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Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

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Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#21

Post by borplk »

acabal wrote: post #16

I like my Nook Touch, mainly because the built-in software is pretty good (much better than Kindle 3, though I haven't tried a Kindle Touch) and because it can read epubs. I never buy from any online store that sells DRM out of principle. The downsides are that the physical buttons are terrible, and since I don't do any online shopping the "home" section of the device is pretty useless. There are also some persistent…

Their remote wipe will wait for your device to eventually come online and as soon as it finds your device it performs the remote wipe.

It only takes an accidental connection for it to happen.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#24

Post by TylerE »

borplk wrote: post #22
0003 wrote: post #14

Are e-ink readers able to display graphs, tables, and code yet?

I'd love a large responsive e-ink screen (with some basic colours) to use for coding. Imagine not having to stare at the glowing LCD for coding. I'd be so happy.

E-ink would suck for coding.

Imagine doing all your work over a really laggy SSH connection. That's what typing on an e-ink display feels like.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#25

Post by pasbesoin »

pdw wrote: post #17
tonyblundell wrote: post #3

I've been using a Kobo for around a year now. Plusses: * They're cheaper than Kindle to buy * The Kobo store is well stocked and competitively priced * You can upload your own books easily by dragging and dropping the files as if it's a thumb drive or by using Calibre (see calibre-ebook.com). * The screen looks just as good as my partner's Kindle.

The Kobo is supposedly trivial to hack: http://ccoffing.net/tech/embedded/kobo/ "Of the three major e-readers out today, Kobo rocks the hardest. Kobo supports the ePub standard, has released code as required by the GPL, and has made the life of the hacker surprisingly easy (not locked down, preinstalled nc and vi, git repos, support forums, ...)."

I have an older model I haven't hacked but started looking into a bit; I'd like to enable landscape display for ePub as the current renderer cuts off long lines in code samples, with no way to scroll horizontally.

As I recall, with that model you can boot from your own OS image by placing it on the external SD card. You can also flash the internally stored OS, if you feel particularly confident.

I haven't done it, so research for yourself, if you're interested.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#26

Post by borplk »

TylerE wrote: post #24
borplk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love a large responsive e-ink screen (with some basic colours) to use for coding. Imagine not having to stare at the glowing LCD for coding. I'd be so happy.

E-ink would suck for coding. Imagine doing all your work over a really laggy SSH connection. That's what typing on an e-ink display feels like.

That's why I said 'responsive' e-ink.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#27

Post by javanix »

acabal wrote: post #16

I like my Nook Touch, mainly because the built-in software is pretty good (much better than Kindle 3, though I haven't tried a Kindle Touch) and because it can read epubs. I never buy from any online store that sells DRM out of principle. The downsides are that the physical buttons are terrible, and since I don't do any online shopping the "home" section of the device is pretty useless. There are also some persistent…

I had a Nook Glowlight for about 6 months and the main downside is that the light screen is incredibly fragile. I am careful with my gadgets and I've managed to break 3 of them just by accidentally knocking stuff onto them (like, slipping and fumbling the Nook onto my keys, etc). Granted, Barnes and Noble replaced all of them for free (even out of warranty) but it was enough that I went and bought a Kindle Paperwhite and (minus the software) it is a generally superior device. Additionally, the Kindlegen software combined with stripping the DRM off of my Nook purchases allows me to read perfect epub-to-mobi conversions of all of my books on the Kindle without too much trouble.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#28

Post by amalag »

snogglethorpe wrote: post #9
tonyblundell wrote: post #3

I've been using a Kobo for around a year now. Plusses: * They're cheaper than Kindle to buy * The Kobo store is well stocked and competitively priced * You can upload your own books easily by dragging and dropping the files as if it's a thumb drive or by using Calibre (see calibre-ebook.com). * The screen looks just as good as my partner's Kindle.

> The screen looks just as good as my partner's Kindle. Which kindle though? The screen on the new kindle paperwhite is reportedly a marked improvement over previous models...

The limited reviews are saying the new Kobo glo is very comparable to the new kindle paperwhite. But availability is limited so I am still waiting for more reviews.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#29

Post by tonyblundell »

snogglethorpe wrote: post #9
tonyblundell wrote: post #3

I've been using a Kobo for around a year now. Plusses: * They're cheaper than Kindle to buy * The Kobo store is well stocked and competitively priced * You can upload your own books easily by dragging and dropping the files as if it's a thumb drive or by using Calibre (see calibre-ebook.com). * The screen looks just as good as my partner's Kindle.

> The screen looks just as good as my partner's Kindle. Which kindle though? The screen on the new kindle paperwhite is reportedly a marked improvement over previous models...

Kindle Keyboard. Haven't seen the paperwhite. Not that interested though TBH, the grey screens are fine.

Re: Ask HN: Which DRM-free ebook reader to buy?

#30

Post by lmm »

evilduck wrote: post #19
tonyblundell wrote: post #3

I've been using a Kobo for around a year now. Plusses: * They're cheaper than Kindle to buy * The Kobo store is well stocked and competitively priced * You can upload your own books easily by dragging and dropping the files as if it's a thumb drive or by using Calibre (see calibre-ebook.com). * The screen looks just as good as my partner's Kindle.

Just FYI, you can drag and drop files to the Kindle just like a thumb drive too. My biggest gripe is there's no way to manage and organize your content, everything just goes into one folder.

Organization is just via collections.json, there are programs available to edit it (e.g. "create collection from folder")
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