/moving around in the OS) was better, just significant enough to be bothering me when I was using the Kobo.

rapind 4y ago
The latest low end kindle response time is horrendous and the material is slippy. I lost my paperwhite so replaced it last week and the quality has really really dipped. Also it was the cheapest kindle but cost more than I originally spent in my paperwhite… I’m returning it next week when I finish my current book.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  They have three tiers. Paperwhite is the middle so you're going to see a difference with the low end model.
- QuarterReptile 4y ago
  Newest version of the Paperwhite is a big step up. The larger screen and better processor are both put to good use.

thih9 4y ago

Kindle can be significantly cheaper and easier to obtain. You can still use Calibre with Kindle, that’s what I do.

Abishek_Muthian 4y ago

> I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is. Availability. I can get the Kindle delivered the same day (or) the next from a village(Now a corporation) in Southern India. Once my Kindle didn't wake up, Got it replaced within couple of days near the end or after warranty period. That said, I'm with you and wouldn't be buying a Kindle again. It's Value/Price is low for its utility, Especially since Amazon is locking up the device and has started interrupting bulk emails from approved email addresses. Also since I have started to limit my purchases from Amazon. Now, I have to pester my friends and family from overseas to buy the Ereader not available here (or) Order one with international shipping and pray that the customs don't hold it and charge me a kidney(Compute devices are often charged 2x-3x the cost as excise duty!).

zinekeller 4y ago
> Now a corporation Just stating that while I understand what you meant, it could be confusing to others not familiar with subdivisions of India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_corporation_(India))
- Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
  Thanks, It's indeed confusing without specifying what a corporation is.
- KSteffensen 4y ago
  Coming from a small country, it is amazing to me that an urban area of at least 1 million people is referred to as a village. I consider myself to live in a town and that has only 12000 residents.
- sundarurfriend 4y ago
  I'm from southern India too, likely even from the same state Abhishek_Muthian is from, and this meaning of corporation didn't occur even to me when reading their comment. I was wondering if they meant the village had become a company town or something. Thank you for the clarification.

fastball 4y ago

> Combined with Calibre I'd imagine something like < 1% of Kindle owners use Calibre, so presumably the value prop is... an e-reader that works well without needing any external software. Most people just buy books from Amazon I expect, so they don't really need multi-format support.

themadturk 4y ago
I use Calibre primarily to...hmm, preserve my ownership of the books I have given money to Amazon for (if, for example, Amazon should decide to pull another 1984.) I certainly don't need Calibre to use my Kindle, but I'm glad I have it.

zzzbra 4y ago

Kobo’s iOS and desktop reading experiences are very subpar (although they seem to be fixing that with new experimental features for iOS)and there’s no cloud sync for the most popular (“cheaper”) models.

wy35 4y ago

Back when I was shopping for an e-reader, the Kobo was more expensive than the equivalent Kindle for the same price. Plus, Kindles go for very cheap on Prime Day.

gommm 4y ago

It's more convenient to send an ebook via calibre to my kindle than to my kobo. I configured send to email on calibre, so it's just one click to send via calibre. On the other hand, I love the pocket integration on kobo whenever I want to read articles and the overdrive library integration is great. It's why we have both a kobo and a kindle shared between me and my wife. Besides this, from an ergonomic point of view, the kindle oasis is better than the kobo sage, it's lighter, feels better in hand. The Kobo forma is better than the sage in term of ergonomy but when I had mine it broke after 13 months.

sureglymop 4y ago

I've been using it for years with KOReader instead of the stock OS and it's been amazing. I can ssh into it, open epubs directly from my nextcloud, sync reading progress etc with calibre. It's great! KOReader is one of the best pieces of open source software i have ever come across.

omnimus 4y ago

I can recommend PocketBook i recently got some cheaper Touch HD model. It simply does the job. It runs linux, it has several book sync options natively and you can instal KOreader on it easy.

mikolaj1024 4y ago
I am using PocketBook Touch HD 3. Design is fantastic, however... It has really annoying bugs. For a long time - it had a problem with event handling - pages not flipping (than flipping several at once). Finally fixed - after years. And then they introduced a new bug - it randomly turns one page back instead of forward - yes occasionally...
- omnimus 4y ago
  I have the same. Have you tried using KOreader? https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-PocketBook-devices https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Po... recent versions really improve the reading experience over the default reader app.

omnimus 4y ago

I can recommend PocketBook.I recently got some cheaper Touch HD model. It simply does the job. It runs linux. It has several book sync options (including dropbox) out of the box. And you can instal KOreader on it easy which i recommend.

ekianjo 4y ago

Kindle work very well too when you install koreader.

themadturk 4y ago
You need a slightly older-than-current firmware version, though, correct? I haven't kept up on Mobiread forums lately.
- ekianjo 4y ago
  not sure about newer kindles i have one whose firmware does not get updates anymore.

just_for_you 4y ago

>I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is One reason I'm stuck with Kindles is because Amazon makes it sane to look up words when reading Japanese books and articles. When you use Amazon's "Send to my Kindle" service (eg, you email a book to yourself, and then it appears on your device), Amazon seems to do some kind of de-conjugation which magically knows how to break-apart terms and grammar so that you can easily look anything up. Normally, if uploading straight to your device, or if using a Kobo, a term you want to look up has to match your on-device dictionary exactly, which is clunky and awful, especially since Japanese doesn't use spaces and has lots of inflections. If Kobo had something similar, I'd ditch using Kindles entirely.

gambiting 4y ago
As someone whose first language isn't English - 100000x times this. The fact that I can just hold down on any word and instantly see its definition is just incredible. It's a must have feature of any e-reader for me.
- Derbasti 4y ago
  Kobos have this feature
  - gambiting 4y ago
    Didn't know that! Can you upload custom dictionaries to them? That was my only gripe with how Kindles do it - they support this feature in some languages but not others.
    - goosedragons 4y ago
      Yeah it's possible but it's not an official feature (it's not hard though).
      - Derbasti 4y ago
        What are you talking about? It's built right into the Kobo reader, and has been for years. https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017639893-Define-words-with-the-dictionary-on-your-Kobo-eReader https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017639893-Define-...

akudha 4y ago

I have a couple of thousand books on my ageing Kindle. Looking for a new ereader, will check out Kobo. Do you buy books from Kindle and convert them to ePub?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kcartlidge 4y ago
The Kobo book store is smaller than Amazon's, but still huge. The UI may look different, but it is still the same process of search/browse, buy/preview. Either on the web site or from the device. All the talk of conversions and Calibre etc in the thread is possibly muddying the waters as it is totally unnecessary if you just want to mirror the Kindle flow.

msh 4y ago

I am not located in the US and dont have an american payment method. Amazon will still let me shop ebooks from amazon.com I have previously had problems (I dont know if its still a problem) with being allowed to buy US books from other ebook stores, like kobo, when I did not have a US credit card.

maratc 4y ago

The Kindle is inexpensive, has great support, has a huge library (open to non-US people with non-US credit cards), and you could just email a MOBI to it (which is great if the Kindle owner is your parent). It's only disadvantage was that it did not support ePub and so one had to go through Calibre. Now that Kindle is supporting ePUB and no Calibre-tion is needed, I don't even see what the Kobo value prop is.

qwerty456127 4y ago
AFAIK Kindle shows you ads and can occasionally delete a book from your library. Isn't it so?
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  > Kindle shows you ads Never seen an advert on my Kindle.
  - actionfromafar 4y ago
    I turned off WiFi on mine because I was too annoyed by ads.
    - chrisseaton 4y ago
      Where do they show up? Never seen one.
      - sofixa 4y ago
        There's a specific, cheaper version (10 euros cheaper in France) that has ads in.
      - 5e92cb50239222b 4y ago
        An ad replaces the "screen saver" when you unlock the device (until you swipe it away), and there's a small banner at the bottom of the book list in the main menu. You probably bought a more expensive version with no ads. They can also be removed later for a small fee, or you can simply never enable wi-fi and there will be no ads at all.

lbwtaylor 4y ago

Kindle unlimited - great for pulpy sci-fi books. Some people hate it, but I enjoy it and it's a killer feature for me.

ryanmercer 4y ago
Agreed, "SHTF"/"EOTWAWKI" types too. Any good recent sci-fi recommendations? After spending 23 days without running water in July due to multiple well failures, I've lost interested in SHTF/EOTWAWKI and need to get back into sci-fi titles that I'm not listening to via Audible for the performers (Omega Force, Expeditionary Force, Undying Mercenaries, Bobiverse, etc).

Bayart 4y ago

The Kindle I got last year is one of the best purchases I've ever made, I can't believe I went all that time without an ereader. Having to convert epubs to azw3 is the only minor inconvenience.

unixhero 4y ago

Thanks for the recommendation, this looks like a very interesting product. But it is Sold Out Sigh

henriquemaia 4y ago

Similar story here. Bought a Kobo Libra half a year ago, after more than ten years using Kindles. I chose this Kobo for its bigger screen, as well as hackability. It was cheaper than a corresponding Kindle. Also, I knew I could easily install Koreader [1] in it, pretty much the only UI I have been using for many years now. I'm glad I did. However, and this is important. Though happy with this Kobo, truth is that it feels cheaper. I keep it on a good case, and I use it with care, as I'm pretty sure it won't survive any fall from whatever height I may drop it. And my previous Kindle, a paperwhite 4, had its tumbles, and survived them quite nicely. And not exactly because I was fortunate. So there's that. But don't get me wrong. I'm not Kindle-nostalgic. I just have enough experience with both to know what I can reasonably expect from my current device. [1] http://koreader.rocks/ http://koreader.rocks/

Shorel 4y ago
I have a PocketBook, and it feels more expensive than the Kindles I've had before.

wink 4y ago

The kindle's value prop is that it has existed for a while and I'm pretty sure my 8y old model would still work if I hadn't left it on a plane. So I bought a used one from a friend and that's been working for many years. I see no reason to upgrade e-readers all the time. I'm not telling you or anyone to buy a Kindle, but from a VERY quick look my Kindle cost half of what a Kobo costs (tolino seems to be available around the 70-80€ mark though and so far has worked fine although the default seems to be some nasty Adobe ebook management software). Maybe 150 or 200 is worth it to you if you use it all the time, but for me it was mostly 1-2 books a month, which weren't necessarily cheaper than on paper.

goosedragons 4y ago
Are you German? Tolino eReaders are basically just rebadged Kobos at this point with a different software stack for a few European countries. I can get a Kobo Nia for $130 CAD (about €100), a base model Kindle is $120 CAD. They are very close in price and on the high end the Kobo is cheaper and offers more.
- wink 4y ago
  Interesting, I did not know that, thanks. I didn't make up the numbers above, I just quickly looked at geizhals.de for a comparison - maybe Kobo-branded Kobos are exceptionally expensive here then. I don't have a tolino myself, but gave support to a family member in the recent past, that's why I've held one and used the software. That one was sold by a physical book store chain. But overall that doesn't change my main point - or maybe Kindles have gone up in price, I'm pretty sure I paid closer to 70€ than 100€, which is still 1/3. Could be that it was a sale, and they don't even have that base model anymore, but as I said I was 100% happy with it.
NoboruWataya 4y ago
> I'm pretty sure my 8y old model would still work if I hadn't left it on a plane. Can confirm - I am currently using a ~12 year old Kindle 3rd gen, with no problem at all. In fairness it hasn't seen very heavy use but even for the battery and electronics to have held up for that long, often being stored in sub-optimal conditions, is fairly impressive IMO. I strongly dislike Amazon and its walled garden but I dislike waste more so I have no intention of upgrading before I have to. I mostly use my ereader to read free ebooks downloaded from Gutenberg/Standard Ebooks/etc anyway.

grahamannett 4y ago

I'm on my 3rd kindle now and have had all the previous ones for like 7+ years or something before I broke it or an issue arose. I bought a different e-reader between the first and second kindle I had and returned it because the similar kindle at the time was cheaper and way nicer quality (and everything I read is transferred through Calibre). I looked again when I was buying a new kindle last year and it seemed similar that there was no clear winner for what was better than the kindle or similar but cheaper and a reputable brand. I'd love not buying Kindle if I knew what to get but every-time I look into it, seems like people suggesting similar products for marginally worse prices or its just personal preference of the person with no real justification.

whyoh 4y ago

>I don't even see what the Kindle value prop is The device itself seems pretty good (hardware). I don't own one, but I'm looking at the Kindle Paperwhite now and I can't find anything better for the same price. If you do, please let me know. Yes, the lack of ePUB support sucks, but you can convert to Amazon's format pretty easily from what I've read.

bambax 4y ago

Amazon gave me a Kindle Oasis (the prize for being a finalist in last year's 'Amazon Storytelling' contest). I would never have bought it myself since it costs €249 (!) but I have to say it's a fantastic device. It's super-legible, has enormous memory, is water resistant, and has buttons for page-turning. Other than Kindle books that arrive directly after buying, I send books to it via email through Calibre, which removes DRM in the process. Calibre also did the mobi conversion, and now this step is not even necessary anymore.

ryanmercer 4y ago
>I would never have bought it myself since it costs €249 (!) I bought my Oasis 2 around for closet to 299 EUR (309.97 USD) when I was making 30k USD a year, was 100% worth it to me while I still had a fully functional kindle keyboard and kindle paperwhite 3. If you're a casual reader, that might seem expensive, but if you are chewing through 1-3 books a week like I do (heck I read 3 books last time I flew from Indianapolis to San Francisco and 2 more on the return flights), it becomes a much better price. I've been using it for almost 5 years now which has me at a cost of 17 cents per day with thousands of hours of use (about 8 cents an hour if I had to guess).
- bambax 4y ago
  Actually I had bought a Kindle Keyboard 3G in 2011, which at the time cost $189, so not that far from the cost of a Kindle Oasis today. It served me well for many years. While it's still working (and the keyboard is so nice to use to type in notes) the plastic case has become "sticky" and a kind of thick film comes off in places. It's strange and very unpleasant. Recently the battery died, I refurbished it with a new battery from Aliexpress and it came back to life. When the Oasis arrived I gave the 3G to my kids.
- criddell 4y ago
  I bought an Oasis on Prime Day and it's mostly a nice upgrade from my old Paperwhite. The only negative is the battery life. I have to charge it twice as often as I had to with my years old Paperwhite.
4y ago

throwaway6734 4y ago

The kindle oasis is one of the nicest pieces of hardware I've ever used

misiti3780 4y ago

I can click a single button on Amazon and get a book pushed to my kindle in < 30 seconds. How is that not an incredible value proposition?

kcartlidge 4y ago
It is. It just isn't unique to Amazon. That's exactly how Kobo do it too, from their own bookstore on the web or from the device itself.

unethical_ban 4y ago

Back in 2014, I bought a nook, returned it. I bought a kobo, returned it. I bought a Kindle voyage that I love to this day. #1 reason: out of those three, Kindle is or was the only ebook vendor I could crack with DeDRM and actually own my books. With Kindle for PC 1.17, I can still pull down my books and import them to my Calibre library for safe keeping. Can one DeDRM their Nook or Kobo files in 2022? PS: Kobo typography was noticably worse than Kindle in 2014. Again, it may have changed. PPS: I wish the symmetrical origami cover of the voyage was more used. I lay in bed and flip from side to side while reading. A book like cover or one that just is meant for vertical support is not sufficient for my use case.

filmgirlcw 4y ago
If you have an Eink Kindle, you don’t even need to use the Kindle desktop app to download the book files to use with DeDRM and Calibre. I personally find using the desktop app more of a PITA than just downloading the files, but YMMV.

collegeburner 4y ago

i got my kindle for way under half that price. jailbroke it and now i can do whatever i want. so the value prop is cheap ass hardware subsidized by daddy bezos.

filmgirlcw 4y ago

As others have said, I think the value for the Kindle is pretty damn high. * Works in lots and lots of countries * Great iOS and Android apps to supplement reading on Eink * Well-priced devices, even if you pay to remove ads, that offer years and years of software support and are extremely durable/reliable * Great hacking community and ability to use things like DeDRM to bring your purchases to other devices * Insanely robust library that is far more consistent than other services. * Ability to easily side-load other content via the Send to Kindle feature * Audible integration/sync/discounts If you prefer Kobo, that’s fine. But I’ve always seen it as the second-rate alternative owned by the second-rate Amazon (Rakuten). If I’m going to get tied into any ecosystem, I’d prefer for it to be the biggest/most active. But that’s just me. Edit: formatting

Keyframe 4y ago
I love my Oasis. Only major issue I have is with leather cover I bought with it.. when cover is open and behind the kindle itself.. you cannot easily grip on it anymore since there's no rised edge anymore. If that's the only thing bothering me, I'm good. The only other is there's no direct O Reilly support, so I have to go through shady motions in order to read a book from my O'Reilly sub on my kindle.
philistine 4y ago
A point that you're forgetting, which is extremely important for a lot of people, is access to a public library's collection of ebooks. In Canada, Kobo is overwhelmingly capable of connecting with a public library, while Kindle cannot. It is, in my experience, the number one reason why people around me choose a Kobo over a Kindle.
- agentdrtran 4y ago
  You can get library books on your kindle, you just need to use a phone app
  - dihydro 4y ago
    That doesn't seem like a solution, but a work-around. I'm sure it works fine, but why should that extra step be necessary?

dihydro 4y ago

I am of the same thought. But I was gifted a Kindle so I am enjoying it besides. I have used Calibre to side load many of me pre-existing books and it works well.

LeafItAlone 4y ago

Where do you get your books from? My main use for my Kindle ($99, early 2015 model) is from library systems that use Libby/Overdrive. It’s super easy to check out a book and have it delivered to my kindle. Kindle supports whatever DRM is used to return the book when the loan period is over. And I don’t have to feel guilty about bypassing DRM on the service. What’s the process like for the Kobo?

HelloMcFly 4y ago
Works the same on Kobo - full OverDrive integration.

gm3dmo 4y ago

I don't have a kindle but its value to me is that my 84 year old Mum can use hers without needing to call me for technical support.

rossmohax 4y ago

Kobo promotes own proprietary format "kepub", which has own better renderer. Standard epub is rendered using generic, not so good looking rendering engine.