Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–47 of 47 posts

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

#41

Post by clauretano »

rdrake wrote: post #4

I rather enjoy my Kobo. I'm not sure why it says "Coming Soon" because it's out now. http://www.kobo.com/koboglo It's definitely e-paper, I don't believe it has remote wipe, and can read many ebook formats, including DRM-free ones. Some titles on the Kobo store are DRM-free (and are indicated as such), and the store is massive. If your books are DRM'd, it supports Adobe's DRM scheme.

It is out, in Canada. From what their reps have said they're having supply chains issues surrounding the XGA E-Ink panels (could be the same reason Kindle Paperwhite orders are out 4-6 weeks).

Stateside, none of their listed retailers have anything available. Best Buy comes closest, by actually having them listed on their online store as "coming soon". Currently, a quick jaunt across the border is an option but who knows how Kobo will handle potential warranty issues?

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

#42

Post by cema »

jonasvp wrote: post #2

I'm very happy with my Pocketbook Touch ( http://www.pocketbook-int.com/us/products/pocketbook-touch ). It seems quite hackable, the vendor is responsive (some employees hang out on www.mobileread.com pretty regularly). The touchscreen works well and the buttons for paging are great. I've bought one or two books off Amazon and used de De-DRM tools available to put them on there, though it even supports the Adobe DRM…

I use a different Pocketbook (model Pro 902) and am very happy with it. I have heard good references about several other models as well. A broad range of formats, good build quality, reasonable usability.

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

#43

Post by johnrgrace »

smacktoward wrote: post #34
lmm wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're only going to use DRM-free files why does it even matter? The capacity's only 3GB, you're not going to have data there that isn't backed up anywhere else. If you're really paranoid you can always load a custom firmware. The Kindle is popular enough that there's a very active scene around developing them (I believe the main one is called duodem?)

The question would be whether Amazon can go beyond deactivating individual titles and lock you out of or otherwise remotely disable the device itself. It would be a rude surprise to wake up one day and discover that your fancy e-reader has been turned into an expensive paperweight, even if you did have the ebook files backed up somewhere.

I'd guess they COULD do that, but it would be a horrible customer experence and I'd guess they would drop a few billion of market cap if they did that.

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

#44

Post by manicdee »

The Kobo Touch or the new Sony Reader are excellent. The Kobo has a hard time reading O'Reilly books, but you can process the O'Reilly books to make them usable (unzip, remove core.css, repackage) with Calibre.

The old Sony Reader has a glossy, beveled bezel, which catches any available light. The newer model has a curved, matte bezel, making it far easier to read on.

Both use the same eInk Pearl display as the Kindle WiFi, quite readable. The Sony has a beefier processor, and doesn't have problems rendering O'Reilly books out of the box.

The Kobo is the friendliest reader I have used. The UX is simple, as if written by a Mac person. The Sony seems to be written by a Windows person: the layout and abundance of widgets and physical buttons makes the UX a little frustrating at times.

The Kobo's library is trivially easy to maintain: connect with USB cable, drag books to KOBO EREADER volume.

Buy your books from DRM-free retailers, see this (old) list: http://blog.threepress.org/2009/11/10/list-of-drm-free-publi...

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

#45

Post by manicdee »

0003 wrote: post #14

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

If it is in an ePub, the Kobo or Sony can reproduce it. Just remember that the screen is 6" diagonal, with 600x800 pixels, though the display engine will resize and dither to greyscale in order to suit the eInk display.

My O'Reilly books render code with monospaced fonts on both the Kobo Touch and the Sony Reader.

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

#47

Post by wlesieutre »

cjpa wrote: post #39
joshcrews wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks good, but I cannot figure out how to buy one. Can someone point to where I can order one?

http://shop.pocketbookreader.com/main.sc

Doesn't appear to offer the Pocketbook Touch. I can't find anywhere but eBay to buy them.
Post reply on HN