Rugged individualist seeks used, library-friendly e-paper device
February 15, 2023 12:49 PM Subscribe
Another librarian question, yay! I could use a non-tiny e-paper reader. A little reading has informed me that a sub-$125 old 9-10" Boox or Kobo (I just discovered that Poshmark has electronics) will probably have trouble with books from the local library. The local libraries have Hoopla, Overdrive, and "a number of sources". Which service will have books I'm interested in? What readers will work well with it? How do I research this?
In case it's relevant, subject areas I'd probably read about include: tech stuff from about 5 years ago; cookbooks; medical stuff about cats; pretty much the Metafilter gamut.
I'm also into reading whatever PDFs or epub files I find and download.
Less likely to need: sci-fi novels; literary fiction; self-help books (maybe); comics. So, if there's a more "pop-culture" (or whatever you'd call this) focused electronic archive, I'm not worried about matching its tech specs -- although I'd like to keep my options open, of course!
I've already learned that some libraries recommend a newer Android tablet, but ... my eyes! They want the e-paper! Also, I love how little power they use, and am interested in learning more about that whole system.
I'm trying to figure out what's the oldest e-reader I can safely purchase and not be frustrated by, and which brand/model is awesomest.
You'll probably want to know whether I can sacrifice size for cost/availability. I'll consider it, especially if you can tell me "A large e-reader is really not that great."
I know, I know, why am I trying to do this -- I just am :) Please advise if you have a moment.
In case it's relevant, subject areas I'd probably read about include: tech stuff from about 5 years ago; cookbooks; medical stuff about cats; pretty much the Metafilter gamut.
I'm also into reading whatever PDFs or epub files I find and download.
Less likely to need: sci-fi novels; literary fiction; self-help books (maybe); comics. So, if there's a more "pop-culture" (or whatever you'd call this) focused electronic archive, I'm not worried about matching its tech specs -- although I'd like to keep my options open, of course!
I've already learned that some libraries recommend a newer Android tablet, but ... my eyes! They want the e-paper! Also, I love how little power they use, and am interested in learning more about that whole system.
I'm trying to figure out what's the oldest e-reader I can safely purchase and not be frustrated by, and which brand/model is awesomest.
You'll probably want to know whether I can sacrifice size for cost/availability. I'll consider it, especially if you can tell me "A large e-reader is really not that great."
I know, I know, why am I trying to do this -- I just am :) Please advise if you have a moment.
I think the larger screens are good if you’re looking at graphics, formatted text (e.g. things in tables), stuff like that. For linear stretches of text, the screen area doesn’t matter much at all. I do find recipes kind of annoying on my kindle, so I will more often use my phone or tablet for those.
Hoopla doesn’t work well with most e-readers; Overdrive makes it pretty clear which formats are supported for which books.
posted by mskyle at 1:08 PM on February 15, 2023
Hoopla doesn’t work well with most e-readers; Overdrive makes it pretty clear which formats are supported for which books.
posted by mskyle at 1:08 PM on February 15, 2023
The trick with Overdrive on KOBO is that it works seemlessly when the same ebook version exists in the KOBO library. In my experience, this covers almost all ebooks from the major publishers available on overdrive, and nearly 100% of new releases. Most other epubs that do not have content restriction can be transferred to the device using Adobe digital editions.
You'll find formatting on public domain ebooks like Gutenberg functional but iffy, scanned and converted ebooks nearly unuseable. Similarly, PDFs are really limited and will often crop in mysterious ways, or will cause huge performance issues if they are very large. Not sure if that's a problem with other devices.
So, I would recommend Kobo for any ebook that has been professionally formatted for an e edition. I would not personally recommend it for PDF, magazines, or obscure epubs that were not created by a human. It sounds like you're more interested in the latter, not the former, in which case I think a tablet in dark/ sepia mode may be your best bet.
posted by Think_Long at 1:18 PM on February 15, 2023
You'll find formatting on public domain ebooks like Gutenberg functional but iffy, scanned and converted ebooks nearly unuseable. Similarly, PDFs are really limited and will often crop in mysterious ways, or will cause huge performance issues if they are very large. Not sure if that's a problem with other devices.
So, I would recommend Kobo for any ebook that has been professionally formatted for an e edition. I would not personally recommend it for PDF, magazines, or obscure epubs that were not created by a human. It sounds like you're more interested in the latter, not the former, in which case I think a tablet in dark/ sepia mode may be your best bet.
posted by Think_Long at 1:18 PM on February 15, 2023
My wife uses a Kobo with Overdrive with the local library. Occasionally she runs into a title that has an issue - probably what Think_Log discusses above - but by and large it works smoothly and she loves it.
posted by kbanas at 1:26 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by kbanas at 1:26 PM on February 15, 2023
Response by poster: kbanas - Could you tell me which Kobo she's using? If it's more than a couple of years old, maybe I could consider that specific model.
posted by amtho at 1:29 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by amtho at 1:29 PM on February 15, 2023
Direct-from-rakuten refurbished Kobos look to be under $125 for me - are you concerned about price, or do you just want the oldest eReader you can get?
posted by sagc at 1:34 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by sagc at 1:34 PM on February 15, 2023
Response by poster: Price + an interesting perspective on recycling / not throwing away old electronics + I might eventually want a second one, to experiment with making apps for it.
posted by amtho at 1:36 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 1:36 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Also: I want a _big_ one.
posted by amtho at 1:38 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 1:38 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have a Boox Poke4 with Hoopla, Instapaper, and Play Books. It's small, but text scaling is a thing. Being Android-based, all of the services sync with my other devices, and there's no fiddling around with getting content to the device.
posted by jmfitch at 2:32 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jmfitch at 2:32 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Boox is built on Android. It takes a little work to enable apps outside of their limited store but once you've done that you can run pretty much anything Android supports.
posted by Candleman at 4:07 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by Candleman at 4:07 PM on February 15, 2023
I would definitely recommend Kobo, they have library capability easily accessible. I would not go too far back because the screen quality really improved around 2018. Boox makes good devices but their interfaces can be fiddly.
I really liked my Forma, which was 8", though it's a bit above your budget at their refurb store. It was well built and the screen is good. Maybe you can find a used one for less!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:14 PM on February 15, 2023
I really liked my Forma, which was 8", though it's a bit above your budget at their refurb store. It was well built and the screen is good. Maybe you can find a used one for less!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:14 PM on February 15, 2023
I have a boox note air, and it works great with Libby(overdrive) and Kindle apps, among others.
posted by rockindata at 7:04 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by rockindata at 7:04 PM on February 15, 2023
Overdrive has always worked seamlessly on my Kobo.
posted by Bottlecap at 8:24 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by Bottlecap at 8:24 PM on February 15, 2023
Woot sells refurbished kindles and they all work with Overdrive. You may not find an e-ink+big screen on woot, though.
posted by soelo at 8:28 PM on February 15, 2023
posted by soelo at 8:28 PM on February 15, 2023
I happen to be researching this myself at the moment. I have found that there are communities of e-reader nerds who are happy to write reviews and comparisons. On Reddit, r/ereader and r/eink are quite active. Good e-Reader is a blog with a lot of reviews and also YouTube channel.
Many of the bigger e-readers are really e-ink notebooks that happen to have reader apps. These also have a nerd community making reviews. My Deep Guide and Brandon Boswell are YouTube channels that cover this. Sometimes the notebooks are less well-regarded as e-readers.
Most of these devices have pretty locked-down operating systems, with the exception of Boox. I'm not sure how feasible it is to make apps for them, but you know more about that than me.
posted by Comet Bug at 9:04 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Many of the bigger e-readers are really e-ink notebooks that happen to have reader apps. These also have a nerd community making reviews. My Deep Guide and Brandon Boswell are YouTube channels that cover this. Sometimes the notebooks are less well-regarded as e-readers.
Most of these devices have pretty locked-down operating systems, with the exception of Boox. I'm not sure how feasible it is to make apps for them, but you know more about that than me.
posted by Comet Bug at 9:04 PM on February 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
not a model recommendation, but wanted to point out that overdrive (aka Libby) lists compatible ereaders, though it looks like not an exhaustive list you could at least be assured that any of these would work. some are e-ink (e.g., nook, some kobo), but I don’t know every model without searching it up. hoopla has a little less documentation than overdrive, so if it were me i would begin with the criteria of e-ink compatibility with overdrive and then search specific for hoopla. your local library can help you if you can’t find info for a specific model if there’s one you find for sale and want to check— they can contact the company (overdrive, hoopla, etc) to verify compatibility for you. good luck!
posted by tamarack at 6:16 AM on February 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tamarack at 6:16 AM on February 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A little reading has informed me that a sub-$125 old 9-10" Boox or Kobo (I just discovered that Poshmark has electronics) will probably have trouble with books from the local library.
I'm not sure exactly what you've read. Kobo devices have an Overdrive client built in, and they should be able to download any book available from your library in epub format. Onyx Boox devices support Overdrive's Libby app (which may not be installed by default but is easy enough to install). And for that matter, Kindle devices also "work with" Overdrive/Libby, although the process has more steps than a direct checkout. I've seen indications in Libby that it's possible some books may not be available in a format compatible with some devices, but I've never actually encountered a book limited in that way. (I think it maybe involves DRM-protected PDFs, a format used for some textbooks, but I've never actually tried to check one out).
Out of curiosity I looked briefly at The eBook Reader's comparison table and there isn't anything listed at 9." Based on that list (which at least covers all the major and some of the minor brands) you may be in for a hard time trying to find a 9" reader at all, much less in your price range. If 8" will do the Kobo Sage seems to be a nice device, but it's a new model and unlikely to be found for your stated price. And 10" readers tend to be focused on note taking and not just reading, based on reviews, and they're all $300 or more new. You didn't mention note taking as important, so it's hard to know whether you'd be interested in those features (especially at the potential cost of some text clarity thanks to the input layer on the screen) or if the drawbacks and the added cost would just be negatives. (See, perhaps, reviews of the new Kindle Scribe from Ars Technica and The Verge, which both compare it to the Remarkable 2, not always favorably). And I forget which device it was, but I read a review of some big reader/tablet that pointed out it's not actually that great for just reading since it's kind of heavy and off-balance if you're holding it one handed for extended periods. Smaller and lighter devices turn out to be better for long reading sessions if you're not also taking notes at the same time.
Personally I'm curious about the Onyx Boox Leaf2 as a potential replacement for my Kindle, but it's only 7". Even though it has a different Android version and (supposedly) a faster processor than the original Leaf model, the biggest practical difference is the addition of page buttons. Note that link goes to B&H Photo: in the US Staples and Best Buy are authorized suppliers, but neither of them has the Leaf2 available at the moment, and Onyx Boox doesn't have the greatest brand consistency or retail support. Best Buy still has the original Leaf, but it's $50 more than the new one with page buttons so it's a hard sell. Even at $200 the Leaf2 seems a little expensive for something from such a shady-seeming brand, which is why I haven't just bought one already.
posted by fedward at 9:07 AM on February 16, 2023
I'm not sure exactly what you've read. Kobo devices have an Overdrive client built in, and they should be able to download any book available from your library in epub format. Onyx Boox devices support Overdrive's Libby app (which may not be installed by default but is easy enough to install). And for that matter, Kindle devices also "work with" Overdrive/Libby, although the process has more steps than a direct checkout. I've seen indications in Libby that it's possible some books may not be available in a format compatible with some devices, but I've never actually encountered a book limited in that way. (I think it maybe involves DRM-protected PDFs, a format used for some textbooks, but I've never actually tried to check one out).
Out of curiosity I looked briefly at The eBook Reader's comparison table and there isn't anything listed at 9." Based on that list (which at least covers all the major and some of the minor brands) you may be in for a hard time trying to find a 9" reader at all, much less in your price range. If 8" will do the Kobo Sage seems to be a nice device, but it's a new model and unlikely to be found for your stated price. And 10" readers tend to be focused on note taking and not just reading, based on reviews, and they're all $300 or more new. You didn't mention note taking as important, so it's hard to know whether you'd be interested in those features (especially at the potential cost of some text clarity thanks to the input layer on the screen) or if the drawbacks and the added cost would just be negatives. (See, perhaps, reviews of the new Kindle Scribe from Ars Technica and The Verge, which both compare it to the Remarkable 2, not always favorably). And I forget which device it was, but I read a review of some big reader/tablet that pointed out it's not actually that great for just reading since it's kind of heavy and off-balance if you're holding it one handed for extended periods. Smaller and lighter devices turn out to be better for long reading sessions if you're not also taking notes at the same time.
Personally I'm curious about the Onyx Boox Leaf2 as a potential replacement for my Kindle, but it's only 7". Even though it has a different Android version and (supposedly) a faster processor than the original Leaf model, the biggest practical difference is the addition of page buttons. Note that link goes to B&H Photo: in the US Staples and Best Buy are authorized suppliers, but neither of them has the Leaf2 available at the moment, and Onyx Boox doesn't have the greatest brand consistency or retail support. Best Buy still has the original Leaf, but it's $50 more than the new one with page buttons so it's a hard sell. Even at $200 the Leaf2 seems a little expensive for something from such a shady-seeming brand, which is why I haven't just bought one already.
posted by fedward at 9:07 AM on February 16, 2023
I've already learned that some libraries recommend a newer Android tablet, but ... my eyes! They want the e-paper!
I had the same problem, my library provides awesome content, especially newspapers like the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal or magazines like Rolling Stone, Smithonian etc., but they are not fun to read on a tiny screen. And reading them on a monitor is not what I want, I want to read them chilling on the couch or at breakfast without lugging my laptop around.
I could not find any big eReader and got a used Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE for 350€ which has a 12.4 display, and it's really great for this purpose. The screen is very good and I have no problem reading for long stretches on it. And with a little bit of zooming you can read anything, comics, graphic novels, cookbooks, it's really neat.
So if you don't find a suitable e-reader, maybe reconsider a tablet.
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon at 7:20 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had the same problem, my library provides awesome content, especially newspapers like the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal or magazines like Rolling Stone, Smithonian etc., but they are not fun to read on a tiny screen. And reading them on a monitor is not what I want, I want to read them chilling on the couch or at breakfast without lugging my laptop around.
I could not find any big eReader and got a used Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE for 350€ which has a 12.4 display, and it's really great for this purpose. The screen is very good and I have no problem reading for long stretches on it. And with a little bit of zooming you can read anything, comics, graphic novels, cookbooks, it's really neat.
So if you don't find a suitable e-reader, maybe reconsider a tablet.
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon at 7:20 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
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I don't find it bothers my eyes. I can easily vary the light and the print size.
posted by Enid Lareg at 1:00 PM on February 15, 2023