Upgrading from 10 year old Kindle..maybe?!

[Drou]

Hello, I have a 4th generation Kindle and am thinking of upgrading. My current ereader looks brand new and I've had no performance issues until recently. Lately I've sideloaded a lot of converted ebooks and it seems to have really slowed down. It was never lightning fast to start with but now every single action (besides reading, which is unaffected) takes tens of seconds to complete. As you can imagine, when you have to scroll through pages, select a book then add it to a collection, supposedly for ease of use, it's taking at best a couple of minutes per book. I'm not sure if this is due to the age of my Kindle, the old technology or if this a problem all ereaders face. If a newer ereader might resolve this problem then I'm seriously considering upgrading.

I don't mind at all which brand it is - I do have quite a few kindle books but I don't mind keeping my old kindle or reading these on the android app if I go for eg a Kobo. But these are the shortcomings I've found with my Kindle and would love an ereader which resolves these problems:

Epub - the bane of any Kindle owners life! I have so many of these but I am happy to convert with calibre if a Kindle is the best option for me still.

Collections (folders) - I am frustated by the fact that I can't add subfolders in my collections. For example, I have a 'crime and mystery fiction' collection and have a lot of series that I'd love to group by author or series name rather than scrolling through hundreds of books. I don't want to add the same book to more than one collection, I just want to make sorting my books easier. I'd also love to be able to add to collections really quickly and easily and possibly manage them on my laptop if I connect the ereader to it.

Library - I know Kobo lets you connect to Libby and I am a member of 2 libraries that use this app. I'm not it's biggest fan (but that's another discussion!) but if it's a much more enjoyable experience to use the app and read library books on a Kobo than it is on an android phone then it might be something to consider.

Finally,there doesn't seem to be much in it but obviously a crisp, glare free display. My 4th gen is not paperwhite and the display is quite grey which makes it unpleasant to read in bed with just a bedside lamp as a ightsource. In all honesty, I prefer the android kindle app, where I use the sepia background. If it wasn't for the fact that reading for an extended period of time on my phone really affects my eyes I'd even consider getting a small tablet instead.

Thanks in advance for any help! (Also, not sure if it matters but am in the UK.)

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Drou

Hello, I have a 4th generation Kindle and am thinking of upgrading. My current ereader looks brand new and I've had no performance issues until recently. Lately I've sideloaded a lot of converted ebooks and it seems to have really slowed down. It was never lightning fast to start with but now every single action (besides reading, which is unaffected) takes tens of seconds to complete. As you can imagine, when you have to scroll through pages, select a book then add it to a collection, supposedly for ease of use, it's taking at best a couple of minutes per book. I'm not sure if this is due to the age of my Kindle, the old technology or if this a problem all ereaders face. If a newer ereader might resolve this problem then I'm seriously considering upgrading.

I don't mind at all which brand it is - I do have quite a few kindle books but I don't mind keeping my old kindle or reading these on the android app if I go for eg a Kobo. But these are the shortcomings I've found with my Kindle and would love an ereader which resolves these problems:

Thanks in advance for any help! (Also, not sure if it matters but am in the UK.)

Sounds like a Kobo would be right up your alley.

Epub - the bane of any Kindle owners life!

Kobo has no problem with ePubs.

Collections (folders) - I am frustated by the fact that I can't add subfolders in my collections.

You can control collections on your Kobo via Calibre, which is very handy. Kobodoesn't have subfolders though.

Library - I know Kobo lets you connect to Libby and I am a member of 2 libraries that use this app. I'm not it's biggest fan (but that's another discussion!) but if it's a much more enjoyable experience to use the app and read library books on a Kobo than it is on an android phone then it might be something to consider.

You don't use the Libby app on a Kobo. Instead, you sign in to overdrive and browse directly. The same process you use to browse the store. Instead of choosing purchase, you choose Borrow With OverDrive.

Someone who uses OverDrive could go into greater detail. I've only done it as a proof of concept.

Finally,there doesn't seem to be much in it but obviously a crisp, glare free display. My 4th gen is not paperwhite and the display is quite grey which makes it unpleasant to read in bed with just a bedside lamp as a ightsource. In all honesty, I prefer the android kindle app, where I use the sepia background. If it wasn't for the fact that reading for an extended period of time on my phone really affects my eyes I'd even consider getting a small tablet instead.

All Kobos except the Nia have frontlights that can change from bluish white to amber. I wish they would go a little further into orange, but that amber frontlight is something I appreciate far more than I thought I would.

[Sirtel]

I've had the same Kindle as you do and yes, it slows down considerably with a lot of books.

Newer ereaders are certainly faster. That said, the fastest ereader I've had is the most recent Kindle Oasis. It's noticeably faster than my Kobo Libra. But it cannot read epubs natively and its collection management is about the same as on your old Kindle. So I'd also say a Kobo is your best option.

You can convert your Kindle books to epub/kepub for the Kobo.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You can convert your Kindle books to epub/kepub for the Kobo.

As an alternative to using calibre to convert azw3/KF8 to epub, I'd suggest using KindleUnpack to extract epubs. Even if the azw3 does not have the original epub embedded, KindleUnpack does a cleaner job of recreating the original epub.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As an alternative to using calibre to convert azw3/KF8 to epub, I'd suggest using KindleUnpack to extract epubs. Even if the azw3 does not have the original epub embedded, KindleUnpack does a cleaner job of recreating the original epub.

I second that recommendation for the same reasons.

[hobnail]

The advantage of getting another Kindle is that its user interface hasn't changed in any significant way since the one that you got 10 years ago so no learning new stuff. By comparison the Kobo's user interface is amazingly useful; collections, series, etc.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by hobnail

The advantage of getting another Kindle is that its user interface hasn't changed in any significant way since the one that you got 10 years ago so no learning new stuff. By comparison the Kobo's user interface is amazingly useful; collections, series, etc.

Depends. I don't actually find the collections and series feature particularly useful at all. Sure, they're nice to have and I do use Calibre to manage them, because it's just so easy, but on my Kobo I seldom browse the collections or series. Usually I decide what to read next behind my laptop with Calibre open, and I just use the search on my Kobo to locate the book. Exactly the same process as on my Kindle. That's because it's still too slow to browse folders/collections and read synopses on eink, as opposed to a computer.

I realize I'm an oddball in this, as most users seem to love any kind of library management features on their eink readers. For me, the ability to patch the reading experience is far more useful than library management on my Libra. And as far as the pure reading experience goes, the Oasis does almost everything I want as well as the Libra (with the help of some custom fonts and the font_ramp hack).

[Drou]

Thank you all for your suggestions, they're all certainly very helpful (and sorry for the delay in acknowledging them - internet connection problems). I'm still none the wiser (but that's due to my own indecisiveness, not lack of info!) It does seem like a kobo would be a more practical option, but at the end of the day the reading experience is the most important thing. I'm going to try and find a proper bricks and mortar shop where I can try out the kobo and hopefully it will live up to expectations as it does seem like a kobo plus old kindle would be a better combination/solution than old kindle and new kindle! Thank you all agin for your insights.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

...I don't actually find the collections and series feature particularly useful at all. Sure, they're nice to have and I do use Calibre to manage them, because it's just so easy, but on my Kobo I seldom browse the collections or series. Usually I decide what to read next behind my laptop with Calibre open, and I just use the search on my Kobo to locate the book...

I realize I'm an oddball in this, as most users seem to love any kind of library management features on their eink readers.

I don't think you are an oddball. I mostly use the same process as you. That's why for me bouncing back and forth between my Nook and Kobo is not an issue. Nook has the same lack of Calibre controlled library sorting that Kindle has.

The thing is, I wouldn't use many of the Kindle exclusive features either (X-ray, Goodreads integration). And for sideloaded, non-KFX files, Kobo and Nook have nicer page layout.

And there have been times where I decide I want to read a series, but can't remember which book is the first. Kobo has been helpful there. Granted, that has happened maybe twice in the years I've used a Kobo. But when it happens, it is handy.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't think you are an oddball. I mostly use the same process as you. That's why for me bouncing back and forth between my Nook and Kobo is not an issue. Nook has the same lack of Calibre controlled library sorting that Kindle has.

The thing is, I wouldn't use many of the Kindle exclusive features either (X-ray, Goodreads integration). And for sideloaded, non-KFX files, Kobo and Nook have nicer page layout.

And there have been times where I decide I want to read a series, but can't remember which book is the first. Kobo has been helpful there. Granted, that has happened maybe twice in the years I've used a Kobo. But when it happens, it is handy.

I don't use any Kindle-exclusive features either, except for global search, which has come in handy for some longer series. Perhaps I just have a soft spot in my heart for Kindles, because they were my first and for many years my only ereaders. Much like you seem to have a soft spot for Nooks. Besides, the latest Oasis is the speediest eink reader I've had.

What bothers me the most about my Nook is the inability to refresh every page. The darkness of the text degrades noticeably with every un-refreshed page. It's one of those things which once you've noticed, you can't unnotice. I would use my Nook a lot more if it had that option, like Kobos and Kindles do.