Why aren't PocketBook devices more popular?

[Carolus]

Originally Posted by Ruff_d

You can do that, but you don't need to. Pocketbook has a Adobe DRM Management included. It means: You can download the books directly to your Pocketbook from the website of your book dealer .

Even if your book dealer is the Kobo store?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Carolus

Even if your book dealer is the Kobo store?

Yes. You can download your Kobo purchases from your account as epubs.

[Ruff_d]

Originally Posted by Carolus

Even if your book dealer is the Kobo store?

Yes as you download the *.acsm file which allows Pocketbook to download the DRM content. The Libraries are using the same process.

[dmalinovsky]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Do Pocketbooks finally allow you to change the weight of side loaded fonts?

Not yet, unfortunately. You can install KOReader to do that, but it doesn't support DRM.

Or you can also download a font with the custom weight, e.g. Literata Medium or SemiBold and rename it as Literata Regular to have bolder default font: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Li...query=literata

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Carolus

Hi, I'm considering buying an Era.

I used to own a Kobo Libra and my main misgiving about replacing it with a Pocket Book (BW Libras seem impossible to find anymore) is having to go through the hassle of buying my books elsewhere and then deDRMing and moving them to the Pocketbook, so I wonder just how much of a hassle that really is. Since that's of course relative, I'll say I'm rather lazy and my computer literacy about average.

Since PocketBooks have Adobe "ADE" (or something akin to it) built-in, all you really have to do is send the .acsm file to the PocketBook, either using Send-to-PocketBook (via email), a USB connection or even by downloading the .acsm file in PocketBook's browser.

If you do want to remove DRM you can do that with Calibre and plugin(s). (The same as with Kobo books.)

[Mr Avid]

I received the PocketBook Era. I think this one is the keeper.

I mentioned most of my positives in the first post. The reason I avoided this one initially, was I was concerned about the button placement so close to the outer edge. It turns out that this isn't problem on this device. The odd-shaped corners make a surprisingly big difference in the hand and make a slightly higher grip comfortable which naturally makes the buttons at the edge easier to press. Additionally, the page turn buttons are quite large so you have some flexibility in finding a comfortable spot for your finger. The Oasis is still a bit easier to hold in one hand because so much of the weight is shifted to one side of the device.

There are a couple of things I don't like. The first is that the page turn buttons don't reverse when you flip the device over. I worked around this by setting both buttons to page forward. The other is that I miss the expand-ability of a microsd card slot. The only saving grace here is that the device includes 64GB of storage.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Apropos the mentioned BOOX Page has better contrast and sharpness compared to ERA. Personally, I would never go back to ERA from BOOX Page (I had both models for a while ).

Having them side by side, I don't see any noticeable difference in contrast or sharpness. That being said, there could be unit to unit variance.

One thing I do notice with the Boox when I put it next to either of my Kindles or either of the PocketBook devices is that it has a more green tint to it than the others. It isn't something I would notice if they were not side-by-side but it is obvious when comparing them.

[Carolus]

Originally Posted by Ruff_d

Yes as you download the *.acsm file which allows Pocketbook to download the DRM content. The Libraries are using the same process.

Hi, I'm sorry I have to ask such basic questions, but where do I find the .acsm files of my kobo ebooks?
Thanks

[dmalinovsky]

Originally Posted by Carolus

Hi, I'm sorry I have to ask such basic questions, but where do I find the .acsm files of my kobo ebooks?
Thanks

You download this file from the shop or the library. Then it gets replaced by the actual DRM-ed ePub.

[Carolus]

Originally Posted by dmalinovsky

You download this file from the shop or the library. Then it gets replaced by the actual DRM-ed ePub.

dmalinovsky, thanks for your lightning quick reply, but I'm a DEEP beginner: all I can find is my kobo app, which only shows me my library as a number of book covers of my purchases. Surely I need to look somewhere else to find those files.

[JSWolf]

IMHO, Pocketbook Readers would be a lot more popular is they supported increasing the weight off both system and side loaded fonts.

[dmalinovsky]

Originally Posted by Carolus

dmalinovsky, thanks for your lightning quick reply, but I'm a DEEP beginner: all I can find is my kobo app, which only shows me my library as a number of book covers of my purchases. Surely I need to look somewhere else to find those files.

Sorry, I never bought books from the Kobo store, only borrowed them from the public libraries.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

IMHO, Pocketbook Readers would be a lot more popular is they supported increasing the weight off both system and side loaded fonts.

As for increasing weight — yes, it's not supported, but there's a workaround. For example, take the Literata font (which I like): there are several weights available in the zipped download. You can rename Medium (or SemiBold) as Regular and "Medium Italic" as "Regular Italic" and then copy them to the Pocketbook device. It'll be using this custom weight font then.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by dmalinovsky

Sorry, I never bought books from the Kobo store, only borrowed them from the public libraries.



As for increasing weight — yes, it's not supported, but there's a workaround. For example, take the Literata font (which I like): there are several weights available in the zipped download. You can rename Medium (or SemiBold) as Regular and "Medium Italic" as "Regular Italic" and then copy them to the Pocketbook device. It'll be using this custom weight font then.

Sure sometimes you can find a font with other weights. But a lot of fonts don't have any other weight available and need the weight increased to be usable on an eInk screen. I've also seen lotks of embedded fonts that don't have enough weight to read comfortably enough on eInk.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Carolus

dmalinovsky, thanks for your lightning quick reply, but I'm a DEEP beginner: all I can find is my kobo app, which only shows me my library as a number of book covers of my purchases. Surely I need to look somewhere else to find those files.

Go to the Kobo website. Log in to your account; then click My Account on the upper right corner of the page, select My Books -> Books. You should see your purchased ebooks now. Click on the three dots beneath a cover and select Download. If the book has DRM, you'll get an .acsm file; if the book has no DRM, you'll get an epub.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Mr Avid

There are a couple of things I don't like. The first is that the page turn buttons don't reverse when you flip the device over.

What? That's a dealbreaker right there!

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Mr Avid

There are a couple of things I don't like. The first is that the page turn buttons don't reverse when you flip the device over. I worked around this by setting both buttons to page forward. The other is that I miss the expand-ability of a microsd card slot. The only saving grace here is that the device includes 64GB of storage.

This doesn't sound right. I have the Pocketbook Era, 64GB version, and I can flip my device to my left hand and my button orientation works the same as in my right hand: top button pages forward, bottom button pages back.

The other two buttons don't reverse, but the page-turn buttons do.

I tried with and without the G-sensor on (without, you need to use the Rotate menu inside the book reading settings) and it works both ways.

My niggle is that I haven't found any way to lock the G-sensor to portrait only. Having full rotation doesn't work well for me when reading in bed where I might be propping the device at odd angles. The reading menu works for that (with G-sensor turned off), but it's awkward and an extra step compared to my Kobo.