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Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

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Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

#1

Post by lemure »

I have too many books (~200) which I bought but I don’t want to have around. Mostly novels which I’m probably going to donate to local libraries or similar.

However I feel entitled of having a copy of those books in electronic format. Very slowly, I’m looking for .epub files and storing these in a hard drive.

Now, say I want to read one of them on an e-ink device. Which one is going to allow me to load these files without going through proprietary stores (I’m not going to pay twice for something I already own) or jailbreaking the device?

I simply want to spend x$ and have something which will last for a long time.

Re: Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

#5

Post by lelanthran »

I lost my kindle (gen1, I think) recently (Someone in my neighbourhood now has the best curated collection of free fiction ever, so I'm not too sore about it).

I'll probably get a new one, but it occurred to me, with all the current excess electronics I have now on my desk (everything from PIC18Fs, esp32s to SBCs running Linux), the only thing I am missing to make my own e-reader is a large and cheap e-ink display.

Any recommendations for a large-ish e-ink display that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Re: Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

#7

Post by vik0 »

I never understood why, barring lack of money, people would rather read something on a screen (even if it is e-ink) instead of holding an actual book in their hands and reading it that way. The smell alone of any book (used or new) is worth it

Anyway, I've heard calibre is good. I've never used it though

Re: Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

#8

Post by paulcole »

vik0 wrote: post #7

I never understood why, barring lack of money, people would rather read something on a screen (even if it is e-ink) instead of holding an actual book in their hands and reading it that way. The smell alone of any book (used or new) is worth it Anyway, I've heard calibre is good. I've never used it though

I can’t imagine dealing with physical books again. No interest in owning and storing them and no interest in going back and forth library to borrow.

My kindle is incredible. Wonderful screen, easy to pay money to read the books I want when I want.

I don’t get the people who fetishize printed books. I like reading, I don’t like books.

If I want the book smell, I’ll buy a scented candle lol.

Re: Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

#9

Post by runjake »

vik0 wrote: post #7

I never understood why, barring lack of money, people would rather read something on a screen (even if it is e-ink) instead of holding an actual book in their hands and reading it that way. The smell alone of any book (used or new) is worth it Anyway, I've heard calibre is good. I've never used it though

I love and grew up with paper books too. I have so many that I’m running out of places to keep them around my house.

I also read several books at the same time and carrying one Kindle is easier than carrying around a stack of books.

Re: Ask HN: Best Open E-Reader?

#10

Post by stuxnet79 »

Kobos[1] and Pocketbooks[2] are a lot more open than Kindles. AFAIK you can transfer .epub files into both devices and these epubs are perfectly readable via the stock OS. If for some reason you find the stock proprietary OS lacking, you can install an open source one like KOreader[3] or Plato[4]

Of course you want a good way of organizing epubs pdfs mobi, and like has already been mentioned Calibre[5] is a great option.

[1] https://www.kobo.com/

[2] https://pocketbookstore.com/en-ca

[3] https://github.com/koreader/koreader

[4] https://github.com/baskerville/plato

[5] https://calibre-ebook.com/

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