Re: Are there any eBook readers one can use in freedom?

[Erica Frank]

   I have a Pocketbook Touch HD3, and I'm happy with it. It does epub very
   well and mobi tolerably (I only use mobi when a free ebook isn't
   offered in epub and I'm too lazy to convert with Calibre). It can read
   PDFs but has the same problem as any small screen - PDFs are meant be a
   page-based format, and anything involving reflowing the text is likely
   to have problems. (How well it works depends a lot on what software was
   used to make the PDF.)
   It's got wifi, which I've never turned on; a touch screen, which I use
   about half the time (I like page-turn buttons); and a frontlight.
   (E-ink doesn't have backlight, but they do a reasonably good imitation
   these days.) Doesn't have a flash card but 16gb is a ridiculous amount
   of storage for ebooks. Does not have user-replaceable batteries; it
   plugs into a USB port to charge or sideload books.
   NewEgg is one of the few places in the US that sells
   them: [1]https://www.newegg.com/PocketBook-International-SA-E-Book-Read
   ers/BrandSubCat/ID-207683-782
   They weren't available in the US at all for many years. The Pocketbook
   HD is my fifth or sixth ereader; my all-time favorite stopped being
   produced years ago, but this one ranks 2nd or 3rd for me.
   If it's too pricey, or not quite what you're looking for,
   Mobileread's "Which One Should I Buy?" forum is a terrific place to get
   the pros and cons of several
   devices: [2]https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=123
   If you don't mind dealing with Amazon, the Kindles are probably the
   cheapest on the market. They make it complicated to sideload ebooks
   purchased or free-downloaded from other places, but it can be done.
   You'd also need to get used to Calibre to convert other ebook formats
   into mobi or azw3 for a Kindle.

   On Tue, Dec 21, 2021 at 7:13 PM J.B. Nicholson <[3]jbn@forestfield.org>
   wrote:

     I would like to try reading some DRM-free eBooks with a backlit
     eBook reader which is
     lighter than using a laptop and less expensively than using a
     laptop.
     I don't need it to be network accessible (no wifi, no Bluetooth
     needed) so long as it
     has a USB port and a high capacity storage medium (perhaps a compact
     flash card) that
     I can easily copy eBooks to, install in the eBook reader, and use
     the eBook reader to
     read files.
     File format support should include common eBook formats that one can
     use in freedom
     (I'd imagine PDFs and epub are reasonable choices).
     The device should offer the ability to be recharged, ideally with
     batteries I can
     replace. It's also okay if the device needs to be plugged in while
     using the device.
     It's fine if the device has no upgradable software on it so long as
     what's on the
     device works reliably. Editing and/or marking up what I'm reading is
     not required.
     Does anyone know of a recommendable device that would do these
     things?
     I looked in [4]https://ryf.fsf.org/ and
     [5]https://h-node.org/hardware/catalogue/en and I
     didn't notice anything named "ebook reader" or similar language. If
     I've overlooked
     something I should consider, please do let me know the URL for that
     device.
     Thanks.
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References

   1. 
https://www.newegg.com/PocketBook-International-SA-E-Book-Readers/BrandSubCat/ID-207683-782
   2. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=123
   3. mailto:jbn@forestfield.org
   4. https://ryf.fsf.org/
   5. https://h-node.org/hardware/catalogue/en
   6. mailto:libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
   7. https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss