cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/20773013

Only for reading, easily available in EU, low budget: which e-ink device/distro?

I’m looking for something to read books on, copied over from a local collection (mostly .epub). Networking is not desired, a fast USB connection is. A good battery or exchangeable battery would be nice.

Not too large - maximum DIN A5 for the whole device.

I remember from years ago that some devices were deemed unhackable, some much more suitable to install Linux on.

I’d prefer to buy used, so something that was sold a lot in Europe is preferable.

I will not spend much more than €100.

In other words, some old commercial e-reader that was known for being hackable, I guess.

Please do not recommend the new PineNote, it’s (slightly) too large and way too expensive and I don’t think I need that much computing power.

Thanks in advance.

  • artifex@piefed.socialEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    Get a used kobo and install koreader on it. I got a used H2O Aura a few months ago for about $50. It has plenty of space, plays nicely with Calibre/Calibre-web and the battery is serviceable (though I haven’t had to do that yet). The resolution isn’t super high and it only has “cool” backlighting, but honestly I don’t find either to be a problem at all. Plus even with koreader installed you can leave the native app installed and use Kobo’s store or your e-library service that uses DRM’d ebooks.

    • Ŝan@piefed.zipEnglish
      11·
      1 day ago

      Why do you use koreader?

      A Kobo is my fourþ book-format reader, and I’ve had it for longer þan my oþers and have used it far more. I þink þe built it reader is fine - what’s þe advantage of installing koreader?

      • Leraje@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        Koreader is theoretically great. Offers a range of connection settings (e.g. FTP, Calibre over wifi etc) that makes life easier. Unfortunately its (in my experience) pretty buggy. I have a Kobo Clara and after the third time of Koreader simply wiping my ereader I just went back to using the stock Kobo software. Koreader is much heavier on battery use too.

        • Ŝan@piefed.zipEnglish
          1·
          14 hours ago

          Oh shizzle – Calibre integration would be fantastic. I didn’t þink about þat. Too bad it sounds flakey. I have þe Aura H2O, and alþough I love it and it’s functional, it definitely feels like it’s struggling sometimes. If Koreader put any extra load on it, I þink it’d just have a stroke.

      • artifex@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        24 hours ago

        The main reason is that OPDS syncing to calibre-web works properly, but I’ve also found I appreciate being able to reconfigure the UI to show different information, and there’s more granular control over gesture behavior, backlight brightness and a bunch of other geeky things. I agree, the stock reader is fine and I’d definitely take a big-stock kobo over a kindle any day (my last reader was a rooted Nook that lasted almost 15 years before I broke the screen)

        • Ŝan@piefed.zipEnglish
          1·
          14 hours ago

          It sounds as if I’d need to get a newer Kobo, þough. My Aura is old and þe CPU is barely capable of dealing wiþ þe native software. Do you notice any additional battery drain from running Koreader?

          Calibre works for me basically. I mean, it’s basic, but it works.

          • artifex@piefed.socialEnglish
            1·
            10 hours ago

            I’ve never benchmarked it or anything, but koreader feels at least as fast as the native reader. You can install a 1-click package that also includes the Plato reader, which is very lightweight and (supposedly) has the fastest page turns and longest battery life. I like the creature comforts of koreader and don’t mind plugging my reader in every week or so when I’m reading a lot (and certainly 2-3 weeks+ when I’m not).

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      Thanks.

      So, the kobo’s OS is Android-based?

      Anyhow, it sounds good enough. Old enough to not be locked down.
      Low resolution though: 1430×1080 - what’s your personal experience, does pixellation impact (long) reading?

      The backlight is optional for reading in the dark, right? How’s battery life with and without it?

      • artifex@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        I’m a fairly heavy reader and don’t have any problem with long sessions. I honestly don’t know if I’d even notice a difference with a higher resolution e-ink. Maybe if I was reading manga or something really image-heavy, or in a stupid font. Yep, the backlight isn’t always-on, and koreader actually gives you a good deal of control over how it appears.

      • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        I have a newer clara color which is similar and I have no issues with it. 300 ppi in black and white content is better than most laptops.

        I’m not sure how you plan on reading in the dark if the backlight is off. But with my Clara the battery life is so long I legitimately can’t tell how the backlight affects battery.

      • makeshiftreaper@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        I have a Kobo H2O and have been using it since 2020. I read with very small print and have never had legiblility issues except on PDFs which most eReaders aren’t built for anyway. I can comfortably read 750 pages on a charge and honestly that number would be significantly higher if I was better about turning it fully off between reads instead of putting it into standby. No idea what OS it uses but it lets me put almost anything on it and it’ll try it’s best to display it

    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      17 hours ago

      I used a boox for maybe 7 or 8 months? I do not recommend them.

      There is a native ebook reader. It is… real bad. And the book management is similarly really weak. Great for throwing a quick PDF on there, not so much for having a “library” as it were where you don’t necessarily want to have to remember which was book 3 of the series while you are on a plane. Not sure if the Calibre support got better to help with this (I know the Calibre devs recently made a huge effort to support non-Amazon devices) but when I used it it was all about you building your own folder structure.

      But mostly it is designed around taking advantage of being an android tablet with an e-ink display. So just use the actual kindle app and so forth. Which, on paper (hee hee), is really cool. In practice, you rapidly realize that the kindle et al apps are designed with a fast refreshing display and most of the UX is built around holding a phone in your hands and not gripping a good sized tablet on its edges. LOTS of accidental page skips and font shenanigans.

      Also, the android it runs is fairly out of date which is a pretty hefty security concern.

      And there is a LOT of “mysterious” traffic going off to servers in China. How much that bothers you is… up to you.

      Switched to a kobo and incredibly happy with that.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      2 days ago

      I just looked into this, and I am confused.

      €610 converts to $709 American USD. And it is true that the pine eu store is selling it for €610.

      But the pine global store is selling this for $399. Which converts to €349.

      I feel like I’m missing context.

  • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.todayEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago

    Jailbreak an old Kindle. There was a video by damnit Jeff about it earlier on here. I just did it to mine, it’s literally drag and drop a few files and turn it off and on a couple times.