An Update On Finding A New E-reader

I recently posted on Mastodon:

I am looking for #recommendations for an #eReader! I own a #kindle scribe, but it is way too heavy and unwieldy for my use case. Some thoughts and ideas I have had:

⁃ In general I love small form factors (I prefer an iPad mini or smaller), I like physical page turning buttons, but don't mind if they are missing. Since I am not getting a steam machine, I am willing to spend money (upper limit is around a 1000€, which hopefully is plenty) on a good eReader. ⁃ I like the Boox Palma 2 - is the pro version worth it? I’ve heard these devices are somewhat delicate (reports of easily cracked screens). Is that true? It seems like a nice device to own. ⁃ Are there any good eReaders coming from Europe? There are eReaders from Europe in general, but are there any good ones? Seems like most recs’ are for Kindle, #Kobo or #Boox devices… ⁃ I was also thinking about the #daylightcomputer and the #remarkable, but these are more expensive devices because they do more. Regardless: Are they any good in your opinion? I could see liking these for e.g. relfective writing and similar.

Thanks for your thoughts and help in advance. Please boost to help me find knowledgeable people. ✌️

Some kind people answered and gave me their take on the product they liked. And I did a little of my own research and I wanted to share what I've found so far:

reMarkable Paper Pro Move - Not For Me

I came this close to pulling the trigger on a remarkable paper pro move until I saw this video review from someone that made it clear to me that this one isn't for me. I am getting this thing to read first and foremost and from what I can tell the Pro Move is actually not a great E-Reader^[1]. It seems to be a serviceable note taking device, if you're into digital handwriting and doing some scribbling, I guess, but I am actually none of these things. I have always preferred to write using a keyboard if given the choice. That some of its features are locked behind a subscription - even if understandable (servers for web and sync services cost money) - was also a minus. But what really was surprising to me: How bad the refresh rate on this thing seems to be.

This review is very clear about the hardware and how it feels to use:

The unit is incredibly sluggish and slow, with only 2 GB of RAM, which does not provide it with any real speed. There are also no speed modes to speed things up, either. E-books don’t have many formatting options, and the note-taking experience is largely a carryover from previous units. The colors have a massive latency delay to the point where the color you are writing on the screen takes anywhere between 1 to 3 seconds to render[.]

Some people seem to like it despite this, but I wouldn't take the risk personally.

Boox Palma 2 Pro - Not For Me (I think?)

This was the other one of the devices that caught my eye. There is this recent video by MKBHD that made me second guess myself. I like the form factor a lot. And it's cool that you can download apps like kindle or whatever to read on the device. But the fact is that it is basically a smartphone and I can see myself not using it for reading but for scrolling mastodon or whatever. I'd rather not have that. And as soon as I go "I just have to make sure that I don't install any distracting apps..." in my head, I know that this is not the device for me.

Gotta be honest: This is not as dead to me as the Pro Move, but I am pretty hesitant to pull the trigger. At least both the Boox Palma as well as the reMarkable made it clear that really want an eReader and not a smartphone or tablet with an eInk screen. I own an older iPad Pro and an iPad mini. I don't need an eInk tablet (or smartphone for that matter).

Similar to the MKBHD video this written review makes it clear that the Palma 2 Pro comes with some downsides and either you're fine with that (and you'll probably love the device) or you aren't. But apart from that this review makes it also sound like a nice device - which is why I am still a little torn.

PocketBook - The European Mainstream Alternative... that is not for me

PocketBook is a European brand of E-Readers but according to Wikipedia they are made in Asia. So not that different from all the other manufacturers. They are supposedly one of the bigger brands, but their Website really isn't that great which makes me wary of buying from them, to be honest. They have 230 employees and 150 million revenuw but nobody knows how to configure Google Maps to use on a prod system over there?

That's bad and makes not want to give them money.

What Else Is There

There are many more manufacturers of E-Readers. For technical details I found this table to be helpful. Although I will say that specs aren't everything. It's just harder to quantify "feel".

The website good e-Reader has a section for reviews of ereaders that are somewhat honest (the pro move quote is taken from a review by this site) and therefore useful.

I gotta look more at kobo devices, I think. But yeah, that's where I'm at with this.

P.S.: Jailbreaking My Kindle Scribe... DENIED

This video made me seriously consider jailbreaking my Kindle Scribe. I coudln't use the WinterBreak jailbreak option described there, but the AdBreak option should've worked. Sadly, my device managed to update itself when I was still fiddling around with things today, so I am unable to jailbreak the device at this moment.

My biggest gripe with the Kindle Scribe was honestly its size and weight. I didn't want to use it. I also had the desire to leave the Kindle ecosystem as well so not letting me free the device from Amazon's grip, makes me want to leave this ecosystem even more.

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