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.
Kobo Libra 2 black and white not color. I have been reading so many books on this thing, lovely. Also apparently you can just load any epub or even text files. No good for full size pdfs.
Thanks. You mean grayscale, not black/white, right?
If you read in bed, a cheap android tablet with FBReader connected to Calibre OPDS works nicely. I just bought a few old Nexus 7 tablets for redundancy and extra readers scattered around the house and at the cabin. They sync up reading positions over Gdrive. I like the tablet because I don’t have to turn on a light and it shuts the screen off when I fall asleep. You can set the brightness manually.
I have a Kobo Clara
2BW, and just keep the Internet off. I use Calibre to transfer files to it.Thanks. Does it require some sort of registering when you first use it?
Kobo devices ask you to login with a Rakuten account, but by an one-time job writing to a sqlite file it’s skipable.
I have a Kindle, and it’s relatively inexpensive (I assume the business model focuses on selling eBooks rather than the reading device itself). I never turn on the Wi-Fi or sign in; I use it offline by uploading books through USB with Calibre. I’ve read that it can be jailbroken, but it has met all my needs so far. Would this option work for you?
Yes, definitely. Is the age of the Kindle relevant here? Like, older is better?
https://kindlemodding.org/kindle-models.html
Since “winter break”, it seems that most versions are supported.
It seems breaking it requires registering and an internet connection.
Is this also required at first usage?
Funny, I just did this today. And yes it requires connecting to WiFi and registering the device with Amazon, since the jailbreak exploits a mechanic of the book store. But the new one “adbreak” exploits of mechanic of the advertising delivery system.
Definitely would not recommend buying one to do this. Kobo is the way (for now).
i have an ancient kobo 2 (?) that is repairable and just fine for the purpose
Kobo devices are not locked. They run an embedded Linux. You are free to compile your own system image to replace the factory one. That’s that, your freedom.
But if your interest is in reading, just install KOReader on it. All devices are supported.
Kobo Libra 2? Cannot find just Kobo 2.
What do you mean, repairable? Sounds very specific. Did you repair it?
ah no, sorry. it’s a Kobo Touch. very cheap when bought second hand. and together with the right cough subsription over at anna’s archive almost free 🤭
the screen eventually broke. was able to replace the screen with just a the right screwdriver (and the correct replacement part).
That sounds really good. Do e-readers generally require some sort of registration on first use?
Pocketbook has been good to me, not bound to any particular format or shop, just reads files and a lot of them are fairly inexpensive.
I would assume they’re available in Europe since I believe it’s a German company.
They are. On a related note, does anybody have any experience with handwriting recognition on the Pocketbook Inkpad? I’d like to get something like that for note taking. But that only makes sense for me if it can read my terrible scrawls.
Even a new one would start at €115, that’s cheap. How’s the battery?
I have a verse and haven’t charged it in probably 2 months. Granted I don’t use it heavily, mostly a bit at bedtime, but it seems to sip power pretty well.
That Verse model is quite nice for the price!
My wife has been asking about an eBook reader - her kobo broke some time ago, so she makes use of my modded kindle when I’m not, otherwise she reads on her phone.
This seems like a solid option!
And maybe the nice big color one for me…
+1 for the pocketbook. It is a Swiss company. Plays all formats that i ever needed. The software is… ok. The Era was about €150 but there are cheaper models.
so not Modos on crowdsource? it’s an open source device to translate HDMI signals from any OS to any e-ink monitor, comes with a 6" monitor for 199$.
otherwise old e-readers usually have a limit on the micro-SD card. like no bigger sized cards than 32 16 8 4 2 1 GB can be inserted… Sony PRS-T1 & 2 iirc is an example of an old one.
