8 ms·
After using the cheapest e-Reader for over a decade (Kindle 2 until support ended, Kindle 3 until the same) I finally upgraded to the top Oasis and love it. Thi
by laweijfmvo 2y ago
After using the cheapest e-Reader for over a decade (Kindle 2 until support ended, Kindle 3 until the same) I finally upgraded to the top Oasis and love it. Things that are absolutely essential IMO are
- physical page turn buttons. the touch screens are finicky, inconvenient for one-hand use, and impossible if i want to keep my hand up a blanket or something
- back/front light, with adjustable color temp, and an actual dim setting that doesn't blow your retinas out
everything i don't care about. but these are must haves.
- TeaBrain 2y agoThe physical page turn buttons are why I got an Oasis also. I find the experience much better than having to touch the screen to turn the page. With the physical buttons, it's easy enough to move the page forward or backward while holding the device with one hand, while requiring very little hand shifting, which I appreciate.
- atlasunshrugged 2y agoHow is the weight for the Oasis in one hand?
- eigenvalue 2y agoVery reasonable and comfortable.
- tarentel 2y agoIt's tapered on one side so when held it is really easy to use one handed. I had a magnetic case on mine for when I put it in a bag that could be taken off/put back on easily too so you could still hold it.
- squigz 2y agoAnnoyingly, the original Kindle had physical buttons, then they removed it in later versions, and I often find myself turning the page accidentally.
- LegitShady 2y agoi need to replace the battery in my kindle keyboard ("3rd generation") so I can use it again, or surrender and order a replacement. I'm using a kobo right now but I don't like it. I was looking at the oasis but its expensive, and still uses microusb
- benoliver999 2y agoI had a Kindle with a full keyboard!
- jzb 2y agoThat thing was a beast. I used it for a few years, then handed it down to my dad’s new wife - she was a big reader, and used it for almost a decade until it gave up the ghost.
- 1oooqooq 2y agokindleDX. still struggling with it and the original battery. I think the only feature it is missing (besides non-stupid amazon software) is any sort of backlight.
- TeaBrain 2y agoI had the first model of kindle without a keyboard prior to getting an oasis. When it broke, the oasis was really the only choice to replace it due to them removing the physical buttons on all the other models.
- toast0 2y agoDid they really end support for the older Kindles? I haven't used mine in a while, but I thought they could still sync and get books over wifi. No lights on the Kindle Keyboard though, and the 3g modems won't work anymore for obvious reasons.
- kjs3 2y agoI have an oooold Kindle keyboard model. As you said, cellular doesn't work, but it syncs fine over wifi. Seems to be holding a charge for less time, tho, so maybe it does have an 'end date'.
- causi 2y agoIt's very easy to replace the battery with a new one. The whole back cover pops off.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rebuilder 2y agoI have an 11-year old Kindle and while it can’t access the store any more, it can still sync over wifi if I purchase books on the web.
- mtalantikite 2y agoI got a Boox Go that just came a few days ago and I really like the physical page turn buttons. It's my first e-Reader, so I don't have much to compare it to, but I can imagine relying on the touch screen to be annoying.
- manchmalscott 2y agoI just got a Kobo Clara Color over their cheaper models largely for the page turn buttons (and being able to highlight in multiple colors of course). Combined with how shockingly light it is (lighter than my phone), one handed reading is excellent.
- wccrawford 2y agoI love my Clara Color so much. It's light, fast, and it has buttons. And it's just about exactly the right size. My one complaint so far is that the battery seems to need a charge every few days. Definitely less than a week, I think. I can live with that.
- zachmu 2y agoThat's good to know, that's a total deal breaker for me. I have the Libra 2 and I get about a month from a charge with my normal reading habits.
- zachmu 2y agoLooks like the Clara Color doesn't have physical buttons? https://us.kobobooks.com/collections/ereaders/products/kobo-clara-colour https://us.kobobooks.com/collections/ereaders/products/kobo-... Kobo changes their lineup constantly though, the Libra 2 I have (with physical buttons) is no longer available.
- manchmalscott 2y agoOops, I definitely meant Libra. I need to stop looking at other words when I’m typing lol.
- deafpolygon 2y agoThat's because they have the Libra Colour now: https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-libra-colour https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-libra-colour
- adolph 2y agoI don't know about the necessity of physical page turn buttons. I've had a paperwhite and now a scribe and the touch is fine. An advantage of touch is that it supports sideways orientation, which I use on the paperwhite to increase the page width.
- causi 2y agoIf you haven't had a kindle with buttons you have no basis of comparison. They're lovely.
- Tagbert 2y agoI used to have one of the older ones with buttons. now I have a recent Paperwhite and don't really miss them. I just tap on the screen edge and it works fine. I can understand the appeal of buttons and am glad that you have a reader with them but it's not something that motivates me.
- qotgalaxy 2y ago[dead]
- adolph 2y agoI’m sure the buttons are of the finest sort. That doesn’t invalidate a subjective eval that touch is fine for this context and an objective conjecture that physical buttons would lose orientation if orientation were changed 90°.
- causi 2y agoI don't see why you think physical buttons would lose orientation. My kindle had forward and back buttons on both sides that worked fine in either orientation, and on devices that only have one button per side the one on the bottom is next and the one on top is previous.
- 2y ago
- jcul 2y agoI'm surprised people value physical page turn buttons so much. I've had a kobo Clara HD for years now, running KOReader (one of my most loved pieces of software). I can turn the page one handed by just curling a finger around from behind and tapping the screen, or by touching the reader to my nose :) I tend to read a lot in a situation where I can only use one hand!
- mrgoldenbrown 2y agoI'm the opposite, I don't understand the steady march towards fewer buttons. I miss my iPod wheel that I could operate without looking. My screen would be covered in sunblock, sweat and oils if I used my nose to swipe.
- normie3000 2y ago> I could operate without looking Possibly not a common use case for e-readers.
- WolfeReader 2y agoYou're basically right, but some e-readers have support for audiobooks and music. Physical buttons would be a benefit for those uses.
- fuzztester 2y ago>, I don't understand the steady march towards fewer buttons cost cutting by the manufacturers, probably. seen the trend even in laptops over the last decade or two - the parts are getting thinner and lighter.
- toast0 2y agoHaving real buttons means never needing to have my hand obscure the screen. And not touching the screen means not having to clean it as often either.
- mmcclure 2y agoMy partner makes fun of me for always turning the page with my nose and it makes me very happy to hear I’m not alone. I use the physical buttons if I’m reading on a plane or otherwise sitting down, but I much prefer holding the kindle from the back if I’m reading lying down. I assumed that must be rare given how little attention any of the e-reader form factors have given to it.
- criddell 2y agoI also bought it for the physical buttons. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there’s anyway to entirely disable the touch screen while reading (or at least I haven’t figured it out). My only complaint is that it isn’t USB-C. As soon as that comes out, I’ll trade this one in. I just looked on Amazon and the Oasis is out of stock. I wonder if that means a refresh is imminent? Edit: I googled it and it seems the reverse might be true - the Oasis is out of the lineup and no replacement is coming. That sucks. https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/goodbye-to-the-amazon-kindle-oasis https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/goodbye-to-the-amazon-ki...
- eigenvalue 2y agoAgree that the Oasis is awesome and worth the money. It’s also water resistant, so I can use it in the sauna/steamroom (my favorite place to read without distractions nowadays!)
- zachmu 2y agoThe Oasis is a great device with one fatal flaw: battery life. For some reason they nerfed the battery relative to the paperwhite so it lasts about a week instead of about a month. Probably won't bother a lot of people but it really bothered me. I read a lot and hate having to think about recharging. I ended up with the Kobo Libra 2, which has all the same features as the Oasis but also has a month-long battery. I love it overall, great little device. Includes some quality of life features beyond the Oasis, including auto color tone shifting of the front-light in the evening (cool to warm), being able to adjust the light by swiping up the left side of the screen, and more options for progress indicators / headers and footers than the kindle has. Kobo changes their lineup constantly, which means the Libra 2 has been replaced with a more expensive color version I haven't tried. Color on an e-ink screen is not an interesting feature to me, esp. not when it makes the device more expensive.
- rf15 2y agoMy suspicion is that the reason the battery is so abysmal is because you cannot turn off the backlight entirely. Indefencible design decision that just eats your battery. (older readers were better because they basically only used power to change the current page - now we made them so featureful they lost many of the advantages older models had)
- dbuxton 2y agoOn mine you definitely can make it so that there is no discernable backlight even in pitch darkness. Whether somehow it's still consuming energy I don't know. However I agree that generally the Oasis battery life leaves something to be desired.
- hex4def6 2y agoI haven't kept up with ereader stuff for many years since I worked on battery life models for kindles, but I will say that keeping your e-reader in airplane mode will increase the battery life significantly. The reason is that WiFi has a DTIM which basically means that requires periodic wakeups to keep associated with the AP. This burns power.
- deafpolygon 2y agoI have the Libra 2. I cannot understate how much of a difference physical page buttons made for me. My SO has the Clara 2HD (or something) and I couldn't get into it... turns out I need that chin for easy holding and button for flipping the page. The light settings are great- comes on when it's actually dark and goes away when there's plenty of light.
- smeej 2y agoI got one of those cheap Bluetooth "camera lens" clicker buttons that pairs with my Boox, an Android tablet. Works great to turn my pages in KOreader from as far away as I can see the device. Since so many tablets are being made with some flavor of Android under the hood, this might open up more options for you and anybody else who wants physical buttons! This way I can even stand the device up against something and put my hands wherever I want!
- bigboy12 2y agoWhy would I want to carry around another device.
- WolfeReader 2y agoAn e-reader will reinvigorate your reading habit, and give you something to do any time you have a spare few seconds or minutes. I carry an e-reader everywhere (I have big pockets) and have never regretted it.