In the video of the PW3 running Alpine I saw the delay when browsing the web but some websites will not load at all on my KT2, and I may be able to get one for 10 times cheaper than the modern devices I mentioned. It might be a nice temporary solution, which I could repurpose in future when I settle on a more modern e-ink device I like, with root options and documented ways to negate 'phone home' issues if any.
Youtube: Alpine Linux on Kindle PW3 with Chromium and Mate Desktop Environment
YouTube: Graphics/Multitouch working on Alpine's Xserver + FBInk on Kindle PW3
Can you recommend any particular used Android e-ink readers I might find a good deal on, or is your advice to skip the older devices and just put the money towards something newer?