Pocketbook Touch HD 3 Gray

I have been reading my books almost daily on my iPad via iBooks for about 5 years now. However, the iPad is not suitable to take with you if you want to relax in the bath with a good book. So I went on the hunt for a watertight ereader where I can read all my books that I already own. Been to several stores, but they almost all promote the Kobo and I had my doubts about that. I read several reviews and soon came to the conclusion that a Kobo is not something I would want at all. I further researched this and saw the Pocketbook Aqua 2 as the ultimate solution for my needs. According to the reviews, you could put all your older books on it without messing with DRM and other security conditions. And yet I continued to doubt. The model has been out for a while and was not yet equipped with SMARTlight. This led me to the somewhat more expensive version, the Pocketbook Touch HD 3. This does have SMARTlight, which Kobo also boasts a lot. In addition, as far as I could find, this is the only one that has 16GB storage option. This e-reader has additional features. You can also play (pre-programmed) games and listen to music on it. Pocketbook also has the option to have the books read aloud. You do need earplugs for this, or you can connect to a suitable speaker via Bluetooth. An adapter is included that you connect to your micro USB connection and where you can use your traditional earplugs. But let's face it, it's an ereader, not a tablet or something. Spicy Copper is the official name for the color, but bronze is also possible. After starting up, you first have to go through a number of steps. You must provide your email address, but I did not realize that it had to be an email address that you also use. I have an email domain so that's why I assigned my own email to it. However, you can also email your books to your eReader from your own computer. For this you will be assigned a pocketbook email address. If you send your books to that email address, Pocketbook will also check whether the sender is correct. If not, you will receive an email about this and you can still have the relevant email address linked. It does take a while (hour?) before your book arrives on your eReader. Oh well, there's a first time for everything. Linking Pocketbook to laptop (MacBook) also caused no problems at all. No retarded programs to install. Easy to consult in your explorer/finder. Then you can easily copy your books to the relevant folder and the books are also immediately on the ereader. Nice and simple. By default, 7 books per language are included. Not that my Polish or Russian is that good (not at all really), but if you "speak" your languages, you immediately have a large library. Are you a member of the Library and are you also allowed to borrow ebooks? That is not a problem at all. Go through the steps for Adobe and you can read your books. So you don't need such an expensive Kobo subscription for this. Various settings are possible, but too many to mention. You can set the background when you have the eReader off, fonts/sizes too, you can turn the pocketbook a quarter turn, your book just spins nicely. Loading the book takes about 5 seconds, but after that you can continue effortlessly. Couldn't find any hiccups. You can proceed to the next page or go back to the previous page both with the buttons and on the screen itself. I have not yet tested the pocketbook for its water resistance, but that will certainly happen. Anyway, I'm very satisfied for now.

My previous e-readers were the Sony PRS-T1 and the Tolino Vision 4 HD. The Sony was a top e-reader, still works and is fast, but has no background lighting. That's why I switched to the Tolino 3.5 years ago. I found that a not so handy e-reader. The differences between the Tolino and the Pocketbook are: - with the Tolino you were reading with one hand constantly with your finger on the screen because the screen was flat. It looks very slick when the screen and the edge merge into each other, but it works very unpleasantly. It is much more convenient if the screen is slightly deeper than the edge, as with the Pocketbook and Sony. With the Pocketbook you can also easily turn off the touchscreen by double-clicking a button. - There was no English-Dutch dictionary available with the Tolino. With the Pocketbook, yes. And you can add dictionaries to the Pocketbook if you find it necessary (free dictionaries can be found online). - The Tolino wasn't that fast if you wanted to scroll through quite a few pages. The Pocketbook is faster. - The Tolino had no buttons: if you read with one hand, it is impossible to turn the pages. The Tolino did have tap-to-turn, but that only half worked. The Pocketbook has buttons at the bottom and they are very useful when holding with one hand. The Pocketbook also has the 'page forward' spots on the touch screen in very handy places so that you can move the page forward (and back too) with both your left and right hand. - The Tolino had version 4.0 of Android as its operating system. And you had to 'crack' it first if you wanted to install other software on it. The Pocketbook runs Linux and you can just install another reader yourself (= just copy) if you want. I've added KOreader to it to be able to enlarge images in Epub files. - The Tolino was slightly heavier. If you hold it with one hand, you will feel it after a while. The Pocketbook is as light as if not lighter than the Sony PRS-T1. - The Pocketbook's battery seems to last longer. The Tolino often turned the Wifi back on without you realizing it. Not the Pocketbook. - The Tolino had the bottom half of the start screen full of 'recommendations' = advertising. Not the Pocketbook, it's clean. - With the Pocketbook you can choose whether you want a bar at the top with the time and some other things. The Tolino can't do that. And I really like being able to read the time on my e-reader. What is equivalent to the Tolino and the Pocketbook: - Both the Tolino and the Pocketbook seem to be waterproof. I've never tested it and didn't intend to try it (don't have a bath to sit in reading either). - Both have the option to make the backlight yellow. The advantage of the Pocketbook is that the lighting can be slightly softer, which makes reading more pleasant in the dark. What disadvantages does the Pocketbook have: - You cannot zoom in with the standard reader on images that are in Epub files. That's why I added KOreader. For PDF files it is no problem. (The Tolino also had this problem). - I had to spend 160 euros again (although luckily I was able to resell the Tolino reasonably well, so the damage was not too bad). Conclusion: The Pocketbook is my long desired successor to the Sony PRS-T1. What the Sony can do, the Pocketbook can too. And more. And what the Tolino lacked, the Pocketbook does not miss. I think I will do with this e-reader for years to come.

This e-reader was chosen (instead of Kobo Aura H2O 2nd) because of: no compulsory registration, transfer booking via USB cable (even possible via e-mail!), very low weight (155 gr), automatic lighting that is even adjustable (every reader his own car lighting), very large storage, many extra apps (drawing, audiobook, reading aloud, many dictionaries, chess, sudoko etc.). Indexing and library excellent and simple. And the most important advantage: the 4 physical keys. Everything is, of course, operable by keys and swipes on the screen. But physical keys are easier and faster for me.