| From: James Knott via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | | On 2021-05-11 10:26 a.m., Trevor Woerner via talk wrote: | > I'm looking for recommendations for e-readers. Ideally these recommendations | > would come in the form of "I have used <the following e-readers> and <this> | > is the one I like best for <these reasons>" ;-) | > | > Nice to have features: | > - be able to read websites (i.e. surf the web) | > - be able to mirror a screen from my desktop (or act as another monitor) | > - be able to take notes | | Get a decent tablet. I used to use a Kobo reader and find a tablet is much | superior. In addition to reading books, a tablet does so much more, including | browsing a web site. You can also get remote desktop apps for them. And so | much more... | | The only advantages of an e-reader, such as the Kobo, are battery life and | using in bright sunlight. As James says, your "nice to have" features definitely sound like what you need is a tablet. If I didn't know you better, I would think you didn't know that an ereader is built out of (e-paper). - "tablet" now means something with an IPS screen with capacitive touch. On some, there is also a high-resolution digitizer for accurate stylus use. - "ereader" now means a small and minimal device for reading static monochrome content (i.e. books) with slow screen updates. They've become specialized so that the best use-cases don't actually overlap. The tablet is more general purpose, so I'll enumerate why one could possibly want an ereader - ereader has simple interface specialized to one task. - ereader is less expensive ($100 gets you a reasonable one; more like $200+ for a reasonable tablet and $1000 for a really really good one) - ereader battery charge lasts months of normal use (less with light on) whereas tablet batteries last days - ereader is very thin and light. Lighter than a paperback book that it replaces. This matters when you spend hours reading in random places (bed, subway, treehouse). Some (eg. my Kobo Mini) conveniently fit in a shirt pocket. - ereaders are quite readable in bright light, unlike tablets. ereaders are only readable in the dark if they have built-in lighting (I think all current ereaders have that but some of ours do not) - with a very few exception ereaders come in modest sizes. Among other things, this means they are not good for reading PDF files. - only exotic and expensive ereaders support taking notes with a stylus https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2 - an ereader remains useful much longer than a tablet (software updates cycles) - It is generally believed that epaper disrupts sleep patterns less than IPS screens. I don't know if this is true. - As far as I know, all ereaders have Linux built in. On the Kobo, you can hack on it a bit. But that's not very useful. https://pgaskin.net/NickelMenu/ is an example of hacking. - when you choose an ereader, you are choosing a bookstore. They are tied. You can side-load non-DRMed books (that's what I do). - colour epaper exists now. I don't know what it's good for. Perhaps reading graphic novels. In our house, we have ereaders and tablets. The ereaders are very good at their limited repertoire of tasks. The tablets promise more and therefor disappoint more often.