Good eReader for reading books that have photos?

DirtyBit · 04-10-2021, 11:05 PM

How is eReader performance with pictures nowadays? Can someone suggest one (or more) eReaders that are decent? I ask because my Nook Glowlight (2013 model) is awwwful.

My biggest complaint is that on ePub books, pictures are shown inline and I cannot interact with them to make them larger at all. No zoom at all, as best as I can tell... So, if I have a book with diagrams or maps, I'm SOL. They are little tiny shmears (it's a relatively low resolution screen, at 212 DPI). I don't want an actual tablet for the usual reasons (weight, distractions, battery life, blue light, etc). I only read books, pretty much. It's just that occasionally, some have diagrams or photos. I'd like to be able to see what they're trying to show me. (I don't read manga or comics or anything).

See attached photos for a photo of a passage from an ePub format book on my Nook. The illustrations are tiny. You need really good eyes.

Click image for larger version

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Other negatives about the 2013 Glowlight is that it's relatively slow, and it freezes at random intervals of up to 10 seconds.

I was eyeing the Kobo Clara HD or Aura ONE. Previously owned a Kindle Paperwhite, but ditched it when I soured on Amazon.

I'm looking to spend $150 or less.

Thanks in advance.

PS. I've already tried looking for reviews & comments on how eReaders perform w/ photos, but outside of the "Yep - good for manga. Or no, bad for manga," there are no comparisons that I could find in regard to picture handling.

Quoth · 04-11-2021, 07:01 AM

10" LCD tablet from Lenovo is a tad less than $150.
Much as I like eink, you might find it limiting. The Kobo doesn't zoom images in epub, but if you covert to kepub with Calibre it does.
Minimum would be a 7" Kobo Libra for decent size mono images, but that's more than $150 here, maybe about $200.

The modern eInk has black, nearly white and just about 14 shades of grey in-between. An LCD tablet has 256 mono shades and over a million shades/hues (not genuinely the 16.7 Million). The color eink has lower resolution, and optimistically 4,096 shades/colours with poor saturation and contrast.

JSWolf · 04-11-2021, 07:07 AM

Given that you are looking to replace your nook, I would go with a Kobo. You have three choices. The 7" Libra H2O, the 8" Forma, or wait until later this year to see what the new forthcoming model is like.

You will be able to zoom small images if you read in KePub format or you read with KOReader.

ps67 · 04-11-2021, 12:14 PM

I have a Kindle, a Kobo and a Pocketbook and all of them can enlarge images.

DirtyBit · 04-11-2021, 06:50 PM

Thank you, all 3 of you. Exactly the info I was looking for.

Sounds like the conversion from ePub to KePub is pretty straight forward.

I've got the Libra H2O in my cart right now.

On a side note, I went by Barnes & Noble today to see if their latest offerings were any improvement, w/ respect to pictures. Per the sales woman, no, the 2 latest eInk offerings (Glowlight 3 and Glowlight Plus) are not any better on picture handling... All the pressing & holding, tapping, pinching confirmed that she was correct. I took a look at the Nook 10" HD Tablet, just for the heck of it. All of the negatives about tablets that I mentioned aside, the whole tiny-bezel trend doesn't work for me, as I like to read while lying down. I could not find any settings in the Nook app to ignore touches around the edges of the screen, either...

PS. Seems like people love their Libra H2O's.. or not many people buy them? There's basically no availability of used ones on eBay.

JSWolf · 04-12-2021, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtyBit

PS. Seems like people love their Libra H2O's.. or not many people buy them? There's basically no availability of used ones on eBay.

I had a look at the US eBay and there are some used Libras. But the problem is that most cost more then buying new.

DirtyBit · 04-13-2021, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I had a look at the US eBay and there are some used Libras. But the problem is that most cost more then buying new.

Yea.. it makes no sense...

DirtyBit · 04-13-2021, 09:34 PM

So my Kobo Libra H2O arrived today...

LOVING IT.. Converted the epub to kepub with kepubify.

Even w/o zooming in, the images are that much more legible due to the +1" screen size.. But the fact that I can zoom in is amazing.. Thanks all, again...

04-10-2021, 11:05 PM	#1
DirtyBit Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2021 Device: Nook Glowlight	Good eReader for reading books that have photos? How is eReader performance with pictures nowadays? Can someone suggest one (or more) eReaders that are decent? I ask because my Nook Glowlight (2013 model) is awwwful. My biggest complaint is that on ePub books, pictures are shown inline and I cannot interact with them to make them larger at all. No zoom at all, as best as I can tell... So, if I have a book with diagrams or maps, I'm SOL. They are little tiny shmears (it's a relatively low resolution screen, at 212 DPI). I don't want an actual tablet for the usual reasons (weight, distractions, battery life, blue light, etc). I only read books, pretty much. It's just that occasionally, some have diagrams or photos. I'd like to be able to see what they're trying to show me. (I don't read manga or comics or anything). See attached photos for a photo of a passage from an ePub format book on my Nook. The illustrations are tiny. You need really good eyes. Other negatives about the 2013 Glowlight is that it's relatively slow, and it freezes at random intervals of up to 10 seconds. I was eyeing the Kobo Clara HD or Aura ONE. Previously owned a Kindle Paperwhite, but ditched it when I soured on Amazon. I'm looking to spend $150 or less. Thanks in advance. PS. I've already tried looking for reviews & comments on how eReaders perform w/ photos, but outside of the "Yep - good for manga. Or no, bad for manga," there are no comparisons that I could find in regard to picture handling. Last edited by issybird; 04-11-2021 at 01:24 PM. Reason: Oversize image attached as thumbnail. Please read the guidelines.

04-13-2021, 09:34 PM	#8
DirtyBit Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2021 Device: Nook Glowlight	So my Kobo Libra H2O arrived today... LOVING IT.. Converted the epub to kepub with kepubify. Even w/o zooming in, the images are that much more legible due to the +1" screen size.. But the fact that I can zoom in is amazing.. Thanks all, again... Last edited by DirtyBit; 04-13-2021 at 09:36 PM.

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04-11-2021, 07:01 AM	#2
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,952 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	10" LCD tablet from Lenovo is a tad less than $150. Much as I like eink, you might find it limiting. The Kobo doesn't zoom images in epub, but if you covert to kepub with Calibre it does. Minimum would be a 7" Kobo Libra for decent size mono images, but that's more than $150 here, maybe about $200. The modern eInk has black, nearly white and just about 14 shades of grey in-between. An LCD tablet has 256 mono shades and over a million shades/hues (not genuinely the 16.7 Million). The color eink has lower resolution, and optimistically 4,096 shades/colours with poor saturation and contrast.

04-11-2021, 07:07 AM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,679 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Given that you are looking to replace your nook, I would go with a Kobo. You have three choices. The 7" Libra H2O, the 8" Forma, or wait until later this year to see what the new forthcoming model is like. You will be able to zoom small images if you read in KePub format or you read with KOReader.

04-11-2021, 12:14 PM	#4
ps67 Guru Posts: 755 Karma: 7025494 Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Italy Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Elipsa, Pocketbook Inkpad 4, Inkpad Color	I have a Kindle, a Kobo and a Pocketbook and all of them can enlarge images.

04-11-2021, 06:50 PM	#5
DirtyBit Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2021 Device: Nook Glowlight	Thank you, all 3 of you. Exactly the info I was looking for. Sounds like the conversion from ePub to KePub is pretty straight forward. I've got the Libra H2O in my cart right now. On a side note, I went by Barnes & Noble today to see if their latest offerings were any improvement, w/ respect to pictures. Per the sales woman, no, the 2 latest eInk offerings (Glowlight 3 and Glowlight Plus) are not any better on picture handling... All the pressing & holding, tapping, pinching confirmed that she was correct. I took a look at the Nook 10" HD Tablet, just for the heck of it. All of the negatives about tablets that I mentioned aside, the whole tiny-bezel trend doesn't work for me, as I like to read while lying down. I could not find any settings in the Nook app to ignore touches around the edges of the screen, either... PS. Seems like people love their Libra H2O's.. or not many people buy them? There's basically no availability of used ones on eBay.

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