[Andorion]

So I am finally at a point where I am ready to start thinking about buying an ereader.

In India Kindle is the only reader available, and the Paperwhite is the option that best fits my budget. Backlight is a compulsory feature for me.

The Kobo is not available here but I can buy the Kobo Glo Hd from Amazon.com It basically fits my budget but I have no idea about its features and functionality.

So, my question is do I go for the Paperwhite, or the Kobo? Does importing via Amazon make sense? My budget is Rs 12000 which taking the current exchange rate for the US dollar being 67 comes to around $179

My requirements are:

A good screen with backlight
Ability to load books via USB cord from my PC
Good daylight visibility
Good onboard storage
Good battery life

[Abyss]

Both are good and fairly comparable.I suggest taking a look at the online stores for books you might want and compare price and availability. In Canada kobo matches Amazon in most things, but Amazon beats them on graphic novels, and sometimes on price, tho rarely.
Also, consider a tablet? Less battery life but more functions all around and the Amazon Fire is around that price range I think.

[Siergiej]

If you want a device specifically for reading books, I'd advise against a tablet. Reading on an e-ink display is less tiresome for the eyes than LED/LCD. And won't cause problems falling asleep if you read at night.

Never used a Kobo but I love Paperwhite. The display is good, the integration with Amazon works perfectly, the device is light and comfortable. One thing that has been annoying me since I started taking much more notes when reading: the screen isn't responsive enough for comfortable typing and sometimes highlighting the exact passage can take a couple of attempts. But that's a minor inconvenience and should be less noticeable in newer generations.

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 02 September 2016 - 09:00 AM, said:

Both are good and fairly comparable.I suggest taking a look at the online stores for books you might want and compare price and availability. In Canada kobo matches Amazon in most things, but Amazon beats them on graphic novels, and sometimes on price, tho rarely.
Also, consider a tablet? Less battery life but more functions all around and the Amazon Fire is around that price range I think.

I think the Amazon store is better for me, so I suppose I should be leaning towards the Paperwhite.

[Andorion]

Siergiej, on 02 September 2016 - 09:55 AM, said:

If you want a device specifically for reading books, I'd advise against a tablet. Reading on an e-ink display is less tiresome for the eyes than LED/LCD. And won't cause problems falling asleep if you read at night.

Never used a Kobo but I love Paperwhite. The display is good, the integration with Amazon works perfectly, the device is light and comfortable. One thing that has been annoying me since I started taking much more notes when reading: the screen isn't responsive enough for comfortable typing and sometimes highlighting the exact passage can take a couple of attempts. But that's a minor inconvenience and should be less noticeable in newer generations.

I don't really take a lot of notes, so not an issue for me. They eye thing is though. I can actually handle LED LCD displays for a long time, I have bluelight filters installed everywhere. But, in the long term, given my extensive reading an e Ink display is probably better for me.

Since you use a Paperwhite, is it suitable for one handed use, or is it too big?

[Siergiej]

Perfectly fine for reading, if you want to navigate settings or go to a specific place in the book, will probably need both hands unless you have long thumbs Just took a pic for reference:

This post has been edited by Siergiej: 02 September 2016 - 11:11 AM

[Andorion]

Siergiej, on 02 September 2016 - 11:10 AM, said:

Perfectly fine for reading, if you want to navigate settings or go to a specific place in the book, will probably need both hands unless you have long thumbs Just took a pic for reference:

Thanks, that does give me a better idea. I think I will do just fine with it. BTW those are some thick bezels! Do you know how big the screen itself is?

[Macros]

I've never tried a kindle. I had a Sony ereadee, upgraded to a kobo last year, love it.
Light, great battery life and some to use. I hate backlit screens so e-ink is a must

[Siergiej]

@Ando: 6 inches

[amphibian]

Siergiej, on 02 September 2016 - 09:55 AM, said:

If you want a device specifically for reading books, I'd advise against a tablet. Reading on an e-ink display is less tiresome for the eyes than LED/LCD. And won't cause problems falling asleep if you read at night.

Never used a Kobo but I love Paperwhite. The display is good, the integration with Amazon works perfectly, the device is light and comfortable. One thing that has been annoying me since I started taking much more notes when reading: the screen isn't responsive enough for comfortable typing and sometimes highlighting the exact passage can take a couple of attempts. But that's a minor inconvenience and should be less noticeable in newer generations.

This is exactly the advice I'd give. Paperwhite is good reading and the battery lasts a very long time. I've used other people's and they have been good.

If you or someone else is stuck on buying a tablet and you'll use it for things other than games and reading books, I'd veer away from the Kindle Fire because the Amazon app store is so limited that even the cheap price doesn't make up for having to sideload almost every non-game/reading app normal people use a tablet for occasionally. I actually was stuck with a Fire because my ex bought me it as a gift and didn't realize any of the above or that I was looking at getting a Paperwhite or a non-Kindle Fire tablet. Come to think of it, there were multiple gifts that my ex got me that were something within the realm of what I was looking for on my own, but were almost precisely the thing I didn't want. Yeesh.

Now, I have a Nexus 6p and I use MoonReader Pro (paid version), Google Books, and the Kindle app on it to get my mobile reading fix. It works for me, but I still might get a Paperwhite in a while.

[worry]

Forgive me if this is incomplete information, but I'm pretty sure if you have a Kindle and Calibre (software) you're pretty much set, cuz then you don't even necessarily have to wait for Amazon-specific sales of ebooks.

[polishgenius]

Amazon are cunts. Buy Kobo.

[Salt-Man Z]

A tablet is not an acceptable substitute for an e-ink device. I still love my old Kindle Touch (predecessor to the Paperwhite, lacking the backlight) and have been making more and more use of it. I even bought my wife a used one for $30 (including charger, case, and shipping!) as a gift 'cause she kept stealing mine.

worry, on 02 September 2016 - 07:13 PM, said:

Forgive me if this is incomplete information, but I'm pretty sure if you have a Kindle and Calibre (software) you're pretty much set, cuz then you don't even necessarily have to wait for Amazon-specific sales of ebooks.

^ This. Calibre lets you backup your ebooks, transfer them to/from your device, convert them to different formats, edit meta information (title, author, series, cover, etc.) plus there's an easily-findable DRM-stripping plugin that I highly recommend. And there's all sorts of power-user stuff and other plugins that I haven't dipped my toes into yet.

I'd also recommend (depending on your location I guess) signing up with bookbub.com, where you can get customized ebook deals emailed to you regularly.

[JPK]

I've owned three kindles and two kobo at this point.

My experience is that the kindle is much more fragile than the kobo. All three of them had connection issues inside the screen that made it so it was impossible to read on them. The customer service from amazon was amazing and swapped them or for me no problem, but after the Third one developed issues I'll never go back.

My kobo on the other hand had a great battery life (I swear I only charge that thing like every three weeks) and are very durable. The only reason my first one died is cause it ended up getting soaked in a puddle between bus transfers.

Also, don't forget Pat's blog for cheap ebooks. I've gotten several from heads-up they're.

Finally, the kobo marketplace price-matches.

[Andorion]

Salt-Man Z, on 02 September 2016 - 08:09 PM, said:

A tablet is not an acceptable substitute for an e-ink device. I still love my old Kindle Touch (predecessor to the Paperwhite, lacking the backlight) and have been making more and more use of it. I even bought my wife a used one for $30 (including charger, case, and shipping!) as a gift 'cause she kept stealing mine.

worry, on 02 September 2016 - 07:13 PM, said:

Forgive me if this is incomplete information, but I'm pretty sure if you have a Kindle and Calibre (software) you're pretty much set, cuz then you don't even necessarily have to wait for Amazon-specific sales of ebooks.

^ This. Calibre lets you backup your ebooks, transfer them to/from your device, convert them to different formats, edit meta information (title, author, series, cover, etc.) plus there's an easily-findable DRM-stripping plugin that I highly recommend. And there's all sorts of power-user stuff and other plugins that I haven't dipped my toes into yet.

I'd also recommend (depending on your location I guess) signing up with bookbub.com, where you can get customized ebook deals emailed to you regularly.

I use Calibre in the sense that I often use it to convert annoying .docs to epubs so I can read themon my phone when work demands it. I know there is a lot of organizable potential there, though I have never looked into it. Thanks!

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 02 September 2016 - 06:06 PM, said:

Siergiej, on 02 September 2016 - 09:55 AM, said:

If you want a device specifically for reading books, I'd advise against a tablet. Reading on an e-ink display is less tiresome for the eyes than LED/LCD. And won't cause problems falling asleep if you read at night.

Never used a Kobo but I love Paperwhite. The display is good, the integration with Amazon works perfectly, the device is light and comfortable. One thing that has been annoying me since I started taking much more notes when reading: the screen isn't responsive enough for comfortable typing and sometimes highlighting the exact passage can take a couple of attempts. But that's a minor inconvenience and should be less noticeable in newer generations.

This is exactly the advice I'd give. Paperwhite is good reading and the battery lasts a very long time. I've used other people's and they have been good.

If you or someone else is stuck on buying a tablet and you'll use it for things other than games and reading books, I'd veer away from the Kindle Fire because the Amazon app store is so limited that even the cheap price doesn't make up for having to sideload almost every non-game/reading app normal people use a tablet for occasionally. I actually was stuck with a Fire because my ex bought me it as a gift and didn't realize any of the above or that I was looking at getting a Paperwhite or a non-Kindle Fire tablet. Come to think of it, there were multiple gifts that my ex got me that were something within the realm of what I was looking for on my own, but were almost precisely the thing I didn't want. Yeesh.

Now, I have a Nexus 6p and I use MoonReader Pro (paid version), Google Books, and the Kindle app on it to get my mobile reading fix. It works for me, but I still might get a Paperwhite in a while.

Moonreader vs FBreader. any ideas? I have used the free version of both and prefere FBreader.

Nexus 6P...wow...I would have gotten that if I could have afforded it, but my Moto X Play is pretty good.

Yeah I don't really see my self geting a tablet as I don't use android for gaming at all. For what games I do play like 2048, my phone is entirely adequate

[Andorion]

JPK, on 02 September 2016 - 08:48 PM, said:

I've owned three kindles and two kobo at this point.

My experience is that the kindle is much more fragile than the kobo. All three of them had connection issues inside the screen that made it so it was impossible to read on them. The customer service from amazon was amazing and swapped them or for me no problem, but after the Third one developed issues I'll never go back.

My kobo on the other hand had a great battery life (I swear I only charge that thing like every three weeks) and are very durable. The only reason my first one died is cause it ended up getting soaked in a puddle between bus transfers.

Also, don't forget Pat's blog for cheap ebooks. I've gotten several from heads-up they're.

Finally, the kobo marketplace price-matches.

Interesting. Thing is from what my enquiries are telling me, I may not get full customer support for Kobo here.

[exit25]

I bought a kobo to do re-reads after borrowing MBotF paperbacks from the library and straining my neck. E-book readers are so much lighter and ergonomic for reading bricks like MBotF etc.
The problem I found with a backlit screen (e.g. tablets) is that you are tempted to read in the dark and I don't think that is great for your eyes in the long run. IMO if you can't read a normal paperback in the ambient light then you shouldn't read the e-book either.

[Salt-Man Z]

When I want to read my (non-backlit) Kindle in the dark (i.e., in bed) I do the same thing I do when reading a physical book and use a cheapie $1 LED flashlight.

[Abyss]

Luddite.