Quote:
Originally Posted by Freso
- Built-in light -- I've been trying out clip-on lights but they are very cumbersome to deal with, IME so far, and I'd like to be able to read in the dark
- Colour -- doesn't have to be 32bit colour, but a dash of colour beyond white/grey/black to e.g. be able to decipher graphs/charts and such would be quite helpful sometimes
Some very nice-to-haves:
- Touchscreen, esp. with ability to take notes directly on the screen -- this doesn't have to be super involved, but having to press 50 buttons (on the 515) for every letter (once you've actually navigated into note taking) just makes me not do it, and I think it would be helpful for me if I was able to
- Physical page turning buttons
- Slightly larger than 515 (5") but not too much (<10", maybe?)
Also nice-to-haves:
- USB-C connector -- for recharging and data exchange
- Ability to interface directly with Libby and/or Open Library/archive.org
- 8″ which is very nice for novels and works for many PDF. Margin crop on PDFs.
- Open system -- allowing me to put my own software on it, either others' or if I write it myself (e.g. to add options to interface with Open Library, BookBrainz, or other services)
- Waterproof enough to sit outside in the rain with it or to have it survive a water bottle spill accident in a backpack
- Bluetooth -- for audiobooks or "music for reading"; possibly for external keyboard; possibly for interfacing with phone/PCs
|
It's 4 bit "colour" on eink for each of R G B and it makes screen dark and text 1/2 as good. Only worth it if you mostly read coloured comics.
A Kobo Sage does:
- Front light
- 300 dpi
- Touch screen
- page turn buttons that work the same no matter which way up you hold it (left or right side buttons) and page flips to match when you flip.
- An 8″ screen
- Crop on PDFs (or you can install KOReader which has extra PDF features)
- USB-C
- I think overdrive/libby can work. Archive Org's Open Library is mostly pirated and I doubt works easily on anything other than a browser, but I could be wrong. Managing ebooks with Calibre is best and Kobo is best.
- Waterproofish (coated inside).
- Open, no jailbreak needed.
- Bluetooth, but no eink is as good as phone for music or audiobooks. No Text to Speech. Keyboard does work on BT, but not in the notebooks, only when touch keyboard is on display. No file transfer. File transfer possible by USB from phone tablet with USB tether/OTG/Host modes and a file manager. Tested on a Micro USB Android 4.1 phone and on USB-C phone & tablet.
- Default 32 G storage allows maybe over 18,000 ebooks. Less if many huge PDFs or comics/manga.
The only thing absolutely not on your list is colour. Not sure if OpenLibrary works on the built in browser. There is Overdrive (not all countries) and Adobe Digital Edition support. The BT is really only for Kobo's Audiobooks, though others can be fudged. But really even a cheap phone is better for TTS (Pockebook app) or audiobooks (Audible), podcasts or mp3 music and battery life extends due to blank screen. Battery life is poor on eink with audio because the normal good life is due to CPU sleeps while you read a page. Only wakes for page turn and GUI features.
The epub annotation/notes are best done with touch screen, though BT keyboard can work. The Advanced notebooks support conversion of handwriting, maths, shapes and check boxes from pen input to computer conversion ON THE DEVICE. Export docx, html , text (plain text only), inc freehand sketch. Basic notebooks export as PDF image or PNG image etc.
Epub highlight + notes done with touch or touch + BT keys are exported as text.
All current eink in viable ereaders has black, white and 14 grey levels. Colour is by putting a patterned filter on the panel surface under the lightpipe and touch layers (Triton or Kaleido). There is Gallery Colour which doesn't use a filter, but it's not traditional eink and takes 1.5s to update, so only viable on signs and adverts, despite one company trying to produce a model.