this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2025
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Kindle just works
I can read a book in a series, finish it, buy the next one and it’s ready to read before I’ve gotten a new cup of tea.
Lol. This is the exact same on...checks notes... every single other platform I know of. I have a kobo sage and it's the same, except that kobo runs on Linux and they don't lock their system. You can literally "jailbreak" it and still get updates from them. They also don't lock their books with encryption like on kindle so they lock you in. IMHO, there is 0 reasons to buy a kindle now, period.
I’ve tried the Kobo store (sold my Kindle and got a Libra 2 Color), but the selection is a bit lacking.
Some books just don’t exist there, which means I can’t just click and buy the next one from the Kobo UI.
You can buy those books (if possible) from the publisher directly and load them onto your Kobo via a computer.
Yep, but it’s not something I can do with one click on the sofa, which was my original point
@lepinkainen @penquin Kobo has a basic browser so you probably could. I downloaded a few copyright-free books from standardebooks.org directly onto my Kobo the other day.
I “could”, but it’s still a ton harder than just clicking “buy next book in series”
TBH it’s easier to plug calibre-web as a store in Kobo and just “acquire” all the books in all the series from … sources. Then you get the one click downloads easily 🤓
@penquin @lepinkainen Kobo also comes preloaded with overdrive so you can get books from the library as well. The wait can be quite long though - but if you have enough on hold that doesn't really matter too much
Does overdrive have only audio books or regular books, too?
@penquin probably depends on your library but mine has plenty of normal books on there.
@penquin to clarify, yes, it has loads of standard ebooks on there but it's up to your library how many copies, if any, of anything in the catalogue to make available. My library usually has about 3-4 copies of anything popular and you get them for two weeks, but you can delay the hold if your turn comes up and you're busy reading something else. If anything is crazy popular they will review and make more available to reduce the waiting time.
Thank you
It runs on Android which runs on a Linux kernel. And Android is a tad bit too heavy for the kind of hardware the vendors tend to give e-readers, if you do anything outside the book-management-and-reader app. It's more open than Kindle, sure (i could even flash Lineagos on my Leaf, since the stock ROM had weird translation and apps), but if you just want an e-reader and maybe Nextcloud sync, i'd recommend PocketBook over everything else.
Edit: well, AOSP based custom ROM, not Android.
I've searched everywhere and nowhere does anyone mention that kobo runs android. It runs an actual Linux based OS, not android. I know android uses the Linux kernel but that is not the same as an actual Linux OS. It doesn't matter anyway, their shit is wide open and you can do whatever the hell you want to you kobo
Ok, "Android" is a certificate and requires, among others, Google Play Services and Store. Kobo doesn't have that, so my that's the issue. But it's a AOSP-based vendor ROM, same as Kindle's, so my point with performance still stands and battery is bad too. At least compared to PocketBook's, which run plain Linux and last a month.
I just checked them out and they have really low PPI on the one I want, the inkpad lite. It's 150 PPI. That's too low and would drive me insane.
That's not unlike the experience on my Kobo Elipsa 2e.
How is that Elipsa e2? I wanted to get it, but I discovered that it had a low PPI 227 and held off. I have eagle eyes and I hate seeing pixels. lol.. so I got the sage fantastic device, but I want the 10" screen so badly.
I have not been at all dissatisfied with its clarity. I bet on a LCD or OLED screen the DPI would be noticeable, but not on an e-ink display.
Thank you. Do you have another kobo with higher DPI that you can compare it to? I'm very weird when it comes to this. I can see pixels very easily and then would never be able to focus anymore. lol. I can't even use anything but 4k screens on my laptops and PC, that's how bad I am.
Sorry, no. No other e-ink devices at all.
No worries. Thank you