Looking for the best premium e-reader

[JSWolf]

What defines a premium Reader? A Reader with a color screen is not it. Other then that, what is the answer?

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Quoth

An SD card isn't much different to a flash chip on a gadget.

The difference is 300 to 1000 - Tolino Vision 6 vs Epos 3 (both devices- space is fully partitioned).
And 1000 vs 10.000 - Epos 3 vs Boox Tab C (blank space for alternate use)

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

And yet there are several posters here who read every day and have used one and the same Kobo device for 5 years or more.

Yes and? They will not use their devices particularly intensively

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Yes and? But everything works.That's long gone

It would appear that the posters in the CC forum would disagree with you. The last time I tested on a Lenovo Android tablet, CC was not a happy camper. Obviously, you seem to disagree but I tested 3 versions and they all had issues.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

But it is so - there is technical evidence for it.
The built-in SD cards can withstand at best 300 write processes per cell - then they are defective.
Only someone who doesn't use the device very much will stay fine longer.
With a large library and a lot of browsing through other books, it can't last long.

Really? Can you point out a source for that claim that the built-in µSD cards are limited to at best 300 write processes per cell? Last time I looked, SanDisk, Samsung, Toshiba, Pansonic and Kingston all claimed a minimum of 10,000 write cycles for MLC cards and 100,000 for SLC cards. Even a TLC (three level cell) claims 3,000 minimum write cycles. Using QLC SD cards, the write cycles will drop to 1,000 still well over your claimed 300 cycles.

Given the builtin wear levelling in most controllers these days, even 1,000 writes is going to take a while to expire the maximum writes.

As for a large library and browsing through books wearing out the µSD card? Last time I looked, reading did not have an effect on the lifespan of the cells. Given that I write to my ereaders on the average once per day and that the data transferred is well below the card size, I'm not all that worried.

Basic logic says that if I write 10MB per day and the internal storage is 32GB, I would need ~3200 writes to hit 1 complete write cycle. So using a QLC card, multiple 3200 by 1000 or 3,200,000 days or approximately 8,700 years as the average time to exceed the card life cycle.

Oddly eMMC memory used in higher end ereaders shows a 3,000 program/erase life cycle for MLC devices.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Yes and? They will not use their devices particularly intensively

What do you mean by using intensively? We're talking about ereaders here. Their main purpose is reading and reading every day is certainly an intensive use of an ereader.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

What do you mean by using intensively? We're talking about ereaders here. Their main purpose is reading and reading every day is certainly an intensive use of an ereader.

Intensive use is > 60 hours/week and simultaneous use of several books - this is how literary scientists act, for example

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by CommanderCute

Thanks for all your answers and input.

I ordered today the new Boox Page e-reader. A friend of mine has the Leaf 2 and I read that the Page is the direct successor.

It sounds like you are not convinced by the options that have been discussed. Let us know your experience with the Onyx Boox Page.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Really? Can you point out a source for that claim that the built-in µSD cards are limited to at best 300 write processes per cell? Last time I looked, SanDisk, Samsung, Toshiba, Pansonic and Kingston all claimed a minimum of 10,000 write cycles for MLC cards and 100,000 for SLC cards. Even a TLC (three level cell) claims 3,000 minimum write cycles. Using QLC SD cards, the write cycles will drop to 1,000 still well over your claimed 300 cycles.

These are values of the latest technologies; but Kobo uses SD cards - more than 10 years old technology, you can't get them in normal shops anymore.
Also: the standard SD delivery is that for the 2 per thousand GB there is a non-partitioned space for which the controller can swap defective areas - the rest is exFAT in huge blocks.
But that is not the case with the Kobo partitioning - the entire space is partitioned and sometimes in ext4 a very write-intensive file system because it is logging.
As soon as the first cell becomes defective, the card is defective.

And, of course, Rakuten wants to keep selling devices.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Intensive use is > 60 hours/week and simultaneous use of several books - this is how literary scientists act, for example

But they're a tiny minority of ereader users. Most people buy an ereader to read for a couple of hours a day, at most.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

And, of course, Rakuten wants to keep selling devices.

The fact is, those cards are well suited for an average ereader user. If Kobo SD cards constantly died in relatively new devices, people would stop buying their ereaders and this forum would be inundated with complaints. That is not the case. Many posters here have used their Kobos for 7 years and more. Yeah, perhaps not 10 hours a day reading 10 books simultaneously, but even you can't claim such an usage is common.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

And 1000 vs 10.000 - Epos 3 vs Boox Tab C (blank space for alternate use)

I want an eReader for eReading, I could care less about "alternate use space." Obviously this is important to you, not at all important to me.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Intensive use is > 60 hours/week and simultaneous use of several books - this is how literary scientists act, for example

Literary scientists are not the majority of people who are buying and using eReaders.

It would be like saying everyone needs a tank not a car. Why? Because tanks can break through brick walls and a car is incapable of doing that without falling apart.

It's true, but not relevant to the usage of almost all vehicle buyers.

I don't want a faded color screen. I don't want a screen larger than six inches. I don't want an e-Ink Android tablet. And plastic cases are fine for me, as my Kobo readers never creak (probably because I don't "put pressure on them" – and why I would want to, I have no idea). And I don't want to buy an eReader that costs $450. So your Boox choice would not be "superior" to me because it's not what I want.

What's "superior" to you is not superior to me. To me the best built eReaders I own are my Kindle Voyage and Nook Glowlight 3 (because both have very good screens) and solid cases. But I mostly use my PocketBook HD 3 because I like its versatility, features and the way it renders ePubs best. The screen is good, but it's build quality is not as solid as the Kindle or Nook. I take care of that by putting it in a solid case.

What eReaders that are "superior" to any particular person depends on their tastes and priorities.

(Sorry for rambling.)

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by rcentros

What's "superior" to you is not superior to me.

The title didn't ask about "superior", but about

Looking for the best premium e-reader

And that's not the same - and the Kobo quality has nothing to do with "premium".
And the author did not order a premium product, but one that is good to use.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

And that's not the same - and the Kobo quality has nothing to do with "premium".

Again, that's not a fact, but an opinion. And what's best for someone depends on many factors. What's best for you is not the best for me and vice versa.