i don’t since i don’t read much and i am fine without the paper feeling mabye
I love my paperwhite. Frankly I don’t think I could enjoy reading on a typical screen, and I read other shit on my phone a LOT. So reading for fun I need that difference I guess.
Does anyone recommend any e-ink e-readers that have compatibility with apps? Mine is so old I can only get stuff directly from Amazon store but can’t use the library apps like libby.
I have a Supernote A5x, use it as a note pad, annotate cad plans on site and sketch basic renders on it, I use it a lot at work.
loaded it up with the kindle app, but I find it’s a bit annoying to use the app, so I upload books as a pdf to a folder on it and that works. It’s just a shame I have so many books locked into the kindle app. But it might get better with an update one day.
I have a Kobo eReader. I like it a lot but unfortunately I forget to read books so I don’t use it much…
I have been really hankering for an 8 inch ereader, but it seems like everything needs to use a proprietary OS with all sorts of drawbacks. Is there anything out there that is more FOSS-minded, or is the best option to load a Kobo with KOReader and just disable as much of the main OS as possible?
It’s only a partial match, but the ReMarkable runs linux under the hood, and you can install a package manager on it.
It’s not a fantastic E-Reader, as it’s mostly designed for taking notes, but it does work as one. The main drawback is the lack of a built in light, but depending on your use-case that might not be an issue for you
That did look tempting, and I could probably work with the lackluster eBook functionality, but 10" is too big for me
I have a few Kindles - got the first couple from a thrift store, then I upgraded to a Paperwhite. I like them! I don’t usually have time to go to the library and get paper books, so it’s really convenient for library books, almost everything I’ve looked for has been on Libby. I do still buy paper books, I love paper books, but I think I prefer reading on Kindle (or my phone) because I can change the font, and it’s super light, fits in all of my bags. I also have problems with my hands sometimes, and holding a kindle is easier on them than holding a book. Lately I’ve just been reading on my phone though lol.
I bought a Kobo Libra 2 at the start of the summer, after trying reading both on my 7" OLED phone and a 14" OLED blet/tablet for about a year prior.
It’s one of the best purchases I did this year.
I think that e-ink is better for books, and tablets are better for magazines and comics. I like the feel of my ebook, it has very much the same kind of feel as a paperback. The larger format of a tablet is great for magazines, and being able to pinch and zoom is useful there too
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I have thought about getting a Boox e-ink tablet but currently just read ebooks on my phone. It’s hard not to get distracted though with other apps installed.
I have the Leaf 2 and would highly recommend. Works great, and is much better for your eyes. I use it every day.
I don’t have one I have a kindle and love reading on the screen. Much nicer to the eye. Even with the backlight compared to an LCD or OLED screen for reading. As for e-tablets, if I had to work with a lot of document reading I would probably get one. But I don’t have a need for it.
I have one and barely use it, but that’s more about my reading habits than it is about the tablet. When I am in a good reading habit, I love it because it’s frontlit, lighter than a book, and way easier to read while laying on my side.
I have a kindle (paperwhite I think) that I won in a raffle and I’ve grown to love it. Much lighter than a book or a phone, no cramps from holding my hand in strange positions, and a very gentle backlight. The only thing I don’t like about it is being tethered to Amazon. When it dies I’ll try to find an alternative that’s still compatible with my library’s ebook system.
You should look into Calibre, it’s library management software for e-readers, and it works wonderfully with a kindle.
You can convert between lots of different formats and load them to your reader from your PC or Mac.
I’ve loaded books from Google’s service and public domain stuff from Project Gutenberg and archive.org. I’ve loaded some PDFs on it which are kind of janky, but sometimes workable depending on the book.
But basically, I’m not worried about being able to read a book on my kindle unless it’s a PDF.
My main problem is that, if I let go online at all, it’s reporting everything I read and when back to Amazon. I don’t buy many kindle books.
You don’t need to go online with calibre. you convert it to the file format you need and then connect Kindle to computer, drag and drop files.
You can enable an email address for it and then can email EPUBs to it, so can use it without paying more to Amazon.
I have a Nook Simple Touch. It’s nice to read on, but the button and touch screen are failing. I don’t know where it is. I mostly read on my phone or a paper book
I think I’m on my 3rd kindle now - I had the paper white, the voyage and now the oasis. I read loads, a good hundred books a year. I have lupus though and the arthritis in my hands was making it really painful to physically hold open a book. Plus I’d filled two huge bookcases in my tiny flat. The kindle is obviously much lighter and with a case or popsocket it doesn’t hurt me to hold it. I have damage to my vision now and the kindle has worked out brilliantly for that too - I’ve been able to upload a particularly legible font to help me out and adjusting the screen brightness has been kinder on my eyes too. They really come into their own when you go on holiday - the oasis is waterproof too.
I never thought about real accessibility on kindles, but those are all huge benefits
It was so depressing when I couldn’t hold a book anymore, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say having a kindle changed my life.
One of my favorite things is I can read on my side without having to switch positions with each new page turn.
I just got an Oasis (few weeks ago) after using my iPad Mini extensively for reading. I wanted something more portable and noticed they were quite popular with tourists on a recent vacation.
It’s my first Kindle and I had no experience with the Oasis in person really other than asking someone on the trip what it was.
I thought something was wrong with it, like maybe it wasn’t the traditional e-ink that had always been advertised. Had I missed something?
No, it had all the bells and whistles. Compared to the color of the iPad, this seemed like an order of magnitude lower in terms of quality. So please help me figure out what I’m doing wrong wrt settings because obviously this is a me problem. Otherwise I love it!
Like the person below commented, it’s a completely different beast compared to an iPad or an iPhone screen. It’s only intended to be a book so it might help to think about it like that - it’s designed to be as close as possible to paper, not a screen. It’s not a step down in technology, rather it’s a completely different tech for a completely different set of needs.
Put your ipad and kindle side by side in different conditions and try and read a page. In full sunlight you can’t see an ipad screen. In the dark an ipad screen is really really bright. In both cases the kindle lets you read easily. Because it uses e-ink, the screen isn’t made from glass, making it lighter and much less breakable. Because e-ink is only black and white it uses far far less power than an iPad screen so you don’t need to charge it remotely as often.
If you only read a few pages in bed before you go to sleep, you might not need a kindle. If the reflective screen and brightness of your iPad don’t bother you, you might just want to stick with that. But if you read a lot, read in the bath, or in the sun, or at night with the lights off, or if you have a physical disability that makes holding a book/iPad difficult - a kindle is the answer.
Thanks! This is helpful. And good point - I haven’t tried it in sunlight. I have tried my iPad…with not the best luck, like you said. I guess I really didn’t know what I was expecting with the “Paperwhite” description, so that’s on me.
I like its portability. I also use my iPad Mini for work - so it has a case with a keyboard, and not the slimmer Apple or Logitech ones - those don’t work with the Mini, so it requires Bluetooth, and it’s just bulkier overall.
I wanted something smaller for when I’m waiting at appointments or if I stop somewhere to eat, etc. It’s more portable and lighter and slips easily into my purse.
You’re welcome! For what you described it should be ideal - you can keep it in your bag and forget about it for days/weeks at a time. The battery won’t die, it’s nice and light, you don’t need internet connection and you can use it in any condition/situation. It’s the last, and best, book you’ll ever buy! But it is a terrible, terrible tablet so don’t even considered it as one.
You made a good choice with the oasis btw. My voyage died at an inopportune time and I couldn’t afford the oasis so I initially bought the newest paper white - the one you can get in different colours. That was a giant step down from the voyage and I hated it! So plasticky and cheap feeling - it actually made me a bit sad to use it! I returned it and got the voyage on a payment plan (there was a bigger difference in the price when I got mine) and I’m really glad I did.
I’ve just thought of one other feature you might not know about yet - the send-to-kindle function. If you have ebooks saved elsewhere, or ebooks acquired on the high seas, you can send them directly to your kindle via email. You’ll find your assigned email address in the settings. You can also make a “family” with someone else with a kindle and have a shared library. Happy reading!
What’s lower in terms of quality?
The e-ink display is different than something like an iPad. I find it easier to read, to be honest. I can read the kindle for longer in comfort and it’s easier to read while falling asleep.
It’s crap at displaying anything that’s not intended for the platform. PDF files or graphics heavy books are a poor fit for the kindle, but novels or regular books are far better in my opinion.
I have an iPhone, an iPad Mini, an iPad, and multiple laptops. I prefer the kindle for reading in any formats that support it.
What’s lower in terms of quality?
Good question - I just realized I failed to mention specifics facepalm
It seems - blurry or fuzzy? Not as sharp, as if there’s a film over the screen. I don’t know if I’m explaining it well, but it’s just not clear.
Regardless of dark or light background, and brightness, I can never get a clear picture. It gets brighter, sure, but then it’s too bright - it’s never clear.
I don’t know how else to explain it other than it’s like there’s a film over the screen. It’s not crisp, etc.
What is an example of a good e-ink tablet?
The Boox, Supernote and ReMarkable brands are a few of the typical choices.
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I have as well, plus the devices do some sketchy phoning home to servers in China. Unfortunately, their hardware does seem to be better than the other choices, at least among current models.
(edit: I should add that lately I’ve only been looking at 10" screen models.)
I love my Paperwhite. I’ve had it for 10 years.
The only eink device I ever owned was a Pebble. It was pretty great in its time though.
Fossil has an eink hybrid now icymi
I’ve been using a Garmin these days, very good battery life!
I have one. Been wearing it for years. I like it a lot. I’d still take pebble still being around, over it, but it’s a close second.
The pebble was “e-paper” which was a marketing term for a transflective LCD. It was not e-ink.
E-ink is a proprietary display tech that uses actual magnetized “ink” suspended in “liquid” cells. By pushing and pulling dark/light ink particles with an array of tiny electromagnets, it physically “paints” an image onto the display surface. Even if you entirely cut power, the image remains indefinitely.
Transflective LCD, is an LCD, and while its an extremely small amount, it does still need power to stay on.
Weird, has nobody made a real e ink watch? That seems like it’d be a no brainer to make as watch displays go. Or is there some reason it wouldn’t be good in a watch format?
It makes perfect sense.
But the transflective LCDs which were used by pebble were really fucking good. Especially with color in the Pebble Time, and the display that was going to be in the Time 2 was very promising.
E-Ink watches do exists, they are made by Fossil, and are great. Popping mine in a charger while I shower is enough to keep it going indefinitely.
But e-ink can barely do moving images, there are some tricks which can enable stuff like a small part of the display showing a smoothly animating loading icon, but generally, e-ink can’t surpass 1Hz refresh rate.
The UI for Pebble was getting super slick and smoothly animated. That’s where the transflective LCD shines, its the best of both worlds, super low power usage while displaying a static image, but when you DO interact with it, it can do 60Hz animations no problem.
Pebble’s marketing campaign is so good, I’m still correcting people to this day. xD It’s something they call “e-paper”, but it’s really a transflective LCD (remember those?). Nowhere like e-ink.
Well, shit.
Same. Transflective LCDs are great, and I really wish they got used more. Smartwatches are such a perfect application, yet everyone still slaps on energy-hungry oleds that literally degrade from the UV radiation of sunlight.
But they have literally nothing in common with e-ink.
Love my transflective Garmin watch… But they seem to be moving towards oled too…
I have one of theirs too now, got it because great battery life.
