Looking for suggestions.

[mitseas]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I don’t have any books that would do the screen differences between the Forma and Sage justice, I also am not convinced that a photo would capture the difference properly anyway. But I can tell you the Sage had darker black than the Forma. Which I imagine would be beneficial for manga.

While I was searching between the two, I guess my most realistic option right now would be the Sage. Since it can be had at 32gigs while the Forma at 8. So the question comes down to Pocketbook Inkpad 3 with the microSD card, Kobo Sage or Boox Nova Air. I was contemplating a 10.3" but that would take me another month or three to decide.

I don't really want pictures, wouldn't understand a lot anyway. What I would prefer to see is on PDFs, like Magazines how large are the fonts when viewed in a page view (with margins cropped if possible) and the speed of turning those pages on tech publications that are 30+ mb each. I'm reading stuff on Gardening and coding when I'm not reading fantasy novels and manga. If my astigmatism ridden eyes will be able to read it or not at all (no point in trying to reflow text that will be out of place of graphs and charts). If one is vastly superior than the other in readability I could keep my book collection on my phone at all times and transfer what i want to read. Yet I'd prefer having it all on there and never deleting anything. Are there eReaders at the 10" or 7.8" inch size that have expandable memory?

Another thing I am wondering is if the Android devices will be decent in 10 years time. Like my phones I buy only those that have a better CPU and have Lineage OS suppirt with the thought process that it will be updated and serve me as long as I keep replacing the batteries. I changed my OnePlus One last year from 2014. I hope the eReader will outlast that. If only I could get a glimpse of the same pdf (which I believe to be the hardest) rendered on each of those I would click buy the next hour.

Thanks again.

[Quoth]

I have the elipsa and the Sage.
Even on the Elipsa (10.3") I had to install KOReader to have automargin cropping. If you are using Magazine scans, Letter or A4 technical PDFs and book PDFs for larger technical books, then the Elipsa is a minimum.

I can use instruction book PDFs on the Sage (and even on Kobo H2O original or Libra original), but a 215mm x 140mm McGraw-Hill textbook in PDF has print too small even with the margin cropped off (188mm x 110mm. approx).

Android in some ways is worse now than 10 years ago. It's optimised for LCD/OLED phones and even Android 11 on 10" tablet is little improvement on Android 6. I have the Android based Boyue Mars (7.8") and it's Android 8, but a non-standard better GUI than 8 or 10 or 11 on my Tablets. However for actual ebooks it's poorer than a Kindle or a Kobo. I use the stock reader for PDFs (as it does crop) but KOReader for epubs.

On the Elipsa I only use KOreader for PDFs, I find the native epub and kepub and "library" integration far better than KOReader.

I bought a 9.7" Kindle DXG for PDFs on Sale from Amazon once. Worst ereader I ever bought. The 167 dpi and 9.7" made it useless for old magazines or textbooks. Only smaller size PDF scans from novels, pre-cropped and brightened with ImageMagick could be used.

Summary
Reading novels and instruction leaflet PDFs: Libra2 or Sage, I use Libra for proofing & Sage for recreational reading. KOReader not needed.

Datasheets, Textbooks, scans of old Magazines, A4/Letter PDFs: Elipsa, but use the one-click install of extra menu & KOReader for PDFs to have good autocrop of margins. No jailbreak or other patches needed.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by mitseas

While I was searching between the two, I guess my most realistic option right now would be the Sage. Since it can be had at 32gigs while the Forma at 8. So the question comes down to Pocketbook Inkpad 3 with the microSD card, Kobo Sage or Boox Nova Air. I was contemplating a 10.3" but that would take me another month or three to decide.

I don't really want pictures, wouldn't understand a lot anyway. What I would prefer to see is on PDFs, like Magazines how large are the fonts when viewed in a page view (with margins cropped if possible) and the speed of turning those pages on tech publications that are 30+ mb each. I'm reading stuff on Gardening and coding when I'm not reading fantasy novels and manga. If my astigmatism ridden eyes will be able to read it or not at all (no point in trying to reflow text that will be out of place of graphs and charts). If one is vastly superior than the other in readability I could keep my book collection on my phone at all times and transfer what i want to read. Yet I'd prefer having it all on there and never deleting anything. Are there eReaders at the 10" or 7.8" inch size that have expandable memory?

Another thing I am wondering is if the Android devices will be decent in 10 years time. Like my phones I buy only those that have a better CPU and have Lineage OS suppirt with the thought process that it will be updated and serve me as long as I keep replacing the batteries. I changed my OnePlus One last year from 2014. I hope the eReader will outlast that. If only I could get a glimpse of the same pdf (which I believe to be the hardest) rendered on each of those I would click buy the next hour.

Thanks again.

The Likebook (now Meebook?) P78 (obviously 7.8") has a microSD card slot. Some of the earlier Likebook models did too but I think that's the only current one bigger than 6". I think assuming the battery doesn't keel out in less than 10 years it'll at least be usable for reading books/PDFs just like an old Sony Reader. It might begin to lose app compatibility at some point I'd imagine but even Android 6.0 is still pretty supported.

If you have a printer just scale pages to screen size and print that. You can even crop out margins to get a feel how big an impact that will have.

[Quoth]

The P78 is an update of the Mars I have. Very similar and same screen. Has SD slot
I have the Sage which is better. The only advantage of the P78/Mars is the local Irish library Android App (Belinda Borrow box), Lichess works and k9-email works. It's too small for magazines and textbooks and datasheets even with Auto-crop.
The kobo & Kindle apps work, but I don't need them.
The Google PlayBooks works, but needs Google Framework on and is pretty pointless. Indy books on Smashwords (epub & Kindle) and mainstream books often cheaper on Amazon/Kobo. Not hard to read real ebooks for Kindle on a Sage.

[Toodu]

Originally Posted by mitseas

I had a BQ Cervantes 4, for quite sometime, I didn't tweak it a lot for PDFs to be useful but I was happy transferring my collection of ePUBs there and consuming.
Last time I tried to open the device, it ceased functioning. Screen is not updating and the only feedback I have is from the notification LEDs. Unfortunately BQ closed and I am at a loss about where to seek for support and troubleshooting. If anyone has the device or knows anything/can help please say so.

TL;DR: I want a 8"(preferred)-10" screen, Linux customizable(preferred) or Android, with SD card internal/external (preferred) eReader that I can read epubs, mangas and last technical pdfs on it.

To my inquiry now: Screen size
I loved the 6" but from time to time I want to read some technical PDFs which are mostly zines with pictures etc. so a larger screen would be beneficial. I am looking for 8"(7.8" to be exact) to 10" with a slight preference on the 8" size mostly due to portability.

Operating System
I prefer linux ones or something custom that is snappier and lightweight. The ability to install packages or mess with the codebase would be greatly appreciated.
I would like to avoid Android mostly due to obsolence and lack of updates.
If it is rootable/customizable I would be considering Android too but Linux is preferred.

Reading Material
I mostly try to find epubs of literature online. Since I am in the market for a new one I would like to try reading Manga and some PDFs mostly e-zines. If I don't find epubs I go to other formats but haven't really got into converting one to another. It's mostly a folder in my desktop that i like to drag and drop to the eReader and be done with it. No syncing, stores, managers etc.
Again literature + mangas not so much technical pdfs

Storage
More storage is always welcome, external or internal SD card would be preferred so I can have my whole collection of reading material without the need to open a laptop or a phone and transfer files.

Color
From what I've gathered color eInk is a bit on it's infancy so they are not that great at reproducing colours. After all that will mostly be usefull on mangas and if I'm not mistaken most aren't coloured, other than specials. What is the general consensus on that as of now?

Price
I am not constrained by a budget but as always less is better. I wouldn't want to compromise on something other than color if that means getting a better suited device for my needs. I should also add that I am in Europe so that should be taken into consideration.


I would like to hear your suggestions on devices so I can curate a better list and finally pick one up.

I get an Likebook P78 pro https://www.dicksmith.com.au/da/buy/...8KOH4ERYBFnZ80 because it support the SD expansion. Now few ereader support it. But all my books stored in SD card, so it is very IMPORTANT for me.