this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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For the digital readers, on which platform do you read and why?

Phone, eReader, tablet, iPad etc.

I personally have been reading on my iPhone but it feels a bit.. off lately. Can’t pinpoint what exactly it is.

Was thinking to purchase a tablet or eReader but uncertain which one and if they’re worth to get for only reading.

EDIT: Thanks for all the responses! I’ll look into them all!

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[–] JaymesRS@midwest.social 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I love my kobo. I’ve had ereaders from each of the major current eink brands, as well as iPad and iPhone.

I like having a eReader because reading on my phone makes it too easy to swipe away to go back to doomscrolling the internet.

[–] calhoon2005@aussie.zone 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have a Kindle. Combined with Anna's archive and emailing myself an epub, it's brilliant. Reading on your phone can increase eye strain and lead to poorer sleep. Look into an e-ink e-reader, you won't regret it.

[–] FancyGUI@lemmy.fancywhale.ca 2 points 1 year ago

I’m exactly on the same page! There was a book in Portuguese that I couldn’t find to purchase as ebook, but found on Anna’s archive! And the feel of the è-ink display scratches that itch for a paper-like reading experience.

[–] Thalfon@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago

Another Kobo user, I have the Clara HD. I like having an eInk device for ease on the eyes, it has a good backlight with a natural light setting for warmer usage at night which is nice.

I suspect most basic ebook readers would be similar. I just wanted something feature-light that was purely for reading.

I did specifically want to avoid Amazon. Basically every other retailer uses the same ebook format: Epub, either DRM free or with Adobe Digital Editions DRM. This means most ereaders can use books from most retailers. The exception is Amazon - they use their own proprietary format with its own DRM to lock you into the Kindle ecosystem. Kindles can now read non-Amazon ebooks but non-Kindles can't read Amazon ones due to this. I find that particularly scummy and want nothing to do with supporting it, especially when most books I buy through Kobo or other sites are completely DRM free by comparison.

(There are ways to get Amazon books you own onto other devices in a pinch if you do some searching. Questionable legality, even if you own the book, which is crazy to me, but it's not impossible. Amazon has been updating their DRM against it, but it's still doable.)

[–] amarnasmoths 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm a hardcore reader, and I use a Kobo Forma daily. I can't say enough good things about it.

Can purchase and download books from any shop, and they'll work in the Kobo, can add stuff like NickelMenu, Dropbox integration...

People complain about the power button on the Forma and rightfully so, as it's crappy. However, the quality build of the device is excellent. Got it almost since launch, take it absolutely everywhere with me (backpacks, bags, to the beach, swimming pool, camping...) and it shows 0 damage, not even a scratch.

I mainly read novels but it also scratches the itch for mangas and comics, as it also reads .cbz format (among others).

NOT GOOD FOR PDFs. They get displayed weirdly, hard to read, are slow to change pages...

Battery is great, better than the Sage's.

If you like reading, get a dedicated device because I swear you won't regret it.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I have an e-reader and for me it's something else, I have access to basically all of what LibGen can offer me so it expanded my reading possibilities a lot more, and it is way more comfortable than reading on the PC since there are countless distractions there. I would go with a Kobo, that's what I have, since Amazon is a lot more shitty in terms of privacy, but I can't say much more than that.

[–] chrisbit@leminal.space 4 points 1 year ago

I tend to alternate between my Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle app on my phone, depending on circumstance. My phone has an AMOLED screen so it's not bad on the eyes with a black background.

[–] AnonStoleMyPants@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

I read through Kobo app, and Libby on my phone, and I also have a Kobo e-reader (I think it'd Clara but not sure). I actually use my phone more than the reader though, just because I always have it with me. Both are great imo!

[–] maxio@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

I have a Tolino Vision 6 and its a piece of shit. An e- Reader with integrated backlight is nice, you can read anywhere and it doesn't matter how thick the book is- it always weighs the same. And you can pay less for E-books ( or not at all). Buuut my Tolino takes a random time between 1 and 3 seconds to change pages, can't read a lot of ebooks (it should do epub, but I just can't open some. same with pdf ), and randomly just freezes for a day or two. I already got a warranty replacement because my first one just froze and stopped for good (at a high tension point in the book. like bruh.)

[–] nerdalie@lib.lgbt 3 points 1 year ago

I'm on my second Kindle. They were both gifts and serve(d) their purpose well enough, but I intend to go in a different direction than Amazon next time.

[–] Oneeightnine@feddit.uk 3 points 1 year ago

I've got a Kobo Sage and I love it. My only complaint is that it doesn't have the depth of accessories that you can get with the Kindle Paperwhite.

[–] Serval@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

I have a Kobo eReader (idk the specific model) and it has many advantages:

  • Since its only purpose is reading, the battery lasts a lot more than the phone's one. I usually charge it once a week. (A side effect of the single purpose thing is that there are no notifications, so there are less distractions too).
  • You can read no matter the light conditions, both in the dark and in intense light.
  • The screen is larger than a phone's one, yet the eReader itself is small enough to fit most pockets.
  • I have no problem reading on the phone, but some people feel that their eyesight tires more easily than on paper. Apparently eReaders fix this.
  • It has an embedded offline dictionary and you can download more in other languages.

Some cons are:

  • There is no dark mode, at least on my model.
  • The screen, because of its being different from the phone's, is only black and white.
  • To upload books I didn't buy through the Kobo store I need to connect the eReader to a computer. However, it has a lot of memory, so you can upload all the books you may want to read and you won't need to touch it for months.
  • It's quite slow. Normally I don't even notice it, but it's very annoying if I want to read PDFs where I need to zoom in.
  • I don't know if it's a problem of my device, but it's also slightly buggy. Again, it's not a thing I usually notice, just when I need to highlight something or take notes. It shouldn't be a problem if you use those features only once in a while, otherwise I suggest to keep close to you the phone/notebook for your annotations or to use a more comfortable device.

I hope this helps :)

[–] wren@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

I alternate between an ipad and my phone, depending on the situation

Kindle Paperwhites are amazing for reading, if you’re thinking about getting one. I really miss mine. I got so much more reading done with my paperwhite than anything else

[–] rinze@infosec.pub 2 points 1 year ago

I got a Nook in 2011 and it was my main reader device until it died a few months ago. I replaced it with a Kobo and I'm quite happy. Having backlight is a huge improvement.

[–] zakomo@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I had a kindle and now I have a Kobo, I still read oj my phone if I get stuck somewhere and I don't have my e-reader with me, but e-readers are so much better. Less eye strain, less distractions from notifications or random thoughts. IMO if you read more than a book a year you probably should have an e-reader. Just my 2 cents.

[–] pencilled_robin@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I have a Kindle and am quite happy with it. Reading on a phone gives me horrible eyestrain.

[–] exu@feditown.com 1 points 1 year ago

Phone, tablet and PC whichever I want to read on at the moment thanks to progress living on the server instead of a specific device.

[–] Zana@startrek.website 1 points 1 year ago

I use a Boox Leaf 2 and use Koreader on it. I love it

[–] flipht@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm primarily on audible. Would love to find a good ripping solution, and then self hosting and using a third party app.

I also keep calibre updated with all of my ebooks for storage. I use a Kindle for my ebooks, which I like because I can email files to myself instead of having to physically transfer them to the Kindle.

[–] tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Take a look at OpenAudible.

I tried all sorts of stuff before getting OpenAudible and it works brilliantly. It costs about $20 (and there’s an upgrade about every year costing $8) but I’ve not upgraded and it still works perfectly.

[–] flipht@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Good to know. My previous option was called epubor, I think. It stopped working recently when they switched the DRM..might be fixed in an upgrade by now, but I like to do these things in batches anyway.

[–] flipht@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I'm primarily on audible. Would love to find a good ripping solution, and then self hosting and using a third party app.

I also keep calibre updated with all of my ebooks for storage. I use a Kindle for my ebooks, which I like because I can email files to myself instead of having to physically transfer them to the Kindle.

I bought a Kindle but hardly ever use it. I was using the web app on my large desktop monitor and I found that comfortable (especially the solarized-like theme) compared to the Kindle device.

[–] rolofox@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

I use a kindle (it was a gift), had Kobo before I like it because of the screen and digital ink?, It just feels better to my eyes , I get a lot of eye strain from reading on regular screens.

[–] tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

Mostly on a basic kindle. I read pdfs and comic books on an ipad.

I’m waiting for a decent colour eink reader about same size as my kindle with stylus/writing support. From what I can see, they are nearly there… but not quite.

[–] emma@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

My tablet, in part because I didn't expect to take to ebooks so well (yay dark mode!) and because I don't want more devices (cost to the environment + need to keep charged etc). An e-ink I can also listen to podcasts on might be my ideal. I use a laptop for social media and general internetting, which means minimal distraction problem on the tablet.

[–] renant@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I use an Android Tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e). Most of my reading is through the Libby app and Google Play Books.

An Android tablet is overall a more versatile device. I can also use it to browse the web and watch Netflix (especially while traveling). The downside is it's on the larger side (10 inch). Would love to get a smaller 7 or 8 inch tablet, but the specs for those are usually really low end. Like not even a 1080p screen.

[–] Teknikal@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Kobo it's light easy to hold and the paper look, battery life and back light makes it perfect for reading for me.

[–] snowstorm@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Librera on Android, with reading mode on and at night Red Moon as well. Very convenient.

[–] Deemo@bookwormstory.social 2 points 1 year ago

I found using Librera's Record TTS feature with aitts wavenet plugin you can make decent sounding audio books

Aitts plugin apk: https://web.archive.org/web/20230419204608/https://www.milmike.com/aitts-google-wavenet-voices-for-android-tts

I also use Smart AudioBook Player alongside Librera to listen to the generated audiobook (since librera ends up generating 1-2 min mp3 files). Smart audio book allows clustering of these mp3 files (merging total listening time).