Looking for a cheap-ish, customisable reader

[lukeoftheaura]

Hi,
I'm looking for a new reader to replace my old kobo touch 2.0 that I sold last year after a firmware update screwed up the UX of the device. I'm looking for something that has a lot of customisation options (for changing fonts, potentially installing custom software, etc), can support reading epub natively (also potentially manga and comics, certainly light novels) and can sync with the calibre desktop software.

What are the best options for under about £125 in the UK? Is a hacked kindle really the best option still or has something better been made since then?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by lukeoftheaura

replace my old kobo touch 2.0 that I sold last year after a firmware update screwed up the UX of the device

I'm going to be a little rude here. By the above, you mean; "Changed the home page to something you didn't like".

And you have a problem. With your requirements, a Kobo is the only ereader that comes close to what you want. Kindle won't unless you can get one you can jailbreak. Tolino doesn't. Maybe one of the Android ereaders will do it if you can load a reader app you like. I haven't had the opportunity to play with these, so I don't know.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by lukeoftheaura

What are the best options for under about £125 in the UK? Is a hacked kindle really the best option still or has something better been made since then?

Unless you buy one that's already jailbroken (likely at a premium over stock firmware), acquiring a (closed-)jailbreakable Kindle might be difficult.

[ZodWallop]

[QUOTE=lukeoftheaura;3690255]Hi,
I'm looking for a new reader to replace my old kobo touch 2.0 that I sold last year after a firmware update screwed up the UX of the device.QUOTE]

If you're talking about disliking the new home page, you aren't alone. But if that was your only gripe, you should have kept your Kobo and rolled back to an earlier firmware. I didn't care for the new homepage and I just turned off the Wi-Fi and kept the last firmware that would let me use the old home page.

Since you sold your touch, why not look for an old Glo, Aura, Glo HD or first gen H2O? All of those support firmware with the old home page. And Kobo does seem to fit all the needs you mentioned.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I'm going to be a little rude here. By the above, you mean; "Changed the home page to something you didn't like".

Well, that would be "screwed up" from his point of view. Windows 8 was an abject failure because (for the majority of Windows users) Microsoft "screwed up" the desktop.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by lukeoftheaura

What are the best options for under about £125 in the UK? Is a hacked kindle really the best option still or has something better been made since then?

Personally, for your requirements, I think your best choice is still a Kobo. It's definitely the most easily customizable, inexpensive reader available. I've got two Touches, one I let upgrade to test the new features (I don't like the new home page much either) and the other I keep at 3.19.x – which is probably the one I'll end up keeping when I start selling off excess eReaders. Unlike Kindles, Kobos can be downgraded easily if you don't like the newest firmware.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Personally, for your requirements, I think your best choice is still a Kobo. It's definitely the most easily customizable, inexpensive reader available. I've got two Touches, one I let upgrade to test the new features (I don't like the new home page much either) and the other I keep at 3.19.x – which is probably the one I'll end up keeping when I start selling off excess eReaders. Unlike Kindles, Kobos can be downgraded easily if you don't like the newest firmware.

You can upgrade your Kobo to at least 4.3.8945 and keep the tiled home screen (via a patch).

I held up on upgrading past that until I screwed up the database one time and the device upgraded as part of the reset. I still prefer the tiled home screen, but the new homescreen gets better as you use it. And I do think the new firmware makes things faster (searches, for instance).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

You can upgrade your Kobo to at least 4.3.8945 and keep the tiled home screen (via a patch).

I held up on upgrading past that until I screwed up the database one time and the device upgraded as part of the reset. I still prefer the tiled home screen, but the new homescreen gets better as you use it. And I do think the new firmware makes things faster (searches, for instance).

That's kind of why I let the one Touch upgrade, to see if I get used to the new style homescreen. And, really, as someone else mentioned, you're normally opening up to a book anyhow. Another reason I wanted to keep the older software was for the Chess app, but that got booted for the 3.19 firmware because the full screen hack was more important to me than was Chess.

[lukeoftheaura]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I'm going to be a little rude here. By the above, you mean; "Changed the home page to something you didn't like".

And you have a problem. With your requirements, a Kobo is the only ereader that comes close to what you want. Kindle won't unless you can get one you can jailbreak. Tolino doesn't. Maybe one of the Android ereaders will do it if you can load a reader app you like. I haven't had the opportunity to play with these, so I don't know.

The main problem I had wasn't so much that the design changed as much as everything started running a lot slower and it was far more clunky to use.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by lukeoftheaura

The main problem I had wasn't so much that the design changed as much as everything started running a lot slower and it was far more clunky to use.

Then I would be curious to know what firmware version it was. Because, except for one release, Kobo have been improving the performance in all parts of their firmware in the last year. That one release was a disaster if you used the wrong combination of options, but Kobo quickly realised this, pulled it and had a fixed version out in about two weeks.

[lukeoftheaura]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Then I would be curious to know what firmware version it was. Because, except for one release, Kobo have been improving the performance in all parts of their firmware in the last year. That one release was a disaster if you used the wrong combination of options, but Kobo quickly realised this, pulled it and had a fixed version out in about two weeks.

Yeah, I think I was kinda stupid to sell that touch 2.0 just because of that one update. I think I'll get some other kobo model and try out how the new UI is now there's been the performance fixes, and if I don't like it I can just downgrade.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by lukeoftheaura

Yeah, I think I was kinda stupid to sell that touch 2.0 just because of that one update. I think I'll get some other kobo model and try out how the new UI is now there's been the performance fixes, and if I don't like it I can just downgrade.

I think that's a good plan.

One recommendation: Give the new home page about a month. At first you will hate it. And you'll possibly never like it as much as the tiles. But as you use it, the ads go away (though for me they took a while to go).