Kindle Scribe questions

[HarryT]

I’ve rather lost track of Amazon’s Kindle offerings, and just noticed the existence of the Kindle Scribe . A couple of questions:

1. I’ve no interest in annotating documents or books. Does the Scribe still make sense simply as a large-screen Kindle?

2. I side-load all my content from Calibre via USB. I notice that the Scribe uses an MTP connection rather than mounting as a drive. Is it still feasible to have a large side-loaded book collection on the Scribe? I currently have about 9400 books on my 32GB Paperwhite. I’ve used MTP devices in the past and there have been major speed issues with Calibre.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I’ve rather lost track of Amazon’s Kindle offerings, and just noticed the existence of the Kindle Scribe . A couple of questions:

1. I’ve no interest in annotating documents or books. Does the Scribe still make sense simply as a large-screen Kindle?

2. I side-load all my content from Calibre via USB. I notice that the Scribe uses an MTP connection rather than mounting as a drive. Is it still feasible to have a large side-loaded book collection on the Scribe? I currently have about 9400 books on my 32GB Paperwhite. I’ve used MTP devices in the past and there have been major speed issues with Calibre.

1 - yes, it is more versatile as it is better for fixed layout content (converted PDFs, B&W comics and manga, etc.) and some people like using 2-column mode in landscape. Fewer page turns, ability to use larger fonts and have good number of words per line etc. Some people like to make handwritten notes in their books, so you can do that as well. I pretty much stick to text notes, at least until there is more platform support for handwritten notes.

2 - If you think it is 'feasible' to have 9400 books on your present Kindle, then I don't think Scribe will be much different, and the newest one might even 'mount' faster as /system folder is not visible (calibre would otherwise collect a list of cover thumbnails which can run into several thousands of files). Data transfer rates are about the same or better on MTP as far as my informal benchmarks suggest.

FWIW my Colorsoft (MTP) mounts much faster than Paperwhite SE (USB mass storage), mostly because calibre has to wait for macOS to mount it, and also because Colorsoft has many fewer files to collect and match up (no /system visible). But I only have about a dozen books on each, so this difference is meaningless, only about 10 seconds.

I have no idea what difference would be with thousands of books, but guessing it is not significantly different (how long does it take you?). I'm not ever gonna try it, because it would take days to index and I do not see the point of having my entire library on a Kindle.

[HarryT]

That's very helpful - thank you. I've placed my order

[Dr. Drib]

Totally and completely off-topic:

Welcome, Harry. Good to see you again.

[Dr. Drib]

Harry, I fully enjoy it for reading - but only at home, due to its large size. It's not that heavy for me, and I find it comfortable to hold when relaxing in a comfortable setting. I purchased a clear back for it, and read with it that way. (It also keeps the metal back from being cold.)

I side-load almost all my books and use calibre to accomplish this task. I currently use it only for reading.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Totally and completely off-topic:

Welcome, Harry. Good to see you again.

Thanks, Don. Good to hear from you, too!

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's very helpful - thank you. I've placed my order

You’ll love it. As a large kindle it is perfect to read from. I do only use it downstairs during the day though and I have it on a table. I wouldn’t be without mine.

[Dr. DD Ukr]

Dear Sir, I have a question about the Kindle Scribe 1st generation. Amazon was going to block the USB port in the next firmware sometime after February 2025. Now my Kindle is in airplane mode and with the current firmware 5.16.6.1(4181730001). Has anyone updated their Kindle to a newer firmware? If they did, does transferring files from Calibre to Kindle via USB port work?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Dr. DD Ukr

Dear Sir, I have a question about the Kindle Scribe 1st generation. Amazon was going to block the USB port in the next firmware sometime after February 2025. Now my Kindle is in airplane mode and with the current firmware 5.16.6.1(4181730001). Has anyone updated their Kindle to a newer firmware? If they did, does transferring files from Calibre to Kindle via USB port work?

Amazon has not blocked USB transfers for any Kindles so far.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Dr. DD Ukr

. Amazon was going to block the USB port in the next firmware sometime after February 2025.
…
If they did, does transferring files from Calibre to Kindle via USB port work?

No, they ceased ability to download purchases of ebooks to computer and then transfer those by USB. Not actual USB transfers. That's what they promised and what they did.

You can still have an App on iOS, Android or a program on a PC that gets a Kindle ebook. It was ONLY the ability for you Web browser to download a file that they promised to end, and they did. The idea was that you could later only copy that file via USB to one particular Kindle.

[Dr. DD Ukr]

Originally Posted by Quoth

No, they ceased ability to download purchases of ebooks to computer and then transfer those by USB. Not actual USB transfers. That's what they promised and what they did.

You can still have an App on iOS, Android or a program on a PC that gets a Kindle ebook. It was ONLY the ability for you Web browser to download a file that they promised to end, and they did. The idea was that you could later only copy that file via USB to one particular Kindle.

Thank you all very much for such a detailed answer.