Kobo Glo HD replacement

[anarcat]

As some might have seen elsewhere, my faithful Kobo Glo HD is dying a horrible death. It's my second or third e-reader, depending on how you count. My first was the classic Sony PRS-T2, the second is the Kobo Glo HD, but I also have a Onyx Boox Note Pro 2, so I have good experience in a rather far ranging set of e-readers:

• Sony PRS-T2: honest reader, but locked down. could at least read EPUBs and not locked into a single store
• Kobo Glo HD: classic "pocket" reader, backlight, hackable, runs Linux with proprietary stuff on top
• Onyx Boox Note Pro: runs Android, distracting, huge, somewhat nice for note-taking, but interoperability issues, and generally weird

At this point, my specs are this:

• backlight
• pocket-sized (Glo HD or Aura HD sized)
• runs koreader
• support for syncing with Linux easily (bonus points for Syncthing or OPDS or support)
• must at least support Calibre if the above fails

I'm considering getting another Kobo. I'm guessing the Glo HD replacement is the Clara, but i'm also curious about the Libra, mostly for the water-resist capabilities. I'm also wondering if the Kobo devices are still as hackable as they were before.

I'm worried about the hardware reliability of *any* of those devices. A friend's Onyx screen cracked. My Kobo's battery controller died mysteriously. I wish I could have a device that would live for decades, not years. I know it might be unrealistic, but this is a book reader! It should be super solid. I carry those things through a lot of traveling, and beat them down pretty bad, even if I'm generally careful with my stuff (the Glo HD still lasted 5 years).

I am not considering any Amazon devices, I don't like the company, their policies, and the devices are too closed.

I'm curious about the Pocketbook devices because koreader mentions support for them. I'm intrigued by their color readers as well... surely that must not work as well as advertised? I tried to see if they could ship to Canada but got lost on their Russian and Swiss sites...

I have zero idea what Cervantes is (other than the writer), I didn't know it was a device until I read the koreader wiki. Any good?

I'd avoid Android devices completely after my experience with the Onyx: too slow, too distracting.

I'd love to use the remarkable (because it's such a cool project, and i love the texture), but it's too big for this purpose.

Suggestions?

Thanks so much!

[ZodWallop]

I don't have a lot to add. You seem to have done your research and the only device in your list I have experience with is the Clara. I do like my Clara quite a bit.

[Quoth]

Kobo Libra

[Josieb1]

I have both the Clara and the Libra. My preferred reader is the Libra for the size and the side buttons. The Clara lives in my handbag for when I’m out and about.

[mesamay2003]

I have a bunch of e-readers, my favorite is the Kobo Libra H20, great features and screen for the price.

[JSWolf]

Give up pocket sized. A larger then 6" screen Reader is going to give you a more enjoyable reading experience. I do agree with the Libre for 7" and for 8" go with the Forma.

[Quoth]

My wife has a PW3, I just bought her a Kobo Libra. The existence of the PW3, even if it dies, will ensure she can read Amazon ebooks. She downloads to PC (Linux) first and transfers via USB anyway.

It's still pocket sized as much as a Kindle is which doesn't fit any of her pockets.

[pazos]

Originally Posted by anarcat

I have zero idea what Cervantes is (other than the writer), I didn't know it was a device until I read the koreader wiki. Any good?

Cervantes were good but they company that made them, BQ, died a couple of years ago. Their last model - The Cervantes 4 - has the same specs as a Kobo Clara HD but with a faster storage. By default they run a locked image of Debian Wheezy. You need to flash a developers firmware in order to do something with them besides stock OS (which is very bad compared with Kobo FW).

I got a few reports of people unable to flash dev fw lately and a handful of successes.

I have one and its my main drive but I cannot recommend it unless you get a cheap one (say 50-60€) with developers fw already installed.

A rule of thumb for running KOReader: stay away from Pocketbooks, use Kobos. A Libra/Forma is probably the best purchase you can do.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Quoth

My wife has a PW3, I just bought her a Kobo Libra. The existence of the PW3, even if it dies, will ensure she can read Amazon ebooks. She downloads to PC (Linux) first and transfers via USB anyway.

Do you use Kindle for PC on Linux to download? I have a Fedora laptop and couldn't get Wine to install K4PC. Some problem with my OS being 64 bit and Wine needing some special setting for 32 bit.

Since I have three other Windows PCs in the house, I didn't investigate it too much. But would like to install it.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Do you use Kindle for PC on Linux to download? I have a Fedora laptop and couldn't get Wine to install K4PC. Some problem with my OS being 64 bit and Wine needing some special setting for 32 bit.

Since I have three other Windows PCs in the house, I didn't investigate it too much. But would like to install it.

You need to install 32 bit libraries. I did it with debian a couple of years ago, which enabled K4PC installation. But I it dies almost immediately after starting.

[Quoth]

You add the 386 arch to your 64 bit x86 before installing WINE, or else you only get the less useful 64 bit WINE. ALL my WINE applications are OOOOLD and all are 32 bit. Some don't run on 64 bit Win7 or 64 bit Win10.

You need to uninstall WINE. A quick search will give the linux command needed.

[ZodWallop]

Thanks guys. Last night we watched a couple of episodes of Lovecraft Country, so I didn't touch a computer much at all. I'll work on it tonight or tomorrow.

[anarcat]

i ended up buying a Clara HD and wrote about it here: https://anarc.at/hardware/tablet/kobo-clara-hd/