eInk device that plays MP3’s?

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by John F

Maybe a little power for touch detection?

At Pocketbook it is possible to deactivate the touch screen by double clicking on the HOME button

[Pajamaman]

Onyx and presumably Likebook will do it with ease. Onyx has Bluetooth, so just attach to a Bluetooth device. They are Android so will work out of the box or with a 3rd party app.

[davidheart]

I'm in the same position as you. As a father of five I *need* background music to help me get into the zone to read. Usually pachabells Canon in D or similar personally. It blows my mind that the option to play mp3s in the background isn't standard in e-readers. My kindle keyboard could do it and it's several years old.

One would think functionality would improve over the years, not regress...

The Pocketbook Era does play mp3s in the background but the Pocketbook store is in EUR only instead of USD and suggests primarily European books in multiple languages as opposed to English / American books even when I change the settings to the "English Store." The note-taking function in my experience has been poor. Currently looking at the Kobo Sage or Boox Nova Air2 as much as I liked the Pocketbook. Sadly as an English speaking American I do not recommend the Pocketbook Era.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by davidheart

I'm in the same position as you. As a father of five I *need* background music to help me get into the zone to read. Usually pachabells Canon in D or similar personally. It blows my mind that the option to play mp3s in the background isn't standard in e-readers. My kindle keyboard could do it and it's several years old.

One would think functionality would improve over the years, not regress...

The Pocketbook Era does play mp3s in the background but the Pocketbook store is in EUR only instead of USD and suggests primarily European books in multiple languages as opposed to English / American books even when I change the settings to the "English Store." The note-taking function in my experience has been poor. Currently looking at the Kobo Sage or Boox Nova Air2 as much as I liked the Pocketbook. Sadly as an English speaking American I do not recommend the Pocketbook Era.

Use your phone or Alexa to play music.

[davidheart]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Use your phone or Alexa to play music.

That's not a solution and this answer does not encourage innovation, e-ink solutions, or competition amongst companies.

eReaders should encourage an immersive reading experience free from distraction. Music helps some of us disconnect. Phones are naturally distracting as a rule...

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by davidheart

... the Pocketbook store is in EUR only instead of USD and suggests primarily European books in multiple languages as opposed to English / American books even when I change the settings to the "English Store."

Maybe you should buy your e-books from your favourite bookshop and forget about the PocketBook shop.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by davidheart

That's not a solution and this answer does not encourage innovation, e-ink solutions, or competition amongst companies.

eReaders should encourage an immersive reading experience free from distraction. Music helps some of us disconnect. Phones are naturally distracting as a rule...

But when you are listening to music and not actually looking at your phone, you just ignore any notification sounds. It's that easy. If you listen to music with Alexa, you have no distractions.

[fduniho]

Originally Posted by zpyroro

I have a Kindle Keyboard, which is great for reading, listening to Audible, text-to-speech and music, and even playing interactive fiction games. But screen technology has improved so much. Is there anything newer that will also play music files?

The Kindle Touch is newer and will let you play MP3s, but it does not provide any means for organizing them or selecting which ones to play. I have used it for this purpose only when I couldn't find my MP3 player, and I needed something to play some MP3s at night after turning the computer off. For playing MP3s, I normally use a Sansa ClipZip with Rockbox installed. But if you want an e-ink solution, I would recommend an Android e-ink device. I have the Likebook Mars, which includes a headphone jack, and I regularly use it to listen to Spotify while reading at night. As an Android device, it also supports various MP3 apps, and with its micro SD card slot, you can store lots of music on the device.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by davidheart

Sadly as an English speaking American I do not recommend the Pocketbook Era.

I've used a PocketBook for a couple years and have only bought a couple books from their bookstore. You can buy books directly from Kobo, eBooks.com, Google or anywhere ePubs (with "standard" Adobe DRM) are sold. Buying books from Kindle and using Calibre to De-DRM them and convert them to ePub is also a viable alternative.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by davidheart

That's not a solution and this answer does not encourage innovation, e-ink solutions, or competition amongst companies.

eReaders should encourage an immersive reading experience free from distraction. Music helps some of us disconnect. Phones are naturally distracting as a rule...

The Kindle had 3.5mm jack and MP3 playback over 12 years ago. Most android eink can play MP3s if they have BT and/or a jack socket. There is no issue of competition or innovation on this.
Stand alone MP3 players by 15 years ago the size of a box of matches, front entirely LCD, low power consumption and micro SD slot were good. Almost gone now because many feature phones, not just iOS and Android can play MP3 or even audiobooks.

Amazon has made Kindle less functional for MP3. Amazon and Kobo only include BT audiobook support because the BT is included "free" in almost all WiFi now on the newer models. Also they both really only support their own audiobooks (Amazon Audible). I can't see Kobo Audiobooks surviving.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by Quoth

... Also they both really only support their own audiobooks (Amazon Audible). I can't see Kobo Audiobooks surviving.

i bet that most audible income comes from inertia - the free book each month with your subscription plans, and from the rich people who somehow think those are good value ?

and Kobo lacks such a plan ?

i for one hope Kobo audio books dont survive , if that increases the chances of overdrive library audio support being added to latest models.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by davidheart

I'm in the same position as you. As a father of five I *need* background music to help me get into the zone to read. Usually pachabells Canon in D or similar personally. It blows my mind that the option to play mp3s in the background isn't standard in e-readers. My kindle keyboard could do it and it's several years old.

One would think functionality would improve over the years, not regress...

The Pocketbook Era does play mp3s in the background but the Pocketbook store is in EUR only instead of USD and suggests primarily European books in multiple languages as opposed to English / American books even when I change the settings to the "English Store." The note-taking function in my experience has been poor. Currently looking at the Kobo Sage or Boox Nova Air2 as much as I liked the Pocketbook. Sadly as an English speaking American I do not recommend the Pocketbook Era.

I would just purchase books elsewhere. Obviously they don't care enough about North American customers to offer a storefront for them. Ideally you will be set up with calibre to handle any conversions you might need.

The note-taking UI is a little clunky, but it works.

I like having the Era as one of my reading devices. And it has speakers, no Bluetooth required.