MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Dissatisfied w/ Kobo and Sony - are Kindle and oddball brands any better?

Hermes_pan · 08-09-2014, 06:38 PM

I am not a voracious reader, when I had my ereaders (2011+) I read about 2 books per month. Mostly I read philosophy and travel (in fact the primary purpose of owning an ereader is just to have digital travel guides plus a couple of travel writing and other non-fiction books).

Every ereader has pluses and minuses. Is there any ereader that fits my goals below? Years ago I bought a SONY pocket ereader as well as a Kobo. Both died prematurely. The obvious answer is a Kindle but I am not big on market leader bullying. I tried Caliber (about three years ago) and found it useful but a bit too nerdy. I would continue to use paper except weight and bulk is important. I have a tablet (Android) but deliberately want to avoid electric light and being online and especially dealing w/ Google (privacy intrusions). I do NOT want to be online or have 3G - for me I want a device that does *one* thing very well (well , maybe two - book audio)

Essential

1. Portability: Ideally fits in pocket

2. Large selection of compatible titles: Practically, this means can read Amazon books

3. International: Buy anything anywhere. Not tied to one nation or one credit/debit card. I am Canadian and there is a hassle factor vis-vis Amazon USA. But I spend mist of my time in 3rd world Asia.

4. Simple to use: Like a Mac in 1985

5. Can highlight and make notes: Ideally *save* them too not tied to a proprietary device/system. In the past Calibre software could not do this.

Very useful

6. Clean design: Not a lot of buttons. I want to read books not type a novel.

7. Text to speech: Can listen to books

8. Durable: Shock, rain, dust

9. No computer needed: Stand alone device

9a. Can 'lend' books

Extra (dreaming)

10. Good value: features vs. price

11. Gift cards available: For anonymity of book purchase history

12. Plays audio books

13. Can read all popular format companies and sources: public library, Amazon, Barnes and Noble

14. Can read/hear foreign language books in English: Not wonky Bing translator, I mean buying a Russian or Chinese book and being able to read/hear it in English.

15. Memory card slot: Not so much for number of books, but I like the James Bond feature of deleting titles when I cross borders into Big Brother lands).

Keeping this post in context - I mistakenly reregistered under a similar name. My previous posts can be found under user name 'Hermes'.

08-09-2014, 06:38 PM	#1
Hermes_pan Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: none	Dissatisfied w/ Kobo and Sony - are Kindle and oddball brands any better? I am not a voracious reader, when I had my ereaders (2011+) I read about 2 books per month. Mostly I read philosophy and travel (in fact the primary purpose of owning an ereader is just to have digital travel guides plus a couple of travel writing and other non-fiction books). Every ereader has pluses and minuses. Is there any ereader that fits my goals below? Years ago I bought a SONY pocket ereader as well as a Kobo. Both died prematurely. The obvious answer is a Kindle but I am not big on market leader bullying. I tried Caliber (about three years ago) and found it useful but a bit too nerdy. I would continue to use paper except weight and bulk is important. I have a tablet (Android) but deliberately want to avoid electric light and being online and especially dealing w/ Google (privacy intrusions). I do NOT want to be online or have 3G - for me I want a device that does one thing very well (well , maybe two - book audio) Essential 1. Portability: Ideally fits in pocket 2. Large selection of compatible titles: Practically, this means can read Amazon books 3. International: Buy anything anywhere. Not tied to one nation or one credit/debit card. I am Canadian and there is a hassle factor vis-vis Amazon USA. But I spend mist of my time in 3rd world Asia. 4. Simple to use: Like a Mac in 1985 5. Can highlight and make notes: Ideally save them too not tied to a proprietary device/system. In the past Calibre software could not do this. Very useful 6. Clean design: Not a lot of buttons. I want to read books not type a novel. 7. Text to speech: Can listen to books 8. Durable: Shock, rain, dust 9. No computer needed: Stand alone device 9a. Can 'lend' books Extra (dreaming) 10. Good value: features vs. price 11. Gift cards available: For anonymity of book purchase history 12. Plays audio books 13. Can read all popular format companies and sources: public library, Amazon, Barnes and Noble 14. Can read/hear foreign language books in English: Not wonky Bing translator, I mean buying a Russian or Chinese book and being able to read/hear it in English. 15. Memory card slot: Not so much for number of books, but I like the James Bond feature of deleting titles when I cross borders into Big Brother lands). Keeping this post in context - I mistakenly reregistered under a similar name. My previous posts can be found under user name 'Hermes'. Last edited by Hermes_pan; 08-09-2014 at 06:58 PM.