E-Readers

Kindle, Kobo or Boox, decided by where your books come from:

all three use e-ink; the bookstore behind each one is what differs. A Kindle buys from Amazon’s store and reads Amazon’s own formats; an EPUB from anywhere else goes across through Send to Kindle, which converts it. A Kobo reads EPUB as it comes, so DRM-free books from a publisher’s own site, or free public-domain classics, copy straight on by cable. Boox and other Android e-ink readers install apps from Google Play, the Kindle and Kobo apps included, at the cost of a slower screen and more charging. Those apps also run on a mobile phone: fine for a chapter in a bank queue, tiring for a novel. Subscriptions are the Costa Rican catch. Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s monthly read-as-much-as-you-like plan, is not offered to customers in Costa Rica, so a Kindle here is a device for books bought one at a time. Kobo’s store does sell to Costa Rica. If most of what you read is free or already on your computer, a Kobo makes more sense.

Screen size, page buttons and the scanned course PDF:

a six-inch reader such as the basic Kindle or the Kobo Clara fits any bag and suits novels. Seven inches, on the Paperwhite and the Kobo Libra, puts more words on a page, and the Libra adds physical page-turn buttons that some readers will not give up. A scanned PDF of course readings, the kind passed round among students in San Pedro, shrinks to unreadable on a small screen,; only ten-inch writing models such as the Kobo Elipsa or a large Boox handle it well. For comics and textbooks with colour diagrams, one of the tablets is still the better tool.

A new Kindle against a shelf of paperbacks:

a new basic Kindle sells in Costa Rica for around ₡70,000 and a Paperwhite for around ₡100,000, roughly what six and eight paperbacks cost here. A used one is worth whatever its battery and front light have left. E-ink barely ages, so two of the same model differ mostly in how long a charge lasts and how evenly the light spreads; one that wants charging every couple of days, or has a dim corner, should sit well below a clean one.

Model year, lock-screen ads and battery on a second-hand Kindle:

start with the year. Kindles released in 2012 or earlier, among them the Kindle Keyboard, the Kindle Touch and the first Paperwhite, can no longer buy or download from the Kindle Store and only read what is already on them. That is why they are so cheap. Many Kindles brought in from the United States are the ad-supported version, which shows offers on the lock screen; the ads can be removed later for a fee paid to Amazon, so ask which one you are getting. Then turn the front light up full in a dim room and look for patches, and ask how long a charge lasts with daily reading. On a Kobo or a Boox, make sure the seller has signed out so it starts clean on your own account.

Listing a Kindle or Kobo: the model, the light and the account:

give the exact model and generation rather than just “Kindle”, because a 2012 Paperwhite and a recent one share the name and not the value. Say whether it is waterproof, whether it is the version with ads, how much storage it has and how long a charge lasts for you. Photograph a page of text with the light up in a dark room so the evenness shows, plus the back and corners, and say whether the cover and cable go with it. Before you hand it over, deregister it from your Amazon account or sign out of Kobo and reset it; whoever comes to check it will want to see it reach the welcome screen. The buyer should get a blank reader, not your library and not your card.