The Worst ebook Reader You Ever Owned!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

For me, dark fonts were (are) important and the Simple Touch had a nice crisp, high contrast screen. As for its interface, I always liked it. Still do. And I still think that its big bezels with page turn buttons makes it comfortable and use. To each their own on this.

I agree that fonts are rendered very nicely on Sony readers. In my opinion they are rendered better than on most modern readers. Wished they had stayed in the eReader market.

The font rendering on the nook STR is terrible. It's just very noticeable how bad it is. The UI is also terrible. The bezel is way too big. The buttons way too stiff. It was just a disaster on top of a disaster built on a disaster.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The font rendering on the nook STR is terrible. It's just very noticeable how bad it is. The UI is also terrible. The bezel is way too big. The buttons way too stiff. It was just a disaster on top of a disaster built on a disaster.

Yes, all that's fine. But what didn't you like about it?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The font rendering on the nook STR is terrible. It's just very noticeable how bad it is. The UI is also terrible. The bezel is way too big. The buttons way too stiff. It was just a disaster on top of a disaster built on a disaster.

Your OPINIONS noted. I don't share them.

[kacir]

I very strongly disliked the first generation of Kindle Paperwhite. The display was gorgeous, the build of the device was very nice, the hardware ergonomic was good. What I couldn't stand was the software. The lack of configuration options for font type, font size, line distance, margin size, you couldn't even pick left justification for the text! EVERYTNING sucked. The user interface for choosing books from an endless, disorganized list of books with way too few books per page. I spent a lot of time trying to hack it, I installed every possible hack, tweak, alternative reading software, even whole alternative operating system from China (you could choose original Amazon of the Chinese one during boot). I sold it as soon as PocketBook came up with a front-lit device.

Onyx Midia Inkphone E43 from Boox takes the cake for the worst e-ink device I have owned. Again, the hardware was nice, the form factor was fantastic. 4.3 inch non-front-lit e-ink. Software was such a disaster that the device was pulled from the market after one week. Inexplicably the manufacturer used IMEI numbers belonging to other manufacturers - so in some countries the phone couldn't even connect to the basic cell service. After one summer of use the rubberized layer on the phone body started to wrinkle and flake off. I suspect it was from a sunscreen I was using. It had Android 2.3 operating system and an atrocious selection of software for basic use (such as dialer, launcher or reading app). It was difficult to find a replacement apps, because ordinary apps were not optimized for black and white e-ink with very slow refresh.

[patrik]

Not sure it's fair, since my worst was my very first e-reader.

It was a Pocketbook 903 Pro. Quite expensive at the time.

It was quite slow, took something like 2-4 seconds to turn a page, but I got used to press "next page" when there still were some text left on the page.

What made it a bit of a let down, was that one of the reasons I choosed that one, was the large screen and the pen. I planned to read pdf-files, and that didn't really work in reality the way I hoped it would.

But, it was my first e-ink device, made me find this site, so all in all I'm still happy about the purchase.

Still got it. :-)

[issybird]

The Kobo Mini. I was hoping for a reader even smaller than my beloved PRS-350 since it had no buttons; however, its bulbous bezels and oversized puffy OEM cover made it much less sleek. I maxed out the 2 GB storage with fewer than 100 kepubs when I tried downloading directly, and the reading area given large margins which couldn’t be adjusted given the firmware of the time (and I was unaware of the fullscreen hack or it didn’t exist yet) was minuscule. The 350 had a crop feature.

Yet ten years later…

It’s still in use, virtually on a daily basis in the summertime especially. The clunky bezels and puffy cover give it a lot of protection when it’s tossed in my beach bag, later firmware solved the margin issue and it’s loaded with light reading which doesn’t challenge storage limitations. The murky resolution doesn’t matter when reading outdoors and an additional benefit is really amazing battery life for a ten-year old device. The irony is that I originally made it my waterside reader because I figured it wouldn’t break my heart if something happened to it and now I’d miss it.

I’m in the camp that would love to see a more current 5” reader; it wouldn’t even need a frontlight as far as I’m concerned, just a somewhat better resolution.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I've owned a couple of Nooks and a couple of Kobos and I've liked all of them.

I think the Nook Simple Touch (with Glowlight) is great and still use it. The software is pretty out of date (it's a decade old) but the reading experience is still good. I like the page turn buttons and expandable memory.

Also I think the battery is replacable.

[JSWolf]

I remember the posts about the screen of the original Paperwhite. The blooms, the color gradients, the blotches, etc. It wasn't pretty.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’m in the camp that would love to see a more current 5” reader; it wouldn’t even need a frontlight as far as I’m concerned, just a somewhat better resolution.

Yes, I'm fond of my Sony PRS-350 5". I looked at some of the current small eink readers and thought they were too elongated aspect ratio. A 5" 300 dpi model with touch and buttons on bottom edge would be nice. Putting them on the side makes it too wide, though you could put them on the sides at the back.
Does not need WiFi, BT, audio, front light (though that's an OK option) or wireless charging. Doesn't need SD slot if it has 8 G memory, who is going to read PDFs or Manga on 5", which is only reason to need SD slot if memory is less than 32 G.

Should have user accessible database and USB mass Storage mode. I don't mind WiFi if they use the chip that has FM radio and BT also and they put 3.5mm jack and GUI to play music or radio while reading.

Also needs to be about $50 or not many will buy it.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Also I think the battery is replacable.

It is. I replaced one. The case is easy to get into and the batteries seem to be plentiful. The hardest part is gently prying the old battery loose from its glue (like most of the eReaders, I guess).

[Bookstooge]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have a T1. Last I used it, it worked very well. It sounds like your T2 was just a bad unit. It happens.

I used a T1 too. It was a decent successor to my 505. But I tried 3 different T2's and they all stank. So it "didn't just happen".

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Bookstooge

I used a T1 too. It was a decent successor to my 505. But I tried 3 different T2's and they all stank. So it "didn't just happen".

I bought a refurbished (like new) T2 from Tiger Direct several years back and have had good luck with it. (And a couple more from Shop Goodwill have also proved to be solid.) My T1 (also from Shop Goodwill) works well excepts it locks up sometimes when I use the dictionary. I'm guessing that has something to with the release of the firmware. It seems like I remember reading that you have to drop back a version or two to get rid of that bug.

[mistral]

Sadly, the Nook Glowlight 4. I really wanted to love it, and paid full-price for it as soon as it came out. It was immediately buggy (froze up randomly, didn't go into sleep mode) and of course no new features from when I used the simple touch so long ago. No custom wallpaper and had to use ADE for library books. For $150 I could have bought a Kobo Libra 2 on Prime Day!

[Sweetpea]

I must say, I don't have a "wordt ebook reader". I liked them all.

BeBook Mini -> Sony PRS 650 -> Kobo H2O -> Kobo Aura One

Yes, the Mini had less features, but in its time it was perfect. And that goes for all of them. Having said that, I do have a favourite, and that's the One. It's the one that I still do not want to replace...

[drofgnal]

I guess I'd have to say my first Kindle Keyboard (gen 2 I think). It got placed in the best buy recycle bin about a year ago. It had been sitting around unused for years.