The Worst ebook Reader You Ever Owned!

[PKFFW]

BeBook, followed by Sony PRS-T1, now on the Kobo H20.

I've liked them all.

[chas0039]

Well, the worst one has to be the Rocket Ebook. But I loved being able to carry up to 10 books at a time. The one I disliked the most was the Nook. The memory card was great and the replaceable battery was just what I wanted, but it would take hours to compile all the books I would add so it could search. Fortunately, I found alternate software and that helped some.

Then I tolerated Kindles until Kobo arrived. My original Kindle with the keyboard is still going strong. Love the buttons no matter what I owned.

[Pajamaman]

PW2. Solid kit. Good light and contrast. But the software... Hell to organize books even when jailbreaked. These problems resolved with koreader 👍

But for sure I will never buy a kindle that cannot be jailbreaked. Never never never. Horrid waste of good kit.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

PW2. Solid kit. Good light and contrast. But the software... Hell to organize books even when jailbreaked. These problems resolved with koreader 👍

But for sure I will never buy a kindle that cannot be jailbreaked. Never never never. Horrid waste of good kit.

But you won't know what firmware the Kindle has until after you've bought it.

[cellaris]

My worst experience was with the Samsung E65 e-reader. I don't remember anything good.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by cellaris

My worst experience was with the Samsung E65 e-reader. I don't remember anything good.

No-one else remembers it at all. Not on the same level as some of their other products!
https://the-digital-reader.com/2011/...-ebook-reader/

[Barty]

I didn't own one but the first Kindle, which was released the same year as the first iphone, looked like it belonged in a different decade ergonomically

[deedward9]

I had a Sony PRS-600. It was a decent enough reader, but the screen was really shiny and reflective and it made it hard to get in a position to read on. It was a pretty neat device at the time though.

[teamug]

I got into the game so late that none of my readers have been bad... But the worst must be the previous generation Kindle Paperwhite (2018) model, which was still "good". It doesn't have buttons, which I quickly found out is absolutely necessary for me to be able to read one-handed comfortably.

Another thing: the power button! It's placed on the bottom of the device, where I rest the reader against my hand, and it sticks out. The result was that I would always turn it off inadvertently several times per reading session. Made me want to throw it out the window.

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The first "Basic" Kindle with the thin clicky page-turn buttons. Man I disliked that thing.

It's funny, I have this model (Kindle 4 non touch, both the older gray one and the second black version) which I got dirt cheap out of retro curiosity. The page-turn buttons are my absolute favorite of the ones I've tried. The click is super satisfying!

I clipped a Kobo e-reader light on it and before I knew it I found myself reading several books on this 10 year old device. I would love a better screen and updated features in the same shell.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by teamug

...the power button! It's placed on the bottom of the device, where I rest the reader against my hand, and it sticks out. The result was that I would always turn it off inadvertently several times per reading session. Made me want to throw it out the window.

Kindle and Kobo are still doing this. It must save them a penny in manufacture, because otherwise it is so clearly bad design.

It's funny, I have this model (Kindle 4 non touch, both the older gray one and the second black version) which I got dirt cheap out of retro curiosity. The page-turn buttons are my absolute favorite of the ones I've tried. The click is super satisfying!

I clipped a Kobo e-reader light on it and before I knew it I found myself reading several books on this 10 year old device. I would love a better screen and updated features in the same shell.

I feel the same way about the Nook Simple Touch.

The Glowlight 4 is a similar design and is a nice reader. But I'd like a clone of the Simple Touch body with a 300ppi Carta screen and orange lighting.

[WillAdams]

Like others who owned one, I was very disappointed in the Sony PRS-600, esp. since I got one of the faulty screens which wouldn't change pages correctly if in sunlight.

Turned me off dedicated ebook readers for a long while.

Finally bought an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite recently which I've been pleased w/ --- but I wish it had a stylus --- I wish there was a portable device intended for the dual-role of note-taking and ebook reading, which had nice annotation which would work w/ the Amazon ebook licensing system.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Finally bought an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite recently which I've been pleased w/ --- but I wish it had a stylus --- I wish there was a portable device intended for the dual-role of note-taking and ebook reading, which had nice annotation which would work w/ the Amazon ebook licensing system.

There are the Kobo Sage and Elipsa, but of course they don't work with unconverted Kindle books.

[Tarana]

The only ereader I haven't liked was the Paperwhite 1 that I bought for my Mom. You swipe and it could be one page or it could be 3. The blue light was rough on my eyes. My Mom was used to it so kept on. I convinced her recently to upgrade and she was willing to take my extra Paperwhite 3, so that PW1 is out the door as soon as I ensure everything has been transferred!

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Finally bought an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite recently which I've been pleased w/ --- but I wish it had a stylus --- I wish there was a portable device intended for the dual-role of note-taking and ebook reading, which had nice annotation which would work w/ the Amazon ebook licensing system.

You can of course use a stylus if you like, instead of your fingertips. But there's no way to do note-taking independent of making notes for a book you are reading.

I'd actually prefer that they let you connect Bluetooth keyboards and enable some useful keyboard shortcuts.

There have been many attempts to integrate ebook reading and note taking. I got an Entourage Edge Jr on Woot and it had an eInk display for reading and LCD for running Android apps, and a stylus. Nice try but in the end a failure. I think I was able to sell it to someone eventually.

I owned a BooX ereader which could run Android apps. It was horrible and my candidate for Worst. I returned it for a refund within a few days. Maybe they are better now but it's not something I have any interest in.

[teamug]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Kindle and Kobo are still doing this. It must save them a penny in manufacture, because otherwise it is so clearly bad design.



I feel the same way about the Nook Simple Touch.

The Glowlight 4 is a similar design and is a nice reader. But I'd like a clone of the Simple Touch body with a 300ppi Carta screen and orange lighting.

Nook Simple Touch does look comfy.

I have been wondering if those buttons on the Glowlight 4 are similar to K4NT, since they are on the edge like that. Or maybe the buttons on the new Pocketbook Era that is coming out.