Any Kindle/E-Reader users here?

[MrSquished]

Just seeing if any folks here are kindle users and have used various e-readers.

I have the Kindle Voyage and love it. While I do wish the screen was a little bigger, the 6" size let's me hold it easier than if it was larger. Also the page buttons on both sides make it easy to use in both hands without having to rotate the device like the Oasis. But I am tempted by the Kindle Oasis 3 (2019) for the ability to make the backlight warmer primarily. The waterproofing is a nice to have feature but not one I've ever really needed. The Kobo devices are interesting but I am too firmly entrenched in the Amazon ecosystem and have a bunch of books I need to read still in Kindle format.

Anybody upgrade from a 6" format Paperwhite or Voyage to an Oasis style kindle? Pros/Cons?

It's been about 3 years since the latest Paperwhite and Oasis came out so I'm hoping this September Amazon updates both, but I'll still have to choose between the two styles. Paperwhite being symmetrical, Oasis being asymetrical.

Any experiences?

 

[Muadib]

I lost my Voyage recently, and this thread makes me sad. I've been using a tablet in the meantime, but it's not the same. My plan is to wait to see if they update the Oasis & Voyage. I'm leaning towards the Oasis due to the larger screen.

 

[nakedfrog]

I've been using a Nook Glowlight since 2015, and can't really see any compelling reason to replace it. I've read probably ~100 books on it. Despite being an older device, it still works with cloudLibrary to check eBooks out from the local library. I expect I'll keep using it until it stops working and I'm unable to fix it.

 

[MrSquished]

I lost my Voyage recently, and this thread makes me sad. I've been using a tablet in the meantime, but it's not the same. My plan is to wait to see if they update the Oasis & Voyage. I'm leaning towards the Oasis due to the larger screen.

Sucks about your voyage. They still sell well on the secondary market.

My guess is they add warm lighting to the Paperwhite, and do something to the Oasis to keep it a more 'premium' product. Unfortunately I don't see a place for an updated voyage though I hope I'm wrong. They probably won't add page turn buttons to the Paperwhite so they can keep the products differentiated.

The Oasis probably won't fit into some of my small urban sling bags, but I have to measure.

 

[Muadib]

Sucks about your voyage. They still sell well on the secondary market.

My guess is they add warm lighting to the Paperwhite, and do something to the Oasis to keep it a more 'premium' product. Unfortunately I don't see a place for an updated voyage though I hope I'm wrong. They probably won't add page turn buttons to the Paperwhite so they can keep the products differentiated.

The Oasis probably won't fit into some of my small urban sling bags, but I have to measure.

Thanks! If I still had my Voyage, I wouldn't be looking to replace it. However, using my tablet has me looking for a larger screen now. I carry a laptop bag, and the Oasis will fit. I hope you are wrong about an updated Voyage too. I'm not sold on the Oasis quite yet.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Amazon was allegedly working on Voyage 2 and had gone through several iterations as of 2019 but I assume they decided not to bring it to market. I still have my Voyage and love it.

 

[Stopsignhank]

I have an Omega, it is my first e-reader so I can't make any comparisons. I can tell you that I like it a lot. It only has buttons on one side, but you don't need the buttons. You can touch the screen to turn the page forward and backward. I have the font set fairly large so I turn the pages quite a bit. I do have the page somewhat yellow so that it is like reading a book.

My favorite feature is the dark mode. I read at night while my wife is going to sleep. Dark mode is where the page is black and the letters are white so the screen is not as bright. I can read all I want and she can go to sleep.

 

[Oyeve]

I just use the kindle app and nook app on my tablets and phones. I do not have a dedicated reader.

 

[Mai72]

I use the app on the phone, and on my HP Envy 360

 

[nakedfrog]

I read a few books on laptop/phone/tablet, and a dedicated e-ink display is definitely worth it IMO, much better experience.

 

[mikeymikec]

I just use the kindle app and nook app on my tablets and phones. I do not have a dedicated reader.

Ditto. The Kindle app and FBReader Premium.

 

[nakedfrog]

Ah yes, FBReader is what I used when I was phone-reading. It was a decent app for that.

 

[Chapbass]

I used to use a Kindle paperwhite for a while, then I moved to a 2019 Oasis. Love the Oasis in general. The asymmetrical shape is kinda funky to get used to, but after a day or two it feels great (especially because the heavier side is also a bit thicker, so you hold it kind of like a book).

Like the OP, I got the Oasis because of the warm backlight. My eyes are pretty much trash, so any elimination of blue light to make it softer at night is better. The better resolution also helped a bunch. Overall, I'd recommend it.

EDIT: Only real con is that its heavier and obviously a bit bigger, so throwing it in my bag wasn't *quite* the same, but tbh its still light enough that I don't really notice it.

 

[iCyborg]

I prefer Kobo / non-Amazon for open formats, and don't care about Amazon market. A bunch of family members got Kobo Glo some years ago, my mom is the most avid reader amongst us.
Anyway, hers got broken, so she got Kobo Forma ~2 years ago. Glo is 6", Forma is 8", so it's the same kind of size change - FWIW, she likes 8" a lot better, not much less convenient size/weight-wise, and for a person who needs reading glasses, she appreciates the 8" size.

I'd also consider 8" next time, 6" is really disappointing for PDFs. Not sure if 8" is good enough either for that, Kobo has 10.3", but I still read more physical books than ebooks, hard to justify it.

 

[MrSquished]

I used to use a Kindle paperwhite for a while, then I moved to a 2019 Oasis. Love the Oasis in general. The asymmetrical shape is kinda funky to get used to, but after a day or two it feels great (especially because the heavier side is also a bit thicker, so you hold it kind of like a book).

Like the OP, I got the Oasis because of the warm backlight. My eyes are pretty much trash, so any elimination of blue light to make it softer at night is better. The better resolution also helped a bunch. Overall, I'd recommend it.

EDIT: Only real con is that its heavier and obviously a bit bigger, so throwing it in my bag wasn't *quite* the same, but tbh its still light enough that I don't really notice it.

I do want a bigger screen but I just checked out my most used little urban slings, and anything much bigger than the voyage won't fit. The Oasis would probably not fit. If I just want to take a small sling to the city or to a park with a few other things, that damn Oasis will not work.

I suspect there is a good chance the next paperwhite will inherit the warm lighting from the Oasis. Really the only thing left to turn it into a Voyage 2 would be page press buttons on both sides. They will leave page press buttons off of the Paperwhite altogether for now, in order to differentiate it from the Oasis just that bit more.

Amazon was allegedly working on Voyage 2 and had gone through several iterations as of 2019 but I assume they decided not to bring it to market. I still have my Voyage and love it.

Unfortunately I just don't see them releasing a Voyage 2. The Paperwhite is their 6", the Oasis is their premium e-reader at 7". I don't think adding a premium 6" into the mix is in their plans as it might make the product line too confusing, or whatever those damn marketers call it. I suspect they will just keep iterating the Paperwhite and Oasis.

Really a voyage with warm light and waterproofing, with 8gb of RAM, is all we need. Right?

 

[RPD]

I have a Kindle paper white, but don't read enough to justify upgrading at the moment. Also found reading the old fashion way was refreshing change of pace. I support one of my favorite authors on kick starter and by doing so I get early hard cover copies and I do enjoy reading in that format as well. But if you are travelling and have to deal with lighting, it's hard to be the kindle.

 

[Muse]

I had a Kindle Keyboard 3G, picked up used for $110. I upgraded to a Paperwhite Version 2, which I'm still using. The Paperwhite was a HUGE upgrade. I investigated the Voyage and the skinny was that it wasn't worth it, it was barely superior to the Paperwhite. I only heard a few days ago that there's version(s) since, have no idea what they offer that the Paperwhite doesn't, which has great battery life, great self-lit screen, sharp text, lots of memory. Just don't know why I'd want to upgrade.

 

[Muse]

I have a Kindle paper white, but don't read enough to justify upgrading at the moment. Also found reading the old fashion way was refreshing change of pace. I support one of my favorite authors on kick starter and by doing so I get early hard cover copies and I do enjoy reading in that format as well. But if you are travelling and have to deal with lighting, it's hard to be the kindle.

I still buy books too. Yeah, traveling you don't need a lamp to read with a later model Kindle. At home, like right now, I have a lithium lamp casting light for my books after dark. Don't know that I'd want to travel with it, though.

 

[RPD]

I had a Kindle Keyboard 3G, picked up used for $110. I upgraded to a Paperwhite Version 2, which I'm still using. The Paperwhite was a HUGE upgrade. I investigated the Voyage and the skinny was that it wasn't worth it, it was barely superior to the Paperwhite. I only heard a few days ago that there's version(s) since, have no idea what they offer that the Paperwhite doesn't, which has great battery life, great self-lit screen, sharp text, lots of memory. Just don't know why I'd want to upgrade.

I really wanted to upgrade my paper white, as from the previous non-back lit model I missed having the turn page buttons on the side, that's my one gripe really with the paper white.

 

[mikeymikec]

I prefer Kobo / non-Amazon for open formats

I just convert my Amazon e-book purchases to epub format so I can do what I like with them.

 

[Muse]

I just convert my Amazon e-book purchases to epub format so I can do what I like with them.

How do you go about doing that?

Also, what kinds of things do you do with the converted publications?

I have downloaded several PDFs, IIRC generally free, from various online sources, and copied them from my laptop to my Kindle Paperwhite. The result is not always great, but sometimes fine.

I have also borrowed books online, usually my local library being the intermediary, reading on my Kindle, possibly also on laptop, I suppose.

 

[mikeymikec]

How do you go about doing that?

I think I'll get in trouble here for mentioning the full method, but there's an ebook management app called Calibre. It can do conversions, but one has to install an add-on to get it to handle copy-protected titles.

Also, what kinds of things do you do with the converted publications?

Do you mean like newspapers/magazines? I've never tried. I've done one Kindle-based comic book before which worked.

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Another thing that people ought to be aware of is that you can legally and freely download ebooks of literature that's out of copyright from, for example, project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org).

 

[nakedfrog]

Yep, I also use Calibre for conversion.