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Comment on Whatever happened to cheap eReaders? – Terence Eden’s Blog

mesamunefire@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

I still have my kindle thats over 10 years old.

I got a Kobo and its awesome as well. Ironically, because wallmart couldn't be bothered to use good components they made it extremely repairable.

The best place to find a good working ebook reader is to either use an old phone (which is not really eink, but without wifi modern phones can last a bit). Or go to a thrift store and find a decent one for 10$ or less. Just make sure it turns on and you should be good!

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mosiacmango@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Kobo is made by Rakuten, a big Japanese tech company. I think Walmart just resells then.

Ifixit rates the repairability at 6/10. Not bad.

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- mesamunefire@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Heh yeah....
  I was part of the linux port for fun for a bit. Certain models are just pop the bottom off and now you have access to the SD card(!) that they use for the linux kernel. AND they published the linux kernel info on GH so we even knew what they were customizing under the hood. Not a whole lot if im honest. The battery/SD card/screen/buttons are all kinda cheap, but also super easy to swap out. So you just put https://github.com/Quill-OS/quill on it and boom linux eink device.
  
  I think osme of their newer models have less repairable parts as the product line has become more popular.
  
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  - jqubed@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I’ve had a Kindle for a long time and considered upgrading to a non-Kindle device but was concerned that they don’t seem to get manufacturer updates for very long. This could make that more attractive!
    
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    mesamunefire@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    If they go online, then yeah updates are a good thing.
    
    Personally, I just dont make it go online. Calibre is so good that updates only make it worse.
    
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- Mnem667@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Its important to note that some models of Kobo are now fully repairable using parts from ifixit, down to motherboard and display.
  
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Yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Still, e-ink is so much better than a regular screen. If one is really strapped for cash sure, but for one’s eyes sake I’d say e-ink is a worthwhile investment if one likes to read. A phone can’t compare.

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