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
    1·
    5 hours ago

    My main things are better calibre integration and better formatting options for PDFs, since I read research papers as well as books on mine (and honestly for that reason alone I will probably eventually buy a large-format e-reader someday when the prices are not LOL).

    Aside from those, koreader supports a bunch of other formats that the stock reader software does not (can’t say I’ve ever used them though), and there are also a LOT of customizable options. KOReader offers fine control of margins, line spacing, font boldness/kerning, two-column layouts, custom CSS overrides and better gesture support (swipes, taps) for frontlight, warmlight, screen refresh, etc.

    I’m sure there’s a performance tradeoff with large documents, but I haven’t used the stock reader in a long time so I don’t really know. Likewise for battery life, but I tend to charge mine often enough that it’s not a problem.