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lllllllllllllllllll
Feb 28, 2010

Now the scene's lighting is perfect!
Hm, I haven't considered the Clara HD yet and the Kobos look interesting as well. Will look further into what they have to offer. Thank you, Foxtrot_13 and sourdough!

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Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!

sourdough posted:

Looks like the newest Paperwhite has a decently higher resolution display than that Pocketbook thing, fwiw. It looks like there are some tangible downsides to getting epub support.

When did Kindles stop supporting ePub? I've been using Calibre to send ePubs to my Kindles for years but I don't recall if I've used that function since I got my Oasis.

Silly Burrito
Nov 27, 2007

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

When did Kindles stop supporting ePub? I've been using Calibre to send ePubs to my Kindles for years but I don't recall if I've used that function since I got my Oasis.

Calibre automatically converts them in the background.

ToxicFrog
Apr 26, 2008


Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

When did Kindles stop supporting ePub? I've been using Calibre to send ePubs to my Kindles for years but I don't recall if I've used that function since I got my Oasis.

They never have. Calibre knows what formats each e-reader supports and automatically converts your books to a format the reader understands, if necessary.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!
Wow! Thanks Calibre!

e: Is there any disadvantage to using Calibre to do that conversion? ie, is a lack of native ePub support really a reason to avoid using a Kindle really a problem if the conversion process is effective and you don't lose anything in the process?

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud fucked around with this message at 16:05 on May 4, 2020

sourdough
Apr 30, 2012

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

Wow! Thanks Calibre!

e: Is there any disadvantage to using Calibre to do that conversion? ie, is a lack of native ePub support really a reason to avoid using a Kindle really a problem if the conversion process is effective and you don't lose anything in the process?

I suspect there could be formatting issues in some particular instances or breaking of toc links or that kind of thing, but I haven't run into that ever yet so it can't be too common. I don't think there's anything else that could possibly go wrong.

Dicty Bojangles
Apr 14, 2001

One thing I like about my Kobo over my Kindle is that Calibre can add series info on the Kobo, but can't on the Kindle.

Dicty Bojangles
Apr 14, 2001

Welp this is frustrating... my 32gb Forma had the backlight inconsistency along the button side, but particularly bad and a lot worse than my 8gb. So I sent it back under warranty, and they sent me a refurbished replacement with even worse screen problems. A whole line of dead pixels along one side, the same backlight issue but even worse, and some sort of scratch inside the screen that glows like lightning when the backlight is on. I can only imagine the reason they're having sales is to clear out their stock, and at this point the only stuff left is the worst. Hopefully they'll approve a refund because who the hell wants a replacement that's even worse than the original?!

smackfu
Jun 7, 2004

Between my wife and I, we have quite a few Kindle books, and it’s a little scary that if something happened with our account, we could just lose them all instantly, probably with no recourse.

Is there any way to back up your own Kindle books?

8-bit Miniboss
May 24, 2005

CORPO COPS CAME FOR MY :filez:

smackfu posted:

Between my wife and I, we have quite a few Kindle books, and it’s a little scary that if something happened with our account, we could just lose them all instantly, probably with no recourse.

Is there any way to back up your own Kindle books?

Copy them off the Kindle or go into your account’s Manage Devices and Content page and download them and using a DeDRM plugin (not sure I can specify, but it’s easily searchable on Google) with Calibre. This way you can read them on any device you own.

Foxtrot_13
Oct 31, 2013
Ask me about my love of genocide denial!
DeDRM doesn't work with the newer kindle encryption, you have to download a much older version of the desktop reader that doesn't support the new encryption and DeDRM that.

WattsvilleBlues
Jan 25, 2005

Every demon wants his pound of flesh
I've been rocking a Kindle Voyage for the last 5 or so years. Nothing at all wrong with it but I like the warmer backlight of the Kindle Oasis. Spending £230 for a warmer backlight is too much of an ask for me, so I'm wondering if there's otherwise a significant difference between the Voyage and the Oasis.

Waterproofing and a larger screen are nice too but again I can't justify the cost just for those things.

Silly Burrito
Nov 27, 2007

WattsvilleBlues posted:

I've been rocking a Kindle Voyage for the last 5 or so years. Nothing at all wrong with it but I like the warmer backlight of the Kindle Oasis. Spending £230 for a warmer backlight is too much of an ask for me, so I'm wondering if there's otherwise a significant difference between the Voyage and the Oasis.

Waterproofing and a larger screen are nice too but again I can't justify the cost just for those things.

The physical buttons and the ability to switch hands by flipping it upside down is something I use frequently. The buttons alone are almost worth it to me, as the Voyage buttons weren’t great.

RichterIX
Apr 11, 2003

Sorrowful be the heart
I came from a Paperwhite to the new Oasis so I'm not sure how the battery life on the Voyage was, but one thing to consider is that instead of my Paperwhite's "oh yeah it's been 3 months I'd better charge this thing" battery the Oasis has me charging every week or so. That's not a huge burden for me because I'm usually reading at home but if you're someone who needs to not charge your Kindle often the Oasis definitely takes a hit in that regard. However, the new Oasis is worlds more comfortable to hold for me. Being able to just turn the thing over and switch hands is great.

Silly Burrito
Nov 27, 2007

That’s true. The Paperwhites have the best battery life by a long shot. I still get decent life with the Oasis but it’s nowhere close as the PW. But, a quick charge every 2-3 weeks depending on my usage is not a big deal.

8-bit Miniboss
May 24, 2005

CORPO COPS CAME FOR MY :filez:

Foxtrot_13 posted:

DeDRM doesn't work with the newer kindle encryption, you have to download a much older version of the desktop reader that doesn't support the new encryption and DeDRM that.

Right, forgot that bit though the documentation clearly states that.

Fart of Presto
Feb 9, 2001
Clapping Larry
Am I missing something here?

DeDRM has issues with the new KFX format, which Calibre can't import from the Kindle anyway, but when using the Downloading and Transfer via USB funtionality mentioned above, the file is in AZW3 format, and can manually be imported into Calibre, where the DRM is stripped away by DeDRM on import.

That's what I've been doing since Calibre said it couldn't copy the book from my USB connected Kindle due to format changes. I checked the most recent books I've bought and they are DRM free in Calibre.

Edit: Just checked the DeDRM forum, and manually downloading from the Amazon website works, but apparently you only get that option if you have an e-Ink Kindle?

Fart of Presto fucked around with this message at 19:25 on May 13, 2020

8-bit Miniboss
May 24, 2005

CORPO COPS CAME FOR MY :filez:

Fart of Presto posted:

Am I missing something here?

DeDRM has issues with the new KFX format, which Calibre can't import from the Kindle anyway, but when using the Downloading and Transfer via USB funtionality mentioned above, the file is in AZW3 format, and can manually be imported into Calibre, where the DRM is stripped away by DeDRM on import.

That's what I've been doing since Calibre said it couldn't copy the book from my USB connected Kindle due to format changes. I checked the most recent books I've bought and they are DRM free in Calibre.

Edit: Just checked the DeDRM forum, and manually downloading from the Amazon website works, but apparently you only get that option if you have an e-Ink Kindle?

Yep. Alternatively grab an old version of the Kindle Cloud Reader and you can get a version of the book in the format you can DeDRM. This is how I’m backing up my manga purchases.

Malloc Voidstar
May 7, 2007

Fuck the cowboys. Unf. Fuck em hard.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

Wow! Thanks Calibre!

e: Is there any disadvantage to using Calibre to do that conversion? ie, is a lack of native ePub support really a reason to avoid using a Kindle really a problem if the conversion process is effective and you don't lose anything in the process?
as long as calibre is converting to AZW3 (not mobi) the only thing you should notice for most books is the lack of automatic hyphenation of words at line breaks
There's a KFX (Amazon's new format) output plugin that does that but it's very finicky and will completely reject epubs with any unsupported features

eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber

Malloc Voidstar posted:

as long as calibre is converting to AZW3 (not mobi) the only thing you should notice for most books is the lack of automatic hyphenation of words at line breaks
There's a KFX (Amazon's new format) output plugin that does that but it's very finicky and will completely reject epubs with any unsupported features

There's a Calibre tab called "Polish Books" that will add soft hyphens to AZW3. Is that what you're after?

inklesspen
Oct 17, 2007

Here I am coming, with the good news of me, and you hate it. You can think only of the bell and how much I have it, and you are never the goose. I will run around with my bell as much as I want and you will make despair.
Buglord

smackfu posted:

Between my wife and I, we have quite a few Kindle books, and it’s a little scary that if something happened with our account, we could just lose them all instantly, probably with no recourse.

Is there any way to back up your own Kindle books?

As 8-bit Miniboss said, the DeDRM plugin (useful google phrase is "Apprentice Alf") will be your friend here.

Foxtrot_13 posted:

DeDRM doesn't work with the newer kindle encryption, you have to download a much older version of the desktop reader that doesn't support the new encryption and DeDRM that.

FWIW if you have a physical kindle with a serial number, you can pretty much always use the "download and transfer via usb" method to get a kindle file encrypted for that device, and the DeDRM plugin can handle that no problem. (i never transfer books wirelessly; i download them to my laptop, load them into calibre+DeDRM, and then push them to the kindle over USB.)

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!

eddiewalker posted:

There's a Calibre tab called "Polish Books" that will add soft hyphens to AZW3. Is that what you're after?

I can’t read Polish, is there an English version of this plugin?

Guilty
May 3, 2003
Ask me about how people having a bad reaction to MSG makes them racist, because I've never heard of gluten sensitivity

Silly Burrito posted:

That’s true. The Paperwhites have the best battery life by a long shot. I still get decent life with the Oasis but it’s nowhere close as the PW. But, a quick charge every 2-3 weeks depending on my usage is not a big deal.

I don't know if this reaches the PW battery life, but the Oasis has a low battery option that definitely gives me 2/3 months charge. It just extremely slowly boots up instead of slowly boots up

Humerus
Jul 7, 2009

Rule of acquisition #111:
Treat people in your debt like family...exploit them.


Anyone have any insight into this bug that deletes the covers from sideloaded books? There's a workaround where you manually copy the cover over after the Kindle deletes it, but Calibre 4.17 was supposed to have fixed it and it didn't, at least not for me. Not sure if there's anything else to be done.

sweart gliwere
Jul 5, 2005

better to die an evil wizard,
than to live as a grand one.
Pillbug
I got an Onyx BOOX Nova2, for use as both a multiplatform reader and general E-Ink Android. Their modern crop of offerings are 9/Pie based with decent specs for basic use (& run Google Play services or third party sources like F-Droid without trouble).

Just haven't seen much chat about this company's offerings in the thread, so any questions about the Nova2 or whatever features would extend to its other-size siblings are fair game. I'm still in the tinkering geek period with it, experimenting with Onyx's custom tweaks to the OS + UI on a per-app basis.


My only complaint is something known ahead of purchase, but still annoying: no headphone jack or speakers, so audio output must be via USB-c-OTG or Bluetooth/casting. It does have a basic integrated microphone, at least.

sweart gliwere fucked around with this message at 12:40 on Jun 10, 2020

lordfrikk
Mar 11, 2010

Oh, say it ain't fuckin' so,
you stupid fuck!
I almost bought the 13" Onyx but what stopped me was rumours of non-existent or lacking support, both regular and long-term. Other than that, I really liked the idea of Android-based eink reader because of the flexibility.

I got PocketBook X instead and ended up returning it because the build quality for that price was atrocious. However, I really liked the open nature of PocketBook and might actually buy a different model that's built better.

That said, how is the build quality of the device compared to something like Kindle? I have old Touch (extremely well built IMO) and my partner has Paperwhite (don't like the surface finish but can't say anything bad about it's sturdiness).

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!
I bought a 2018 Kindle Oasis last July during the fire sale leading up to the new warm light version and the battery life is absolutely atrocious already. Unplugged it last night, read for two hours, was down to 87%.

Coming from a Voyage that had a great battery life it's disappointing.

rufius
Feb 27, 2011

Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I bought a 2018 Kindle Oasis last July during the fire sale leading up to the new warm light version and the battery life is absolutely atrocious already. Unplugged it last night, read for two hours, was down to 87%.

Coming from a Voyage that had a great battery life it's disappointing.

That seems notably bad. I have a 2018 Oasis that’s older than yours (~8 months before fire sale) and a couple hours reading is probably maybe a 6-7% drain?

So we’re level setting: WiFi is off and my backlight is usually at about 4-5 bars.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!
I keep the wifi on, should probably turn that off when I'm not using it. Otherwise the same, I usually read in a pretty dim room before bed.

Dicty Bojangles
Apr 14, 2001

sweart gliwere posted:

I got an Onyx BOOX Nova2, for use as both a multiplatform reader and general E-Ink Android. Their modern crop of offerings are 9/Pie based with decent specs for basic use (& run Google Play services or third party sources like F-Droid without trouble).

Just haven't seen much chat about this company's offerings in the thread, so any questions about the Nova2 or whatever features would extend to its other-size siblings are fair game. I'm still in the tinkering geek period with it, experimenting with Onyx's custom tweaks to the OS + UI on a per-app basis.


My only complaint is something known ahead of purchase, but still annoying: no headphone jack or speakers, so audio output must be via USB-c-OTG or Bluetooth/casting. It does have a basic integrated microphone, at least.

My Poke 2 finally showed up last week after spending a couple weeks in DHL-limbo in Hong Kong and I like it. It's a bit of a hit-or-miss when it comes to Android apps using the screen size/e-ink properly, but for the most part everything works well. The battery life so far has been solid although not nearly up to Paperwhite levels but I've only been through one charge so time will tell. I like the design/bezels better than the Paperwhite because the Poke 2 is tiny. It's certainly no replacement for my Kobo Forma but having a tiny travel reader is nice for leaving the big boy at home.

rufius
Feb 27, 2011

Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I keep the wifi on, should probably turn that off when I'm not using it. Otherwise the same, I usually read in a pretty dim room before bed.

Ah ya - the WiFi is killer for battery life. I haven’t turned the WiFi on consistently for a Kindle ever because I noticed how much impact it has on battery life.

That definitely explains the almost 20% drop.

Fly Ricky
May 7, 2009

The Wine Taster

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I bought a 2018 Kindle Oasis last July during the fire sale leading up to the new warm light version and the battery life is absolutely atrocious already. Unplugged it last night, read for two hours, was down to 87%.

Coming from a Voyage that had a great battery life it's disappointing.

I bought the same one, and in airplane mode that’s about how it goes for me. I came from a Kindle Keyboard and after what, ten years, it had a markedly better battery.

Tons of reviews complaining about the issue on the product page. Without WiFi or cellular on. Must be hit-or-miss.

Zat
Jan 16, 2008

Dick Nipples posted:

Ah ya - the WiFi is killer for battery life. I haven’t turned the WiFi on consistently for a Kindle ever because I noticed how much impact it has on battery life.

That definitely explains the almost 20% drop.

Yeah, it's the same for Kobos too. Always be disabling wifi unless you need it, or else you need to charge it at least weekly or something.

8-bit Miniboss
May 24, 2005

CORPO COPS CAME FOR MY :filez:

Zat posted:

Yeah, it's the same for Kobos too. Always be disabling wifi unless you need it, or else you need to charge it at least weekly or something.

For the Forma at least, battery life has been better after the latest patch.

sweart gliwere
Jul 5, 2005

better to die an evil wizard,
than to live as a grand one.
Pillbug

lordfrikk posted:

That said, how is the build quality of the device compared to something like Kindle? I have old Touch (extremely well built IMO) and my partner has Paperwhite (don't like the surface finish but can't say anything bad about it's sturdiness).

I don't have any modern Kindles, but it's significantly larger and stronger than my old Kindle Keyboard 3G without any extra weight. Like the Kindle feels comparatively flimsy, no contest.

Screen touch on the Nova2 feels slightly slicker than the (non touch 3G keyboard) Kindle's, and frame touch is less tacky since it's straight plastic rather than the slightly grippy Kindle finish. Compared to phone/tablet glass, screen touch is much slicker. I don't have any reference device to compare it with the matte or etched glass used on some readers though, sorry.

Only buttons are the Power (slight jiggle on mine) and the Back/Home (feels and sounds great) whose function you assign. USB-C drops my concern about any port wear and clutter for home and travel.



UI stuff separate from build:
The navigation ball is extremely good-enough, though I initially had to put out all nine expansion slots during setup for some apps (24 function options for those 9 slots).

For tweaking normal apps into e-ink friendliness, there's a per-app settings option called App Optimization with three tabs:

Display (DPI, Emboldening, Contrast/Whitening*)
+ Contrast/Whitening sub-menu (Enhance Font Color, Contrast 0-100/System, Icon Color 0-255, Cover Color 0-255, Background Color 0-255)

Refresh (Mode, Frequency, Animation ms-Filter)

Other (Page Font Size, Page Font Color)
+ (toggles for CLOUD SYNC, RESET ALL)

The Contrast/Whitening sub-menu is where you'd go to work out any kinks you find in an app's theme compatibility.

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
Is the Kindle Oasis worth it? I have RSI and holding trade paperbacks for any length of time hurts so I'm going back to a e-reader. I had an old Kindle but the battery is toast. The Paperwhite seems perfect but the lack of page turn buttons is a huge bummer and the Oasis looks easier to hold/use one handed so I can alternate. But man that price, its like $200 more of my crappy Canadian dollars.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!
The Oasis is absolutely worth it, but if you want to spend a couple less bucks and don't care about a waterproof device Amazon has refurb Voyage sales occasionally for $140 or less. Both have physical buttons, and Kindles aren't devices you throw away after two years which helps to justify the price.

Silly Burrito
Nov 27, 2007

The Gunslinger posted:

Is the Kindle Oasis worth it? I have RSI and holding trade paperbacks for any length of time hurts so I'm going back to a e-reader. I had an old Kindle but the battery is toast. The Paperwhite seems perfect but the lack of page turn buttons is a huge bummer and the Oasis looks easier to hold/use one handed so I can alternate. But man that price, its like $200 more of my crappy Canadian dollars.

Yes, it’s worth it. You also may want to look for when they do Amazon Warehouse 20% off deals to see if you can find a refurbished one there. But the best Kindle page turn buttons are on the Oasis.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 6 hours!
i got an Oasis new for like $80 when they were clearing out the second generation stock and I had some cash back to spend, best value I've ever bought on Amazon.

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The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
Thanks guys, appreciate your input. Sadly I don't think I'll get that lucky on price, we get kinda hosed up in Canada on these things. But I don't mind paying if its worth it, I don't want to aggravate my RSI any further.

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