Best format-agnostic E-ink option?

[branni]

I had one of the first or second gen paperwhites but returned it due to its near inability to handle PDFs. Converting the PDFs to a format native to the PW always fell short of the experience I was looking for as well.

Also, the experimental browser was hell to use.

So my criteria is a nice backlit e-ink reader than can handle all e-book formats, plus PDF, CBT etc, also with the ability to browse websites that are predominantly text-based.

I would even consider rooting and installing Android if that's the only way to get what I'm after.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

[twowheels]

You may want to look into the Boox T68.

Disclaimer: I've never used it, only read about it here.

[eschwartz]

The problem with PDFs is you are trying to read them on that tiny screen. The only e-ink devices that do a good job with PDF is the $1000 Sony DPT-S1, the Kindle DX, and similar large-screen devices of which there are few.

The browser is always going to be terrible, partly because the average ereader does not have enough RAM, partly because the screen again -- with a refresh rate that can be sensed with the naked human eye, that will not be a pleasant experience. And screen size, again.
Although it is more usable when browsing with this hack: SkipStone browser for Kindle Touch
That should suffice for predominantly text-based websites, in fact I actually browse MobileRead using this, in a pinch.

Any ereader can read any format, if you use calibre.

[rcentros]

You might want to look at some of the reviews Good-E-Readers posts on Youtube. They seem to always show how the various Reader models handle PDFs. In my opinion none of them handle PDFs very well. This is one instance where I would consider using a tablet instead. The whole point of a PDF is to retain formatting -- and the whole point of an eReader (at least in my view) is to flow text (i.e., change formatting) and the two don't really mix. Other opinions may vary. But if I had to regularly read PDFs on an e-Ink screen, I would try to find a DX or one of the other large screened e-Ink Readers.

(Looks like eschwartz beat me to it. I'm the Redundancy Machine today.)

[HarryT]

Note that there are no backlit eInk devices, because eInk screens are opaque. If you want a backlit device, you need to be looking at LCD tablets, not eInk devices.

Your basic problem is that a PDF is a representation of a printed page, and most PDFs are formatted for an A4/Letter page size. An attempt to display such a page on a significantly smaller screen will always be a poor compromise in one way or another. You really need to be looking at a device with a 9.7" screen to display such PDFs well.

[markom]

Originally Posted by branni

I had one of the first or second gen paperwhites but returned it due to its near inability to handle PDFs. Converting the PDFs to a format native to the PW always fell short of the experience I was looking for as well.

Also, the experimental browser was hell to use.

So my criteria is a nice backlit e-ink reader than can handle all e-book formats, plus PDF, CBT etc, also with the ability to browse websites that are predominantly text-based.

I would even consider rooting and installing Android if that's the only way to get what I'm after.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

Some advices for pdf readers and software.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...light=majority

8" e-ink readers with frontlight like PocketBook 840 or Bookeen Ocean might be good solution for you, because you can also use k2pdfopt to customize pdf for its screen beforehand, when reader's pdf capabilities (cropping, zooming, reflowing, flipping speed etc.) are not good enough for you.

Reading A5 pdf (margins cropped in landscape or portraite) or 2-column A4 pdf (2-column mode) on 6" or 8" reader should pose no problem.

Problem poses one-column A4 pdf, that should be readable on 8" reader in landscape mode (margins cropped) or by using k2pdfopt's reflow mode for pdf image.

Unlike reflow mode in e-ink readers that usually reflows just textual pdf or ocr layer behind pdf scanned image, k2pdfopt's reflow mode reflows scanned image itself, that's very important for those who read scientific pdfs with a lot of formulas, numbers and special symbols that tolerate no ocr errors.