Amazon Kindle Oasis With 'Months' of Battery Life, Redesigned Body Launched 171
Amazon, on Wednesday, announced the Kindle Oasis, the company's latest addition to its ebook reader offering. The Kindle Oasis offers a range of improvements and changes over the Kindle Paperwhite. Mashable's Lance Ulanoff writes, "[The company has] essentially discarded the previous design in favor of a paper-thin display attached to a somewhat thicker side grip." Elaborating: First of all, the 6-inch screen is close to square. Second of all, it no longer sits in the center of the device. And thirdly, the screen is now an insane 3.4-mm thick. Yes, that is as thin as you think it is. Amazon's Oasis e-reader even marks the return of buttons to the design.As for the specifications, the Kindle Oasis sports a 6-inch display of 300ppi screen resolution, and 10 LEDs for "enhanced page consistency." Instead of "weeks"-long battery life, Amazon is promising "months" of usage on a single charge with Oasis thanks to the cover that ships with it and doubles as a rechargeable battery. It starts at $289.99 (Wi-Fi-only edition and with "advertisements that appear when you wake up the reader"), and goes all the way up to $379 (Wi-Fi + 3G, and no ads).
Excellent! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Only $289.99?! No wonder they need to show ads! Besides, people love being distracted while reading...
Re:Excellent! (Score:5, Informative)
A free download of Calibre will solve your issue by converting your epub to mobi.
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Look i agree with you, they should support epub
but in the mean time calibre does batch conversion in like 3 clicks, takes about 20 seconds per book you can have it then upload them to your kindle, just leave it working for an hour
Paperwhite is a freaking good deal for the price, specially if you get it during those discount days
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No, it's a fucking rip-off. It costs $120 for the adware version. My Nook Glowlight Plus was $130 and it's way better; it supports more formats, including standards like epub, it doesn't have advertising and it runs Android which means you can install other reader apps, launchers and web browsers on it.
Even if the Kindle were $1, I won't pay any amount for a locked down, adware device that only supports proprietary formats.
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I'm not a big fan of the Paperwhite for the same reason I wouldn't like the Glowlight. No physical buttons. Well, that and the glowy part. I only bought the Gen3 Kindle because it was the last e-reader on the planet that still had physical buttons. Then they got rid of those.
This is too expensive (but not that much more expensive than my PocketBook 360 back in the day) but if my existing Kindles ever die or get broken (I broke a screen on one a month or so back) then I might consider it, just on the stre
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I only bought the Gen3 Kindle because it was the last e-reader on the planet that still had physical buttons
PocketBook still makes reader with buttons. PocketBook 626 Touch Lux 3. There are also others, such as Onyx Boox, Boyue (and its OEM versions), Cybook Muse, but you mentioned PB 360.
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I only bought the Gen3 Kindle because it was the last e-reader on the planet that still had physical buttons
PocketBook still makes reader with buttons.
PocketBook 626 Touch Lux 3.
There are also others, such as Onyx Boox, Boyue (and its OEM versions), Cybook Muse, but you mentioned PB 360.
Yes, the lack any type of button is the reason why I kept my Kindle Keyboard for so long. I upgraded to the Kindle Voyage when it came out. The Voyage may not have physical buttons, but the capacitive buttons work perfectly fine. Personally, I don't see enough of a change between the Voyage and the Oasis to make we want to pay ~$400 for one.
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I guess I was being a little hyperbolic when I said "the only one on the planet." :-)
There used to be vendors in the US that sold Pocketbook, but that lo longer seems to be the case.
The Kindle3 was the only non-touch e-reader on the planet, and now there aren't any. But the Touch Lux 3 looks like it might be a better choice than the Oasis, once my current Kindle3s die. Does PocketBook still use the same kind of system software that the 360 had? With folders and so on?
Maybe if PocketBook notices that Amaz
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Can the Nook, or any other e-reader, be used as a computer USB display out of the box? How about hacks? Can the 5th generation Kindle be hacked to do that?
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The full mobi format is documented officially so that kind of makes it not proprietary. It's like saying FAT is proprietary compared to ext3 just because Microsoft uses it.
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MPEG-2 is "documented officially", but is still proprietary (requires licensing agreements).
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Legally? I don't really know or care. Calibre will strip the DRM - whether that is legal or not I don't have any idea, nor does it matter in any way. It's not like stripping DRM is going to land you in any kind of trouble.
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How? What realistic scenario could result in some penalty to myself?
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Calibre keeps your original files, too, and uploads only what you tell it to. It's not even remotely burdensome.
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Yeah right, I'm going to convert my entire library to a proprietary format that nobody uses.
Well, *you* obviously aren't since you apparently are opposed to it for undisclosed reasons. If you were to do so you'd find that the process requires only a trivial amount of user interaction, and the output would be of high quality functionally equivalent to the original for regular reading.
I do the opposite; I regularly buy Kindle books and effortlessly strip the DRM and convert them to epub for reading on a Kobo. I would say that a maintained calibre library is essential for archival purposes no matter
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My Kindle has epub support.
Or rather, my Calibre-equiped PC and my Kindle together have epub support.
I only ever buy non-DRM epubs. I edit them using Calibre to eliminate the right-justified margins and then convert them to Amazon's format. I've never actually gotten an ebook from Amazon, all my books are side-loaded.
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and $300? Oy. (Score:3)
After the runaway and well-deserved success of the Echo (and now its awesome little brother, the Echo Dot), Amazon's entitled to a complete flop, which is what a ~$300 e-reader will almost certainly be.
Echo definitely a success (Score:2)
Okay, surprised it is.
Echo was a roaring success. Still is. We -- my SO and I -- own both an Echo and an Echo dot. They. Are. Awesome. We use them for all manner of things. Time, alarms and timers, spelling, definitions, weather, music (particularly the Echo dot, which actually has a hardwired stereo connection (also bluetooth) for audio instead of a built-in medium-fi mono speaker), direct control of lights, temperature... there's also a lot to be said for being able to talk to the thing when your hands ar
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I don't care much about the epub, since I'm just reading stuff I bought through Kindle anyhow (if every one is deleted or lost I still have >1000 physical books, more than I know what to do with really). I think this sucks because the screen is tiny. A 6" screen*? Really?
Maybe I'm not their target market. I'm old enough to like a large font (otherwise I'd stick with physical books), and a 7" tablet is too small to have a proper column width with a larger font. Sure, the 6" screen has a better aspect
Re:Excellent! (Score:4, Interesting)
The device does detect if you are holding it in either a left or right hand and flips the screen vertically, so it will handle your case (to a degree). Might be mentally different though flipping through 180 degrees when swapping hands.
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The old PocketBook 360 worked this way, but the automatic switching wouldn't have fit his use case. He's talking about reading it sideways. I'm assuming that you can lock the orientation. The 360 allowed this, with fairly easy manual switching of the orientation. that would work for what he wants to do.
The fact is, the 360 provided the most comfortable reading experience of any e-reader I've ever used, specifically because of the asymmetric design.
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Fair point. Aesthetically it still makes my brain hurt, and those buttons are still awful though. :P
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The device does detect if you are holding it in either a left or right hand and flips the screen vertically, so it will handle your case (to a degree).
Sweet! So like autorotation on phones, it'll totally freak out when you're reading it while lying down. Good thing that people never read books in bed, right?
I won't pay that price until (Score:5, Interesting)
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I would go further than that. Thus far the 'color' e-ink concepts are like washed out newspaper color rather than good color. For applications that suggest color, I'm skeptical that I'll see e-ink get there (not because it would be impossible, but because e-ink is a relatively neglected technology area).
An ad-supported $290 device is outrageous, when the display quality is on par with ~$100 alternatives. eReaders are already pretty light, being lighter than most books, going that extra little bit isn't g
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Qualcomm had a color reflective display that was supposedly fairly vivid, called Mirasol. They were positioning it for e-readers, but then it seemed to vanish. It wasn't e-ink, it was supposedly based on the same sort of principle that gives a butterfly's wings color -- diffraction or something similar. They also claimed that it didn't have the slow refresh issues that e-ink has -- you could apparently do video with it. Their prototypes were fairly expensive, but it might have been worth it.
In any case,
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Not Amazon, but Apple
http://appleinsider.com/articl... [appleinsider.com]
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Pay what price? Given the cost of e-books is less than the cost of paperbacks you're more then welcome to waste money and shelf space on dead tree varieties. Most kindles pay for themselves if they are used.
In short... (Score:4, Interesting)
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The e-ink world is pretty stagnant. I wouldn't bank on the flow of time as being a source of delivering a compelling reason to buy.
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In fact, it might be another three years or so before I consider a replacement.
Just three years? Unless something catastrophic happens to your Kindle or Amazon forces obsolescence there will be no compelling reason to switch. I still have a first gen. Kindle that is actively used. I have both newer version, including the paper-white, but this so that members of my family can have their own. Why would anyone shell $300 for a new Kindle, when the sub $100 versions are nearly perfect?"
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Just three years? Unless something catastrophic happens to your Kindle or Amazon forces obsolescence there will be no compelling reason to switch.
My dog chewed mine up pretty good... I guess she was looking for homework.
Seriously - while my third-gen Kindle somehow does still function, you can see the dog's teeth marks around the keyboard end. Getting the micro-USB connection hooked up is a bit tricky, and not all the keys work.
I was hoping this new announcement would bring the price of the Voyage down a bit, since I prefer the page-turn buttons to swiping the screen - but that's not how Amazon generally operates.
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The sub-$100 versions *used* to be perfect. Then they got rid of the buttons.
Fortunately I saw this happening and got a couple of spares from Staples as they were closing them out. I've since broken one screen, but these should last me for several more years. At that point, if this thing is still around and still has buttons, I'd consider it.
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How is a hardware button better?
Some users prefer the tactile feedback of a hardware button. When you press a hardware button, you get instant feedback that tells you that you pressed down. Swiping on the Kindle screen isn't the same, especially if the feedback isn't instantaneous.
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I replaced my first gen Kindle, as the Paperwhite's screen is so much better, especially for reading in areas without sufficient light (which I tend to do a lot). I'm ecstatic with my Paperwhite as well, and am having a really hard time seeing why someone would choose a new, rather more expensive device unless they're the type that has to have the latest shiny, or has enough money that they don't have to worry about spending that much extra on a reader.
The new one looks nice enough, but... honestly, I'd sa
I am praying my Kindle Keyboard doesn't die! (Score:2)
I am praying my Kindle Keyboard doesn't die. I have it from 2011, its battery still seems to hold about the same charge and I got it when Amazon gave you free worldwide 3G internet! I've been to some pretty exotic places and could still take out my kindle and google something in its experimental browser (current offerings also have worldwide 3G, but only for downloading books from Amazon - and perhaps wikipedia?).
That said, more kindle offering is a good thing. I mean it is by far my favorite device (I incr
Bring back a large screen model (Score:5, Interesting)
I really think they are missing out on a great market of people who want to read things that just do not translate well to that tiny screen. I find that e-ink is awesome for long reading and scanning. I don't really like my tablet screen for that, plus I like to read outside. So come on Amazon, bring back a DX format or larger!
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This is what you want:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/... [bhphotovideo.com]
Sony 13.3" 4GB DPTS1 Digital Paper System
"13.3" Flexible Electronic Paper Display
1600 x 1200 Native Resolution
Multi-Touch Support
4GB Storage Capacity
microSD Media Card Slot
Micro-USB Connector
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Stylus Pen Included"
"Easy to use right out of the box and optimized to accommodate 8.5" by 11" documents"
"Read and annotate documents, create "sticky notes" and highlights, and upload documents wirelessly from Digital Paper, making them available fo
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I'd pay $800 if it was 300dpi rather than 150dpi.
Needs to be at least the resolution of the ipad3: 2048x1536 which is just barely suitable for scanned sheet music. (Wouldn't pay $800 for iPad resolution)
300dpi would take it to 3.2k/2.4k which would be ideal.
A4 requires 3.5k/2.5k at 300dpi but 275dpi is good enough.
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I'd also argue that baring a color kindle, the iPad is great for graphical novel reading.
Yes that does mean that when I'm traveling for business I'm carrying a laptop, kindle and Ipad.
Nook HD+ 9" for Text Books et al (Score:2)
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Ectaco Jetbook Color 2. It's $500, has a 9.7" screen, and is color e-ink, which despite being kind of muddy is probably better for technical stuff than black and white.
I haven't used one, but I ran across it when looking for a reader. I didn't get it because I don't want a screen that big - I mostly read novels on mine.
I use a Boyue T62+ which is a 6" screen lit reader with physical buttons running Android 4.2. Battery life isn't as good as my 'dumb' readers, but up till this Kindle the combination of 'lit
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I agree that there is something nice about a real book, but it is all a balance of the situation, and a large e-ink reader for me would allow me to do things I just could not practically do in my situation. I don't think I am alone in this.
Re: Bring back a large screen model (Score:2)
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You don't always have internet access, especially in rural areas and at customer sites. Also, non-IT reference books tend to be good for many years, as the laws of physics don't change so fast.
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It really needs to be a large format display. Having search and a *well designed* digital tech document (i.e. having working intra-document links and being well organized) I find to be invaluable. 10" is where I start maybe finding it acceptable to have a document workable in a technical context.
Walled garden (Score:2)
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It disappoints me that Kobo and Nook don't get more notice. Sure, they come with a default store experience, but at least they implement more interoperable formats.
I know B&N have particularly been managing Nook poorly, but still...
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Did this new version get locked down? I have a 3rd gen Kindle and have no problem copying my own books to it over USB.
I've also purchased books from Humble Bundle and Story Bundle. Both sites have Kindle instructions where you give it an ID for your Kindle and the books are uploaded to your Amazon account and downloaded wireless to your Kindle without paying Amazon a dime.
why can't it be as big as a hardback? (Score:2)
What a great feature (Score:3, Insightful)
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Who the hell thinks getting advertisements is something desirable?
Amazon, duh.
Good, page turn buttons! (Score:3)
How about a big version for old people? (Score:2)
Okay, I don't really need a big type version, but maybe if I play the "for old people" angle they'll make a full size version like the old DX. I'd love to have one to put references on, but having a technical manual on a paperback sized device just doesn't cut it.
Sure fire way to sell more Kindles (Score:2)
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Government intervention? (Score:2)
I appreciate a larger bezel -- too many tablets/eReaders don't give one enough of one to actually hold on to. But I'm not feeling too keen about it all being on one side. And I really hate the idea of mechanical buttons. And finally the cost is ridiculous. eReaders need to get down to the realm of calculators eventually, not push them up -- of course the real problem there is lack of a single eBook standard. With B&N's Nook going under, there is only Kobo left to compete and they are a poor shadow of Am
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I agree with you on the price, but on nothing else.
I had an e-reader several years ago with just this sort of design. Big mechanical buttons (almost paddles) all on one side. It was the most comfortable reader I've ever used. I was *really* upset when I left it in a restaurant.
Limited storage (Score:4, Insightful)
4GB again, just like cheap Kindles.
A couple dozen cookbooks or graphics novels, and you are out of space.
It's not waterproof, so why not put in a MicroSD slot?
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Because cookbooks and graphic novels are not the "normal" use case for a black and white device?
And because 4GB already holds literally hundreds of normal books.
The return of page-turn buttons! (Score:2)
Apparently I'm not the only person who didn't like tapping on the screen to turn pages. It's part of the reason I still use the third-gen Kindle.
In fact I rather like my third gen and see a lot of reason to upgrade no matter how awesome they get. Until color e-ink comes out it's just words on a page and my third gen is fine.
PocketBook 360, anyone? (Score:2)
This looks like a reboot of the PocketBook 360. In my opinion, the PB360 was the best e-reader ever built, other than the screen. It had the crappy screen that was the best available at the time -- the newer Kindles have much better screens. The 360 had a built in accelerometer that would automatically flip the orientation, or you could lock it into whichever orientation you wanted. It was the most *natural* feeling reading experience -- the buttons were right where you wanted them.
Now, if only they'd co
April Fools (Score:2)
This has to be a belated April Fools, right?
What are they smoking? (Score:2)
I bought a Kindle Voyage. It was quite expensive, but at the time, the front light and higher resolution was somewhat justifiable. But that's now been eroded by the Paperwhie, and if I was buying now, there isn't much point in the Voyage.
Now they bring out a device that's nearly twice the price of the Voyage. While I appreciate e-ink for reading, that's an awful lot for a one trick pony. And for what added value? An unnecessarily long battery life?
I sure hope they weren't expecting any sales.
Juts a bit condescending (Score:3)
And thirdly, the screen is now an insane 3.4-mm thick. Yes, that is as thin as you think it is.
Err, yes. I think it's 3.4mm thick. You just told me.
That's the beauty of standardised units of measurement.
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Also:
First of all, the 6-inch screen is close to square.
No it isn't. The device is close to square.
So for the price (Score:2)
You could buy 2 paperwhites (with the same resolution) and have money left over for some coffee at Starbucks.
$289 for an ad (infested) platform and only a 6 inch display? Seriously? Do they toss in lifetime Amazon Prime for this price? They should.
On another note, please check with your local llbrary system which allows you to checkout ebooks for free.
OverDrive is one platform libraries use.
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Even better if I placed the book on hold, to many people want it, I can have it so my Kindle automatically downloads it when becomes I turn.
Still no SD card.... (Score:2)
Read my lips. A SD card reader is required equipment. If anything builtin storage is optional.
The Kobo Aura h20 is still the best reader on the market. Best of all amazon can't strangle hold you to use their ecosystem.
Any ebooks I keep around actually have/use I do purchase to support it's author. The first thing I do with my legal downloads is break the encryption. I not going to let you take away from me what I purchase. Every publisher is eventually going to go out of business or stop supporting past pro
This submit is great... (Score:3)
Re:My old Kindle already has months of battery lif (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:My old Kindle already has months of battery lif (Score:4, Funny)
I never change pages... I just read the same page over and over... I still don't get it.
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I'm sure they didn't think of that.
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LOL, I have no idea what is going on...
Re:Is there a left-handed version? (Score:4, Informative)
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Yeah, I didn't RTFA (Though I skimmed the specs) and I assumed this would be the case. Anyone with a brain would have implemented this. It's just a good thing it isn't made by Microsoft, as they would have certainly omitted it. (Like the Surface/Surface Pro, which don't wake when you open the typecover, and bootloop if you try and wake from sleep while connected to the Microsoft Surface Dock).
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Re:$300 to read books? (Score:5, Interesting)
like i'm going to dump my ipads and phones to buy this
Well, if you actually like to read a lot, it might be worth it (to acquire an e-paper reader, not dump your other stuff). The e-paper displays are readable outdoors in full sunlight, unlike LCD displays. I did try my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 with its AMOLED display outdoors, but had to turn it up to full brightness to even see it, with the resulting loss of run time. I also had to go back indoors first to find the brightness slider. It also suffered from reflected light glare, which my Kindle Voyage does not so much.
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Yeah, but a regular $80 Kindle (or other e-ink reader) will do just fine for cheap outdoors reading.
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Nook Glowlight Plus is on sale for $99 right now. You get an e-ink tablet running Kit Kat that's rootable. It's not a powerhouse tablet with only 512MB ram, but it still makes an amazing customizable ereader.
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Nook Glowlight Plus is on sale for $99 right now.
Got a link for that sale? Seems like it's $129.99 on their site right now.
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Yeah, but a regular $80 Kindle (or other e-ink reader) will do just fine for cheap outdoors reading.
Amazon is currently selling used Paperwhites with 3G no ads for $85. Much more attractive deal than this new one at $280 with ads and no 3G.
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still, that's a lot of money just to read a book at the beach or the pool. and then you have to remember to sync it first before you leave the house
That's the first time I've actually heard someone attempt to say it's expensive to own such a device. As someone who lives with a person who chews through several books a month the device paid for itself within a year and reading has gotten ever cheaper since.
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You're not supposed to... This is a stand alone e-reader for people who want a stand alone e-reader. No one should ever expect to replace an ipad or phone with one. That's absurd.
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I suppose. I have a kindle voyage. I used to have an ipad mini but the reading experience isn't as good so I replaced it with the voyage for e-reading. The ipad was harder on the eyes and required you to jump through hoops to buy books since apple's ecosystem would require amazon to destroy their book profit margin in order to fully integrate.
Ultimately I ended up giving the ipad away to a family member as I didn't use it anymore.
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While that's a good tablet for a good price, for someone who reads a lot of ebooks, the kindle just offers a better reading experience. I've tried an android tablet and two ipads and ultimately replaced them all with a kindle voyage for ereading.
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I have enough physical books, thanks. I've spent well north of $10k on books over the years (and still a great deal for the hours of entertainment provided), so $300 is just noise.
The question is: is the reading experience better? The portability of a library on an e-reader does a lot to make up for the problems you mention. The only reasonable cause for avoiding e-readers is that one finds the reading experience less pleasant than physical books. I did for years, until I started wanting a larger font,
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There thinking... "Hey, we killed all the competition. We can now charge a fortune."
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Have you ever used an e-reader?
You don't scroll pages. The text flows to fit the page. You click a button to turn the page. If you change the font size, it fills the page differently and you get more (or less) on each page. Big deal.
I'll admit that the form factor might make it less pocket friendly, I'd have to see it to be sure. It's a similar form factor to the old Pocketbook 360, and I had no trouble getting that into my pockets.
Price is a problem. This is pretty expensive. But I don't see a probl