Thinking of going back to an e-reader

[maddz]

I've been reading for a couple of years now on my Nexus 7, and I'm thinking of going back to a dedicated e-reader (with an e-Ink screen), so I'm looking for recommendations.

My non-negotiable requirements are:

1. Decent battery life. I have to charge the Nexus daily, more often if I've been playing games as well (some appear to be battery hogs)
2. Decent on-board storage (either on the device or with an SD-card). I'd like to be able to install my entire library on the device; currently standing at over 400 books loaded in Calibre plus other text & PDF format books, so say around 600 titles+ - and some of the PDFs are huge.
3. The ability to handle different formats. As noted above, I have Calibre, so e-book formats aren't a problem; it's other formats - PDF and doc mostly, along with a few spreadsheets (!)
4. Not a walled garden. My e-books are from a variety of sources, so I need to be able to add to the reading list without jumping through a myriad of hoops. (Yes, I occasionally buy from Amazon if I cannot get the title elsewhere without DRM but it's a PitA to load them onto the Nexus so I can pick them up with FBReader.) Basically, I want to use (if feasible) a single program to read my books. In order of use, I will be reading e-books 75% of the time, PDFs 24% of the time, and the rest of the time will be other formats.
5. Lightweight. I have arthritis in my thumb joints and wrists so can't handle anything too big or heavy (at least for very long). Some kind of side mounted rocker switch to turn pages would be useful - but it needs to handle reading in landscape mode as well as portrait.
6. Available in the UK

Desirable features are:

1. The ability to annotate files/docs or add to a spreadsheet; it'll be the best way to carry my dead tree catalogue around with me (still only about 1/4 logged in LibraryThing). It will be helpful in terms of work - read PDFs on a device and annotate them instead of juggling 3 or 4 print-outs.
2. Wireless enabled. My original e-readers (a Hanlin and a Libre) were managed via USB or SD-card (both in the case of the Palm m500). As it's not always possible to link to a hot-spot, 3G might be a good idea. However, given sufficiently large on-board storage, USB/SD card is perfectly adequate given that I don't often add to the e-books (at least currently - this may change once I finally read everything).
3. A plastic substrate screen. I have a tendency to fall asleep while reading, especially if I am on the sofa or in bed. My Hanlin was killed when I rolled on top of it and cracked the screen (glass substrate).
4. Water and dust proof. I ride to work on a bike and things can get wet despite waterproof covers. Also, the house is dusty - the arthritis means hoovering can be actively painful because of the vibration.

So, any recommendations would be gratefully received!

[Synamon]

First, I would recommend you continue to use your Nexus for PDFs and the odd ebook that's not compatible with whichever e-ink reader you buy.

Next, I was going to recommend a Kobo Aura because it meets most of your needs, until I read the line about reading in landscape mode. My husband reads in landscape so I had to purchase a Kindle Paperwhite for him. Kindles lack SD cards so while you can probably fit all your ebooks on one, you will run out of space with large PDFs.

[susan_cassidy]

I believe that all the e-ink readers out there now use a glass substrate, not plastic. I think some that may be coming out soon may have plastic.

There is no such thing as a water and dust-proof ereader.

Amazon is not a walled garden. You can buy .mobi books anywhere and load them onto a Kindle. I often buy from Baen and Smashwords. There are other bookstores, as well.

[Glorfindel]

well on one of the other forums I saw a water proof PW...

[Glorfindel]

It was really expensive though,

[Glorfindel]

Found it! It's on waterfi.com if you're interested

[eschwartz]

I will second reading PDFs on your tablet, it's not pleasant to read them on any e-ink device.

The Kindle will save annotations when created on the device, (but not if the annotations were merely synced) to a text file in the documents folder, called "My Clippings.txt". The Annotations plugin for calibre can save these to a custom column. http://www.clippingsconverter.com/ can aggregate your annotations from "My Clippings.txt" and convert them to a .xlsx

I do not know what options are available for other devices, but the Annotations plugin only works with Kindles, and the Marvin and GoodReader iOS apps.

[maddz]

The problem with using the Nexus for PDFs is that I have to have a wireless connection to read more than a couple of pages (my ebooks and PDFs live in the cloud for sync reasons when I'm travelling). For some reason, PDFs read in a browser window and don't download to FBReader or CoolReader which means if I don't have a connection then they don't render properly). Hence, I wanted a dedicated ereader with decent on-board storage and the capability to use SD cards.

Well, just got the last silver Kobo Touch off eBay from Argos Outlet. It should arrive by the weekend and I'll see how it works. Apparently it supports PDF. If it works fine, then I may upgrade to the Kobo Glo (but at double the price and 10% of the battery life I wasn't wildly enthusiastic).

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by maddz

Well, just got the last silver Kobo Touch off eBay from Argos Outlet. It should arrive by the weekend and I'll see how it works. Apparently it supports PDF. If it works fine, then I may upgrade to the Kobo Glo (but at double the price and 10% of the battery life I wasn't wildly enthusiastic).

That must have been a very good price for the Touch. The usual difference is about 30%.

And were do you get that figure for the battery life? I get pretty much the same from my Glo as from the Touch.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by maddz

The problem with using the Nexus for PDFs is that I have to have a wireless connection to read more than a couple of pages (my ebooks and PDFs live in the cloud for sync reasons when I'm travelling). For some reason, PDFs read in a browser window and don't download to FBReader or CoolReader which means if I don't have a connection then they don't render properly). Hence, I wanted a dedicated ereader with decent on-board storage and the capability to use SD cards.

How were you storing it? I know in Dropbox you can favorite a file, then it will store locally, and it should open in the app-opener dialog, not default to the browser???

Unless you tried downloading it through the browser? Google Chrome and Firefox can both view PDF natively, now, so you'd have to specifically choose to "save as".

I believe several ereader apps can integrate directly with Dropbox, too. It should (again) locally store the file, and update when necessary, just like the desktop client.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by davidfor

And were do you get that figure for the battery life? I get pretty much the same from my Glo as from the Touch.

Stated on the webpage at Argos. When I checked Kobo, the 70 hours is continuous with the light on... Well, I'll see how I get on. As it happens, I'm not fussed about the light; I have a clip-on. Besides, I have a tendency to fall asleep when reading in bed!

Originally Posted by eschwartz

How were you storing it? I know in Dropbox you can favorite a file, then it will store locally, and it should open in the app-opener dialog, not default to the browser???

Unless you tried downloading it through the browser? Google Chrome and Firefox can both view PDF natively, now, so you'd have to specifically choose to "save as".

I believe several ereader apps can integrate directly with Dropbox, too. It should (again) locally store the file, and update when necessary, just like the desktop client.

Because I ran out of (free) space in DropBox, I moved my PDFs to Google Drive (too many large RPG rule books). Yes, I think that's what FireFox and Chrome are doing - the PDF is being viewed natively in the browser not downloaded and stored locally. When I click on the link, I don't get the option to 'save as'; it automatically opens in the browser.

Unfortunately, FBReader is linked to Dropbox not Google.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by maddz

Stated on the webpage at Argos. When I checked Kobo, the 70 hours is continuous with the light on... Well, I'll see how I get on.

You mean http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Home.htm? If so, it has:

- Glo: 70 hours
- Touch: 5040 hours
- Aura: 1440 hours
- Aura HD: 1440 hours

Kobo state the 70 hours figure, but the others are figments of someone's imagination. Kobo claim 1 month depending on use. The use the seem to use is 30 minutes of reading per day. So that works out to about 15 hours. Kobo claim the same for the Glo. Personally, I have had well over 20 hours from a charge from both of them.

As it happens, I'm not fussed about the light; I have a clip-on.

That's what we all say, until we try a front-lit ereader

[Randy11]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I will second reading PDFs on your tablet, it's not pleasant to read them on any e-ink device.

Hi,
I don't understand this because I like to read PDF on my Onyx M92.
Could you explain what you say ?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by maddz

Because I ran out of (free) space in DropBox, I moved my PDFs to Google Drive (too many large RPG rule books). Yes, I think that's what FireFox and Chrome are doing - the PDF is being viewed natively in the browser not downloaded and stored locally. When I click on the link, I don't get the option to 'save as'; it automatically opens in the browser.

Unfortunately, FBReader is linked to Dropbox not Google.

You can still make it available offline in the Google Drive app, see here: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2440137?hl=en

I assume you can then open it in whichever app you like?