Why aren't PocketBook devices more popular?

[Mr Avid]

I picked up an Inkpad Lite recently and after spending some time with it, I have been thoroughly impressed with the software.

Maybe it is because I have more a niche use case, but I am blown away by how easy it was to get up and running and how well it works out of the box. I am really surprised that more people aren't talking about these.

There are so many great things about the software:

• Can be used without a login - There is nag at the beginning and whenever you update the firmware but otherwise it leaves you alone. In fact, you don't even need to connect it to a network if you don't want to.
• The interface is simple and uncluttered. There is little to no advertising to be seen.
• Library interface is fast and allows browsing by Author, Genre, Collection, Favorites, Folders, Formats and Series. This is better than anything else I have tried if you have a big collection of books.
• Built-in reader is very good and allows basic line spacing, basic margins, hyphenation, font, and some minor control of what is in the status bar.
• If you don't like it, it is easy to install koreader and use it as the default reader without any jailbreaking or hassles.
• All buttons are semi programmable
• Supports syncing with dropbox, adobe, and pocketbook
• Can set what is displayed when the device is powered off
• Supports dark mode
• When it is completely off, it only takes about 10 seconds to get in book. For comparison, my kindle Oasis 3 is about 5 seconds and the Boox Page is over 40 seconds.

There are also a few things I don't like:

• If you swap the order of the page buttons, the swapping only impacts book reading and not the UI. This means you need to remember it is reversed when browsing the library for example.
• The automatic light control is terrible. It makes it way too dark. If there is any material amount of ambient light it turns the light off.
• Oddly, my timezone isn't present in the list of timezones.

None of the cons are deal-breakers for me.

Unfortunately, I will be returning the device. The form factor is not right for me or the way I read. I thought I might like a bigger device but it ends up causing me too much strain on my hands and wrists. I think, realistically, I would need to read with something to support it but that isn't really how I read.

I may, however, try an Era if I can't come to terms with the Boox Page I am currently trying to make work for me.

[Scoob]

Another plus is that some devices take SD cards too. The button placement at the bottom of some devices is a little weird to me though but it's great they still have them.

[Sirtel]

Where exactly aren't they more popular? MobileRead? MR is an English-language forum; in English-speaking countries Amazon with its Kindles dominates the ebook/ereader market. And in Canada Kobo is popular because it's a Canadian company.

Pocketbook was an Ukrainian company and is now based in Switzerland, AFAIK, so it's not well known in English-speaking countries and often is not sold there.

[kacir]

If you look up old posts about PocketBook 301 and 360 from 15+ years ago you would see they had superior software even back then. It was super configurable and the company even sponsored competitions in writing software for it. It even had alternative UIs created during those sponsored competitions. They published developer toolkit and source code for their main reading app FBReader, so there was much improved version you could install. (They used open source to develop the app in the first place.) You could install new reading software and apps without hacking anything, just place it in an appropriate directory on reader. There was even ftpserver and linux terminal for it to help us with tinkering.
We are STILL reaping the benefits from that time. It was truly revolutionary company. After the company got successful they moved from Ukraine to Switzerland and slowly ceased encouraging tinkering.
They were never big in the USA, Amazon and other American companies were dominating there.

[slm]

One downside to the Pocketbook universe if that the bookstore (or at least the English language bookstore) sucks.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Pocketbook devices. They are my principal reading devices.

But I buy my books from Amazon or Kobo and use Calibre and DeDRM to move them to the Pocketbook.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by slm

One downside to the Pocketbook universe if that the bookstore (or at least the English language bookstore) sucks.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Pocketbook devices. They are my principal reading devices.

But I buy my books from Amazon or Kobo and use Calibre and DeDRM to move them to the Pocketbook.

I suspect the store is the biggest part of it. Lots of folks just like being hooked up to a store and get their books there without worrying over shopping elsewhere.

Plus, many, once they've gotten entrenched in a particular ecosystem, don't wish to change. Many don't want to bother liberating their ebooks. They are happy as they are. And e-ink devices can last a long time. If I hadn't sold it, or wanted newer features like front lighting, my Sony 950 would probably still be serving me well.

It's too bad, because the Pocketbook devices seem quite nice. I've fallen in love with my little 7" Era, and it is now second favorite behind my Kobo Sage.

I'd always wanted a Pocketbook reader to try out, but I didn't prior to this summer, because they weren't cheap, and it's hard to justify yet another expensive e-ink device as a whim. I was lucky, and found a barely used 64GB Era for literally HALF-PRICE of new. At that point, I was totally willing to try one out. And am glad I did. There are some cons, some niggles, but overall I love the device.

[Mr Avid]

Originally Posted by slm

One downside to the Pocketbook universe if that the bookstore (or at least the English language bookstore) sucks.

Originally Posted by graycyn

I suspect the store is the biggest part of it. Lots of folks just like being hooked up to a store and get their books there without worrying over shopping elsewhere.

Plus, many, once they've gotten entrenched in a particular ecosystem, don't wish to change. Many don't want to bother liberating their ebooks. They are happy as they are.

The store issue is a good point. That isn't part of my use case so it is not something I consider when using a device. For me, it is much more important to manage a local library of books effectively.

[dmalinovsky]

Pocketbook doesn't have enough presence in the USA, for example, if a device breaks, its warranty support EU countries only, and you're out of luck. Also, you can't easily upgrade a Pocketbook device in the USA (like you can with Kindle) — in EU they at least give you a discount for a new device in exchange for the old one.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by Mr Avid

[*]When it is completely off, it only takes about 10 seconds to get in book. For comparison, my kindle Oasis 3 is about 5 seconds and the Boox Page is over 40 seconds.

- Well, in my case, the BOOX Page starts within 2 seconds.
But I have no reason to turn it off, I just put it to sleep. I have it set to turn off after 24 hours.
Pocketbook starts from Off mode in tens of seconds too.
- BOOX It can also be used without logging in
- BOOX is more flexible

For my using, the main negatives are PB: Errors in the overall reactivity of the device, dictionaries are very average, only completely basic settings for Font and page settings.
HW equipped with CPU and podone are very backward used today already in PB books released 8 years ago.Limited kernel and SDK.

PS: Dark mode, options for setting buttons and a good coating of the mentioned items are supported by almost every electronic book today.
In addition, the CPU installed is still prehistorically B288, which is already 10 years old and which PB installs even in all the cheapest modelsSo I can't see anything great on the Lite version, which has a screen with a low resolution (at least for me).

Apropos the mentioned BOOX Page has better contrast and sharpness compared to ERA. Personally, I would never go back to ERA from BOOX Page (I had both models for a while ).

But of course stick to your preferences.

[John F]

When switching to a new brand, I like to phsically see/touch/play with it before buying. I haven't seen any PocketBooks in U.S. B&Ms.

[Mr Avid]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

- Well, in my case, the BOOX Page starts within 2 seconds.
But I have no reason to turn it off, I just put it to sleep. I have it set to turn off after 24 hours.

The thing I have noticed, is the Boox still consumes a decent amount of power when asleep so if I don't turn it off, the battery drains a lot faster.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

- BOOX It can also be used without logging in
- BOOX is more flexible

Quite true. Also, the included neoreader is impressively good. Better than any of the other built-in readers I have tried.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

So I can't see anything great on the Lite version, which has a screen with a low resolution (at least for me).

Yes, the Lite is not the right device for me either. Mainly because of it's size and ergonomics though. The resolution isn't a big problem for me because of the way I use the larger device. I hold it slightly further away from me and make everything larger. On the other hand, if you were to use it to get more on the page by leaving the font small-ish, the resolution limitations become obvious pretty quick.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Apropos the mentioned BOOX Page has better contrast and sharpness compared to ERA. Personally, I would never go back to ERA from BOOX Page (I had both models for a while ).

I don't have the Era yet so I can't comment on that one.

There are things I like about the Page. In addition to what is mentioned above, the build quality seems good, the buttons are well placed and work consistently and the device is very open.

There are a couple of deal-breakers for me with the Page though. The first is the power issues mentioned above. Unless you sleep the device, it takes too long to get back in-book.

The other is library management. The ability to browse a large library on the device is not good. The interface is too limited. I tried working around this but couldn't find a good solution for my needs.

I tried using 3rd party readers. There were some that had decent library management but they all had some flaws in the reading experience. The two I liked the best were Moonreader+ and Librera. However, both had flaws that were annoying.

About the best work-around I came up with was to put the books on the device organized by series in the folder structure and then switch to the file browser mode of the library when I wanted to view it that way. There were still many annoyances though.

I really wish the Boox Library would be improved. If you have thousands of books acquired over many years, it just doesn't handle that well.

[Mr Avid]

Originally Posted by John F

When switching to a new brand, I like to phsically see/touch/play with it before buying. I haven't seen any PocketBooks in U.S. B&Ms.

I have never seen a Kobo in a store either although I guess some Walmarts carried them in the past.

I think all I have ever seen in stores is Kindles and Nooks.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Mr Avid

I have never seen a Kobo in a store either although I guess some Walmarts carried them in the past.

I think all I have ever seen in stores is Kindles and Nooks.

I think I saw my first Kobo at a University book store. At one time, Kobos were in boutique book stores. And I think they were in bestbuy in the past.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Mr Avid

...
Quite true. Also, the included neoreader is impressively good. Better than any of the other built-in readers I have tried.
...

Now I'm curious. How many choices are there for font size, line spacing, and margins?

[Mr Avid]

Originally Posted by John F

Now I'm curious. How many choices are there for font size, line spacing, and margins?

In the Boox NeoReader? A lot.

Font can be set from anything to 10 to 96.

Line spacing from 0 to 150.

Each margin can be set from 0 to 70.

Additionally, there are settings for character spacing, paragraph spacing, 30 levels of bold and 17 levels of font enhancement.