Best Nook Replacement

[Patchicat]

I've been a Nook fan since 2009 when I purchased the original Nook. I currently own an original Nook Color, an original Nook Color Tablet, and the Nook HD+ 32 gig. I've been using the Color Tablet for about a year or so because of it's convenient size and battery life.

However, I recently discovered that Nook Study no longer will download my Barnes & Noble purchases to my computer (running Windows 10 Pro). I managed to work around it using my original Nook Color, but the method is clunky. I am a huge fan of future proofing my purchases for various reasons. I've stuck with Barnes & Noble through all their user/consumer unfriendly changes, but I've just about reached my limit.

I do own an older Kindle, but I am not an Amazon/Kindle fan. It has to do with when Amazon took back legitimately purchased books because they sold books they had no right to sell and didn't inform the purchasers of what they were doing. They probably learned a valuable lesson from the experience, but I don't really trust Amazon not to do it again. Another reason I like to future proof my purchases.

I do not need anything huge, so a 10 inch screen is not an option. It needs to be something I can comfortably hold as I have arthritis in my hands. Color would be nice, but it's not really necessary. I need something easy on the eyes in terms of resolution and contrast; I have dry eyes. I would like a decent battery life as I'd rather not have to recharge the battery every day or every other day.

So, what are my choices out there for replacing my Nook with something other than a Kindle? I will not purchase anything made by Sony for reasons with which I will not bore you. I do not plan on spending more than $200.00. I prefer the epub format.

I've been investigating the Kobo and the Onyx Boox, but I don't know enough about either to make an informed decision.

Thanks.

[DNSB]

Looking at the Kobo devices, you can get the 6" Clara HD, the 6.8" Kobo H2O v2 and the 8" Forma. I've owned several Kobo ereaders and they've worked well for me. The 7.8" Aura One is still my main ereader since shortly after I purchased the Forma, it was "borrowed" by my wife who is still very happy with it.

I'm not certain what the prices are in the USA (I'm assuming anyone who is using a Nook is living there) but Walmart does have their Kobo ereader selection at Kobo eReaders. Walmart's stock seems to be very hit and miss. Ghod alone knows why it's easier to search Walmart using Google instead of Walmart's own search. There is also Kobo's own site but Walmart allows in-store pickup which beats having someone leave your new ereader sitting on your front porch.

If you are interested in the weight:

Clara HD 173 grams
H2O v2 207 grams
Forma 197 grams


One item to note is that the Kobo ereaders are eInk devices so 16 shades of grey. My Clara HD allows me about 25 hours of reading before I start worrying about the battery needing charging.

[lumpynose]

Because of your arthritis I'd say to look at the Kobo Forma; it has a nice slightly wedge shaped "handle" on the side that makes it much more comfortable to hold than anything without it. I use it with the handle on the right. The Kindle Oasis has a sort of handle like it but it's not shaped nicely like the Forma's is. I really miss the Forma's ergonomics when I'm using something else.

[Pajamaman]

I own an Onyx Poke Pro. It is extremely light and the nightlight is excellent.

The only fault with it is that the first long press (for example, to look up a word is not registered). You have to press twice or do a quick page swipe to wake it up. Onyx are aware of it and have released an update, but I don't know if it's been addressed. I only find it a problem if I'm reading a foreign language text.

The other thing is that it needs recharging a lot more than a Kobo.

Another issue is where to buy one. There is a good store in Germany.

Really, an Onyx is for someone that wants to run Android apps. If you are technically well-versed, you can do so much more with an Onyx. An important note that using Alreader, Coolreader, etc, you can set up the screen navigation to work anyway you want. I find the Kobo/Kindle screen navigation poor. This may factor in.

Regarding the Kobo, I think the Clara looks and feels okay. The battery will last a lot longer. It is light. The light is good. You can install Koreader for extra options if you are technically able, and Koreader will allow you better screen-navigation options, though you may be happy with the default UI navigation (I am not).

Obviously Kobo is easier to find and buy than Onyx, and I imagine it is easier to return. Saying that, I have found Onyx support to be very good, but they are in China, and a much smaller company. Onyx has way more features, and it for the power-user.

But both Onyx and Kobo are good. Depends what you want.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Patchicat

I do own an older Kindle, but I am not an Amazon/Kindle fan. It has to do with when Amazon took back legitimately purchased books because they sold books they had no right to sell and didn't inform the purchasers of what they were doing. They probably learned a valuable lesson from the experience, but I don't really trust Amazon not to do it again. Another reason I like to future proof my purchases.

As one of the people who were directly affected by this, I think you are overfocused on this single event at Amazon. As annoying as it was, they returned my money.

No matter where I buy audiobooks or ebooks, I make sure that I can download and de-DRM and store on my computer. I think it's a smart thing to do. You complain about B&N, but similar problems occur with Kobo now too. Amazon, no problem so far.

As to ereader, I would base it on features you need rather than which walled garden as wherever you buy your books, you can remove DRM and load onto your chosen ereader.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Tarana

As one of the people who were directly affected by this, I think you are overfocused on this single event at Amazon.

Agreed. I have had an experience with a self-published book that the author had actually plagiarized and Amazon pulled the book from their store. But they didn't remove the book from my account or my Kindle.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Tarana

As to ereader, I would base it on features you need rather than which walled garden as wherever you buy your books, you can remove DRM and load onto your chosen ereader.

This. I'm a Kindle fan, but many of my ebooks were not bought from Amazon. I like Kindles, because they have very few bugs and they play nicely with sideloaded books, without any major problems. All the books on my Kindles are sideloaded.

That said, I also liked the look of the new Nook Glowlight Plus with its 7.8'' screen and ordered it (it's on its way). I cannot buy ebooks from B&N, but as I can read my sideloaded books on the Nook, that fact played no part in my decision to purchase it.

In short, buy whatever reader you like the most, it doesn't matter who manufactured it. You can sideload your books to any of them.

[Patchicat]

Thank all of you for your replies. If I were to purchase an Onyx, from where would I purchase my ebooks? I know that Kobo has its own online store, but I don't know where the Onyx Boox owners get their material.

Thanks.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Patchicat

Thank all of you for your replies. If I were to purchase an Onyx, from where would I purchase my ebooks? I know that Kobo has its own online store, but I don't know where the Onyx Boox owners get their material.

Thanks.

Many different stores sell epubs (without DRM or with the standard Adobe DRM, which is not difficult to remove). Kobo, Google Play, Books-a-Million, ebooks.com. Smashwords for self-published stuff. You can buy from Amazon too, if you don't mind converting, they have the biggest selection.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Tarana

No matter where I buy audiobooks or ebooks, I make sure that I can download and de-DRM and store on my computer. I think it's a smart thing to do. You complain about B&N, but similar problems occur with Kobo now too. Amazon, no problem so far.

Not quite sure what you mean by that comment about Kobo having similar problems to B&N. The books I purchased from Kobo are still in my library and I can either manually download them or synchronize them to a Kobo ereader or Kobo's Android, iOS, Mac or Windows application despite some of the books no longer being sold by Kobo. Pretty much the same as with my Baen purchases where I have even more books that Baen no longer has the right to sell but I can still download them due to having purchased them way back when. If I want to deDRM a Kobo kepub ebook synchronized to my computer, Obok comes in handy there.

Perhaps you can point out the similarity to B&N? Looking at some of the comments about B&N, Kobo still has direct download from their website, you can use their app, etc. Yes, they have pretty much abandoned their original non-touch ereaders but it's been a few years and technology has moved on.

I have never had a book pulled from my library due to Kobo finding themselves in a situation similar to Amazon's when they discovered that a publisher did not have the rights to sell the books in the United States resulting in Amazon pulling those editions of 1984 and Animal Farm back from the people who purchased it. Perhaps you can point to a source if this is what you were referring to above?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Patchicat

I've been a Nook fan since 2009 when I purchased the original Nook. I currently own an original Nook Color, an original Nook Color Tablet, and the Nook HD+ 32 gig. I've been using the Color Tablet for about a year or so because of it's convenient size and battery life.

The Nook Color and Nook HD+ are both tablets, not eink readers. If you like reading on a tablet, why not get another?

If you want an eink device and want to avoid Nook and Kindle, I'd suggest Kobo. That's what I moved to and I've loved them.

Sirtel has a point though. If you're downloading your books and stripping DRM, it doesn't really matter what store you purchase your books from. I buy my books from Amazon and load them on my Kobo.

However, I recently discovered that Nook Study no longer will download my Barnes & Noble purchases to my computer (running Windows 10 Pro). I managed to work around it using my original Nook Color, but the method is clunky. I am a huge fan of future proofing my purchases for various reasons. I've stuck with Barnes & Noble through all their user/consumer unfriendly changes, but I've just about reached my limit.

If you install the Nook app from the Windows 10 store, you can still download your books.

I'm not saying you should stick with B&N. Just wanted you to know you can still download Nook books on Windows 10.

[Calenorn]

I really love my Kobo Clara. Light-weight; crisp, sharp screen; wonderful amber light. I have nearly 3,000 books side-loaded, with nearly half the memory still available. The software has been rock-steady. So far I have no complaints.

[cgsmom]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

If you install the Nook app from the Windows 10 store, you can still download your books.

I'm not saying you should stick with B&N. Just wanted you to know you can still download Nook books on Windows 10.

Yes, you can still download B&N books to the Windows 10 app but I don't think they can be liberated. My Nook for PC and Nook Study stopped working earlier this year and Calibre cannot open DRMed books from the Windows 10 app downloaded after that time. Calibre also cannot get a current encryption key. The only way I have heard to get the current key is to use a rooted Android device (which I don't have and sounds very complicated).

I just bought the new Nook 7.8" reader and I am very happy with it. I just don't buy my books from B&N.

[Tarana]

DNSB, Kobo will not remove books that have problems. They just keep selling it. I've had 3 books that on download were a different book (correct cover, wrong book). After months of complaining, they just returned my money. They were still up for sale, with the wrong contents, a year later. My point is that Kobo isn't fabulous either about responding to customer complaints. The main complaint for B&N is currently resolved as you can easily remove DRM if you know where on your computer to find the books. The OP's complaint regarded Nook Study - since I never buy textbooks, I know nothing about this.

Note: I never had a problem with Baen. They could legally sell the book at the time you bought it, so there is no reason for them to remove it from your library.

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by Tarana

As one of the people who were directly affected by this, I think you are overfocused on this single event at Amazon. As annoying as it was, they returned my money.

No matter where I buy audiobooks or ebooks, I make sure that I can download and de-DRM and store on my computer. I think it's a smart thing to do. You complain about B&N, but similar problems occur with Kobo now too. Amazon, no problem so far.

As to ereader, I would base it on features you need rather than which walled garden as wherever you buy your books, you can remove DRM and load onto your chosen ereader.

For me it is more ideological since two of the books they pulled were 1984 and the Animal Farm by George Orwell.