Any suggestions for a good reader?
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Hello, everyone! First off, I am not quite sure if this is the correct area to ask so if it is not then I apologize greatly. I normally prefer books in a physical format but as I have found, there are many light novels which only come in a digital format. Therefore, I wished to procure a reader to comfortably read them somehow. Any suggestions? Thank you for your time.
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Personally I do most of my reading on my Android phone. For Light Novels I've purchased with no DRM (eg, from JNC, Tentai Books or Hanashi Media), I tend to use the readera app. I also know other people like Moon reader+, or Lithium. If it's a DRM book, I've typically bought it from Bookwalker, so I have to use their app.
If you meant more of a dedicated eink reader than just phone/tablet apps, I can't help, but maybe someone else can make some suggestions.
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@Shenrai If you are considering an e-reader, the onyx boox line is nice, they have some affordable options and they are just running android, so you can read the prepubs from the j-novel club app and use any epub reader software you like without having to jump through any hoops like some of the other manufacturers do (for example, with a kindle if you want to read epubs not bought through amazon you need to email the epub to amazon and they will send a copy in their proprietary format to your kindle, so you have to trust them, and they have a history of remotely deleting people's copies of various books including 1984 from their kindles).
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First question you should ask:
Do you want it to double as a tablet?Dedicated e-readers have better battery life, at the cost of most of the features of a tablet.
I would avoid getting a Kindle. They appear to be rather frustrating to work with, because Amazon instists on using a proprietary format that is worse than the standard EPUB.
I would also avoid getting a Nook, as the current generation has massive glaring issues, mostly due to arguments between Barnes & Noble and Google, mostly because of Google.
Green's Theorem
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@piisfun I don't need it to double as one, no.
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@piisfun said in Any suggestions for a good reader?:
I would avoid getting a Kindle. They appear to be rather frustrating to work with, because Amazon instists on using a proprietary format that is worse than the standard EPUB.
I used Kindles for a long time, and they were great, as long as it was just reading ebooks. They don't take epub, but Calibre handled the conversion just fine.
I use a Boox these days, though, because I also like to read from apps that aren't Kindle (like j-novel club's, or a web browser). And it's also good for taking notes. Even so, I'd rate the reading experience on the Kindle to be a bit better.
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I only use an e-reader for fiction. Kindle works great for that since it's much lighter than a tablet, has great battery life, and the e-ink text is easier to read than a tablet or phone LCD or OLED.
You can transfer JNC premium books and other DRM-free from Baen, Project Gutenberg, etc. using the free Calibre app for your PC or mac.
Note that JNC books bought from Amazon or other stores are missing the premium content you get from buying directly from JNC.
Kindle is a single-function device which means you can't for example read the weekly prepub parts here with it. I use my iPad for that. The display is also small for reading something like a PDF. But it's much nicer for long reading sessions since it's so light and easy on the eyes.
There are other readers like Nook, but I've only owned Kindles. My current model is a Voyage from 2017 but the reviews of the Paperwhite are very positive.
Don't worry about the Kindles being "with ads", that just means the power-off lock screen shows an ad for a book. You power on, see a new book ad, swipe once and you're done. There's nothing annoying like ads in between chapters or before you read. One swipe, ad is gone.
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I own two Boox devices and love them both. With Android running on them, I use the J-novel app, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Play Books, and Libby apps. They also allow me to annotate books and take notes with a stylus. I also own a Kindle, but really dislike the limitations of the platform. I own a Nook and a Kobo, and while they're both fine, they don't run a full Android system that allows one to use all the ereader apps. I also recently got a Topjoy Butterfly -- it is poorly made. After three weeks I was having screen issues. I don't recommend it.
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I appear to be something of an outlier here, because I’ve always disliked e-ink devices; the contrast has always been too low for me.
I currently use an iPad; I like the way I can choose reading apps for epubs, have apps for the major ebook platforms if necessary, and have access to public library reader apps as well. For JNC, I like that I can read prepubs with the web app and switch directly to the forums for commentary. (I’m writing this post on the iPad.) Full web browser FTW.
Battery life is definitely not as good as an e-ink device, but it’s generally good enough. It is larger and heavier than most of the e-ink readers, but for me that’s a worthwhile trade off for the larger screen.
...Cats are the proof of a higher purpose to the universe.
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I'm a kobo guy myself, using a forma for most of my heavy reading.
Prepubs... I just do on my PC. Reading on one monitor, forums on the other.
I do have a tablet as well, but I generally only break that out for manga.
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@Shenrai
I normally use an Amazon Fire 10 tablet, since I already have it, and use the eLibrary Manager app to read J-Novel Club's ePub files (and other DRM-free ePubs) without converting them to a different file type.Naturally, it lets me read my kindle books natively as well. Works reasonably well for pdf books and documents, too, most of the time.
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@Travis-Butler It's a matter of personal preference, to be sure. I use a 12" iPad Pro for reading sheet music. As a lecturer who uses his e-readers for notes, I find e-ink to be easier on my aging eyes.
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I know this is an old topic - but I think technology as finally caught up to what was on my 'wishlist' for a device:
- high quality/clear display: e-ink 300 dpi - minimal ghosting/high refresh etc.
- long battery life - weeks not hours
- O/S that supports both J-Novel app and website
- fits in my jacket pocket/hand
- inexpensive
making my 'Christmas list" :BOOX Go 6 - not the fastest cpu but ticks all the boxes - $150 US- includes case - anyone have one? thoughts? alternates (I also like the BOOX Palma2 but a bit more than I want to spend and prefer an aspect ratio closer to 4:3)
