Recommendations for eBook reader devices, please

[perishthethought@lemm.ee]

I've been a book reader for a long time, but never got into eBooks. I want to try it out next, but don't want to use any privacy vilotating devices or software. So, those "10 best" lists I found while searching are out, all of the Amazon crap is out.

What's left? What's a good device to buy so I can self-host my own eBook library and get into eReading. I would prefer suggestions for devices which just read books and comics and such. I don't need access to the app stores on it, I think.

Thanks for any ideas.

[emptiness@lemmy.world]

Kobo.
Simple as that.

[vk6flab@lemmy.radio]

On Android I use FBReader. I paid for the Premium version.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fbreader

[catloaf@lemm.ee]

I have an old Kindle Paperwhite. I put use Calibre and USB to manage the library, no Amazon connection necessary. Works great.

[iamtherealwalrus@lemmy.world]

Used to have Paperwhite. Upgraded to Kindle Oasis a few years ago. No regrets.

[retrolasered@lemmy.zip]

Is rakuten more private? I only know them for the smart tv app.

Whats the experience like for buying ebooks with a kobo? Is it easy to do, are there lots of books, are there lots of ads?

[eru@mouse.chitanda.moe]

used kindle paperwhite, check firmware version to ensure jailbreak

jailbreak, install koreader

use calibre to manage library, source books from uh. the seas

amazon devices have quite good screens for the price

however, if you are reading comics, you should get a bigger screen probably a tablet, look into boox and meebook, both are android based

i would not recommend color screens rn, they still have significantly lower contrast and resolution and refresh is slow af

[hylactor@sopuli.xyz]

I recently got a Boox Go 6. It's just a really simple android tablet with a paper type display. So whatever android reading app you use you could probably run it. Strictly in terms of privacy I'm not sure if it's uniquely well suited. But I would expect it's better than Kindle or Kobo.

[yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

Buy a Kobo, never connect it to WiFi. Or flash KOReader on it. Either way much better than the alternatives.

[yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

No ads. Easy to buy. It you're really concerned about privacy, just flash KOReader on it which is an alternative backend. The easier alternative is to never connect to the WiFi and manually transfer ePubs to the device through Calibre.

[yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

I think the person asked for e-ink device recommendations. Reading on an Android vs e-ink screen makes such a huge difference

[engineergaming@feddit.nl]

I only trust my ebook because I never connect it to the internet)

[undulyunruly@lemmy.world]

Just don’t connect it to a network. Calibre to manage your library, transfer books via USB, done.

However, in rare cases Kobo devices can be a bit funny with displaying covers properly without internet access to fetch/correct them “automatically”. This is not privacy friendly, obviously.

YMMV with this issue, but regardless if you choose a Kobo or not, I’ll drop some handy tips for you below just in case you care to polish your experience via Calibre.

I can’t give credit for below cause this is copied from my notes and I don’t know the author/source. Enjoy.
~~

Calibre is so powerful and customizable that it has a bewildering amount of options and ways to do things. I wanted to scrape good metadata and covers for my ebook library in the simplest way I could. Here's my procedure:

PREPARING THE MEDATA SOURCES (This only needs to be done once)

1. Go to Preferences -> Get plugins to enhance Calibre -> find and install the 'Kindle hi-res covers' and 'Goodreads' plugins. Reboot Calibre.

2. With your library open in Calibre, choose a selection of ebooks -> Ctrl+D to download metadata and covers -> configure download.

3. On the lower right hand side, I set 'Max. number of tags to download:' at 4. This is personal preference.

4. The only sources to have check marks (with their corresponding cover priority) should be:

   • Goodreads: 3

     • almost always has the best metadata, and is best for tags, which I limit to 4

   • Google Images: 2

     • While selected: Configure selected source -> [Choose your preferred cover size and max number of covers to retrieve - I up it to 10]

     • If you end up choosing the covers individually Google often has good covers the other sources don't

   • Kindle hi-res covers: 1

     • It usually has the best covers but can be a pain because it often picks a foreign cover and you have to go choose the cover individually afterwards.

     • I change the maximum number of covers to get from 5 to 10, but that's not necessary.

PREPARING THE EBOOKS FOR SCRAPING COVERS AND METADATA

I clear all the 'Rating', Tags' and 'Series' fields because the data may be from all over the place (tags are often particularly awful), but Goodreads metadata will standardize it (as far as it can be for my liking, anyway - they seem to have a finite and well-ordered number of tags unlike many other sources). You can clear other fields but I only do those three.

1. Select your books -> Right-click -> Edit metadata -> Edit metadata in bulk

2. For 'Rating:' select 'Not rated' from the dropdown and then check 'Apply rating' on the right

3. Also on the right side, check 'Remove all' on the 'Remove tags:' row and 'Clear series' below it.

TO GET COVERS

1. Select the ebooks you want to scrape and press Ctrl+D -> Download only covers.

   • If I choose 'Download both' I usually have to reject many because the cover is foreign or something, and then I end up scraping the metadata separately anyway.

2. When the job is done -> Review downloaded metadata -> Check 'Mark rejected books' (this option will stay selected in the future) then go through the books, pressing 'Reject' for any books that don't have a satisfactory cover.

3. After finishing the selections, the marked books will show. Select them all -> Right click - > select 'Edit metadata individually'

4. Press 'Download cover', select a cover, and press 'Next' until finished

5. Select all the rejected books and press Ctrl-M to toggle the marked (pinned) status to off

   • I put the 'Mark books' icon in the main toolbar with Preferences -> Toolbars & menus -> select 'The main toolbar' from the dropdown and move the 'Mark books' icon to the column on the right

6. Press the X at the end of the search bar to clear the selection and get back to the main book list.

   • If you don't see the search bar add it by pressing 'Layout' at the bottom right and toggling 'Search bar' to 'Show'.

Rather than using the above steps, if I have some free time I like to select ALL the covers manually, because it can be fun to look at the different choices. Sometimes I'll pick a foreign cover because the art is better. (Also many of the larger covers - especially from Kindle hi-res - are actually much blurrier than some smaller choices and you can't tell from the thumbnails so I like to right-click and compare them at full size) To do it this way, instead of doing step 1 above:

1. Select the ebooks you want to scrape -> Right-click -> Edit metadata -> Edit metadata individually

2. Do Step 4. That will be the last step

TO GET METADATA

1. Select the books you want to scrape and press Ctrl+D -> Download only metadata.

2. When the job is done -> 'Review downloaded metadata' OR 'Yes'

   • If I DO review the metadata, I usually only check the comments, because I can usually trust the metadata from GoodReads

3. OPTIONAL: If any of the metadata you reviewed is unsatisfactory, 'Reject' it when reviewing, then do step 3 from the 'TO GET COVERS' section, then go to step 4 but select 'Download Metadata' instead of cover and follow the instructions from there.

You should now be finished selecting metadata for your selected books!

[bananatrifleviolin@lemmy.world]

I use a Boox Note, and I like it a lot. Its an android based eBook reader so you have full access to android apps including side loading apps from other stores.

By default it does not have Google services set up but you can use the Play store should you want. But its not integrated to googles services. Obviously there is some integration to Onyx Boox services which is based in China. However infindnit is unobstrusive and you dont have to use their store or any of their tools.

Personally I use Calibre on my Linux PC to manage my books on the device, and I use fbreader as a reader (closed source) but you can install open source software if thats your preference. KOReader certainly works but I'm not a big fan of the interface personally.

I use ebooks.com to buy books (and calibre to remove DRM so I can use my preferred software), and you can install the Kindle app to access a kindle library if you haven't liberated your books yet. Ebooks reader works on the device too.

My device - the note - has an nice crisp screen, is well made with a nice aluminium chassie and is comfortable to hold. I read books in portrait mode so you have 2 pages visible at a time. Its also good for a4 size documents. They do also have smaller sizes that match a kindle paper white.

[pinerune@lemmy.world]

Pocketbook devices mostly run on Linux, except for a few android models. I have the Pocketbook Basic Lux, and I side load manga onto a SD card for it. It has a bookstore that can be entirely ignored, and you can use it without ever connecting wifi. I use Kindle Comic Converter to resize all my manga to the same resolution of the screen to prevent artifacts when the software downscales the images. I want to upgrade to a larger device, but everything else doesn't include an SD card slot or runs android.

[excessshiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

I use a boox leaf 2, it has android without google play services OOTB, you can install that if you want and you can side load apps like normal android too. It has a nice crisp screen, adjustable backlight (color and intensity) micro SD slot in addition to the 32gb internal storage. It will open pretty much any eBook format out there, and you can also use kindle app and adobe digital editions for DRM books (if you don't strip the DRM)

I highly recommend it.

[sagittarii@lemm.ee]

I use a Kobo Libra 2 and it's been great

[vk6flab@lemmy.radio]

There is no mention of e-ink, OP has an Android device, I have an Android device, I read eBooks on it daily, I use FBReader. I'm not sure what all the kerfuffle is about.

[bastingchemina@slrpnk.net]

What is the reason not to connect it to the WiFi ?

[duke_nukem_1990@feddit.org]

I have had the same Tolino Shine for... 10 years now? It recently broke down and I will definitely get the new Shine at some point.
You can put books on it yourself via usb and basically never need to connect to the internet if you don't want to. Unsure tho if it is available outside of Germmany/EU.