Looking for a e ink ebook reader that’s easy on the eyes, can do Libby library books easily, and extra bonus if there is a built in planner that could sync online. I don’t want to be locked into an Amazon or other system that requires subscription services. Thanks!
Edit: thanks a ton for all the replies and advice. I ordered a kobo libre color! Going to set it up for the misses as a gift. She generally wants a physical book but recently had been reading on her phone and complaining about it hurting her eyes. <3
Onyx Boox, runs on Android so you can install whatever apps you want.
I second this. Been using their Nova 3 model for a good long while now and love it, been telling people it’s one of my favorite tech purchases ever. Running android and being able to sideload things is a gamechanger for e-readers.
Check out the channel My Deep Guide on YouTube for in depth reviews of the latest Onyx Boox offerings and how they compare to others though before you buy, apparently some weirdness in their newest model
I know it’s not for everyone, and I myself enjoy tinkering, but I bet finding a used Kindle who’s firmware stopped being current and jail breaking would be a solid choice.
I just jail broke my older Kindle paper white 7the gen (2015), not even a week ago. I didn’t use it that often because it was always sluggish and can’t stand non snappy UI.
Holy hell this thing is sooooo much better now. I use KOReader only, and have a launcher shortcut that kills Amazon’s “framework” before launching, which stops all of their software from running in the background.
The UI is responsive, more customizable, drains less battery, and instead of ads while sleeping, it displays a blacked out version of the book cover I’m reading.
It also got me started with Calibre to sync and manage epubs instead, and KOReader has a built in tool to connect and sync the books.
It wasn’t difficult, but it was time consuming making sure I understood everything first, and didn’t miss a step. They even have an app store for jail broken Kindles now that made installing anything needed after jail breaking much much easier. I’d be surprised if someone hasn’t made a planner to download.
I was able to use the older WinterBreak exploit, and the current and sadly already patched exploit is called AdBreak.
Love this idea. Would probably be an excellent choice for many lemmings
I like my Kobo Libra H2O, it’s still chugging along nicely since 2019 (I think?) and fits my needs perfectly with my Calibre lib
If you are in Europe: Pocketbook.
Reasonably open plattform, good support, works with almost everything.
Another Kobo fan here. Got the Libra 2 for physical page turn buttons. No subscriptions. Haven’t accessed Libby but it’s an option. Can sideload with no issues. Doesn’t have a planner unfortunately. Great device, had mine for three years so far and hoping I never have to buy another one.
I have a Kobo Libra Color. It doesn’t have an actual planner but it has a notebook that I’ve actually considered using as a Planner before.
got a kobo libra colour, no complaints to speak of besides an slightly weaker black/white contrast than the non-colour models. i use KOReader for the software though, which i can highly reccomend. default software is just rather shallow. 3rd pary software install was dead easy, too
I have a kobo color and like it but the software definitely lacking. I’ve also found it hard to find some mainstream books for purchase outside Amazon store which is hard.
Where do you find content and do you have any recommendations for third party software setup?
for content, i mostly pirate things, to be entirely honest. torrenting can be good for audiobooks, but for ebooks, searching archive sites like zlib or even just archive.org i find is often fruitful. alternatively, other P2P networks can be pretty good too (i find alot of stuff on soulseek (yes, the music-sharing network), suprisingly).
as for software setup, KOReader like i said in the comment. it’s substantially more “complete” than the kobo base software, in that it’s got a million options & seems to be able to do anything. not that it’s terribly hard to learn, but there’s a “user guide” on the website that’s very straightforward indeed if you’re finding it somewhat daunting. installation is fairly easy (guide for kobo here). the method i used was the “semi-automated” one that was basically just running a script. i should not that the above installs the 3rd party software “alongside” the base software, so one must start the device “normally” first, then launch koreader from a menu button (added by the install script)
Another vote for Kobo here. I have a Clara 2e that i really like. It can use Overdrive to get books from the library, or you can just load books yourself either over USB, or download documents using its built in web browser. The browser would also let you look at an online planner, I guess? There isn’t one built in. The slow screen updates make using the browser pretty impractical for the most part, though.
For kobo users, where do you get your books now that Amazon has stopped you from downloading and converting into epub?
Personally I pirate my books and if there’s one I particularly like then I’ll go find the author and give them money directly. Most have a substack/patreon/ko.fi and they get more money
I do sometimes. But theres an author I like who’s books are only on Amazon (I’ve asked him to widen availability), and amazon the absolute cunts turned off the ability to download Kindle books so you can convert them
I’ve got the same shit happening. I don’t like audiobooks but there’s a series I like where the third is an audible exclusive. So I have to pay money to Amazon for a service I don’t want if I want to read that book
Anna’s Archive.
Thank you
Just for the record, I’m using kindles since their keyboard version came out, and never paid any subscription fees or bought an e-book from Amazon. But I can understand the sentiment, and the touchscreen-only platform development was a horrible choice of directions. It could be argued if a reader needs a full keyboard, and the always-free internet also turned to shit thanks to “development” of the internet, but I loved the first Kindle.
I’m using a boox. I dislike their built-in library tools, but it’s just an e-ink android tablet, so I installed a simple launcher and download whatever apps I want, including Libby.
My wife really likes her kobo aura (edition 2?). She was and is using it with overdrive and a library card. During Covid we had applied for cards from multiple counties to have more holds. Switching from card to card was annoying. I have recently started collecting an ebook library, starting with her overdrive wishlist. I use calibre to load the books, and that’s been great
I bought her a Kobo Clara BW for this Christmas, and I plan on adding our library to it and setting up the library cards before I wrap it
I always get down voted for this but just get kindle and turn on the airplane mode the moment you receive one.
I think Kindle is the only thing that will last for decade(source: mine did) at a ridiculously cheap price range subsidized by their bookstore we won’t use.
I like the kindle hardware, but the kobo software. Thankfully I managed to jailbreak my kindle while adbreak was available, so now I (almost) have the best of both worlds. (Still getting used to koreader)
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My Kobo Clara screen froze entirely so I opted for a second hand e-reader for €50, a Tolino. It’s got a backlight and I can load Libby books on there which is all that I need.
I will give the Kobo one more chance though once I make it to a repair café.
P.S. Hopefully this post lasts longer than my one on Lemm.ee and works for those searching the Fediverse/Lemmyverse for the same question 🙃
