looking to replace Kindle DX

[Elaine T]

I'm here because my daughter's Kindle DX which she's been nursing along for years may finally be dying. She wants basically what she already has but in a device that isn't dying. Wants: Keyboard (built in preferred). Buttons for paging forward and back. Internal directories instead of the sorting system that Mom's Kindle defaults to.


She does not want as organization what she sees on mine, Folder Asimov, within it, folders containing multiple files for each book. She just wants an Asimov directory with a list of titles/book files.
Most of what she reads is not professionally published, so there's no DRM or anything to deal with.

What recommendations do you all have?
Thanks

[Quoth]

A Kobo with page turn buttons. Some Kobo can use a BT Keyboard (but it disconnects quickly).
There are some Android eInk that can use USB, or use BT. Most of those have no page turn buttons.
Nothing has a built in keyboard now.

With the Kobo and Calibre to manage books you don't need to use internal directories to sort. Calibre anyway uses a folder/directory for each author and a folder/directory for each title in that.

A Libra 2 is 7″ with 300 dpi (a DXG is only 150 dpi) and has PDF crop, so works better for PDFs. I have a DXG and a Libra 2, so can compare.

I also have an 8″ Kobo Sage. The Pen is an option, but unlike Kindle Scribe there is true handwriting & shape conversion in Advanced Notebooks. Ebooks best annotated with touch keyboard and text. A PDF can be directly written on and copied back to PC, unlike Kindle Scribe which needs the PDF send to Amazon, a KFX downloaded and finally annotations emailed.

Your Kindle or hers (even if it stops working) can be used for Amazon purchases in a way that lets them be read on the Kobo. There is also the Kobo store.

Calibre will convert the existing DXG files to epub for Kobo.

I also have a 10″ approx Kobo Elipsa. It's heavy and a bit large for ebooks. I recently gave away a 10″ approx reMarkable. It's very limited compared to the Elipsa and best for PDFs and drawing, also less than about 1/5th of the document storage.

I did replace the battery (really a cell) in the DXG, but it was hardly worth it as it's such an inferior ereader to any of the Kobos. I do have two 6″ kindles too, a Kindle Keyboard 3 (ancient) and a Paperwhite 3. I gave away an Oasis as it was pointless compared to even the original Libra I have.

[salamanderjuice]

Does she care about it having the same size screen? There's nothing new with a built-in keyboard, those days are long gone. The only similarly sized device with physical page turn buttons is the Pocketbook Inkpad X. There's some smaller ones like the Kobo Sage, Kobo Libra 2, Boox Leaf 2.

If screen size is important I'd also look at some of the bigger models from Boox. You can use a Bluetooth keyboard if necessary with them (or the Leaf 2).

[Quoth]

I can do a size by side photo of DXG and Kobo Sage. The 9.7″ of the DXG is sort of fake due to huge margins Amazon inflicts. Also the 150 dpi means the screen isn't as useful as 7″, 7.8″ or 8″ current screens that are 300 dpi. If you have good eyesight or reading glasses, the modern 300 dpi 8″ is equivalent to more than a 16″ Kindle DXG due to poor 150dpi and large margins.

[Elaine T]

yeah, she wants the large screen size.
I thought she'd be out of luck on the built-in keyboard.
THanks for all your replies. I will forward them to her.

[Quoth]

The 8" of the Sage is better than the 10" of the Elipsa except for preview of PDFs for print. It's much better than any 9.7" screen.
Beware actual 9.7" readers as they use the old 150 dpi screen. Newer screens are 300 dpi or 227 dpi.

I can do a photo of DXG, Sage, Elipsa side by side if it's needed.

[Elaine T]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The 8" of the Sage is better than the 10" of the Elipsa except for preview of PDFs for print. It's much better than any 9.7" screen.
Beware actual 9.7" readers as they use the old 150 dpi screen. Newer screens are 300 dpi or 227 dpi.

I can do a photo of DXG, Sage, Elipsa side by side if it's needed.

Yes, please. that would be helpful. I wish there were places I could go to see all the possible ereaders. Best Buy seems to carry Boox, but doesn't have any locally to look at.

[Tarana]

Another option is a Kindle keyboard. You'd have to look on Ebay though.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Elaine T

What recommendations do you all have?

Sounds like what she really wants is another Kindle DX. These are cheap now and a replacement battery costs about $20 (if needed).

Here's one with a new battery...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28350155369...Bk9SR5it9ODUYQ

Still not cheap, but if lasts a few years your daughter would probably be happy with it.

[Quoth]

You can't set the time & date on a DX or DXG if there is no cell/mobile access. Language support is very poor, font support very poor.
No series support.
A new one with a replaced battery is a waste of money.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Quoth

A new one with a replaced battery is a waste of money.

Depends on what you want. If an onboard physical keyboard is important to you on a large screen E-Ink eReader, there's really no competition.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Depends on what you want. If an onboard physical keyboard is important to you on a large screen E-Ink eReader, there's really no competition.

Sure the DX has a built-in keyboard but the rest of it is rubbish (at best).

If she still wants a Kindle, go for the Sage. There's also the Pocketbook Inkpad X, Kobo Elipsa, and Onyx Boox Note 5 all at 10.3".

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Depends on what you want. If an onboard physical keyboard is important to you on a large screen E-Ink eReader, there's really no competition.

I have one, and frankly the keyboard is a disaster compared with touch keyboard. And otherwise it's slow and extremely limited. The only thing to type are annotations. If you seriously want to type on eink then 7.8" or larger Android eink with Jota app and a decent €15 BT keyboard is hugely better.
I've annotated huge quantities of MSS on eink and you couldn't pay me to use a DXG to do it now. I replaced it with original Kobo H2O for proofing and annotating. I'd actually had a Kindle PW3 before the DXG but thought the bigger screen would be good to read PDFs, it was nearly useless for the PDFs and grossly inferior "mechanical" keyboard to to Kindle PW or later Kobo H2O touch screen keyboards.
The keyboard on the K3 is about the worst I've used on anything, but the DXG keyboard is marginally worse.
Also you need to set date on DXG or the listings don't work. It reverts to 1970 when the battery is flat. It needs mobile/Cell access for almost a day to reset time & Date.
Probably only K2, DX and K1 are as bad rendering of only primitive basic mobi.
Yes, you can replace the battery-cell and Jailbreak it, but it's not worth the effort. I've done both.

If the object is to type text it's useless as there is no application. If the object is to read books then nearly anything other than K1, K2, DX and DXG is better.

Also with the margins and 150 dpi it doesn't really qualify as large screen. Any of the not-Kindle 8" 300 dpi are effectively larger. The Kindle Oasis Gen 2 is far better too (I had one recently).

[ps67]

Originally Posted by Elaine T

yeah, she wants the large screen size.
I thought she'd be out of luck on the built-in keyboard.
THanks for all your replies. I will forward them to her.

There are many choices but they aren't cheap: Kindle Scribe, Kobo Elipsa, Pocketbook Inkpad X, etc.

If she settles for a worse resolution (150DPI) there is the Pocketbook InkpadLite that should be cheaper.

https://pocketbook.ch/en-ch/catalog/...inkpad-lite-ch

Of course: no built-in keyboard (but nowadays it is not necessary HIMO).