E-Ink Reader?

[BuddyRich]

I went and accidentally broke my Kindle 3/Keyboard and am in the market for a new E-Ink reader.

While I won't miss the keyboard, I have to admit the hard buttons for page turns will be missed, does anything on the mart still offer hard buttons for page turns?

I already have an Oberon Designs cover for the Kindle 3 that I want to reuse if I can so something similar in overall dimensions to the K3 would be nice.

Im a calibre user so I am format agnostic, most of my books are in mobi or awz, with a few PDFs but I can convert them easily enough.

I looked at the new PW2 and while it seems good, in some ways its a step back. Only 2GB of storage and problems with large PDFs that the K3 could handle with ease.

One other I was looking at was the Aura HD but Ive never used a Kobo before so the software might be flaky and no hard buttons. Otherwise, size wize it matches up fairly well with the K3 only without the keyboard and instead includes a bigger screen. Ive also read that it is kinda delicate, which is a shame for something at its price.

Another option would be a 7" tablet like N7 or iPad Mini but I really want to stick with an e-ink matte screen for bright light reading.

Any suggestions?

[robko]

Originally Posted by BuddyRich

One other I was looking at was the Aura HD but Ive never used a Kobo before so the software might be flaky and no hard buttons. Otherwise, size wize it matches up fairly well with the K3 only without the keyboard and instead includes a bigger screen. Ive also read that it is kinda delicate, which is a shame for something at its price.

There are some people who will claim it has a crappy firmware, but a large number of users are very happy with the Aura HD. There are a small number of specific use cases (search the Kobo subforum) that may cause you issues or irritation, but overall it's a great reader with a great screen and will allow you a lot more customization than you've previously had. It's not any more delicate than any of the other e-ink screens out there, so don't worry about that.

[jscarbo]

At first, I missed having physical page turn buttons on my PW1 but it hasn't really been a problem for me once I got used to the touch screen. It's by far my favorite of all the e-readers I've owned.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by jscarbo

At first, I missed having physical page turn buttons on my PW1 but it hasn't really been a problem for me once I got used to the touch screen. It's by far my favorite of all the e-readers I've owned.

Me too, yet just the other night I was reading in a position where touching the bottom right of the screen was the most convenient place to turn pages and I thought to myself "I couldn't have done that on my old K3, I guess I like the touchscreen better now."

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by BuddyRich

I looked at the new PW2 and while it seems good, in some ways its a step back. Only 2GB of storage and problems with large PDFs that the K3 could handle with ease.

Any suggestions?

If your storage criteria means you wish to keep a fair number of books on the Aura HD it might not suit you. I have less than 1 gig on mine and it takes 50 seconds to open the collections list. Plus the more books on the device the more erratic it seems to become.

If you only want to put a 100 or less books on it at a time and don't read too fast it works pretty good at most of the time. Does skip forward and back a bit even then though.

Helen

[BuddyRich]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

I do have to ask about this though:

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

If your storage criteria means you wish to keep a fair number of books on the Aura HD it might not suit you. I have less than 1 gig on mine and it takes 50 seconds to open the collections list. Plus the more books on the device the more erratic it seems to become.

I do plan to load what books I can onto my device so I can pick it up and read something at anytime. Basically my entire library in the palm of my hand.

The Kindle I used only listed my books as a list of text, grouped and sorted by author and was fast. I take it this has to do with the more coverflow-esque UI design of the new devices, if so is there anyway to turn it off if it is an issue loading things?

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by BuddyRich

Thanks all for the suggestions.

I do have to ask about this though:



I do plan to load what books I can onto my device so I can pick it up and read something at anytime. Basically my entire library in the palm of my hand.

The Kindle I used only listed my books as a list of text, grouped and sorted by author and was fast. I take it this has to do with the more coverflow-esque UI design of the new devices, if so is there anyway to turn it off if it is an issue loading things?

I think it is a Kobo thing caused by how and why they sort the books based on the different posts I have read. A 'bad' book can even make the device stop responding and necessitate a reset. The kobo apparently reprocesses the books every time you open a shelf or even when you return to a shelf, and it is a lengthy process. If you accidentally touch the screen when it is processing then it will open a shelf or a book when it is done and you have to start again. Can be a tad annoying.

If you are happy with only a few books then it is not a problem. 800 books on the mini only takes about 10 seconds to process. I far prefer the mini. It is surprisingly easy to read on for something that small.

Helen

[ProfCrash]

It is an indexing issue. All e-readers can have indexing issues. Kindles have been known to have the occassional index problem. THis is why most folks load their books on batches of 20-50 books to increase how quickly everything loads and to make it easier to catch a book that is hung up.

I have never had an indexing problem on a Kindle but I have seen posts on it here and at Kindle Boards. I know that on the Kindle you can run a series of junk letters ghfdslghd;gh p, do a search, and it will show you what book is not indexing. You remove the book, check that things are working fine, and add the book a few minutes later.

I know that my Paperwhite is working just fine with 600 or so books on it. I have read reports that Kindles slow down when they have massive number of books on them. 600 books does not seem to fall into the catagory of massive. I am shocked that an Aura HD is slowing down with 100 books on it. I would check for indexing issues and if that doesn't resolve it call their customer service.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

It is an indexing issue. All e-readers can have indexing issues. Kindles have been known to have the occassional index problem. THis is why most folks load their books on batches of 20-50 books to increase how quickly everything loads and to make it easier to catch a book that is hung up.

I have never had an indexing problem on a Kindle but I have seen posts on it here and at Kindle Boards. I know that on the Kindle you can run a series of junk letters ghfdslghd;gh p, do a search, and it will show you what book is not indexing. You remove the book, check that things are working fine, and add the book a few minutes later.

I know that my Paperwhite is working just fine with 600 or so books on it. I have read reports that Kindles slow down when they have massive number of books on them. 600 books does not seem to fall into the catagory of massive. I am shocked that an Aura HD is slowing down with 100 books on it. I would check for indexing issues and if that doesn't resolve it call their customer service.

It is an indexing issue. It is different from the kindle in that it indexes every time you open the shelf list or return to the shelf list where the kindles I have seen only index once after you load the books or on a reset. If you want to look at 5 shelves you are looking at 5 minutes or more if you accidentally hit a the screen because you think it is not doing anything as it is taking so long.

Helen

[llcj]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

It is an indexing issue. It is different from the kindle in that it indexes every time you open the shelf list or return to the shelf list where the kindles I have seen only index once after you load the books or on a reset. If you want to look at 5 shelves you are looking at 5 minutes or more if you accidentally hit a the screen because you think it is not doing anything as it is taking so long.

Helen

Seriously, there has got to be something else going on here. I have 600 books on my Aura with 17 shelves/collections. The largest collection has 100 books and it opens in less than two seconds. Maybe it's related to all the other funky stuff you have happening with your Aura. Or maybe I don't understand what you are talking about.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by llcj

Seriously, there has got to be something else going on here. I have 600 books on my Aura with 17 shelves/collections. The largest collection has 100 books and it opens in less than two seconds. Maybe it's related to all the other funky stuff you have happening with your Aura. Or maybe I don't understand what you are talking about.

It is fine with 600 books. I have quite a few more. And 476 collections, one with 200+ books.

As I said to the OP it is not a problem unless you want a fair number of books on it which the OP indicated that they did. If you look at the last post on this page from the Kobo Utilities Plugin thread you will see that davidfor has pretty much the same results.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...215339&page=23

Helen

[spersephone]

I've currently got 492 on my Kobo Glo, so far I haven't noticed any problems with having this many on there, except that when I'm trying to browse it takes a while.

[Tarana]

The cheapo Kindle, the one for $69, still has buttons. This is my take-with-me device. I paid $50 for it (it was a special) and it won't cause me too much angst if it gets lost, broken or stolen. Note that it does not have a lighting feature. I just added a cover with an M-edge light for those rare instances when I do need lighting.

I hear that the Nook Simple Touch no longer has buttons.

Let me tell you about tablets. They are heavy. I have a Nook tablet and it is quite a bit heavier than the Kindle keyboard. They are great for pdf and you can buy a non-glare clear cover for it, but for every day and long reading, you are better off with a dedicated eink reader than a tablet. Easier on the eyes as well.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by spersephone

I've currently got 492 on my Kobo Glo, so far I haven't noticed any problems with having this many on there, except that when I'm trying to browse it takes a while.

My Aura HD and my Mini don't really start to slow down until after 800 books. Don't know about my Sony's they are fine with 2000, and I put the same books on again on the SD card wit different names and they are just as fine with that. Then I filled up both memory and card almost to the max with various documents, audiobooks and pdfs and they are fine with that.

2,000 on the Kobo and it gets pretty wonky especially if they are on the SD card it seems.

The OP indicated that he wanted more than 2 gig which so I assumed he wanted a fair amount of books which is why I said it might not be right for the OP. I also said that if, like yourself, he is happy with less than 800 it would probably work out fine.


Helen

[llcj]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

It is fine with 600 books. I have quite a few more. And 476 collections, one with 200+ books.

As I said to the OP it is not a problem unless you want a fair number of books on it which the OP indicated that they did. If you look at the last post on this page from the Kobo Utilities Plugin thread you will see that davidfor has pretty much the same results.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...215339&page=23

Helen

Fair point. However, to say that it will handle only one hundred books or less is a gross exaggeration.