I need you help choosing my first eReader

[Alepsis10]

Hello guys, how's it going? I need your precious time and help.

I'm planning on buying my first eReader but I'm not entirely sure if Kindle/Kobo/PocketBook is the best one for me.

Right now I use Google Playbooks to read my books, I really like the sync feature so I can keep reading on my phone, tablet, and laptop, depending on where am I. So one of the features I'm looking for is this one, it doesn't have to be Playbooks, as long as I can sync between my eReader and my other devices, the vast majority of the books I have, are sideloaded, so the sync has to be compatible with that kind of files,and I'm not sure which brands let you do that.

I'll be using it almost exclusively for books, with the occasional sideloaded Manga. So a 6" would be good for me, and specially my low budget (would love to get a bigger one to also read comics, but the prices are off the chart, and maybe I'll get that one as my 2nd once color is more common).

Light is a must, but I guess all of them now have it?

If dictionaries are a thing on these devices, I read in Spanish 90% of the time.

I've checked the PocketBook ones, specially the new Lux 5 and HD 3, the Lux one has 212PP and I don't know if that's gonna be an issue with the PDFs and Manga, I think all Paperwhite and HD3 are 300PP, but again I really don't know if that number matters that much.

I was checking prices on goodereader since they are cheaper than buying them on my country's Amazon (I'm from Mexico), but not sure if the site is reliable or if you can recommend another place.

I would really appreciate your help and I'm open to suggestions. Thanks!

[JSWolf]

PDFs and Manga wants the biggest screen. So go for the pocketbook Inkpad X with a 10.3" 300DPI screen. Kob is better then Kindle and Pocketbook is better then both for PDF and Manga with a larger screen.

You do not want a 6" screen as it's terrible for PDF and Manga. Even a 7" screen is not big enough. So that leaves out the Kindle. Kobo does have an 8" screen. But still, the 10.3" screen is better still.

You will just have to save until your budget can afford the Inkpad X. You go for a cheaper model and you'll regret it.

[Sirtel]

If syncing of sideloaded books across various devices is a must have, Kindles are the only readers with that feature, as far as I know. Kindles also have the best dictionaries.

I've bought my Nook from GoodeReader. Had no problems.

[Alepsis10]

Ok then Kindle is my only real option, right? I figured Kindle would be really restrictive with things not bought on Amazon. Syncing sideloads is a must for me. Do their dictionaries work on sideload content? And are they also in Spanish?

I'll drop the Mangas, I read like 2 chapters per week, I'll keep doing it on my phone, no big deal with that. So I guess the PPI is irrelevant for only reading books?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Alepsis10

Ok then Kindle is my only real option, right? I figured Kindle would be really restrictive with things not bought on Amazon. Syncing sideloads is a must for me. Do their dictionaries work on sideload content? And are they also in Spanish?

I'll drop the Mangas, I read like 2 chapters per week, I'll keep doing it on my phone, no big deal with that. So I guess the PPI is irrelevant for only reading books?

Yes, dictionaries and the majority of other features work with sideloaded books. Actually Amazon is not restrictive at all re the sideloaded content. That's a misconception.

Now sideloading via the USB connection won't give you the sync feature. For syncing to work you'll have to send your books to the Amazon server first. You can do that either with the Send-to-Kindle desktop app (https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/pc) or emailing them to your Kindle account (https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/email). The approved format for sending is .mobi, but mobi is not a particularly good format for reading (it doesn't support custom fonts and contrast adjustment, among other things). So the trick is not to convert your epub files at all. Rename the file extension from .epub to .png and send that. You should now get your book in a format that supports most Kindle features.

[Alepsis10]

That's a really nice trick! Wierd how an image extension works for that. By doing that procedure, I would be getting my books on the Kindle cloud to open them on my phone and laptop, would have highlighters, dictionaries, fonts, etc., right? Also by going png will I be losing anything in the exchange?

I also read something about a book manager Calibre that's used a lot with Kindle? Is that something I have to use/pay?

Which one would you recommend between the Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Alepsis10

Ok then Kindle is my only real option, right? I figured Kindle would be really restrictive with things not bought on Amazon. Syncing sideloads is a must for me. Do their dictionaries work on sideload content? And are they also in Spanish?

I'll drop the Mangas, I read like 2 chapters per week, I'll keep doing it on my phone, no big deal with that. So I guess the PPI is irrelevant for only reading books?

You;ll have to drop PDF as it's a very bad reading experience on a Kindle. Pocketbook has the best PDF experience with the Inkpad X's 10.3" screen. Plus the software for reading PDF on the Pocketbook is significantly better then what you get on a Kindle.

One other thing not good with a Kindle. eBook management is terrible with Kindles. You get nothing automated and have to fully manage collections by hand. It's not nice.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Alepsis10

By doing that procedure, I would be getting my books on the Kindle cloud to open them on my phone and laptop, would have highlighters, dictionaries, fonts, etc., right?

Yes.

I also read something about a book manager Calibre that's used a lot with Kindle? Is that something I have to use/pay?

Calibre is free. And yes, many people use and love it, for conversion, for editing books and their metadata, for library management. It's a terrific piece of software with many possibilities. (You can probably guess by now I'm a Calibre fan myself ). But no, you don't have to use it if you don't want to, or you can use only the function you need (like conversion) and not anything else.

A thought struck me. Do your ebooks have DRM? If so, it must be removed, otherwise they cannot be read on a Kindle.

Which one would you recommend between the Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite?

Paperwhite. It has more storage, better resolution and is waterproof. And the price difference isn't all that big. (Personally I use the Oasis, but that's much more expensive and is probably overkill for most people).

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You;ll have to drop PDF as it's a very bad reading experience on a Kindle. Pocketbook has the best PDF experience with the Inkpad X's 10.3" screen. Plus the software for reading PDF on the Pocketbook is significantly better then what you get on a Kindle.

One other thing not good with a Kindle. eBook management is terrible with Kindles. You get nothing automated and have to fully manage collections by hand. It's not nice.

PDF experience is terrible on anything with a screen under 10'', not only a Kindle. And the ebook management on a Kindle is not terrible. You can make collections and put your books in them. It isn't as good as on a Kobo, but a Kobo cannot sync books not purchased from the Kobo store, which the OP has said is important for them. Neither can a Pocketbook, as far as I know.

To the OP: JSWolf is well known to be virulently anti-Kindle, so take anything he's said about Kindles with a grain of salt.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

PDF experience is terrible on anything with a screen under 10'', not only a Kindle. And the ebook management on a Kindle is not terrible. You can make collections and put your books in them. It isn't as good as on a Kobo, but a Kobo cannot sync books not purchased from the Kobo store, which the OP has said is important for them. Neither can a Pocketbook, as far as I know.

To the OP: JSWolf is well known to be virulently anti-Kindle, so take anything he's said about Kindles with a grain of salt.

I have a Kindle and yes, eBook management is terrible.

If the OP can give up syncing, then the Pocketbook is the best choice. What I do is I have different book on different devices and that works. Maybe that would work for the OP.

If the OP is willing to give up PDF and Manga then a Kindle Oasis would be the best choice for a Kindle.

[Alepsis10]

Thanks for all the info, I won't be reading books in PDF, I use epubs, the reason why I mentioned them on my post was to get a reference between the different PPI (167 vs 212 vs 300) because I'm still unsure if the difference is noticeable.

Already mentioned that regarding Mangas I can keep reading my 2 chapters per week on my phone if the eReader is not capable of loading/rendering them.

Sideloaded sync is a must, not gonna give that up. So if PocketBook can't do that, then that's a no for me.

What do you guys mean by ebook management?

How do I go about knowing if the book has DRM? And how do I remove such thing? Is it something terrible complex?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Alepsis10

What do you guys mean by ebook management?

How do I go about knowing if the book has DRM? And how do I remove such thing? Is it something terrible complex?

Ebook management means grouping your books by different criteria on your ereader. Like Mysteries, Thrillers, Science Fiction or anything else you like. On a Kobo you can do it automatically with Calibre, on a Kindle you must make your groups by hand.

How you know if a book has DRM: try to open it with anything other than the store application. (Calibre ebook viewer is handy for that, too, but there are other reading apps out there; Freda for Windows, for example). If the book has DRM, it won't open and you should get a message about DRM. Removing the DRM is not hard, but is technically illegal in many countries. Nobody will bother you about it, though, if you only do it for your own personal use (as opposed to sharing your files with other people after the DRM has been removed). The simplest way to remove the DRM is with Calibre and the de-DRM plugins. Giving detailed instructions is not permitted here, but google Apprentice Alf and you should get all the information you need.

[Alepsis10]

I believe all my books are DRM free. I opened several on Calibre

I am doing some testes to see how the scync works sending a png to my kindle email, and it's wierd, I downloaded the app on my phone, the app on my laptop, and opened the kindle cloud through Chrome, and I can see and read the book on my phone, but I can't make it appear on the laptop, am I doing something wrong?

Gonna try to do the same experiment with Pocketbook

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Alepsis10

I believe all my books are DRM free. I opened several on Calibre

I am doing some testes to see how the scync works sending a png to my kindle email, and it's wierd, I downloaded the app on my phone, the app on my laptop, and opened the kindle cloud through Chrome, and I can see and read the book on my phone, but I can't make it appear on the laptop, am I doing something wrong?

Gonna try to do the same experiment with Pocketbook

No, the laptop app doesn't sync sideloaded books. You have to use the Cloud Reader on your laptop.

[Alepsis10]

I believe I am on the Cloud Reader, which also doesn't show on it hmmmm