Way back in 2012, The Guardian reviewed an eInk reader which cost a mere £8. The txtr beagle was designed to be a stripped-down and simplified eReader. As far as I can tell, it never shipped. There were a few review units sent out but I can't find any evidence of consumers getting their hands on one. Also, that £8 price was the subsidised price when purchased with a mobile contract. Their w…
I literally have the reader pictured in the thumbnail. It is a Kindle keyboard from 10+ years ago at this point. It still works fine. At one point the original battery went to shit, and it cost very little to get an aftermarket replacement and install it myself.
I keep it offline and read 100% sideloaded .epub books from various sources. The lockscreen ads don’t even try to display anymore.
Sure it isn’t backlit or waterproof but it still functions flawlessly as a generic reader. Old tech like this is awesome. Why not get a decade of use (or more) out of something that still works?
I have a similar model I picked up at a garage sale for 5 dollars. Best bang for buck tech purchase I ever made. They really don’t need wifi or software upgrades to function well when all I do is transfer epubs over usb once a year.
I had the exact same experience with that model. The screen eventually cracked (I think I had it in a backpack that I was a bit too rough with). It was easy enough to replace the screen with one I found on AliExpress, but unfortunately the replacement then cracked a few weeks later. I don’t know whether it was because the replacement screen was poor quality or because once I had taken the device apart the screen was less protected, but I figured I wasn’t going to throw good money after bad. I ended up getting a second hand Kobo Aura on eBay which has served me well.
eReaders have gotten some new features like backlights but I don’t think the technology has fundamentally moved on all that much.
That said, I never took much issue with it. I didn’t have any of the very first e-readers so I’ve no idea if they’d bother me, but my first e-reader, a Kobo Touch from 2011 worked just fine and the refresh rate and ghosting wasn’t a problem.
I think the biggest pro with modern devices (to me personally) is that they’ve gotten more compact. I like how slim and comfortable my Boox Color 7 is.
Keeping it offline is 100% the right call. My 250€ Kindle Oasis (1st Gen) became unusably slow after the last major update. Constantly freezes.
This was marketed as a premium device, and you can’t even upgrade because Amazon killed the line.
My next e-reader won’t be Amazon, but it sucks that I’ll lose all the notes I’ve had on there since I got my first Kindle in 2009.
Side note -
I literally have the reader pictured in the thumbnail. It is a Kindle keyboard from 10+ years ago at this point. It still works fine. At one point the original battery went to shit, and it cost very little to get an aftermarket replacement and install it myself.
I keep it offline and read 100% sideloaded .epub books from various sources. The lockscreen ads don’t even try to display anymore.
Sure it isn’t backlit or waterproof but it still functions flawlessly as a generic reader. Old tech like this is awesome. Why not get a decade of use (or more) out of something that still works?
I have a similar model I picked up at a garage sale for 5 dollars. Best bang for buck tech purchase I ever made. They really don’t need wifi or software upgrades to function well when all I do is transfer epubs over usb once a year.
Exactly, I’m considering grabbing the Voyage as I loved the one I had back in the day
I had the exact same experience with that model. The screen eventually cracked (I think I had it in a backpack that I was a bit too rough with). It was easy enough to replace the screen with one I found on AliExpress, but unfortunately the replacement then cracked a few weeks later. I don’t know whether it was because the replacement screen was poor quality or because once I had taken the device apart the screen was less protected, but I figured I wasn’t going to throw good money after bad. I ended up getting a second hand Kobo Aura on eBay which has served me well.
eReaders have gotten some new features like backlights but I don’t think the technology has fundamentally moved on all that much.
It’s definitely iterative but the newer eInk screens are higher res and color. Dunno how refresh rates compare on the color screens.
Much faster and less prone to ghosting.
That said, I never took much issue with it. I didn’t have any of the very first e-readers so I’ve no idea if they’d bother me, but my first e-reader, a Kobo Touch from 2011 worked just fine and the refresh rate and ghosting wasn’t a problem.
I think the biggest pro with modern devices (to me personally) is that they’ve gotten more compact. I like how slim and comfortable my Boox Color 7 is.
My partner has a newer one and it can only work offline. I can’t get it to even connect to WiFi any more.
Keeping it offline is 100% the right call. My 250€ Kindle Oasis (1st Gen) became unusably slow after the last major update. Constantly freezes. This was marketed as a premium device, and you can’t even upgrade because Amazon killed the line. My next e-reader won’t be Amazon, but it sucks that I’ll lose all the notes I’ve had on there since I got my first Kindle in 2009.
Might there not be a way to extract them?