Hi!
I want to get more into reading but books can be expensive and bulky.
I thought I’d buy a Kindle (or similar) since those screens are pleasant to read on, but I don’t know if there’s anything specific I should be looking for piracy wise.
Apparently amazon has added support for epubs so I’m hoping it’ll make it easier to load with my own downloaded books?
Also, the version names/models of kindles are crap.
Edit2: I’ve decided I’ll buy a paperwhite kindle (2020 version). I found a 2nd hand one, like new, for 80€ with a screen protector + magnetic cover. This way I’m still not supporting amazon :)
Edit: I seem to have posted this same/similar question yesterday but I have no recollection of doing so. If this is something you’re interested have a look at that post.
Basically there’s Kobo and Kindle where I’m at that are good. For me I like a bit more premium stuff in terms of having decent build quality etc and that means it’s either Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo Libre 2 that fits me. Both have proprietary shit software and their own bookstore but both can be side loaded. I generally prefer buying tried and tested hardware even if there probably exist some niche fully open source device out there but they tend to cost a lot more due to lacking scale of production. I wouldn’t however buy either of those new. I’ve setup reminders on second hand websites in my area and waiting till I find one in a good condition/price. Where I’m at that means for a almost unused device it should be about 10-20% below lowest historic price new. And older models around 50% below cost of a new model, naturally with a lot of variance depending on condition etc.
I’ve just found a paperwhite (2020version) great condition, with one magnetic cover for 80€. That’s about 40€ cheaper than amazon’s and I’m not even sure if they include the cover.
I think that’s what I’ll go for.
Definitely the Kobo Libra 2 or the Kobo Nia. I bought both a Kindle and a Kobo Libra 2 and ended up returning the Kindle because book piracy was a pain. The overall Kobo user experience is just a whole lot more pleasant.
Kobo consistently makes better products overall, but the ability to avoid Amazon (and the nonsense that comes from their proprietary format) is priceless.
I don’t know if this is what you meant, but Amazon dropped support for mobi and switched to epub in late 2022, iirc. Not that this means you suddenly should start using Amazon or anything.
Appreciate the correction! I haven’t dealt with Amazon for e-books since I got my first Kobo reader 5-6 years ago, so I’m out of the loop.
I have a Boox e-reader and love it. It’s an Android e-ink device so you get the benefits of being able to load android apps in, and you can put pretty much any ebook on there. That includes loading the Kindle App for Kindle books, other stores e-readers if you don’t want to strip DRM, and free readers like FBReader to read anything you want. They also have a colour device which is interesting for comics.
They have a range of devices, and I have a Boox Nova with FBReader (e-reader but not open source unfortunately) installed from the google play store on the device and Calibre on my PC (which is a cross-platform open source ebook management system). You can use Calibre to load and manage the books on your eReader, and manage and organize a big library of books on your PC or laptop.
It means I can read an ebook from any source (including bought on Amazon, ebooks I’ve bought in other stores android app, or in any app if I’ve removed the DRM from the book, and ePUBs or Mobi from anywhere in FBReader or your preferred ereader from the Play store) on one good e-ink device. You can probably side load Android APKs but I haven’t tried that. It’s also touch screen so can take notes and stuff on it. And because it’s an Android device I can also browse the internet and use android app like email etc. But it’s an e-ink device though so the screen isn’t designed for rapidly refreshing content; some Apps look janky on it and you can watch videos on it but they look a bit janky. It’s good for reading websites, news apps, PDFs, email; that kind of stuff. Not really good or intended for video, or games. It’s a superb e-reader, but with the added freedom of android. No amazon lock-in, no Kobo lock-in.
EDIT: Minor typos corrected
They have range of stuff; the cheapest is their Leaf 2 - €240 which is 350 CAD or £210. But yes it is more expensive than Kobo and Amazon; I try to remember they subsidise their ebook readers as they want to lock you in to their stores, and the Boox is more versatile as an Android e-ink device. I haven’t used the Leaf 2 myself, but the reviews I’ve found sound like it’s a pretty good ereader.
If not interested in e-ink, then any good generic Android tablet beats out Kobo and Kindle devices for freedom and are comparable in price.
I have a kindle from like a decade ago. It works fine. I just today had the thought as I was carrying it from the beach “why would anyone replace an old kindle?” So my suggestion is get the cheapest oldest model you can. Last week I updated my self hosted ebook library so I have calibre, calibre-web for a nicer front end, and readarr all working in tandem; it’s just about perfect. Books arrive magically on the device once they finish downloading and they download the instant they become available. I don’t know what else I’d want except for maybe a back light. But reading with actual natural light is a pleasure too.
Yeah I have a Kindle about that old and it still holds a charge for quite a while and works as well as when I bought it. It’s really one of the better electronics purchases I’ve made. Does what its meant to well without a lot of frills and has lasted quite a while.
I’ve looked at the newer models with slight improvements but could not reasonable justify the upgrade at all.
The only feature worth upgrading my PaperWhite for would be better resolution and the warm color frontlighting. If they release a robust color kindle, I’ll probably bite but I imagine Amazon isn’t doing that because it would be the last kindle anyone buys.
Yeah I would also like USB C and I believe the new ones have that too. But those things are all under the threshold of what I think would justify spending ~$150 when my old model still works so well.
I’ll likely ride this one out until the battery totally eats it and I’m guessing that’ll be a few more years at least given how it’s holding up right now. It looks like by then there’ll be more options in color e-ink displays which is pretty exciting.
That sounds amazing. Any chance you have a guide on how you have that setup?
I’ve seen radarr and sonarr and such everywhere but I’ve never used them so I don’t know where to start.
Heck yeah I do. https://academy.pointtosource.com/containers/ebooks-calibre-readarr/ This is the exact guide I followed. It’s basically idiot-proof.
Also head over to the /c/selfhosted community it’s super active and happy to help you.
You can jailbreak older software versions of kindle and install KoReader which is such a fantastic software. Open source and very feature rich https://github.com/koreader/koreader Personally I would not buy kindle again as I just don’t want Amazon on my device at all.
