Recommendations for an ebook reader?

[ffutures]

The battery of the old Sony ebook reader I've been using is on its way out, and it isn't a particularly good one by modern standards. I want to get something to replace it; my main needs are

Compatibliity with epub and other generic formats.
NOT tied to any one book vendor etc.
6" or 7" eInk display with really good contrast and reasonably good grey scale.
Some sort of screen protection e.g. a cover.
Uses something reasonably standard (preferably SD card) to hold books.
Good battery life and preferably a user-replacable battery that doesn't require removing about 15 screws to get at it if it eventually dies.
STANDARD USB cable for file transfer / charing.
Not hugely expensive - I get nervous if I'm carrying really expensive kit.

Probably don't need Wifi - if I'm travelling I'll usually have a laptop with me.

Preferably available at a reasonable price from Amazon, since I got a lot of amazon credits for my birthday.

Any suggestions?

Comments

[autopope.livejournal.com]

I note you're explicitly asking for epub, but have lots of Amazon credits.

I should also note that if your epub library is DRM-free, Calibre can bulk-convert the whole lot into Mobipocket format, which is readable on a Kindle. Kindles make it easy to buy ebook content from Amazon, but you can side-load any Mobipocket, RTF, or PDF file you like; they're not as closed as they look from the outside. And Kindles start at around £60 these days.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

How is the Kindle at displaying pdf files?

I have a bunch of pdfs but they don't display well on my Samsung E60 because there is no way of rescaling the font, so they are either too small to read, or don't fit on a page and you have to scroll left and right to read each sentence.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Generally speaking PDFs don't look good on any e-reader, since the screen is a lot smaller than most PDFs are formatted to be. Most e-readers these days can re-flow PDFs so they display a bit more like regular e-books, but the result is usually pretty hit-and-miss - lots of weird formatting etc.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Thats unfortunate, I've spent a lot of time trying to use Caliber to convert some of my pdfs into more readable formats, but the pdf format seems to be particularly resistant to being changed into anything else like a MOBI or an EPUB, the amount of garbled text is horrendous.

It left me scratching my head wondering why people even used PDFs in the first place. Hateful format.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

PDF is good if you want your document to print well, hugely better than HTML in that respect, but really crap on a small screen. If you want to be able to re-flow text about the one thing that will usually convert well is HTML, but even that can give problems.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I got £110 worth of Amazon vouchers from various people for my 60th birthday. Might as well use some of it...

I'm mostly looking at public domain epubs etc., would really prefer to avoid messing around with conversions - I've already got that problem with the Sony, and some of the conversions really aren't very good.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I'm about to buy a Kobo Glo to replace my old Sony - partly because the screen is one of the best I've seen. I think it's hard to find an e-reader these days that doesn't have WiFi, and likewise I think pretty much all of them use micro USB connections as well.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - that looks promising.

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

I've got a Kobo Touch. For a while it was a bit dicey, but they eventually got the onboard software and the Mac software debugged, and now it's pretty good. I use it almost entirely for fiction: something I read in a linear fashion and don't usually thumb through. For technical works with pictures, the iPad is better (if heavier).

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Ebook readers generally have too small a screen for anything with pictures, but that's not what I want it for so it isn't a problem.

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

When I first got it, I loaded up with Open University ebooks, but most of those have come off. It's not the pictures, but the way I read textbooks. Flipping back a few pages to check something takes way to long on the Kobo, so now I read those on the iPad and save the Kobo for linear materials.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Is there a way to goto a known page number, or anything other than the start of chapters?

ebooks

[samthereaderman.livejournal.com]

Amazon's Kindle does not do epub. B&N Nook does and it is not locked into B&N since you can file transfer epubs from anywhere. Some models have a memory card slot too.

Re: ebooks

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - any idea how the screen compares?