Help me find: Page-turn buttons & sideloading

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I could deal with a larger screen (really don't want one; I miss my 5" ereaders), but I'd want to know what it does better than the 6" readers with physical page-turn buttons.

I had a Kobo Mini in the past and remembered not being able to set it up without an account (no idea how I could edit a config file), but I also remember it not being a hassle - I set up something, turned off wifi and never touched the "account" again.

I remember it not being easy to navigate through large numbers of books, but that may be a nearly universal thing. Can't remember if I could turn off cover view so it just showed a text list of titles. (Most of what I read is fanfic; there are no covers. Auto-generated covers are just text that's too small to read.)

There's no reason not to register a Kobo. Kobo is a Canadian company and they follow the Canadian privacy laws fully.,

As for navigating, things have changed since. There is now sorting by series and less need for collections.

The Libra 2 is the smallest Kobo with buttons. Pocketbook has some 6" Readers with buttons, but they are at the bottom and that's a rather poor place for buttons.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I know they're long in the tooth, but if you want a 5" reader with buttons, used Sony PRS-350s are still available. I think they would fulfill your main requirements except for large database capacity. New batteries seem widely available for PRS-350s.

I would say no to the 350. Slow, low-res, screen quality not as good as current screens, and they can be really slow with hi-res images and sometimes reboot or lock because not enough RAM.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Admittedly, I will sometimes queue up a series (search for the series, sort by series index) and starting with the last member and opening it, returning to search and repeating until I hit the first in the series. The 5 opened books on the home screen will allow me to step through those books as I finish them even if there are more than 5 books in the series.

When you open the first book in the series, Kobo should stick either the series or author on the home screen. So you shouldn't need to queue up a series like that.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would say no to the 350. Slow, low-res, screen quality not as good as current screens, and they can be really slow with hi-res images and sometimes reboot or lock because not enough RAM.

And, besides, it's not a Kobo.

Elfwreck likes 5" screens and wants page turn buttons, so this is one possibility. And, honestly, the PRS-350 still provides a pretty good reading experience.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There's no reason not to register a Kobo. Kobo is a Canadian company and they follow the Canadian privacy laws fully.

I don't think the privacy laws are all that sacrosanct for "Western" governments any more. We find the U.S. government was reading private Twitter messages all along, and there are still Canadians with frozen bank accounts for privately donating money to the trucker's strike.

That said, I don't know how much harm could come from registering with Kobo. But it's still a matter of choice (or should be).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Quoth

My PRS-350 is still on the original battery and the only advantage at all of the later PRS-T2 is the SD Card slot.

My PRS-350 readers still hold good charges as well. But sooner or later they're going to wear out and it's nice to know that batteries are available.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Kobo has built-in categories Unread, Reading and Finished. Books get sorted into those automatically.

As to Calibre being an additional step in sorting... not with Kobos. Once you've sorted/tagged the books in Calibre ...

That would be the issue. It would change my habits from "plug device into computer, download epub to the fanfic folder on the device" to "plug device in, download fic to a folder on my computer, open Calibre, import to Calibre, adjust metadata, upload to device." Possibly, "then delete the original downloads."

Not much longer if I'm getting one or two books. If I'm collecting a swarm of them, it adds substantial time to the process. And I could only do it on a computer with my version of Calibre installed. (My tiny low-capacity travel laptop doesn't have much at all installed.) I know I could put Calibre in Dropbox but I don't think I could run it through a browser.

So far, the benefits haven't been worth the hassles.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There's no reason not to register a Kobo. Kobo is a Canadian company and they follow the Canadian privacy laws fully.,

I don't have to register my laptop with Dell before I start using it. I don't have to register my coffee maker with Keurig to start using it. I shouldn't have to register what is basically the lamp I'm using to read my books with the lamp company.

I would say no to the 350. Slow, low-res, screen quality not as good as current screens, and they can be really slow with hi-res images and sometimes reboot or lock because not enough RAM.

"Slow" is a concern; I went back to a PRS-505 for a while and found that both the page turning and navigation were annoyingly slow. I'm not sure if the 350 is better. (But the real reason I gave up on the 505 was weight; it's heavier than is comfortable in one hand.) I'm also worried about battery life with the older devices.

But the screen quality is fine, and I don't read much that has images.

I'm more concerned about emoji support, since I've discovered that my pocketboook will freeze/crash in ebooks that contain some emojis. I don't know if the older readers will just nicely skip them, or freeze up trying to read characters they don't support.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

"Slow" is a concern; I went back to a PRS-505 for a while and found that both the page turning and navigation were annoyingly slow. I'm not sure if the 350 is better. (But the real reason I gave up on the 505 was weight; it's heavier than is comfortable in one hand.) I'm also worried about battery life with the older devices.

The page turn speed is not that bad on the PRS-350. Probably more annoying (if you're used to modern readers) is the redraw "flash" with each page turn.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The page turn speed is not that bad on the PRS-350. Probably more annoying (if you're used to modern readers) is the redraw "flash" with each page turn.

Depends. I have the flash (full refresh) on for every page on all my ereaders (well, the pair of them, at the moment, as I sold the rest), and have for years. While it was slightly annoying for the first few days, I no longer remember when I actually saw it last. My brain just filters it out. For me, the text quality (sharpness and darkness) is well worth the flash, which is invisible to me now anyway.

[SomeSteve]

Originally Posted by rcentros

My PRS-350 readers still hold good charges as well. But sooner or later they're going to wear out and it's nice to know that batteries are available.

Any idea how hard it is to change them?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

And, besides, it's not a Kobo.

Elfwreck likes 5" screens and wants page turn buttons, so this is one possibility. And, honestly, the PRS-350 still provides a pretty good reading experience.

I had a 650. So I can say that the reading experience is not nearly as good as it is on Kobo.

No hi-res screen. No side loaded fonts. No real italics (simulated). No margins and line-height. No ePub 3. There is no way I would go back to a Sony Reader.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Depends. I have the flash (full refresh) on for every page on all my ereaders (well, the pair of them, at the moment, as I sold the rest), and have for years. While it was slightly annoying for the first few days, I no longer remember when I actually saw it last. My brain just filters it out. For me, the text quality (sharpness and darkness) is well worth the flash, which is invisible to me now anyway.

It didn't bother me when I was reading on old eReaders, but now I'm used to not seeing it, so I notice it. It probably wouldn't take long to get used to it again.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

That would be the issue. It would change my habits from "plug device into computer, download epub to the fanfic folder on the device" to "plug device in, download fic to a folder on my computer, open Calibre, import to Calibre, adjust metadata, upload to device." Possibly, "then delete the original downloads."

Not much longer if I'm getting one or two books. If I'm collecting a swarm of them, it adds substantial time to the process. And I could only do it on a computer with my version of Calibre installed. (My tiny low-capacity travel laptop doesn't have much at all installed.) I know I could put Calibre in Dropbox but I don't think I could run it through a browser.

So far, the benefits haven't been worth the hassles.

Putting your library on Dropbox is a time bomb waiting for your library to become corrupt. Don't do it.

If your travel laptop had a card reader, you can get a memory card to put your Calibre library on.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I don't have to register my laptop with Dell before I start using it. I don't have to register my coffee maker with Keurig to start using it. I shouldn't have to register what is basically the lamp I'm using to read my books with the lamp company.

You do have to setup a UN/PW before you can start using Windows.

But you do have to register Readers. That's the way it is.

"Slow" is a concern; I went back to a PRS-505 for a while and found that both the page turning and navigation were annoyingly slow. I'm not sure if the 350 is better. (But the real reason I gave up on the 505 was weight; it's heavier than is comfortable in one hand.) I'm also worried about battery life with the older devices.

The 350 is slow. And if you have hi-res graphics, it can be slower then slow. That is if it doesn't reboot or lock. It won't brick, but you would have to reboot and maybe not read that book.

But the screen quality is fine, and I don't read much that has images.

I'm more concerned about emoji support, since I've discovered that my pocketboook will freeze/crash in ebooks that contain some emojis. I don't know if the older readers will just nicely skip them, or freeze up trying to read characters they don't support.

Emoji support? That depends on the font being used. The 350 cannot support this as you cannot use a font of your choice unless you embed in the ePub.