E-Readers / E-book Apps - Because paper is for grandpas.

[GodWarrior]

Hey, not sure if this thread was made already, but I am wondering about people's experiences with E-readers and the like.

I prefer a physical book in nearly all cases. However, I'm not sure if it's because the apps or formats are to blame for my distaste of e-shit. If you could answer a few questions, that would be great. Just answer whatever is applicable if possible.

• What E-Reader do you use? Pros/Cons?

• What app do you use for tablets? Pros/Cons?

• Where do you pirate your e-books? I notice some of the ones I found are a bit wonky.

This is kind of a pipe-dream but I figured I would ask anyway -
Any books you wanna send my way?

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pelicannon]

I had a Kobo e-reader that was the weird tablet hybrid.

Pros:
- Easy to transport
- doesn't take that much room up
- carries a fuck load of books

Cons:
- the hybrid of Android and e-reader made the tablet slow and clunky at times
- got distracted from reading by other stuff cause it was a mini tablet
- not a lot of support from customer service regarding a broken one

I actually really like the Kobo base app and have used that with great success.

As for where I get my ebooks, I check major torrent sites and try from there. Really any of the big guys will have an ebook section.

I'm a medieval fantasy lover so read all them game of thrones books or to get technical all the a song of ice and fire books.

 

[Arkangel]

I own a Nook Simple Touch. Second generation I think. I bought it specifically because I wanted download lots of free books onto something easy to read.

Pros:
-touch screen
-expandable storage via sd card slot (main reason I chose it)

Cons:
-some ghosting issues with the e-paper screen
-low-ish resolution which can really mess up .pdf files

I don't use it anymore. Now I do most of my reading from an Asus tablet.

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

I actually have two Nooks, the OG which I wanted because an actual known book store that wasn't Amazon was selling it, and then I got the simple touch, which is freaking comfy as hell.

 

[pozilei]

I use Moon+ Reader and it's okay. It just happened to be the first ebook reader I downloaded and have been using it ever since.

I still think real books are more pleasant and easier to read - there's just something about reading huge amounts of text on a screen that makes it so much harder to concentrate.
But it's obviously great that you can carry around 100s of books in one slim, lightweight device and bookmarking, adding notes etc. is kind of useful too.

As far as downloading ebooks goes: I love project Gutenberg. It has loads of (legal) ebooks of classical literature if that's what you're into. Pirating wise http://forum.mobilism.org/ is the best resource I've found.

 

[GodWarrior]

Thanks for the input, all. Keep 'em coming. I am definitely leaning towards getting something. I've been using my iphone for reading during my downtime.

Do you guys know of anything that handles annotations well? I know in my physical books, there is always something typed in the margins explaining a place of origin or certain word. Will I have that same option digitally?

 

[neverendingmidi]

I have a tablet and use Kindle a lot. It is easier, especially as fast as I read to switch to the next book in a series. But I do like real books as a back up if I really like the story/author. In 30 years I’ll be able to pick up the same book and read it, and know the publisher hasn’t edited it when I wasn’t watching (kindle is constantly updating books and covers change all the freakin’ time), and that I don’t have to re-buy it to be compatible with whatever exists then, ala VHS/DVD/Bluray/4k and movies.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

Necro-ing this thread for E-Reader suggestions for the Year of our Lord 2025.

I am going to be backpacking/multi-day hiking quite a bit this year. An E-Reader that can survive inclement weather, as well as be readable in harsh direct sunlight, is a requirement. A good portion of my reading material is likely to be pirated too, so having a reader which is not terribly locked down would be nice.

 

[Rekieta’s Broken Penis]

I am going to be backpacking/multi-day hiking quite a bit this year. An E-Reader that can survive inclement weather, as well as be readable in harsh direct sunlight, is a requirement. A good portion of my reading material is likely to be pirated too, so having a reader which is not terribly locked down would be nice.

I am pretty sure a kindle should suit your needs. I have an older touch model, works great for me. The only thing you’d be missing is waterproofing, but I believe the newer models have an IP rating. Kindles work great for importing pirated books (at least via USB / Calibre). However, newer models are somewhat locked down in terms of the ability to export DRM-protected books purchased directly from Amazon. Probably cheaper chinese devices out there though.

My kindle really struggles with reading A4 PDFs though, does anybody have any recommendations for this? I had a google for e-readers (specifically with an e-ink display) but couldn’t find any good recommendations besides like the Remarkable which is expensive.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

I use Cool Reader on Galaxy S21 Ultra. The software is free and has tons of options. The phone is big enough and has a 120Hz screen, so it's easy on the eyes.

I used Pocketbook Touch Lux 2 (e-book reader) for a few years before switching and it's vastly inferior. The biggest issue is that it's incredibly slow.

 

[Old King Koaleamos]

I may get a kobo because I don't like the Kindle fucking with sideloaded books.

 

[Tiny Tom Cruise]

I have a Kobo and I love it. I was really pissed because my first Kobo, a Nia, died just after a year of use - left it to charge and came back and it was bricked. But my friend has an older Nia that has survived everything. A relative replaced my Nia with a Clara 2E, though, and it's been great, no issues. And apparently it's waterproof which is good for bath time reading in case it's ever dropped.

I initially got a Kobo over a Kindle due to library compatibility. In my country, Kindles don't support borrowing ebooks from the library. But I've also come to enjoy how easy it is to move ebooks, pdfs, and other files over to my Kobo: just plug it into the computer, drag the files over, and good.

Kobo also has great deals on ebooks. If I put things into my wishlist they eventually go on sale, and I've gotten a lot of my paid books for about $2-3. I like to support authors so I try not to pirate unless I can't find the book on the Kobo store (which seems to be becoming more of an issue for me).

I moved over to an e-reader because I was in a period of my life where I was moving a lot, and each time I moved my book collection became smaller. Now, I enjoy it for night time reading and it's easy to carry around. It's way easier on my eyes than a tablet, computer, or phone.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

I moved over to an e-reader because I was in a period of my life where I was moving a lot, and each time I moved my book collection became smaller. Now, I enjoy it for night time reading and it's easy to carry around. It's way easier on my eyes than a tablet, computer, or phone.

Switching from paper books to e-books is like switching from CDs to mp3. It's a lot more convenient with no real downsides. I got used to them right away.

A phone or a tablet won't make your eyes tired if the refresh rate is 100Hz+ and if you use "reading mode", which makes the screen more yellow.

 

[winterfag]

 

[Overwritten Tapes]

I use Read Era pro.

The free version is great, but you can't turn off your screen, else it'll stop. It was worth thr 15 bucks on android

 

[Safir]

GuoYue K3 Color + KO Reader (free open-source Android reader designed to work well with eink displays)

The device itself gets occasional firmware updates, of which the only noticeable improvement was a prettier home screen (not that I care much, because I'm only using the one app).

 

[Blissed]

I use a kindle paperwhite. Very light and waterproof (apparently). I pirate everything so I just keep airplane mode on and I side load all my books with calibre.

 

[plgfarts]

I bought a Nook, on which I sideloaded KoReader. Works very well for me, the battery lasts a long time. The only downside I can think of, is that you have to go back to the Nook application to adjust the backlight. You can still turn it on/off with the press of a button, but to adjust the brightness and color temperature it's a few more steps.

KoReader also handles other languages, like Cyrillic, which the Nook cannot by itself.

I wish I would have spent the money on a Kobo though, those seem really nice.

https://libgen.gs/index.php

If you can't find it there:

Anna’s Archive

Search engine of shadow libraries: books, papers, comics, magazines.

annas-archive.org

As other users mentioned, use Calibre.

 

[Cemetery Support]

I use Cool Reader on Galaxy S21 Ultra. The software is free and has tons of options. The phone is big enough and has a 120Hz screen, so it's easy on the eyes.

I used Pocketbook Touch Lux 2 (e-book reader) for a few years before switching and it's vastly inferior. The biggest issue is that it's incredibly slow.

>Cool Reader
Just searched for it. That bitch is not on the fucking app store. Did you get it from Github or something?

Necro-ing this thread for E-Reader suggestions for the Year of our Lord 2025.

I am going to be backpacking/multi-day hiking quite a bit this year. An E-Reader that can survive inclement weather, as well as be readable in harsh direct sunlight, is a requirement. A good portion of my reading material is likely to be pirated too, so having a reader which is not terribly locked down would be nice.

As for necroboy, get something small and gross and hardy. An old kindle will work just fine. Anything nicer is liable to become a victim to the elements. You can get your books from Anna's Archive for free or cheap, and its not hard to get pirated books on it.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

>Cool Reader
Just searched for it. That bitch is not on the fucking app store. Did you get it from Github or something?

I don't use Google Play at all. I install all my apps from .apk files or Aurora Store (you can install and update Google Play apps without an account, it's great).

If you mean Apple App Store, then I can't help you because I use Android phones exlusively.

https://apkpure.com/cool-reader/org.coolreader