Looking for a new eReader

[cat8864]

Hey folks, I'm looking for a new eReader to replace my Sony T3.

A little background: After 7 years my ebook collection is about ~1,200 books. Mostly ePub, some PDF, DRM and non-DRM. Currently all organised in Calibre into collections each containing anywhere from 4 to 300 books each. No pictures, textbooks or comics - just fiction. I'm not adverse to converting or reorganising everything.

The most common place to find me reading is at the gym. So lighting isn't a problem, but good battery life and smaller device size is required.

Due to health reasons, back light and tablet screens are a problem so I can't read on a regular tablet, phone, etc.

I read around 900 pages a week, if not more and there's rarely an available outlet for me to plug into.

I'm located in Canada but I can ship to the US and pick it up there.

Required:

• Collection management - Folder based, shelves, etc. Whatever, just so long as I can assign a category and have it reflected on the device.
• Adjustable font sizes
• Reliable battery
• Responsive UI with massive library
• eInk
• Preferably 6" to 7", maybe an 8" but not larger

Appreciated:

• Note-taking and bookmarks
• Sorting (date, author, title, etc)
• Currently reading and recently added lists

Not needed:

• Dictionaries
• Water-proofing
• Built-in light (if present I MUST be able to turn it off)
• Wifi / bluetooth

I've tried two different Kobo's - the latest Aura One and the latest H20. Both lagged severely to the point I couldn't scroll through the book list. The press-and-hold menu on an individual book would take ~10 seconds to popup. Reading was fine I just couldn't get to the books to open them.

The Kindle Paperwhite (2016) refused to register any collections regardless of what I tried.

I'm currently looking at the Cybook Odyssey which appears to have the collection functionality I need, but sending it back would be problem if it doesn't. Can anyone confirm this?
The Nook Glowlight Plus which I'm a bit tentative about since most older reviews aren't that great (laggy, buggy, limited or no calibre or Adobe DRM support). And I haven't seen many newer reviews
I've also found the US Onyx Boox store but I've yet to find any reviews for them.
The Nolim and the Good eReader also seem promising but I can't confirm they have the features I need.

Any suggestions?

[maddz]

As far as I can see, Kindle collections are device specific and don't seem to sync easily between devices (they certainly don't sync between K4Mac and Amazon but do between K4iPad & Amazon). Mind you, I still have an old version of K4Mac because of KFX8.

[LucyOne]

Are Pocketbook devices available in Canada?
They meet all your requirements.
They have a folder based library and you can assign tags to manage your collections. You can also sort by addition date, opening date, author and title. Note-taking and bookmarks are also possible.
The Touch HD is the best equipped 6" model and scrolling through the library is quite fast.

[JSWolf]

Kobo is your best choice as it ticks your boxes. Your trying out of the H2O2 and the KA1 isn't actually valid. The latest firmware has a lag issue and Kobo is working on it. So the lag could have been due to the new firmware.

[nhedgehog]

My vote goes to Pocketbook. It has all you need, even the TL3 or the Aqua line. Only question is, do you get them in Canada. Compared to Bookeen Pocketbook is the much better choice. I have a Pocketbook TL3, a Bookeen Cybook Muse and a Kobo Glo HD. Regarding your specs the only device that does it all sufficiently is the Pocketbook. Only problem could be that the Pocketbooks don't have this magnetic switch (except the Touch HD), which makes the Kobo or Kindle devices starting much quicker (Pocketbook have a sleep mode too but I like mine switched off automatically if I don't use them for hours).

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by cat8864

I've tried two different Kobo's - the latest Aura One and the latest H20. Both lagged severely to the point I couldn't scroll through the book list. The press-and-hold menu on an individual book would take ~10 seconds to popup. Reading was fine I just couldn't get to the books to open them.

I'm not going to make any claims about the Kobo devices being fast, but I've never seen 10 seconds for the long press menu. Checking my Aura ONE just now, and it is probably just over a second. Similarly, opening the library list and scrolling through it works fine. This is with about 4000 books on the device. There was a firmware release recently that had significant performance problems, but, the problems were not in the areas you saw and you would have been extremely unlucky to see a Kobo device running this firmware.

Other than that, the Kobo Aura ONE or H2O Edition 2 fit your requirements.

[cat8864]

Originally Posted by davidfor

There was a firmware release recently that had significant performance problems, but, the problems were not in the areas you saw and you would have been extremely unlucky to see a Kobo device running this firmware.

I bought both Kobo's in May (2017) and they both had the 4.3 update from February with the new home screen layout. I remember seeing some mentions of speed issues but the majority of it was regarding the "annoying" home screen (which I found tolerable), sync issues and collections disappearing. The general consensus was "just do a factory reset" which wasn't an option with a brand new device.

Although the 4.6 update from yesterday seems to have sped things up again according to initial reviews.

Originally Posted by LucyOne

Are Pocketbook devices available in Canada?[...]

Very promising. Truthfully I'd forgotten about the Pocketbook. There's a US/CDN website for advertising purposes but you can't actually purchase from it and messaging them resulted in "PocketBook doesn't have official rep in Canada or the US. Unfortunately, there is no possibility to ship to this countries from EU or Hong Kong". I did hunt one down on https://www.grooves.land which ships internationally.

I've ordered the Pocketbook Touch HD but I'll keep an eye on the H20 reviews and this forum until I've gotten the Pocketbook working.

[gal_amy]

Originally Posted by nhedgehog

My vote goes to Pocketbook. It has all you need, even the TL3 or the Aqua line. Only question is, do you get them in Canada. Compared to Bookeen Pocketbook is the much better choice. I have a Pocketbook TL3, a Bookeen Cybook Muse and a Kobo Glo HD. Regarding your specs the only device that does it all sufficiently is the Pocketbook. Only problem could be that the Pocketbooks don't have this magnetic switch (except the Touch HD), which makes the Kobo or Kindle devices starting much quicker (Pocketbook have a sleep mode too but I like mine switched off automatically if I don't use them for hours).

You can’t buy them in the US (Pocketbook)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro