Good alternative to Paperwhite?

[king_ben]

Hi all!

I am currently using a Kindle 4, which has been serving me well, but I feel that some buttons (page flipping on the right side, power button) are showing signs of wear.

Now I am looking for a possible replacement, ideally with a higher contrast HD screen. I just want to read with the device. So far I have mostly bought books at Amazon, but I would be interested in using public libraries as well.

The most obvious choice seems the Kindle Paperwhite (EUR 99 right now), as it has most features I want. However, I was wondering if there are alternatives that offer the same features for a lower price or more features at roughly the same price, e.g.:

-A bigger screen
-Support for borrowing ebooks, e.g. via Overdrive
-Water-proofing
-Additional hard keys
-Cover art on lock screen
-...

While I love my Android devices, I am not really sure if a full-blown Android system on an ereader is of much value to me, especially as I guess that most apps do not work very well on them. Just gReader could be interesting.

I do not need to shop for books on the reader and am not afraid to use Calibre.

Cheers
Ben

[church mouse]

In Europe, at anywhere near that price with an 300dpi screen, the only reader that comes to mind is the Cybook Muse HD. However, if I was happy using a Kindle I don't think I would chose the Cybook in preference to the Paperwhite.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by king_ben

Hi all!

I am currently using a Kindle 4, which has been serving me well, but I feel that some buttons (page flipping on the right side, power button) are showing signs of wear.

Now I am looking for a possible replacement, ideally with a higher contrast HD screen. I just want to read with the device. So far I have mostly bought books at Amazon, but I would be interested in using public libraries as well.

The most obvious choice seems the Kindle Paperwhite (EUR 99 right now), as it has most features I want. However, I was wondering if there are alternatives that offer the same features for a lower price or more features at roughly the same price, e.g.:

-A bigger screen
-Support for borrowing ebooks, e.g. via Overdrive
-Water-proofing
-Additional hard keys
-Cover art on lock screen
-...

Bigger screen, water-proofing and cover art on lock screen = Kobo H2O of Aura One. But they're both more expensive than €99.

I don't have any experience with Overdrive, but with the One you can use it on the device (don't ask me how, I have absolutely no idea, as I don't have any place to borrow books from)

What you could try, is look at the second-hand market for an H2O as that one does tick a lot of your boxes (only no hardware keys, they seem to think nobody uses those anymore...)

[king_ben]

Thanks for your replies. It is interesting to see that there is not much in terms of competition, even from China, at the lower end of the market. I guess that means that Amazon must be subsidizing the Kindle hardware quite a bit?

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by king_ben

Thanks for your replies. It is interesting to see that there is not much in terms of competition, even from China, at the lower end of the market. I guess that means that Amazon must be subsidizing the Kindle hardware quite a bit?

The boyue and onyx are available from China but they are open android and do not suit everyone.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by king_ben

Thanks for your replies. It is interesting to see that there is not much in terms of competition, even from China, at the lower end of the market. I guess that means that Amazon must be subsidizing the Kindle hardware quite a bit?

There are a few budget devices left, but you should compare those to the $69 Kindle: without any modern things (like a high DP or even frontlight)

(and to be honest, most even look like time has stood still 5 years...)

[king_ben]

Okay. I read a bit about the Android devices, but it seems like a few too many compromises to get a bit of everything, but nothing perfectly.

I guess I'll go for the PW or see if I can get a Tolino Vision 3 HD somewhere on sale.

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by king_ben

Okay. I read a bit about the Android devices, but it seems like a few too many compromises to get a bit of everything, but nothing perfectly.

I guess I'll go for the PW or see if I can get a Tolino Vision 3 HD somewhere on sale.

I have a Tolino Vision 3HD and you will have done very well if you can find it for 99EUR. I think it is a lovely little reader with an excellent screen, but surprisingly I have found my daily reader has remained my 212dpi Energy Sistem Pro HD even though its display is not as good. I guess for me, some of the undoubted compromises of using Android are outweighed by some of the benefits (Calibre Companion and a better reading app - AlReader or JCoolreader).

[king_ben]

Hm... I mostly use the kindle when traveling. In terms of reading app, I just need to switch from one page to the next without too much delay. Oh, and the Kindle's dictionary works pretty well for me... Not sure what else I could need (or want) in the reader app itself.

The Vision HD is a bit more expensive most of the time, but sometimes the price may drop to about EUR 125. The water-proofing might be worth the few euros more to me.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by church mouse

I have a Tolino Vision 3HD and you will have done very well if you can find it for 99EUR. I think it is a lovely little reader with an excellent screen, but surprisingly I have found my daily reader has remained my 212dpi Energy Sistem Pro HD even though its display is not as good. I guess for me, some of the undoubted compromises of using Android are outweighed by some of the benefits (Calibre Companion and a better reading app - AlReader or JCoolreader).

Yeah I'm using an old Boyue T62 with a pearl screen, and it's great. But I had to do stuff to make it work right. Not for everyone. But I love it.

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by king_ben

Hm... I mostly use the kindle when traveling. In terms of reading app, I just need to switch from one page to the next without too much delay. Oh, and the Kindle's dictionary works pretty well for me... Not sure what else I could need (or want) in the reader app itself.

The Vision HD is a bit more expensive most of the time, but sometimes the price may drop to about EUR 125. The water-proofing might be worth the few euros more to me.

I guess it is a personal thing, but I do like; full integration with Calibre Collections, page numbers, pages in chapter, own fonts, detailed control of margins, font weight, line spacing, permanent display of a clock.

Mind you, the Kindle dictionary is the best I have ever used.

[king_ben]

How is battery life on the Android readers? I would guess it is significantly less as the system and hardware are probably more power-hungry? And which 300 dpi, 6" Android device is priced at or below EUR 150? Would a T63 or C67ML offer a similar responsive reading experience (with which app?) compared to a Paperwhite or Vision 3 HD?

More features are great (my K4 is jail broken and my tablet runs Lineage 14), but as a sporadic user, I guess I would not benefit too much. In that case, a simple reader that does few things but those rather well (open a book and let me flip through pages without annoying delays) would seem like the best option.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by king_ben

It is interesting to see that there is not much in terms of competition, even from China, at the lower end of the market. I guess that means that Amazon must be subsidizing the Kindle hardware quite a bit?

I don't think Amazon are selling Kindles at a loss. I just think they have a much higher volume than everyone else.

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by king_ben

How is battery life on the Android readers? I would guess it is significantly less as the system and hardware are probably more power-hungry? And which 300 dpi, 6" Android device is priced at or below EUR 150? Would a T63 or C67ML offer a similar responsive reading experience (with which app?) compared to a Paperwhite or Vision 3 HD?

More features are great (my K4 is jail broken and my tablet runs Lineage 14), but as a sporadic user, I guess I would not benefit too much. In that case, a simple reader that does few things but those rather well (open a book and let me flip through pages without annoying delays) would seem like the best option.

If you are a sporadic user, I reckon your initial thoughts of going for the Paperwhite are spot on. Certainly, in the UK it is the cheapest 300dpi reader that I know of at present.

Battery life on my Pro HD is about 3 weeks (reading about 3 hours per day with wifi off), which is pretty much the same as my Tolino Vision 3HD.

On Android I rate both AlReader, and Jotas's version of CoolReader (jCoolReader) as they are both optimised for e-ink.

I cannot suggest a 300dpi Android e-ink reader for you, because I cannot source one in the UK for 150EUR or less.

[ben.sawyer]

Originally Posted by church mouse

I cannot suggest a 300dpi Android e-ink reader for you, because I cannot source one in the UK for 150EUR or less.

I was also trying to find it under 150, impossible.
Any suggestions? But it has to be 300dpi