For years I’ve been resisting the temptation to buy an e-reader. After all, don’t we already have way too many tech gadgets? Also, for me there’s nothing like reading an actual book, printed on actual paper.
My dilemma has now been sorted out by external events: a couple of months ago I received one as a present.
The model I received is a Pocketbook Era (b&w version) and TL;DR: I really like it!
My main use for this kind of device is reading articles, essays, papers and other work-related, specialist literature and for that it works really well. Most of these are not really available in printed form anyway, and the e-ink display is a lot kinder on my eyes, than the iPad I was using previously. I ended up reading a couple of novels and some short story collections as well (which I got with a bundle), something I had never managed to do with the iPad, despite trying a couple of times.
This is not supposed to be a review of any kind, but in case you’re looking for an e-book reader, I can really recommend this model.
Here’s a few things I find great about the Pocketbook Era:
- Not linked to a specific book vendor, and no need to log-in to anything to use it, no cloud bullshit. Actually, no need to go online at all. Just copy everything via the USB cable and you’re good to go. It does support cloud sync as well though, if that’s what floats your boat.
- The screen is pretty good as far as I can tell. The usual limitations of e-ink apply, so the refresh has some latency. The screen is pretty clear and sharp and it also has a built-in light, for reading in the dark if that’s your thing.
- It runs on Linux not Android.
- It has hardware buttons!
- It has pretty good annotation functionality: you can bookmark, highlight, comment, scribble on it and also export everything to a file. Pretty fundamental for me, since I need to add a lot of notes and bookmarks to the stuff I read.
- It supports Readium LCP, which is what our public libraries use, and also Adobe DRM (if you really want the hassle).
Of course it has a lot more functionality than I have listed above, but that’s just what stands out for me personally.