Issue is reading device, not ebooks. I recommend pocketbook as better alternative to kindle.
I’ve never let my kindle connect to wifi. Mostly because of the tracking shit (that I now know they definitely do) but also so Amazon doesn’t brick it with an “update”.
You can block all their advertising, telemetry and even their software update domains with pi hole. The older readers allow you to set hardcoded DNS to your pi hole server. Not sure if the newer Kindle Fires and Paperwhites do or not.
From the technical side, they run two 3.x kernel systems on their readers and the sdk was not touched since 2018. Which is why i bought a Android eInk, despite being from the same country like PB.
But i think they are more UI-centric and that part seems to be great, together with long battery life, stability and openness.
Way worse. Long battery live wasn’t a requirement for my usecase. PocketBook apparently holds weeks there. I you only want a reader, PB is the better choice. I wanted nextcloud sync (although there’s a community app for PB) and general hackability of the software, which is why Android.
A cookie banner with “Yes track me” and “Choose how much you want us to track you” button (on the retailer for my country, doesn’t seem to appear on the dot com site) doesn’t inspire confidence.
Hows their ink screens? I stayed with kindle primarily for their paperwhite, which is darn comfortable even in direct sunlight.
If possible, get your books in epub format, get an eInk Android tablet for less than £100 and enjoy.
Do you have a recommendation on which one to get? The different options seem fairly similar. Biggest concern is reading outdoors.
I have the Clara. It’s smallish but I prefer smaller for an e-reader.
Most eink displays should do just fine outdoors, so you shouldn’t worry about that.
Love my kobo libra h20, would highly recommend. Easy to sideload epubs with calibre.
Most of the books I have on my reader are not available in epub or formats like it, rather as pdf/djvu scans. So I’d add it might be absolutely worth it to pay more for a big screen.
Also the device never ever connects to the internet. Gives you more freedom.
You can easily convert pdf files to epub then do a little light editing to make sure you don’t have weird artifacts like page numbers the book name or author name. I can process a pdf to epub in 20 minutes at most (most are a minute it two) for average novel length, which I understand is a big ask for lots of folks but it’s worth it to me to have the file in a format that I can keep and use on pretty much anything.
you could share your books uploading them to libgen. I mean, they are probably already there but in an annoying PDF format. Not everyone has the knowledge to convert a PDF to an epub with good formatting.
Mind giving a rundown of how you do it? I tried it many, many times and never accomplished much
“Do a light editing” you mean read through a huge book? I have downloaded automatically-converted versions like this and they’re unreadable at times. Also would that work well on complex math formulas?
Edit: might try doing so to upload for others, but looking through the whole book must be long, tedious work, definitely not something I’d do for every book.
Probably controversial on my next few words but use your phone as an ereader.
Go through a couple of apps for ebooks (FDroid as a few) until you find the app that most suits your needs.
Amazon is not your friend, so try to explore other venues; Smashwords has a pretty interesting catalog. Project Guttenberg has a good number of older texts and public domain books, all for free.
I am sure other options exist, especially if willing to navigate the high seas.
Phones don’t provide the same experience as an e-reader with e-ink. The best option, IMO, is to get an e-reader that allows sideloading and works without Internet connection, so you can read books about the high seas.
I would love to get an ereader but all models I can find are horribly expensive and come with strings attached.
A good quality tablet, with Android stripped down, perhaps an older model, with a proper ebook program can make good job at that and comes at a much lower price.
I have a 6.49 inches screen on my phone and it had enabled me to read more books than I can think of.
I have an e-reader as well as a phone, tablet, and paper books and honestly I still prefer my phone over anything else. With my phone it’s easier to look up words/concepts I don’t know if I want more than a simple definition of the word. Sometimes I will use the e-reader with my phone next to me for when I want to look something up. These days I would say paper books are my least favorite medium though. Big, bulky, and it’s more work to read them in the dark.
I don’t really use it but I have a Kindle oasis. Do I have any options for stripping Amazon from the equation? I’m no stranger to soft mods and hacks.
As long as you don’t need audiobooks on it, you can essentially erase your wifi credentials, turn off wifi, and manage your ebooks through USB and something like Calibre.
The Kindle OS will continue to collect and store all sorts of telemetry, and will upload it later if you ever reconnect the device to the internet. Just something to consider.
Normally, I would just suggest avoiding Kindles but, like me, you already have the device so might as well use it.
I’ve never tried sending ebooks to the Kindle Oasis via USB…that’s an option? Never even tried connecting it to my laptop. The Kindle and Calibre talk to each other pretty easily that way?
Solution: steal the book, email the author and ask how you can make a donation direct to them
