This is my first post here but a
long time lurker and thank you to all those who have, provided the tools and invaluable help over more than 12 years eReading! I know this thread is about upgrading really to modern devices but I just like to give a shout out for the KK, aka K3, that I have been using all those years, as an alternative, since there are still many many of them available and a new battery makes them almost good as new. At least the 2nd one I've just bought from eBay for 35 quid, with lighted case, looks
exactly brand new. A photo can't do it justice since the ebay ones didn't and I thought I'd overpaid for it, but I wanted the lighted case too, since my old one has that and it's absolutely key to it's longevity for me and is to me truly the most book like case of all. My requirements for an eReader are pretty basic:
1) Read like a book, clearly, nicely and at night too; 2) show the cover when I'm not reading, so I remember what I'm reading, when I pick it up again; 3) Organise the books into genres, etc. I have no need for Audiobooks, PDFs, MP3s - I use much more adequate devices with better storage for those files. TTS I have never really used but it's nice it's there.
Internet connection doesn't really matter to me - I've always used Calibre. But this KK came this week, was on an older firmware; 3G still was working; I registered it, no issue; Updated the firmware (3G disappeared, no big loss), connected to wifi, downloaded my books from Amazon, all set.
I know there's been a lot of improvements since this model came out but it already was a lot better than reading real paperbacks for me over 10 years ago. I love those but I lost hundreds of books in an accident of moving and over time I have put virtually every one of them on the single old 1st KK. The 2nd one is the 2nd volume for different books, though the 1st is no where near full either.
I used to be involved in a publishing business; a small independent imprint. It's my main profession and I eventually pulled out but I created and produced many eBooks for authors in that time, for all the major online retailers and the KK was the main physical device to test them before submission and I still spend hours reformatting my books with the tools I still have; even from major publishers like Random House, Hatchette, etc. because I am still horrified sometimes at how bad they can be. Now I would probably need newer devices too to take advantage of the extra tech and content ebooks can sometimes provide; but as I say I still like an ebook to be a primary text equivalent of a print one, without extras.
Sorry for the long 1st post but what I'm saying is something like a KK with lighted case, in good condition and there are many still out there for much less than I paid, perhaps with a new battery fitted (neither of mine seem to really need that yet though), can still make a really viable choice, for pure reading. Please forgive me if this is against the spirit of this thread, I just offer an alternative, if I may.
