Folder navigation and/or customisable sleep screen and/or reading stats

[chlorine]

I currently own a kindle paperwhite 2 and I'm very happy with it, but there's a few things that I'l like to have that are not there:
- folder navigation; I hate that there cannot be collections and subcollections in kindles
- customize the picture that is shown when the device is in sleep mode; optionally show the cover of the book I'm reading when in sleep mode;
- reading stats (similar to the ones that are displayed in the kindle freetime mode actually), such as time spent reading and/or number of pages read in the current day, week, ...

I also have the following requirements:
- should have a LED lighting (I think most devices have it currently but you never know)
- possible to sideload books from a _linux_ computer by USB - the device should be recognised as a basic USB storage unit. I don't want to install anything to be able to add books
- dictionary search from touchscreen - both for books in English and French; bonus points if it is possible to load my own dictionary on the device

Also switching from an old kindle with a keyboard to the paperwhite has shown me how a good firmware makes a huge difference - I'd like the firmware to be fluid and intuitive.

Bonus points would also be attributed if the OpenDyslexic font was natively on the device or if it was possible to upload it - for some reason I cannot explain I've fallen in love with this font.

From what I understand both Bookeen and Pocketbook devices match my needs, though it's hard to know if I'll like the firmware without actually trying the devices. I live in France BTW and Pocketbook devices are available here under the 'Tea' brand (?), if that makes a difference.

One thing that intrigues me for the Pocketbook devices is that if I understood correctly, the touch lux 3 at least (and maybe other Pocketbook devices) seems to have a power-off mode that is distinct from the sleep mode. Does the sleep mode drain much battery and is it needed to turn the device completely off to have a reasonable (by eink standards) battery life? I really would not like to have to wait for my reader to start up in the morning (I remember enduring this with my old Cybook Gen3 before they introduced sleep mode and I really did not like it).

I realise I have very high requirements as I think the kindle is already great. If they cannot be met I'll happily stick with my paperwhite, otherwise I might ask Santa for a new device.

[EDITED to add a font preference]

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by chlorine

One thing that intrigues me for the Pocketbook devices is that if I understood correctly, the touch lux 3 at least (and maybe other Pocketbook devices) seems to have a power-off mode that is distinct from the sleep mode.

I have the PB Touch and my experience of it is that my reader uses 3-4% per day when I use sleep mode (wifi off, reading 2-3 hours per day with very low backlight). If I have it set to auto power off, battery usage is about half that. On the plus side - powering up from off takes about 8-10 seconds and I have learned to live with that.

I must qualify my power figures by saying that I use the CoolReader fork as my reading app on the PB Touch and my impression is that app uses a bit more battery than the in-built reading app.

Fonts can be sideloaded. Adding dictionaries is less easy - they have to be in the PocketBook .dic format.

[HarryT]

I would just note that if dictionaries are important to you, you won't find any other device with dictionaries as good as those of the Kindle.

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would just note that if dictionaries are important to you, you won't find any other device with dictionaries as good as those of the Kindle.

A very good English dictionary for Pocketbook can be found here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=2219506

However, my experience is that HarryT is right that Kindles have the best dictionaries.

[chlorine]

Thanks for your feedback!
Concerning dictionaries, are you saying that the dictionaries themselves (i.e., their content) is not as good as those of the kindle, or that the firmware part dealing with dictionaries is not as satisfying?
I know that I can't improve on the kindle on all accounts, and one good English dictionary with a nice touch use search feature would be enough for my needs, I guess.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by chlorine

Thanks for your feedback!
Concerning dictionaries, are you saying that the dictionaries themselves (i.e., their content) is not as good as those of the kindle, or that the firmware part dealing with dictionaries is not as satisfying?

The content is not as good.

[chlorine]

I've read somewhere that the screens of the Muse HD and Touch Lux 3 are not as good as those of other devices. Does anyone have a similar (or contrary) experience?

@HarryT: Thanks for your answer. That's not too much of a problem for me then, I guess.

[church mouse]

The Touch Lux is a 212dpi screen.

The Muse HD is a 300dpi screen and will be sharper than the 212dpi screen. In my experience the difference between 212 and 300 dpi is noticeable, but is probably not the most important factor. The quality of the front-lighting can have more impact on reading pleasure than the difference between 212 and 300 dpi in my opinion (as can the font choice, and the general reliability of the product).

I have never owned a Cybook reader, but I have seen no negative comments about the quality of the Muse HD screen.

The Pocketbook 300dpi unit is the Touch HD. I have this reader and its screen is very good.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by church mouse

I have never owned a Cybook reader, but I have seen no negative comments about the quality of the Muse HD screen.

Unless things have improved dramatically since I had one, the primary issue with Bookeen is their lousy firmware. The original Cybook 3 I had was reasonably OK, but the subsequent Opus was terrible - it would hang up several times in a typical reading session, and lacked basic functionality, such as bookmarking and the ability to search. That put me off Bookeen for good.

[chlorine]

Thank you both for your inputs!

I'm myself wary about Bookeen because of the hardware. My old Gen 3 had what I considered to be a quite short life duration, especially given the price that such devices cost at the time. But I guess enough time has passed so that there's nothing in common between the current hardware and the one of the time...

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by chlorine

Thank you both for your inputs!

I'm myself wary about Bookeen because of the hardware. My old Gen 3 had what I considered to be a quite short life duration, especially given the price that such devices cost at the time. But I guess enough time has passed so that there's nothing in common between the current hardware and the one of the time...

There seem to be some Muse HD reviews on the net which suggest there may still be some "quirkiness" in the firmware.