New Device Recommendation

[JeffGeorge]

I'm looking for something to replace my inexpensive and worn-out Nook 7". If you're not familiar with that model, it was a short-lived, inexpensive ereader. I keep my ebooks in Calibre as epubs, though I suppose I could convert them to any format. I would like something that at least had the features of the 7" (adjustable font styles, page colors, etc.) but that is more reliable (this thing won't even hold a charge any more). I'm looking for a dedicated ereader and not a tablet with a Nook application or something like that.

Any recommendations?

[Uncle Robin]

I'd suggest the new Libra 2: 7 inch, waterproof, 32GB storage, excellent screen quality, handles epubs and is easily customizable

[Sirtel]

Most dedicated ereaders are only black-and-white. They don't show any colors.

[JeffGeorge]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I'd suggest the new Libra 2: 7 inch, waterproof, 32GB storage, excellent screen quality, handles epubs and is easily customizable

Who makes that?

[JeffGeorge]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Most dedicated ereaders are only black-and-white. They don't show any colors.

I would probably classify what I'm referring to more as tinting than color. When I think black & white I think of the old Nook Simple Touch. My Nook 7" had the ability where you could set different shades for the page colors. This what I took from a specs page and is what I am referring to:

• Day (black text on a white page)
• Night (white text on a black page; useful for reading at night or in dark environments)
• Gray (black text on a gray page)
• Butter (dark brown text on a pale yellow page)
• Mocha (white text on a grayish brown page)
• Sepia (white text on a sepia brown page)

I like having those options.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JeffGeorge

Who makes that?

Kobo.

Bear in mind it is not like your 7'' Nook, however. It has a black and white eink screen, not LCD. You can't play video or music on it, or install apps, except for a couple of reading applications, like KOReader and Plato.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JeffGeorge

I would probably classify what I'm referring to more as tinting than color. When I think black & white I think of the old Nook Simple Touch. My Nook 7" had the ability where you could set different shades for the page colors. This what I took from a specs page and is what I am referring to:

• Day (black text on a white page)
• Night (white text on a black page; useful for reading at night or in dark environments)
• Gray (black text on a gray page)
• Butter (dark brown text on a pale yellow page)
• Mocha (white text on a grayish brown page)
• Sepia (white text on a sepia brown page)

I like having those options.

Eink readers don't do those colors. You can have the background white or black, or yellow with the warm light turned on. No brown or sepia, or anything other.

[DNSB]

If I'm not mistaken, the Nook 7 he's referring to was a 7" Android tablet manufactured for B&N. Going by memory, it was priced at $49.99 US and had a 1024x600 LCD screen. The only one I handled was slow, had a lousy keyboard, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The battery life was pathetic as reading for more than 7 hours killed the battery.

What I mean by a lousy keyboard was that it took me 6 tries to enter a 11 character password with it's touch the d and get an f inaccuracies.

And lastly, this should probably have been posted in the Which one should I buy? forum in the E-Book Readers area. The OP had nothing to do with calibre and it's device handling.

[JeffGeorge]

Originally Posted by DNSB

If I'm not mistaken, the Nook 7 he's referring to was a 7" Android tablet manufactured for B&N. Going by memory, it was priced at $49.99 US and had a 1024x600 LCD screen. The only one I handled was slow, had a lousy keyboard, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The battery life was pathetic as reading for more than 7 hours killed the battery.

What I mean by a lousy keyboard was that it took me 6 tries to enter a 11 character password with it's touch the d and get an f inaccuracies.

And lastly, this should probably have been posted in the Which one should I buy? forum in the E-Book Readers area. The OP had nothing to do with calibre and it's device handling.

You are correct about the device I am referring to. I didn't realize this was Calibre subforum, though. I just saw the Devices topic. However, one of my main requirements is that the device has to be compatible with Calibre.

[JeffGeorge]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Kobo.

Bear in mind it is not like your 7'' Nook, however. It has a black and white eink screen, not LCD. You can't play video or music on it, or install apps, except for a couple of reading applications, like KOReader and Plato.

That's fine about what it doesn't do. I only want something strictly for ebooks. How is the Kobo device in its interactions with Calibre? Any problems? And what if I buy an ebook from Barnesandnoble.com or something? Is it easy to get them on the device? I really want a simple interface and experience. I'm sure there are applications that read epubs that I could install on any laptop or tablet, but I prefer a device that was designed specifically for this purpose. Unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable about such things.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JeffGeorge

That's fine about what it doesn't do. I only want something strictly for ebooks. How is the Kobo device in its interactions with Calibre? Any problems? And what if I buy an ebook from Barnesandnoble.com or something? Is it easy to get them on the device? I really want a simple interface and experience. I'm sure there are applications that read epubs that I could install on any laptop or tablet, but I prefer a device that was designed specifically for this purpose. Unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable about such things.

Kobo readers work very well with Calibre. You can even sync metadata, collections and series info automatically. The Kobo Utilities plugin and the KoboTouch Extended driver may come in handy.

As to books from other stores, it's easy to sideload them if they have no DRM, and Kobo supports the Adobe DRM. For Amazon books it's somewhat more complicated, as you need to remove the DRM and convert them. Forget Barnes&Noble, as far as I know, they no longer let you download the files and you can't install the Nook app on a Kobo or a Kindle.

[JeffGeorge]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Kobo readers work very well with Calibre. You can even sync metadata, collections and series info automatically. The Kobo Utilities plugin and the KoboTouch Extended driver may come in handy.

As to books from other stores, it's easy to sideload them if they have no DRM, and Kobo supports the Adobe DRM. For Amazon books it's somewhat more complicated, as you need to remove the DRM and convert them. Forget Barnes&Noble, as far as I know, they no longer let you download the files and you can't install the Nook app on a Kobo or a Kindle.

Thanks for the pointer. Just curious: if you can't do anything with B&N ebooks, why do they even sell them? Can you only use them on Nook devices from B&N?

[theducks]

Calibre has 2 extra plugins available that make it even BETTER than regular.
Kobo Utilities and Kobo Utilities Extended.
Why not switch over to the Plugin Index and find those (links) and read their first post descriptions.

BTW I just ordered a Libra 2
<rant>Personally, I am tired of ever higher walled gardens , some being done under the guise of better security. I buy from a vendor because they have what I WANT, and at a price I am willing to PAY and not because I must

[JeffGeorge]

The only concern I have about the Libra 2 is the price. I see that a Nook Glowlight 4 is about $50+ less expensive. Are you guys familiar with Glowlight series and how it might fall short of the Libra? I'm not even seeing any Kindle devices that I might find interesting at this point.

[theducks]

Button button who has the (page turn) buttons (in the price range)?

The one complaint I have with my Aura2 is I can't exclude the page turn area from the select Link region. Big hands, and multiple links (typ.: ads or author joins) that go to the edge that I can't seem to avoid tripping