E-Reader Calibre compatable

[Adzcriz]

Ok, so a couple of years ago i got a 6th gen paperwhite as an xmas pressie and since its been my main e reader, i used to have an old kobo (really old one, big rubber button thing on the front). I use calibre to keep all my eBooks organised ... yeah it doesn't like kindles, having to manually organise 1000+ books into collections was a PAINFUL experience. I tried jailbreaking the thing, but after 6 hours of headbutting the wall I gave up. I've had it up to the teeth with Kindles god awful organisation capabilities.

I am not much for coding.

What I need is;

Easy integration of calibre for collections with as little fuss as possible (ideally with a "For Dummies" guide in plain english)
Front light as I am a nurse who frequently works nights
Good battery
half decent durability as it will almost never leave my hand or bag and is liable to get the odd knock
not too heavy, i don't want what we call here as "wankers cramp" in my wrist

dont need a store as i just plug it into my PC
Wifi again is nice but il hardly, if ever use it.
not worried about price.

I live in UK.

Suggestions welcome.

[Terisa de morgan]

With those requirements I would go with Kobo, as I think any Android ereader is going to need more tinkering.

You don't want it heavy and you're going to carry it to work, so I don't think the Kobo Aura One would be the right one. The options I see are:

• Aura 2: It's the last model but I think it's a step back
• Glo HD: If you can find it in a shop it would be a very good option (better than Aura 2 in my opinion). It's a good option too if you can get it online (eBay or something like that)
• Aura (traditional): It's a very nice ereader and some months ago it has been sold at ebay by 50$, a wonderful price. If you find it with a good price, it is not a bad option either.

[mbovenka]

Agreed with Terisa that a Kobo would be your best bet.

If 6" is your thing, the Glo HD is indeed the best of the lot, even if it's discontinued. It weighs 180g.

At 6.8", the Aura H2O, at 230g

And although it's larger, it's not heavier than the above: at 7.8" the Aura ONE. I don't think it's too large to lug around, but I didn't think that of my 9.7"/536g Kindle DXG either, so YMMV

[church mouse]

Kobo and Calibre work really well together. The two posts above give you all you need to know about the Kobo options.

If Kobo is not for you then some UK available alternatives I can think of are:

Tolino (Shine 2 or Vision 3 or 4). A sharper screen (i.e. 300dpi) than the 6" Aura 2 (212dpi), but getting it to manage collections does require a bit of one time manual adjustment to the Tolino device interface in Calibre.

Pocketbook Touch HD. (Again a 300dpi screen).

Of the Android alternatives, I have and can recommend the Energy Sistem Pro HD (available via Amazon, or direct from Energy Sistem). It only has a 212dpi screen (same as Kobo Aura 2) but does come with Google Play Store installed, so with a combination of two apps: Calibre Companion and AlReader, you can get a very full featured ereader with complete Calibre integration.

My experience has been that no one ereader is more fragile than another - they all can break and are best put in a decent, protective case if carrying them about.

[Adzcriz]

Thank you all for your responses, I am looking at the energy pro as even though the kobo does integrate, theres some faffing around with coding and tbh, i just cba lol, still have the headache after trying to jailbreak the kindle.

two apps is all i need plus i have a google account with android so it seems to be the easiest solution, my calibre library is already organised so quick transfer via the app and alreader and im good.

thank you all!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Adzcriz

Thank you all for your responses, I am looking at the energy pro as even though the kobo does integrate, theres some faffing around with coding and tbh, i just cba lol, still have the headache after trying to jailbreak the kindle.

two apps is all i need plus i have a google account with android so it seems to be the easiest solution, my calibre library is already organised so quick transfer via the app and alreader and im good.

thank you all!

There's no faffing about with Kobo. It's very easy to configure Calibre to handle collections seamlessly. You can patch the Kobo if you want to change some things, but you do not have to and if you want some help, you can get it here very easily. A lot of us will give you a hand. Calibre and Kobo go hand-in-hand.

As for which Reader to get, I'll suggest the Kobo Aura H2O as it's a good Reader with a nice screen very good battery, very even front light, and it's very easy to use and read from.

[Adzcriz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There's no faffing about with Kobo. It's very easy to configure Calibre to handle collections seamlessly. You can patch the Kobo if you want to change some things, but you do not have to and if you want some help, you can get it here very easily. A lot of us will give you a hand. Calibre and Kobo go hand-in-hand.

As for which Reader to get, I'll suggest the Kobo Aura H2O as it's a good Reader with a nice screen very good battery, very even front light, and it's very easy to use and read from.

Hmm its a difficult choice.

its coming down to cost, the Energy is £118 whereas the Kobo is £136

il need to think about it, having not really used either, i might get a kobo and an energy and see which i prefer, i can always return them.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Adzcriz

Hmm its a difficult choice.

its coming down to cost, the Energy is £118 whereas the Kobo is £136

il need to think about it, having not really used either, i might get a kobo and an energy and see which i prefer, i can always return them.

One thing the Kobo has going for it is a larger 6.8" screen that's very nice to read from. Kobo is very well supported here.

[Adzcriz]

can the kobo cope with kindle books if they have drm (dont know if any do but meh)

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by Adzcriz

can the kobo cope with kindle books if they have drm (dont know if any do but meh)

The Kobo cannot handle Kindle drm books. You would have to free them first, but since you say you use Calibre that is (currently) quite easy to do (with the necessary plug ins).

The Energy Sistem can use the Kindle app for Kindle books, though that app is not really suited to e-ink screens and is sub-optimal in use. The Kobo Android app is pretty poor on e-ink screens too but, fortunately, you don't have to use that app to read drm protected Epubs. Mind you, to get the very best from the Energy Sistem first you would need to remove any drm from any Kindle or Epub books you have so that you can use an app like AlReader.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Adzcriz

can the kobo cope with kindle books if they have drm (dont know if any do but meh)

No ereader but Kindle can cope with it (or an android ereader with the Kindle app installed).