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from the there's-an-app-for-that dept.
An Open Source eReader That's Free of Corporate Restrictions Is Exactly What I Want Right Now:
I get it. The Kindle and its ability to shop for and instantly buy books anywhere using wifi or Whispernet are incredibly convenient, and it’s what’s made Amazon’s hardware the obvious choice for consuming ebooks. But supporting awful companies like Amazon is getting harder and harder if you were born with a conscience, and right about now, an open source ebook reader, free of corporate restrictions, sounds like the perfect Kindle alternative.
A fully open-hardware eReader, it includes the following design specs: ARM Cortex M4 processor, 400x300 monochromatic resolution, microSD card reader, lithium-polymer rechargeable battery, audiobook-capable headphone jack, and audio-command-capable microphone.
The Open Book Project was born from a contest held by Hackaday and that encouraged hardware hackers to find innovative and practical uses for the Arduino-based Adafruit Feather development board ecosystem. The winner of that contest was the Open Book Project which has been designed and engineered from the ground up to be everything devices like the Amazon Kindle or Rakuten Kobo are not.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by deimtee on Saturday February 01 2020, @01:46AM (2 children)
It seems like nobody makes a perfect e-reader, they all have some problems. The thing to do is list all the features you want and then see which one matches the best. In my case I came up with the Kobo Aura One. The minuses didn't matter to me, and it had almost all the features I wanted. (If I have to replace it now though I'd probably get the Forma because of the landscape mode it has.).
The other thing is that many people seem to want to turn e-books into phones, with colour video and sound. I didn't. I wanted it to be a book.
Aura One :
pros - big screen, waterproof, reads any format, huge memory, Pocket, WiFi, hi-res (300dpi), excellent backlight, USB charging
cons - need to convert Amazon books, expensive, Kobo store is smaller than Amazon's, too big to fit in most pockets,
The cons didn't matter to me and I dont use Pocket or the wifi. I manage all my e-books with Calibre, and simply load them on it like a usb drive. There's about 500 on it at the moment and it's about 10% full. Some reviews complain about the backlight being uneven, but I can't see it. I think they may have been pre-production review models. The big screen was the clincher for me. I can set the font slightly bigger, read without glasses and still get a decent amount on each page.
I strongly recommend getting the official Sleepcover for it. Provides great protection for the screen, but more importantly it just turns it into a real book. Shut the cover and it goes to sleep, open it and you are instantly back on the same page. Power usage is tiny while in standby - weeks to months on a single charge. (I think, mine never gets left for that long, but the charge level hardly moves while it's asleep). If you use the backlight you will have to charge it more often. I generally run it at 10% because I read in dim rooms and I get 10 to 15 hours use per charge. I have a small powerbank I usually keep with it, provides 3 or 4 recharges.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday February 01 2020, @02:50AM (1 child)
Waterproof you say? Intriguing...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by deimtee on Saturday February 01 2020, @04:18AM
Technically, nothing is waterproof, it is water resistant. They quote 60 minutes at 2M depth in fresh water. I wouldn't take it into the sea, but it's fine on the beach, at the pool, and in the bath. I usually take mine when I go fishing. :)
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.