E-Reader (ebook reader, ereader)

[Etherealicer]

So, I'm looking to replace my good ol Kindle 4, not because I have to, but because I would like to. I'm quite undecided and would like to hear what you guys like.
I'm considering getting a very small one ~4" or a 6" (default) or maybe both. While I have some contenders (see below) I'm completely undecided. Also E-Book readers are cheap (compared to books, actually in Switzerland the money I save on 15 E-books pays for a Reader )

What I liked about my Kindle 4
Light-weight, thanks to the buttons can be used one-handed.

What I disliked
Only one layer of collections (can't have a collection in collection)



Kindle Paperwhite 2014
The obvious choice, however it lacks the buttons to change page (only touch screen, I don't like that).

PocketBook Ultra
Maybe a bit on the exotic side (but that could be a good thing, outsiders have more to proof). It has similar stats to the Paperwhite but is a lot lighter (175 vs 206g) and smaller in every dimension, slightly lower battery capacity (1500 vs 1600 mA) yet packs a 6" 1024x768 screen (same as the Paperwhite). It also plays mp3 and has a camera (not sure I like that). Has buttons to change page.
Costs 10$ more than the PaperWhite

TrekStore 4.3"
Obviously less capable than the two above but same resolution as the Kindle 4 in a smaller and lighter package. Costs about a third of what the other two cost.

[obonaven]

How 'bout a full blown tablet?  I have a Nexus 7 (2013 version) and read on it all the time.  In fact that's it primary purpose, plus I get the benefits on everything else it can do.

[Etherealicer]

How 'bout a full blown tablet?  I have a Nexus 7 (2013 version) and read on it all the time.  In fact that's it primary purpose, plus I get the benefits on everything else it can do.

Good question but I have several reasons for an e-reader:
- Reading on a tablet tires my eyes much more
- You cannot read on a tablet in bright sunlight.
- Battery life
- Tablets don't have buttons to turn page

I'm an avid reader and I can read more than 8 hours straight. When I'm on holidays I usually read between 5 and 10 books . So I think a dedicated device makes sense for me.

And just to make clear, that I know what I'm talking about:
I have access to the Nexus 7 (same as yours), Motorola Xoom, every variation of iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7" and Note 3. No, I don't own those (except for the Note 3), I use them at work.

[ironraven]

My Kindle has great battery life and is big enough to read on. It has NOT been replaced by my smart phone. Down side is that great battery life is becuase it doesn't light up at night. So... I read on my phone after I turn off the lights....

But since I'm usually reading 3-4 books at a time, it isn't a problem.

[mrynnr]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

[MadPlumbarian]

I'll have to keep an eye on this subject, my wife lives off of her kindle, and that things got to be four years old? I think it's the first one amazon came out with? I know she's been thinking of getting a new one so I'll just see what you all think.. JR

[Etherealicer]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

[mrynnr]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

hmm never needed sub collections.. Just added a book to multiple collections. Maybe I just don't have that many books.

[Etherealicer]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

hmm never needed sub collections.. Just added a book to multiple collections. Maybe I just don't have that many books.

I sort my Books by Author, but what I really would want to do is this:

Author > Series

e.g.
Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli
Eddings, David > Belgariad / Malloreon

or
Philosophy > Machiavelli, Nicolo
Philosophy > Plato

Also because you can have so many books on your reader it would actually be awesome if you could do this:
E > Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli

[mrynnr]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

hmm never needed sub collections.. Just added a book to multiple collections. Maybe I just don't have that many books.

I sort my Books by Author, but what I really would want to do is this:

Author > Series

e.g.
Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli
Eddings, David > Belgariad / Malloreon

or
Philosophy > Machiavelli, Nicolo
Philosophy > Plato

Also because you can have so many books on your reader it would actually be awesome if you could do this:
E > Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli

it looks like the voyage doesn't have that feature either I was going to suggest what if you created a collection for each...
-Eddings, David - Elenium / Tamuli
-Eddings, David - Belgariad / Malloreon
But then you'll end up with a lot of if collections.

[Etherealicer]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

hmm never needed sub collections.. Just added a book to multiple collections. Maybe I just don't have that many books.

I sort my Books by Author, but what I really would want to do is this:

Author > Series

e.g.
Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli
Eddings, David > Belgariad / Malloreon

or
Philosophy > Machiavelli, Nicolo
Philosophy > Plato

Also because you can have so many books on your reader it would actually be awesome if you could do this:
E > Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli

it looks like the voyage doesn't have that feature either I was going to suggest what if you created a collection for each...
-Eddings, David - Elenium / Tamuli
-Eddings, David - Belgariad / Malloreon
But then you'll end up with a lot of if collections.

What I actually do is to put the Series in the Book title. That works to some degree but there are authors that are quite prolific.
Eddings, David > Elenium 01 - Diamond Throne

Still, its kinda funny how they advertise that you can have thousands of books on your reader, but provide no means to organize your digital library.

[mrynnr]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

hmm never needed sub collections.. Just added a book to multiple collections. Maybe I just don't have that many books.

I sort my Books by Author, but what I really would want to do is this:

Author > Series

e.g.
Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli
Eddings, David > Belgariad / Malloreon

or
Philosophy > Machiavelli, Nicolo
Philosophy > Plato

Also because you can have so many books on your reader it would actually be awesome if you could do this:
E > Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli

it looks like the voyage doesn't have that feature either I was going to suggest what if you created a collection for each...
-Eddings, David - Elenium / Tamuli
-Eddings, David - Belgariad / Malloreon
But then you'll end up with a lot of if collections.

What I actually do is to put the Series in the Book title. That works to some degree but there are authors that are quite prolific.
Eddings, David > Elenium 01 - Diamond Throne

Still, its kinda funny how they advertise that you can have thousands of books on your reader, but provide no means to organize your digital library.

yeah... I guess the expect us to just use the search function to find book. Maybe a firmware update in the near future?

[Etherealicer]

Amazon is coming out with a kindle voyage in October. It has buttons and 300 dpi. Not sure when it comes out for international. They raised the price to $199 for wifi.... Storage is 4gb.

That is a good one. It addresses one of my biggest concern of the Paperwhite (no buttons to change page).
Sadly, it appears you still can't have sub-collections (sub-categories) although I have to make more research on that topic.

hmm never needed sub collections.. Just added a book to multiple collections. Maybe I just don't have that many books.

I sort my Books by Author, but what I really would want to do is this:

Author > Series

e.g.
Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli
Eddings, David > Belgariad / Malloreon

or
Philosophy > Machiavelli, Nicolo
Philosophy > Plato

Also because you can have so many books on your reader it would actually be awesome if you could do this:
E > Eddings, David > Elenium / Tamuli

it looks like the voyage doesn't have that feature either I was going to suggest what if you created a collection for each...
-Eddings, David - Elenium / Tamuli
-Eddings, David - Belgariad / Malloreon
But then you'll end up with a lot of if collections.

What I actually do is to put the Series in the Book title. That works to some degree but there are authors that are quite prolific.
Eddings, David > Elenium 01 - Diamond Throne

Still, its kinda funny how they advertise that you can have thousands of books on your reader, but provide no means to organize your digital library.

yeah... I guess the expect us to just use the search function to find book. Maybe a firmware update in the near future?

The kindle family has been around for quite some time and I even wrote them a quite lengthy email (to which I never got a reply). So I'm not very optimistic about that.

[bmot]

I really like my Kobo reader what did they call it again? Aura or something


It has a backlight you can turn on to read in the dark, which I really like, besides that, just a general e-reader. Comes with Kobo-store software, but you can put on your own books as well.


It doesn't really have good sorting function I believe, though, or I just haven't found them yet.


It does have a touchscreen, but works easily one-handed as long as you don't have to go back, as it reacts to a press, you don't need to swipe.

[Etherealicer]

I really like my Kobo reader what did they call it again? Aura or something


It has a backlight you can turn on to read in the dark, which I really like, besides that, just a general e-reader. Comes with Kobo-store software, but you can put on your own books as well.


It doesn't really have good sorting function I believe, though, or I just haven't found them yet.


It does have a touchscreen, but works easily one-handed as long as you don't have to go back, as it reacts to a press, you don't need to swipe.

I was looking at the Kobo Aura H2O, its slightly larger 6.8" display (1430 x 1080, 265 dpi) brother. Being more water and dust resistant is certainly interesting.

[Mr. Whippy]

Question:

Do e readers have 3M reader app?  Mostly I check out books from the public library, but I need 3M's app to do it.

[Whoey]

I suppose this is irrelevant to your search, but we have and still use a Kindle Keyboard, granted it doesn't get heavy duty use, my wife uses it for a lot of the books she needs to read for her degree. A few years back my mother in law got interested in ereaders and we ended up getting her a basic Kindle Touch. It's simple enough for her, and we load it up with books when she visits us or my inlaws...

Personally I wouldn't even look at another brand of ereader... for the money they seem to be the best. There are loads of generic ereaders, but they always seem to fall short. And as you say, you have no interest in using a tablet (which makes totals sense to me too) for reading.

[Etherealicer]

Question:

Do e readers have 3M reader app?  Mostly I check out books from the public library, but I need 3M's app to do it.

According to the 3M Website, some support it, but the only true eReader I found are from Kobo.
Lots of them support pdf (DRM) and epub (DRM) though. Well, except Amazon eReaders of course, they don't support epub.

However, they are all Android devices. Newer ones allow you to install apps (e.g. Sudoku) so with those it should work too. Some you might have to jailbreak.

[Etherealicer]

I just noticed that the Kindle 4 aka Kindle Basic aka Kindle got a face lifting.
It now has lost its ingenious page turning buttons (and the 4-way button) but has gained touch-screen / faster processor. Still, as a cheap solution its still a good contender, after all its half the price of a Paperwhite.

[enki_ck]

I'm still using my 5" BeBook. Still going strong after 5 years and I don't see myself changing that any time soon.

It hits all the points I'd like in an eBook reader. eInk, expandable storage (SD and Micro SD cards + internal sotrage), can read anything form a word document, HTML, PDF, ePub and anything you throw at it and can play MP3s too (although I haven't used it much for that, if ever).

NO wifi, NO camera, No 3G, NO touch screen, NO unneeded extras that only drain your battery. Can get several thousand page turns on it without recharging.

I may be weird but I prefer my eBook to just be an eBook, not a tablet. I have other devices if I want to browse the internet and I can download the books an transfer them to it via PC or phone if necessary.

[Etherealicer]

I'm still using my 5" BeBook. Still going strong after 5 years and I don't see myself changing that any time soon.

It hits all the points I'd like in an eBook reader. eInk, expandable storage (SD and Micro SD cards + internal sotrage), can read anything form a word document, HTML, PDF, ePub and anything you throw at it and can play MP3s too (although I haven't used it much for that, if ever).

NO wifi, NO camera, No 3G, NO touch screen, NO unneeded extras that only drain your battery. Can get several thousand page turns on it without recharging.

I may be weird but I prefer my eBook to just be an eBook, not a tablet. I have other devices if I want to browse the internet and I can download the books an transfer them to it via PC or phone if necessary.

I also prefer my eReader to be nothing more.

However, if the display is large enough AND I can use pen-input AND there is a reasonable software to take notes then I can see the use of a camera (take a picture of a graphic, import it in your note taking software, annotate). A e-ink notebook would be great too (long battery life, light, easy to read from, easy to share your notes etc.).

P.S.: Just ordered the TrekStore 4.3" (pink ), because its the smallest eReader available (and out of production). That does not mean I'm done. I actually am torn between the Kindle Voyage and the PocketBook Ultra. Probably going to order one of those too in the near future.

[mrynnr]

Had not even heard of pocketbook. I think I'd still go for the voyage. 300 dpi vs 212 dpi. The camera scan on the pocketbook is a pretty neat feature though. I wonder if it works well. I can borrow Ebooks from my local library and read it on the kindle... Not sure if it would support the pocketbook. What is the price difference?

[kkokkolis]

I would like an eBook reader too. I read in my tablet now (LG V500) but I use it for many things and have to recharge mid-day (sometimes twice). Reading in a separate device adds complexity but saves battery life from the tablet.
Here's what is available in my country: http://www.skroutz.gr/c/992/ebook-readers.html
I want a nice screen and long battery life. It should read txt, pdf, cbr, cbz, djvu, doc and docx
I have a great collection of these and don't really buy new best sellers and stuff. I mostly read about science, nature and classic literature. So I almost never needed epub.
It should be light, thin and self illuminated, to read while my wife is asleep.
Which one would you recommend?

[Etherealicer]

Had not even heard of pocketbook. I think I'd still go for the voyage. 300 dpi vs 212 dpi. The camera scan on the pocketbook is a pretty neat feature though. I wonder if it works well. I can borrow Ebooks from my local library and read it on the kindle... Not sure if it would support the pocketbook. What is the price difference?

Problem is more the other way round. Kindle is way inferior to other devices, when it comes to document type support. And according to the Kindle Voyage page still doesn't support epub / epub (DRM) THE most common document format (and what the Swiss Library uses).

Kindle Voyage: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC
PocketBook Ultra: PDF, PDF (DRM), EPUB, EPUB(DRM), DJVU, FB2, FB2.ZIP, DOC, DOCX, RTF, PRC, TCR, TXT, CHM, HTM, HTML, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, MP3

Price:
Can't get the promo for the Voyage, so the device is 220$ and they will charge me a premium shipping fee of 30$. The PocketBook Ultra I get for 180$, so roughly 70$ less. Although the price will only be a minor factor, once I take my decision.

[Etherealicer]

I would like an eBook reader too. I read in my tablet now (LG V500) but I use it for many things and have to recharge mid-day (sometimes twice). Reading in a separate device adds complexity but saves battery life from the tablet.
Here's what is available in my country: http://www.skroutz.gr/c/992/ebook-readers.html
I want a nice screen and long battery life. It should read txt, pdf, cbr, cbz, djvu, doc and docx
I have a great collection of these and don't really buy new best sellers and stuff. I mostly read about science, nature and classic literature. So I almost never needed epub.
It should be light, thin and self illuminated, to read while my wife is asleep.
Which one would you recommend?

Well, the PocketBook Ultra is on that list. So I suggest that BUT I just ordered the TrekStore Pyrus, so you might wanna wait on a short review on that (after all that one is a real bargain).

Sorry, scratch the thought about the TrekStore, that one is not illuminated.

[kkokkolis]

I'll consider that, thank you.

[jzmtl]

Problem is more the other way round. Kindle is way inferior to other devices, when it comes to document type support. And according to the Kindle Voyage page still doesn't support epub / epub (DRM) THE most common document format (and what the Swiss Library uses).

For that reason I'd never get a kindle. I have one of the early ones (1st gen Kobo) and decided against kindle because it doesn't support epub. It's pretty crappy by today's standard, but I don't use it enough to justify upgrading.

[Etherealicer]

So, my TrekStore Pyrus Mini finally arrived.

After a quick glance at it:
PROS:
+ Same resolution as the Kindle
+ Good contrast
+ Small and light
+ Cheap
+ MicroSD Card Slot

CONS:
- Because of its color, my GF thinks its hers
- The black is not as black, when compared to the kindle

[mrynnr]

Whoa it's a lot smaller than the kindle. That's cool!

[Mr. Whippy]

Whoa it's a lot smaller than the kindle. That's cool!

Yeah.  I like being able to read and flip pages one handed.  Looks very pocketable too.