My family says I'm too obsessed with e-readers!

[tsgreer]

I say I'm just the right amount of obsessed! I own over forty e-readers at this point, which I'll admit does sound less like a hobby and more like I lost my mind.

I love the tech, and the whole clunky-to-sleek timeline of it, from beige plastic fossils to modern little slabs that keep trying to innovate.

Lately I’ve gone off the deep end and even started hunting broken ones, the cracked screens and dead-battery orphans nobody wants. I drag them home, crack them open, and start swapping screens, batteries, and guts until something flickers back to life.

It feels like running a halfway house for abused Kindles and forgotten Nooks, one tiny resurrection at a time.

- 23 Kindle 3's (Yeah, a lot but it's because I wanna get good at repairing them.)
- 1 Ebookwise 1150
- 2 Kindle 1st Gen
- 1 Kindle DX
- 1 Kindle 4
- 1 Sony PRS-500
- 1 Sony PRS-505
- 1 Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition
- 1 Nook
- 1 Nook Simple Touch
- 1 Nook GlowLight
- 1 PocketBook InkPad Lite

[cfrizz]

I'm going to be generous and call it a hobby. Otherwise, I am slowly backing out of thread and away from the crazy man with all of his ereaders!

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

I'm going to be generous and call it a hobby. Otherwise, I am slowly backing out of thread and away from the crazy man with all of his ereaders!

Brother, then I'm using your words as proof. It's a hobby!

[Sirtel]

I've sold all my ereaders except for the two newest I'm currently using and the two oldest for nostalgic reasons (I no longer use those). They were all in perfect working order, but I got tired of charging them, so I got rid of them. 5 Kindles, a Nook and a Kobo. Yeah, not holding a candle to the number you have.

As I was a relatively late adopter of ebooks (2011, to be exact) and always upgraded after a few years, most of my ereaders were much newer models. My current Kobos are from 2021. Not upgrading until Kobo releases new black and white devices with 7“ and 8" screens.

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

and always upgraded after a few years, most of my ereaders were much newer models.

I was heading that way too, and I still love reading up on the latest ones. But then I noticed my 1st gen Kindle still works when I pulled it down from the shelf. Screen is fine, battery is fine, and it is the only Kindle where you can swap the battery in a few seconds if the battery does decide to crap out on me.

It still works great after eighteen years. Companies sorta stopped making stuff that lasts like that. For my actual needs, the Kindle 3 is better because I can repair them fairly easily. Fonts look nicer, and I finally asked myself, do I really need it faster or higher res. Answer was no. It already does the job.

So I decided to stick with the Kindle 3 for the long haul. With the Kindle 3 I know I can fix them. Now I grab broken ones, bring them back to life by replacing screens and batteries, and either sell them on eBay for cheap or hand them to friends. I'm even gonna practice painting a few of the shells and see how that works out.

Of all the readers I've owned tho, the Sony PRS 505 is still the best looking in my opinion, but battery and screen work on that thing is a nightmare.

[Sirtel]

I still charge my two oldest ereaders (basic Kindles from 2011 and 2012, with buttons) regularly, but I no longer want to read on them. Well, maybe if there was nothing else. They're slow and the screens look good only in bright daylight, which is rarely my usual reading environment. Plus, their software is bare bones compared to that on my Kobos.

Yes, I read on them happily for several years. But I've moved on.

Not that I'm the type who constantly upgrades all their tech. My TV is 11 years old, it's not even smart. My laptop is 5 years old, my Surface tablet 7 years, my smartphone 4 years (I also use an older smartphone which is almost 8 years old).

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

But I've moved on.

Yeah, this is my issue. I'm terrible about moving on.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

Yeah, this is my issue. I'm terrible about moving on.

Well, at least you moved on from paper books...

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Well, at least you moved on from paper books...

Well, you'd think, but um...

[Cactus Chef]

Don't listen to them. We're your real family...

[rhari79]

That's a lot of kindle 3's. very nice reader for its time. Maybe even now, clear crisp screen.
i have around 5+ assorted Irex's collected over a period of time.
Just cant let them go...an obsessed hobbyist.

[DNSB]

I'm not in your class when it comes to the number of ereaders. However, I've also spent some time repairing ereaders, most of which have been gifted to either family or people who are looking for an ereader but have extremely limited budgets.

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

Don't listen to them. We're your real family...

I knew it!

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by rhari79

That's a lot of kindle 3's. very nice reader for its time. Maybe even now, clear crisp screen.
i have around 5+ assorted Irex's collected over a period of time.
Just cant let them go...an obsessed hobbyist.

Yep, I know the feeling. The Kindle 3's tho are because I found someone on ebay who was selling a box of them. They came out to $2 a piece, so I figured for that price I could mess these up and really risk breaking them as I worked on them, and it's still be worth my time since I'll learn what not to do. They all needed new batteries and new screens, and I've been changing them out here and there.