Which eReaders can use folders?

[Istvan diVega]

It seems the battery in my beloved PRS-950 is beginning to lose capacity. I've no idea how long a Li-Ion battery usually takes to die, but I thought it'd be a good idea to begin to explore options just in case.

The one absolute requirement I have is that a new reader has to be able to use folders, as I've no desire to begin messing with tagging, "bookshelves", "collections" and whatnot at this late stage. Unfortunately neither manufacturer web sites, nor reviews generally have anything useful to say about firmware capabilities and book handling in this respect.

Hopefully you guys and gals can remedy this and educate me on which brands and models are able to access folders, so that I can determine what my options are.

[HarryT]

None of the "big names" - Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Sony - can use folders. Onyx, Pocketbook, Bookeen - they can all use folders.

I'm afraid that tags are where the market has decided the way forward lies. May as well adapt to it, because I suspect that you won't see too many devices with folder support in the future.

[Istvan diVega]

Thanks a lot, that's great info! Do you happen to know if all current models from the three manufacturers you mention can use folders, or if there are exceptions among them?

As for adapting to the status quo - yes, I guess I will inevitably have to, at some point. Still, I'd like to delay the inevitable for as long as I can. I really, really like my folders and I even briefly considered buying a stack of old PRS-505s (they can be found on eBay, sold in stacks of 10s and 20s) in order to avoid the problem altogether. Until I remembered that Li-Ion batteries begin to decay as soon as they're manufactured, which scuppered that particular bright idea. Had that not been the case I would have gone ahead, since I have no real need of any of the bells and whistles of the newer readers, only a good screen and decent functionality.

[HarryT]

All PB, Onyx, and Bookeen devices can use folders, to the best of my knowledge.

[Istvan diVega]

That's great, no possibility of fouling up then. Thanks a lot for helping out!

[Rizla]

Why don't you replace the battery? You can get brand new, compatible batteries cheaply.

[FizzyWater]

Actually, if you save your books to a microSD card, the Nook uses folders (at least, it does for non-DRM books - I haven't put any DRM books on it to test). It also creates a "library" based on metadata (author, title, or most recent). So you get to view them either way.

[Istvan diVega]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Why don't you replace the battery? You can get brand new, compatible batteries cheaply.

Really? I've searched high and low for replacement batteries for the PRS-950, without finding any. Do have a link to where I can get them? And maybe a link to a how-to guide?

[Istvan diVega]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Actually, if you save your books to a microSD card, the Nook uses folders (at least, it does for non-DRM books - I haven't put any DRM books on it to test). It also creates a "library" based on metadata (author, title, or most recent). So you get to view them either way.

Thanks for the tip, that's good to know! Always nice to have another option.

[Bookworm_Girl]

In this thread I posted an image of folder view on the Nook. The downside is that you don't see a pretty book cover but a generic file icon instead.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=205944&page=2

[FizzyWater]

True enough. But I, for one, prefer list view to little thumbnails anyway.

[HarryT]

The biggest downside of the Nook is of course that it's only sold in the US. It's really therefore not a practical option for the overwhelming majority of people.

[usuallee]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The biggest downside of the Nook is of course that it's only sold in the US. It's really therefore not a practical option for the overwhelming majority of people.

Doesn't, like, 95% of all people on earth live in America? Haha, just a little self-deprecating humour at my nation's sense of self-importance that is sometimes displayed.

Anyway to the OP - I say this knowing full well you may be well aware of and not the least interested in what I'm about to say. But calibre with the "collections" plug-in, works very well with a Kindle. I gather you might mean folders as in something at a more fundamental level of storage, but thought I'd throw it out there.

[Istvan diVega]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The biggest downside of the Nook is of course that it's only sold in the US. It's really therefore not a practical option for the overwhelming majority of people.

For me that makes no difference really, as I will be buying from abroad in any case. It'll undoubtedly turn out cheaper regardless of which reader I choose and the selection of readers here in Norway is abysmal.

[Istvan diVega]

Originally Posted by usuallee

Anyway to the OP - I say this knowing full well you may be well aware of and not the least interested in what I'm about to say. But calibre with the "collections" plug-in, works very well with a Kindle. I gather you might mean folders as in something at a more fundamental level of storage, but thought I'd throw it out there.

I appreciate all suggestions regardless, so thanks for chiming in.

I did mean folders at the storage level though, so the Kindle isn't really an option for me. I also only own ePubs, so a reader which accepts that format is pretty much a must. Format conversion is easy with Calibre of course, but even so there's always that small percentage of books which don't convert well and have to be fiddled with extensively in order to work properly again.

Added to that I just never buy devices which attempt to lock me into a specific ecosystem.