Looking for something ~7" preferably with no light

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Renate

Yeah, but which Eink is this 2024 PW?
The Clara BW is 1300.

The PW6 is Carta 1300.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

And the Paperwhite will work perfectly well out of the box. Buy a book, download, read.

The rest is details and I'm not sure they're relevant to most newbies. Or frankly, to most not-newbies. I think it comes across as so much gobbledygook and is discouraging in general. It shouldn't be, and it really isn't, all that hard. Going outside Kindle, I see the same thing with people who want Kobos. Brand new to eink reading, and they're inundated with patch this, Nickel Reader that, don't forget KOReader. It's not helpful. IMO, of course. Perhaps people could focus more on what the OP says they want, and less on airing their own opinions/grievances/biases.

The OP asked about sideloading to a Kindle, not about buying and reading Amazon books. And unfortunately sideloading to a Kindle is no longer so simple and easy as it used to be, because if you just do what most people mean by sideloading - convert a few books to mobi/azw3, copy them to your Kindle and keep wifi off for a while, chances are Amazon will delete your books if you do connect to wifi. There are workarounds and that's where it gets complicated.

So yeah, I did focus on what the OP said. And I stand by my conviction that Kindles are no longer good devices for sideloading.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The OP asked about sideloading to a Kindle, not about buying and reading Amazon books. And unfortunately sideloading to a Kindle is no longer so simple and easy as it used to be, because if you just do what most people mean by sideloading - convert a few books to mobi/azw3, copy them to your Kindle and keep wifi off for a while, chances are Amazon will delete your books if you do connect to wifi. There are workarounds and that's where it gets complicated.

So yeah, I did focus on what the OP said. And I stand by my conviction that Kindles are no longer good devices for sideloading.

Leave wireless on and either sideload or use STK. Easy and serviceable, which to me says not focusing on the OP's requirements. At least list it as an option, even if you personally would rather not.

I love STK, personally. Maybe the OP would, also.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

Leave wireless on and either sideload or use STK. Easy and serviceable, which to me says not focusing on the OP's requirements. At least list it as an option, even if you personally would rather not.

I love STK, personally. Maybe the OP would, also.

I've said all that too, repeatedly. But it certainly wouldn't be focusing on what the OP asked if I said nothing about conventional sideloading via USB and why it's no longer so simple with a Kindle.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The PW6 is Carta 1300.

Thank you for the info. I'm glad that I don't really care about anything Kindle because they do as much as they can to muddy the waters.

So, if I have this straight, the Paperwhite 6 is a 7" device and the 12th generation. Moreover, Amazon itself never mentions 6 or 12th on its product page.

[DNSB]

It might be worth considering that the 2024 Kindles now use MTP instead of USBMS and that Download and Transfer via USB is no longer an option.

For example, Amazon has made it even more difficult to transfer covers to a Kindle by making the thumbnails directory inaccessible. The older Kindles weren't that bad but Amazon is continuing down their path of making Kindles suitable only for consuming content from Amazon by locking users into their walled garden (now with razor wire!).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

It might be worth considering that the 2024 Kindles now use MTP instead of USBMS and that Download and Transfer via USB is no longer an option.

For example, Amazon has made it even more difficult to transfer covers to a Kindle by making the thumbnails directory inaccessible. The older Kindles weren't that bad but Amazon is continuing down their path of making Kindles suitable only for consuming content from Amazon by locking users into their walled garden (now with razor wire!).

And in some cases, they turn on the electricity to the wall.

[rockyblboa]

You guys are obviously all very passionate and that's cool. However, I feel now even more conflicted. So, I want to get back to the topic at hand. There WAS a Kobo Libra 2 (used) on eBay for $119.99...but now it's gone! So, my options are basically: the Kindle Paperwhite 5/11th ed./2021 - or - an older Kobo.

I'm having difficulty deciding on the Kindle for a couple of reasons. 1st being, as I see on YouTube, even at low brightness settings, it still looks too damn bright. 2nd, all I want to do is drag n' drop files (EPUB, mostly) onto the thing....not go through some conversion, and/or worry that Amazon may freakin' delete them all w/o my consent! So, I'm leaning towards eliminating the Kindle Paperwhite, or at least, heavily favoring a Kobo.

So, with that said, what's the best bang for buck 6.7" - 7" eReader (NON-Kindle, or MAYBE least aggravating to deal with Kindle) UNDER $120, that I can purchase NOW (or, by Black Friday)? I'm seeing on eBay Kindle Aura's, B&N Nooks, Amazon OASIS..

[Sirtel]

B&N Nooks are usually pretty good hardware, but their software is somewhat bare bones compared to others. Still, you can drag and drop your epubs to them (unless they've changed something about their later models) and you can keep wifi off or on without having to fear your books will be deleted.

Kobo Aura models are all quite old by now and batteries may be dead or dying. Still, if you don't want to mess with converting etc, and if you can get one cheaply, you could try them. Yes, you can just drag and drop your epubs to them.

There are also Pocketbooks. Also good for dragging and dropping epubs.

As for Kindles, all models newer than 10 years (and that includes all the Oasis models) use basically similar software and books can be deleted from all of them. The only "less aggravating" Kindles are ancient models and I certainly can't recommend them. Also, you'd still have to convert your epubs.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by rockyblboa

all I want to do is drag n' drop files (EPUB, mostly) onto the thing....not go through some conversion, and/or worry that Amazon may freakin' delete them all w/o my consent!

Send to Kindle actually works with "drag and drop", then press "send". The conversion is automatic through Amazon's servers, you don't have to do anything else. The only thing is that you don't use a USB cable, they are sent to the e-reader wirelessly. I find this very convenient and it's one of the things I like most about Kindle, but as you may have seen in the discussion above there are people who don't like this method.

If you are one of those who "drag and drop" from the computer to the e-reader via USB cable, any other brand allows you to do it (Kindle too, but with a previous conversion if you have the books in ePub format and with the peculiarities that have been mentioned). My favourite old e-reader in that size is the first Kobo Aura H2O, but I don't know if you could find one now or in what condition it would be in. Of the current 7" e-readers, the Kindle Paperwhite seems to me to be the most well-balanced.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Amazon is continuing down their path of making Kindles suitable only for consuming content from Amazon by locking users into their walled garden (now with razor wire!).

I am not locked in a walled garden when I use my Kindle e-readers. I have exactly the same books as on any of my other e-readers of any brand (bought wherever I want), and I have the entire Amazon "ecosystem" (which I hardly use) at my disposal. Possibly we have different experiences because we use our e-readers differently.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rockyblboa

You guys are obviously all very passionate and that's cool. However, I feel now even more conflicted. So, I want to get back to the topic at hand. There WAS a Kobo Libra 2 (used) on eBay for $119.99...but now it's gone! So, my options are basically: the Kindle Paperwhite 5/11th ed./2021 - or - an older Kobo.

I'm having difficulty deciding on the Kindle for a couple of reasons. 1st being, as I see on YouTube, even at low brightness settings, it still looks too damn bright. 2nd, all I want to do is drag n' drop files (EPUB, mostly) onto the thing....not go through some conversion, and/or worry that Amazon may freakin' delete them all w/o my consent! So, I'm leaning towards eliminating the Kindle Paperwhite, or at least, heavily favoring a Kobo.

So, with that said, what's the best bang for buck 6.7" - 7" eReader (NON-Kindle, or MAYBE least aggravating to deal with Kindle) UNDER $120, that I can purchase NOW (or, by Black Friday)? I'm seeing on eBay Kindle Aura's, B&N Nooks, Amazon OASIS..

If you can find a Kobo Libra 2, I suggest that as your choice.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by rockyblboa

You guys are obviously all very passionate and that's cool. However, I feel now even more conflicted. So, I want to get back to the topic at hand. There WAS a Kobo Libra 2 (used) on eBay for $119.99...but now it's gone! So, my options are basically: the Kindle Paperwhite 5/11th ed./2021 - or - an older Kobo.

I'm having difficulty deciding on the Kindle for a couple of reasons. 1st being, as I see on YouTube, even at low brightness settings, it still looks too damn bright. 2nd, all I want to do is drag n' drop files (EPUB, mostly) onto the thing....not go through some conversion, and/or worry that Amazon may freakin' delete them all w/o my consent! So, I'm leaning towards eliminating the Kindle Paperwhite, or at least, heavily favoring a Kobo.

So, with that said, what's the best bang for buck 6.7" - 7" eReader (NON-Kindle, or MAYBE least aggravating to deal with Kindle) UNDER $120, that I can purchase NOW (or, by Black Friday)? I'm seeing on eBay Kindle Aura's, B&N Nooks, Amazon OASIS..

As cellaris pointed out, you can drag and drop epub files into Send to Kindle, and you don't even have to tether. Moreover, using that method means Amazon won't delete your books.

Also, as has been pointed out, the light on the Paperwhite can be turned off entirely, so what difference does brightness at low lighting settings make?

And why consider a Paperwhite 5 at all when the brand-new Paperwhite 6 is only $129.99? It's obvious you don't want a Paperwhite which is fine.

[Renate]

If you really hate lights you can pop the device open and unplug the flex cable to the front light.

[rockyblboa]

Thank you so much for your honest feedback, guys. I really appreciate it and it has opened up my mind and options (as you may recall, I was hard sold on the ancient Sony PSR-950!).

Originally Posted by Sirtel

B&N Nooks are usually pretty good hardware, but their software is somewhat bare bones compared to others. Still, you can drag and drop your epubs to them (unless they've changed something about their later models) and you can keep wifi off or on without having to fear your books will be deleted.

Kobo Aura models are all quite old by now and batteries may be dead or dying. Still, if you don't want to mess with converting etc, and if you can get one cheaply, you could try them. Yes, you can just drag and drop your epubs to them.

There are also Pocketbooks. Also good for dragging and dropping epubs.

As for Kindles, all models newer than 10 years (and that includes all the Oasis models) use basically similar software and books can be deleted from all of them. The only "less aggravating" Kindles are ancient models and I certainly can't recommend them. Also, you'd still have to convert your epubs.

Yeah, so, with my list, I am about ready to take the Kindle PW off... and add/replace it with the Nook GlowLight Plus (2019, or Plus 4 if it can be found on Black Friday for under the $120 mark!): it's 7.8"!, 3.5mm audio jack, screen is flush, software seems bare-bones/basic (which is EXACTLY what I want).

I can't seem to find an answer, but, wonder if anyone can confirm if the GlowLight Plus (2019, or newest) can play audio/mp3's? Is there a media player? Or is it relegated merely to audiobooks?

My new list, narrowed (expanded?):
* Kobo Libra 2/H2O [USED, if found under $120);
* Tolino Vision 5 - 7" (very RARE in the US, but I see one on eBay for a very nice price!);
* Tolino Vision 5;
* NOOK GlowLight/GlowLight 4 Plus

Thoughts?